Hey there Every one,

My name is Cody and I'm new to the forum. i Live in NH where weather can be variable so i decided to try and grow an LSU purple and LSU gold in containers under lights. i ordered the trees from stark brothers nursery and received them last Friday. the trees were broken during shipping but they seem to be ok and are starting to push out some buds. My question is, Has anyone tried to grow Fig trees exclusively indoors under artificial light. I currently have a 400w MH/HPS setup that i mounted to my ceiling in my bedroom ( i am aware of the problems with growing things indoors in your room). i have been looking into getting the sunmaster 6000k full nova 400w MH bulb which is supposed to be a full spectrum bulb. im thinking that the full spectrum will be better for my plants in general so i im going to order one today during my lunch break. i figure doing this will be more beneficial for my plants and also a little less work on my part as far switching bulbs for certain times of the year. also if anyone knows the dormancy requirements for these figs that info would be appreciated as well. I look forward to giving updates on this project since there doesnt seem to be too many people trying this as far as i could find. 

Hps light are grate trick is getting them close as possible without any burning or drying. Play with it with o5her plants that you dont care about to get a starting point or start high & lower it l ittle by little. But as they grow you will need to ra i se them. It can b e done. Just play with it.

A grow tent might help your plants get as much light as possible. Personally I wouldn't try to get the plant to fruit but instead focus on growth. When it gets warm in your location then I would put them outside to fruit, that way you get the best taste you can.  

i originally wanted to set up a grow tent. my girlfriend wouldnt have it though. i dont have a yard to put the trees in unfortunately so i will have to get by with just the lights for now until i can figure out somewhere i can put them outside. i know the sun is the best light source which is why i was looking into the full spectrum lighting instead of just a regular MH/HPS. i currently have the lights on for 12 hours a day and will be increasing the light time to 14 hours a day once they start leafing out. 

as far as the distance from the lights go i currently have it about 3 feet from the top of my tallest plant. i am looking into getting a fan i can use to help get some of the heat away from the plants.

I,ve never actually eaten a fresh fig before but have been into gardening my whole life (im 24) so i decided to try growing something i cant get in my area. i am super excited about it and hope it all works out :). i am of course doing the best i can in my situation.  

do you guys have any experience with fruiting under lights? as far as taste is concerned.

I've grown quite a few things inside this past year and most seemed to do pretty well.

The tomatoes from the 5-6' high tomato plants grew and fruited. Tasted just as good as the ones in ground. Didn't grow nearly as well as outside though. Now that they have been outside for a month, they have exploded with growth and I've been harvesting tomatoes all along.

My fig trees from unknown cuttings were only inside from November until about April when it warmed up. I'm thinking of growing a tree or two or ten (lol) inside just to see what happens. They did get to about 2 feet in that time and one did start developing a fig.

My biggest problems with various plants in general were fungus gnats, mites, and just not getting them enough light especially to the bigger ones. I don't have any south facing windows and relied mostly on 6500k fluorescent strip lights ($22 w/ 2 bulbs / 64 watts / 5500 lumen / 4ft at home depot) which are much cheaper but probably not as effective as MH/HPS.  Almost no heat generated though so I could let the plants grow into the lights before moving the light up or the plant down.

i bought an apoollo 400w MH HPS system from amazon and it only cost me bout 120 bucks. of course you have to factor in energy usage as well into the long term cost but i didnt think the price was too bad considering getting the flourescent grow light setups were pretty much the same price when all is said done. i decided to go with the HID system because i figured i would give my plants the best chance i could. ive tried growing other things with LEDs in the past and although they do work alright, i order to go one with sufficient light for a tree i would have had to spend like 300$ upfront . 

I would not grow fig trees inside the house unless on a temporary basis. Eventually they will produce an unpleasant and unhealthy smell.
They will stay green and therefore will not fruit for you.
I would store them in a basement when they go dormant and take them outdoors in the spring after the freeze threat is gone.
By the way the chill requirements for figs depending on the variety is from 100 to 200 hours .

Where does the smell come from? The leaves, fruit, etc.

Hehe, I had to look up the smell too. I guess the leaves of some smell like cat pee. I never noticed it with the small trees that I had growing. Maybe I got used to it?

Funny read: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/please-tell-me-which-figs-smell-4738535?highlight=stink+smell&pid=40523096#post40523096

I wonder about staying green though. If referring to the bark browning (lignifying), mine were starting to. If referring to not going dormant, how do the people in zones that are too warm to induce dormancy get figs?

I do think outside is definitely best but experimenting inside sounds fun with the short season here. I guess I can always put them to sleep if they stink up my house.

So based on the thread you posted it looks like not all plants smell and not all people smell the smell if there is one. I suppose I will just have to make sure I have enough air circulation. Perhaps I could convincey significant other that a grow tent is a good idea and set up an intake and outake widow insert for a fan for the light in the grow tent. Hmm lots to think about. I think for now I'll leave td growing as they are and if I need to I will get a tent to grow them I'm. I'm committed to success at this point and will do almost whatever it takes to make this work.

Could you rent a community garden plot to get outside grow space ?  Maybe a local business , that would like a fig tree at the south facing entrance , a friendly neighbor ?
As far as smell , I've found Ronde de Bordeaux to be the least smelly to grow indoors , and one of the best figs for NH anyway.

Any plant can be manipulated.  This is changed by hours of light vs darkness. You can trick a plant into anything. Also during each stage different temperatures of light are needed. Different Spectrum's, This is the way it's done with both Hydroponics and soil indoors. 

Smell I assume will be an issue but they have charcoal canisters for that. It depends how much money you want to spend. You'll also need a fan.. Plants get lanky with out any stress like wind or a slight breeze.

I'm sure you also would get a different set of pests indoors. Different kinds of  bugs. Also excessive Heat from the lights and ballast.. Mold if humidity is to high in the room your plan on using.  Also cost of bulb replacement and electric.

 
I plan on buying a Halide system just to get a jump on cuttings. Also to use just for growth (veg) and get a jump on the warmer weather. After that I'll bring them outside.

If you willing to spend the money and do it the right way go for it. Also AscPete a board member here and ourfigs has done some experimenting with hydroponics and fig trees. Do a search or send him a PM.


I just didn't want anyone to get confused but I did mess up on saying using HPS for the veg state. Halide are what should be used. Thanks to another member that pmd me.. I don'the want incorrect information to circulate.