burying the pots 4-6 inches in the ground for the summer? I am in a climate that it will be consistently
90-95 degrees mid June to end of September, so mulching the containers will be a necessity. Rain has
been very unpredictable lately during the summer months with severe drought conditions the last
couple years.

Mike...from previous posts on the forum I have learned that burying the pots helps tremendously with vigerous growth of the potted tree...the only drawback is that if the center holes on the pot are not blocked before placing in the ground, then it becomes much more difficult to remove the pots at the end of the growing season(can't get at the center roots to clip?)...I have never tried this method, but I plan to do so this year...good luck.

I don't see any disadvantages. The figs can send their roots through the openings on the containers to get bigger and they should have a better chance to survive incase you forget to water them, which I've done as many others have too. Another advantage is that it will help the pots from blowing over in a storm, the roots will keep them anchored in place. The only problems I would see is if there is an opening in the center of the pot the roots will go through that and just make it a bit harder to dig up in the Fall. I plan on burying mine this summer because I had a few blow over last year along with drying out.

Disadvantages compared to not burying them at all or burying them up to their lip?  It still helps to shade whatever's above the soil.  Plus what they said above  :)

The thermal mass of the soil around large pots buried 50% tends to help with temperature given the black pots tend to spike in temps in the hot sun. the UV damage on the plastic  if multi-season plants can result in cracks forming in the buried pots if the plastic has been exposed to UV over time and the hot and cold temps and expansion can cause the need to replace the pots sooner.  I bury most of my multi year figs along a rear fence line, dig a long trench with a tiller, then the figs, then pack the trench and 60 -70 % of the fig pots with mulch. In the hot summer months I fill the trench with water daily, the VA clays holds it pretty long. For the pots left on my deck, the pots last about 20% longer. Again I think the lifetime is multifold exposure to sun, hot and cold seasons not just the burying.

Thanks everyone for your response.

I am good with the holes in the pots because I found pots of all sizes that do not have a center hole, the holes on these pots are  at the bottom edge
which should work really well. The only question I had was controlling the amount of water the plant gets, which one member in another thread stated
that was the reason he did not bury his.

If you are in an area which may get more water during the growing season than you want (assuming that's the case since you're from GA), I would think you could still bury them but create a mound so that heavy rain will run off and away from the pot.

Unless I'm neglectful or undecided where to plant a fig, I don't keep them in pots but I have pots for other plants white to help avoid hot temps.

As far as the roots are concerned (plus your own back), there is
no need to bury the pots too deep ; 2-4 inches should be enough.

I had many cases when roots came out of the pot by simply
placing pots on top of my back yard soil. Roots go for moisture.

I am not saying i dont like fast growth, but what is the meaning to get fast growth(or above average growth rate) in pots?
my trees are all in pots. if they grow fast i have to root prune every 1-2 years.
if i grow them slow they still provide me with enough fruit but with the comfort of root pruning every 3-4 years.

Elin in container culture mind you i do not ever bury my containers not needed in my climate fast growth can occur either way.
Fast growth is desired when tree is very young in containers once tree is at desired height and topped in its final pot size fast growth is not needed but in colder climates such as mine whats needed is timed early dormancy awakening to achieve more fruiting limbs im speaking of colder climates only.

I can say from my experience last year. I have no choice but to keep my potted trees on the ground. I did not bury them. A lot of them rooted into the ground from the bottom holes and even right out of the side holes on the shaded side of the pots. The ones that got roots into the ground grew a lot bigger then those that did not for sure, but just make sure you like the spot they are in because they won't be moving. I used an old carpenters saw. I'm not sure if thats what its called. I foind it in the garage. It has a big floppy blade. I was able to just slip it under the pots and cut through the roots. What I did notice ths year when up potting becuase the trees grew way to big for the pots they were in, was that it was mostly all fat roots in the pot and not many fine roots. I guess all the feeder roots grew outside of the pot. The trees seem to be fine and alive, so I guess it doesn't hurt it.

I have a lot of trees - too many to keep over the coming years. But I want to try all that I have to see which ones we like the best. The plan is to keep many of them in 5 gallon black plastic pots (the ones with the larger drainage holes out the bottom sides) and buried maybe 2-3 inches in the clay, and relatively close together. Then deep mulch will be mounded around them. We get no rain in summer and these will be hand-watered with the extra water going out the bottom where the 'extra' roots will be growing. I like to keep a relatively deep head-space in the pots - that makes them easier to water fast.

The ones we decide to keep then will be planted into the ground.

I saw on HGTV that they build eco houses with underground water reservoir for the summer which fills up during the winter- i think it can be a bargain in long run.
problem is i think planting trees near it can be a problem -especially fig tree which have "undercover roots" that can extend to the reservoirs.
actually its an ancient technique used by many vilagers in the past- they build self made ponds\water basins....

The only problem you can have,is, the tree can get infected with nematode if the soil in your Garden has nematodes.
Otherwise you have only advantages by ,setting only about 2 inches deep.

separating the roots when lifting the of the ground pots is probably a real pain in the neck...

i just dump fertilizer and water. no problem of getting good growth in container here. summer temp here is always high 90/ low 100.

hey Pete
organic or not?
by word of dumping soounds like you use manure :) joking here

lol

eli, 

i have seen organic in practice in old country. i stay away from "organic". lol

In response to some of the earlier posts, I plan to put cheap aluminum pie tins(flipped upside down) which are slightly wider than the pots in the bottom of my holes before I set the pots in.
Then the roots can't go straight down right out of the pot. In the fall I run a shovel down the side of the pot all around and the plant is free. No need to plug the bottom holes which can still drain and allow roots out to search.

I almost killed lots of plants do to 20 20 20 fertilizer as i tendency to overfertilize.
so now i only use biocompost which has another problem that it leaves brown spots on my granite floors.
maybe i put too much for the pot?

Pete- how much compost do u use? 
i fill the pot with 1 inch of compost on top evry 1-2 years. but mistakanely i put alot when replanted a fig tree and the leafs are shiny green

I have 2 trees in 20gal tubs that I plan to put the tub in the ground.  I drilled 16 holes around the side, 8 right at the bottom and 8 about 5" up from the bottom.

I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but my plan is to bury them about 6" to 8" deep in a hole that's twice as wide as the tub.  The hole will be lined with weed barriar fabric (to contain the roots), then filled in with a heavier mix of medium between the tub and the fabric.  Kind of like a pot in a pot.  The roots can get into the bigger hole, but not beyond the weed barrier (i hope, maybe it should be double layered?).  It should make it easier to pull the whole thing up later??

I have to agree with George ( gorgi ).
I was going to do the same thing last Summer till I got put out of service for a couple months due to an insect bite.

I plan on doing it this season though. I am using mulch.

Eli,
I have to disagree with you about the 20-20-20.
That's all I use. It's the best thing ever. You just might have applied too much.
Half dose at a time and spread out is better than full dose at one application.

IF: The goal is to keep the container cool without the need to cut roots at the end of the season

AND: Since most containers (including five gallon buckets) will nest within themselves...

Why not (semi)permanently bury a container then slide the container holding the tree into it at the beginning of the season, and slide it out at the end of the season.  The inserted container can be turned 45 degrees from the buried container so the holes do not align.  There will still be plenty of drainage, and not much space for the roots to go.  If one is overly concerned with the root growth, a piece of weed blocking fabric can be sandwiched between the two.  Afterwards, the buried container can be covered with a piece of cut plywood so others don't fall into it.