In article , June Hughes
writes
Thanks Nick. Yes, I have found that to be the case - or to put it more bluntly,
I haven't found any information at all. The only stuff in the books is about
the other (evergreen) plant they call a fig but isn't.

Which one is that? Are you sure it isn't a fig? ie in the sense of a
member of the genus Ficus?
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 08:19:48 +0000, June Hughes
wrote:

Hi everyone. Long time, no post. I hope you are all well.

I have a question which I hope someone can help with. I purchased a fig
tree in spring and it has produced some lovely figs. The supplier told
me to leave it in its huge pot on the patio, which I did. It has
several small, unripe (ie green) figs left on it but has shed all its
leaves. Is this normal, please - ie do edible fig trees shed their
leaves in winter?

If they don't, can anyone tell me what is wrong with it, please?

After investigating this myself, I was advised that any figs about the
size of a pea can be left on for next year. Any which are larger
should be removed before winter...... or they will fall anyway.
Therefore I removed 6 walnut-sized figs, the first fruit, from the
plant I bought this Spring and have more hopes for next year.
Good luck

I have a fig tree. I bought it about 8 years ago in my last house. The pony
got out and ate it down to about 6 inches. I sold the house and moved and
remained on speaking terms with the new people who neglected my garden. I
was admiring the peach tree I had planted at the same time and told him
about the fig. He grubbed about in the nettles and thistles and told me he
had gound it. Indeed he had. The poor mite was nearly dead. It had 4 foot
long thin spindly branches (4 of them) which had struggled to reach
sunlight. The new owner dug it out and gave it to me.
I came home and put it into m garden (heavy clay north facing). I do
nothing to it. Every year it gives me lots of lovely figs. I don't feed it
nor remove little figs, any which drop off get eaten by the chickens, and
that stay on stay on. It is now a substantial bush.
I love planting things but am not a good gardener inasmuch as stuff has to
either thrive or die as I don't have time for anything time consuming.

The message . 24
from Victoria Clare contains these words:
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote in
k:

Leave it in its pot until it really outgrows it. Then, if you want to
plant it out, either put it a good distance from any expensive masonry
(fig trees grow enormous, eventually. I don't know about the liklihood
of damage to foundations, but they'll throw a long shadow.).

Um, maybe I have a different definition of 'enormous' but I wouldn't
describe figs as that. They do tend to flop about all over the place and
make a very messy big bush, but they aren't exactly leylandii.

Where I was at school in the late 'forties there was a fig tree, and it
must have been thirty feet high with a similar sized spread. The figs
were divine, and the school did nothing with them. We did...

I've usually seen them grown as wall shrubs, including at RHS Rosemoor, and
the usual advice is to train them against a south-facing wall - for example
http://www.easyfruit.co.uk/figs/.

Are you sure they are a risk to walls?

No - as I said. Bu from the size they can grow if unrestricted, I
wouldn't be in the slightest bit surprised.

Don't bother about removing green figs, they will fall of of their own
accord - or go on in the summer to better things if the winter isn't
too hard.

This is wrong for at least one variety of fig (mine!). Remove the green
figs: if you have a sufficiently sheltered location, they will stay stuck
on the tree until about May: they then fall off without ripening, but this
delays the onset of the next generation, which then doesn't get big enough
to ripen before the winter arrives again.

Never worried the tree in the school garden...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In message , Kay
writes
In article , June Hughes
writes
Thanks Nick. Yes, I have found that to be the case - or to put it
more bluntly,
I haven't found any information at all. The only stuff in the books is about
the other (evergreen) plant they call a fig but isn't.

Which one is that? Are you sure it isn't a fig? ie in the sense of a
member of the genus Ficus?
Yes. I stand corrected. It is a fig but is not an edible fig.
--
June Hughes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone. Long time, no post. I hope you are all well.

I have a question which I hope someone can help with. I purchased a fig
tree in spring and it has produced some lovely figs. The supplier told
me to leave it in its huge pot on the patio, which I did. It has
several small, unripe (ie green) figs left on it but has shed all its
leaves. Is this normal, please - ie do edible fig trees shed their
leaves in winter?

If they don't, can anyone tell me what is wrong with it, please?

Also, is it right to leave it in the pot (the pot is huge - about the
size of one of those large buckets with rope handles)?

I would hate to think I have killed it off and the RHS books I have
don't seem to contain any information at all.



As others have told you, it is normal for figs to drop their leaves. It is
also normal for the second crop of figs to remain on the tree over winter.
Some people remove them, others do not. I don't, and this hasn't stopped me
getting crops of figs the following year. But I'm lazy, and, as figs grow
bigger, it becomes a bit of a bore removing the tiddlers. There is an
extremely prolific fig just down the road from me, which has received no
care or attention at all from any of the last three houseowners, and it
bears huge numbers of figs each year. They certainly ripen.

Although that tree is left to its own devices, it was originally in what was
the garden to the head gardener's cottage of a local estate, and I suspect
the roots were restricted, as was common practice, because it hasn't grown
into a large tree, more like a big straggly bush. I have seen some figs
grown into very large specimens, e.g. there is one next to the conservatory
at the Portmeirion Hotel which fits that description, and I suspect they are
growing in particularly suitable microclimates and with unrestricted roots.
Although your fig will probably be OK in a big pot, providing you water it
in the summer, and try not to let it freeze through in the winter, perhaps
the best option would be to plant it out into what amounts to a sunken
'pot'. If you can dig out a hole 2 ft square by 2 ft deep, and line the
bottom and sides with 2 ft square paving slabs, then put some gravel in the
bottom and then plant into the construction, you'll probably be OK with
that. You'd be advised to remember that, left to their own devices, figs
spread quite a bit, so bear that in mind when deciding where to plant.
Obviously, a nice sheltered sunny spot would be ideal for the fig.

In article . 24,
Victoria Clare wrote:
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote in
. uk:

Leave it in its pot until it really outgrows it. Then, if you want to
plant it out, either put it a good distance from any expensive masonry
(fig trees grow enormous, eventually. I don't know about the liklihood
of damage to foundations, but they'll throw a long shadow.).

Um, maybe I have a different definition of 'enormous' but I wouldn't
describe figs as that. They do tend to flop about all over the place and
make a very messy big bush, but they aren't exactly leylandii.

I've usually seen them grown as wall shrubs, including at RHS Rosemoor, and
the usual advice is to train them against a south-facing wall - for example
http://www.easyfruit.co.uk/figs/.

Are you sure they are a risk to walls?

Given the right conditions (hot and dry), they can get quite big.
They are a major risk to walls if they can get their roots between
bricks, and there is water or nutrients beyond. Probably no worse
than many native trees, though.

But, in general, in the UK, I think that you are right.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , BAC
writes


Although that tree is left to its own devices, it was originally in what was
the garden to the head gardener's cottage of a local estate, and I suspect
the roots were restricted, as was common practice, because it hasn't grown
into a large tree, more like a big straggly bush. I have seen some figs
grown into very large specimens, e.g. there is one next to the conservatory
at the Portmeirion Hotel which fits that description, and I suspect they are
growing in particularly suitable microclimates and with unrestricted roots.
Although your fig will probably be OK in a big pot, providing you water it
in the summer, and try not to let it freeze through in the winter, perhaps
the best option would be to plant it out into what amounts to a sunken
'pot'. If you can dig out a hole 2 ft square by 2 ft deep, and line the
bottom and sides with 2 ft square paving slabs, then put some gravel in the
bottom and then plant into the construction, you'll probably be OK with
that. You'd be advised to remember that, left to their own devices, figs
spread quite a bit, so bear that in mind when deciding where to plant.
Obviously, a nice sheltered sunny spot would be ideal for the fig.


Thanks for the advice. I just wondered, what is wrong with cutting the
bottom off the pot the plant is in and planting the whole thing in the
garden? The pot is about 2 feet in diameter and around 2 feet tall.
--
June Hughes

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...

[snip]

Thanks for the advice. I just wondered, what is wrong with cutting
the
bottom off the pot the plant is in and planting the whole thing in
the
garden? The pot is about 2 feet in diameter and around 2 feet tall.

If you are going to go to the trouble of getting the bottom off the
pot, why not go the whole hog and remove the sides as well. Then t
your tree will have a free root run.

Incidentally, in my parents' home in South Africa, they had two fig
trees which were grown as simple single stemmed half-standards. They
were kept to around 12 ft in height by rough and irregular pruning.
One produced green coloured figs, and the other bore purple figs.
Both were intensely sweet.

Franz

Franz

On 15/11/04 11:48, in article , "Franz
Heymann" wrote:

snip Incidentally, in my parents' home in South Africa, they had two fig
trees which were grown as simple single stemmed half-standards. They
were kept to around 12 ft in height by rough and irregular pruning.
One produced green coloured figs, and the other bore purple figs.
Both were intensely sweet.


I thought there was/is a belief that a restricted root run was good for fig
trees, plus a fair amount of dryness and a dead donkey under the roots? ;-)
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

In article ,
Sacha writes:
| On 15/11/04 11:48, in article , "Franz
| Heymann" wrote:
|
| snip Incidentally, in my parents' home in South Africa, they had two fig
| trees which were grown as simple single stemmed half-standards. They
| were kept to around 12 ft in height by rough and irregular pruning.
| One produced green coloured figs, and the other bore purple figs.
| Both were intensely sweet.
|
| I thought there was/is a belief that a restricted root run was good for fig
| trees, plus a fair amount of dryness and a dead donkey under the roots? ;-)

In the UK. In countries with poorer soil and hotter, drier summers,
a restricted root run is undesirable. I think that the dead donkey
applies to the latter, and not the UK, too.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 11:59:49 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

I thought there was/is a belief that a restricted root run was good for fig
trees, plus a fair amount of dryness and a dead donkey under the roots? ;-)

I have mentioned this here before. Bob Flowerdew on GQT once
recommended getting an old washing machine drum, sinking that in the
ground and planting a fig inside it. It restricts the roots to stop
the plant getting too big, but allows free drainage.

Pam in Bristol

The message
from June Hughes contains these words:

Thanks for the advice. I just wondered, what is wrong with cutting the
bottom off the pot the plant is in and planting the whole thing in the
garden? The pot is about 2 feet in diameter and around 2 feet tall.

While a fig may find it difficult climbing out of a pot, it will have no
difficulty at all sending roots out through a big hole like that, all
unnoticed by you.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In message , Jaques
d'Alltrades writes
The message
from June Hughes contains these words:

Thanks for the advice. I just wondered, what is wrong with cutting the
bottom off the pot the plant is in and planting the whole thing in the
garden? The pot is about 2 feet in diameter and around 2 feet tall.

While a fig may find it difficult climbing out of a pot, it will have no
difficulty at all sending roots out through a big hole like that, all
unnoticed by you.

Ah yes, but it will be in a part of the garden where it doesn't matter
about the roots.
--
June Hughes

"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
On 15/11/04 11:48, in article ,
"Franz
Heymann" wrote:

snip Incidentally, in my parents' home in South Africa, they had
two fig
trees which were grown as simple single stemmed half-standards.
They
were kept to around 12 ft in height by rough and irregular
pruning.
One produced green coloured figs, and the other bore purple figs.
Both were intensely sweet.


I thought there was/is a belief that a restricted root run was good
for fig
trees, plus a fair amount of dryness and a dead donkey under the
roots? ;-)

During the great drought of 193something in SA, the local farmers got
rid of unwanted animals for a song. My father bought us a donkey as a
pet for 6d. It lived for longer than we lived in that town, so we
never had the benefit of seeing whether its bodily remains would be of
benefit to the figs. {:-))

(Great droughts occurred about every three years or so in the Free
State)

Franz

"June Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , BAC
writes


Although that tree is left to its own devices, it was originally in what
was
the garden to the head gardener's cottage of a local estate, and I
suspect
the roots were restricted, as was common practice, because it hasn't
grown
into a large tree, more like a big straggly bush. I have seen some figs
grown into very large specimens, e.g. there is one next to the
conservatory
at the Portmeirion Hotel which fits that description, and I suspect they
are
growing in particularly suitable microclimates and with unrestricted
roots.
Although your fig will probably be OK in a big pot, providing you water
it
in the summer, and try not to let it freeze through in the winter,
perhaps
the best option would be to plant it out into what amounts to a sunken
'pot'. If you can dig out a hole 2 ft square by 2 ft deep, and line the
bottom and sides with 2 ft square paving slabs, then put some gravel in
the
bottom and then plant into the construction, you'll probably be OK with
that. You'd be advised to remember that, left to their own devices, figs
spread quite a bit, so bear that in mind when deciding where to plant.
Obviously, a nice sheltered sunny spot would be ideal for the fig.


Thanks for the advice. I just wondered, what is wrong with cutting the
bottom off the pot the plant is in and planting the whole thing in the
garden? The pot is about 2 feet in diameter and around 2 feet tall.

Cutting off the bottom of the pot and planting it wouldn't restrict the
roots much. The idea is to restrict the root growth so the tree tends to use
its energy to fruit rather than grow large. The advantages of planting it in
a subsoil level construction as I advised (rather than leaving it in its
pot) are that the roots should be better protected from extremes of
temperature, and would be less likely to dry out.