I was wondering how big a tree can be grown in 5 gallon and 10 gallon containers.

Not including trees where the roots have been allowed to grow into the ground. Does anyone have a photo that shows what is possible?

Thanks

Some may disagree but a fig tree will out grow a 5 and 10 gallon container in one year in my climate.  I'm in zone 8a.  If you got one little fig tree then it's easy to manage and up pot.  If you pot up a fig tree in a 5 gallon pot in the very beginning of  Spring, and you've provided good soil and fertilizer and the tree is growing well;  Then that year your fig will be root bound screaming for a large pot.  If you don't up pot the tree, it will start dropping leaves and if any figs are on, they will drop.

I am in the process of up potting many of my 5g trees to 27g self watering pots with pure mushroom compost.  Twenty-seven gallon pot is the largest pot I use for my figs.  And this is just my recommendation.  Again, others may disagree but this is what I do.

Here's a post worth looking at:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/fotos-of-portable-fig-orchard-at-driftless-sacred-grove-6958670?pid=1283357643#post1283357643

With proper management, you can maintain a relatively large tree in a small container!

Dennis, I appreciated all the information on self watering pots at: 
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/why-self-irrigating-containers-7197188?highlight=27g+self+watering+pots&trail=50

Do you have another source for the ready made 27 gallon size pots besides Craig's List? I did a quick search and didn't see any listed locally. The on-line sources seem to stop at a 22 or 23 gallon size. The do-it-yourself pots seem like a lot of work. 

Is there a better way of controlling the mosquitoes in the bottom of the pots besides mosquito dunks? The mosquitoes here just laugh at the dunks. The ones I've used are completely ineffective. West Nile Virus is an ongoing problem. 

Are there some varieties that do well in pots and stay small, such as Violette de Bordeaux or Rouge de Bordeaux?  

My Ischia White is tiny. It is a 3 yo and is happy in a 5 gal pot. It doesn't grow fast and large but is loaded with figs.

I think disagree is too strong of a word.  I would say there are many ways to skin the cat.  Growing in containers is a series of compromises with a myriad of variables to consider to achieve a goal.  In my view of the tree universe (based some on my experience and some on other's experiences), the biggest compromise is going to be the limiting factor.  Maximizing the other variables will only yield marginal gains.  The largest tree I would consider putting in a 10 gallon container is 3-3.5" in diameter at the flair and 10' tall.  At this height, one would need to provide stability for the tree.  Here is what to expect at the upper limit of a 5 gallon nursery container:
 

My goal is to maximize a short growing season. The biggest constraint I have is space (both growing and storage).  I am hoping to get about 10 years down the road without exceeding a 12 gallon (16"DX16"H) container.  I plan to achieve this by limiting top growth to a 6' single trunk, with all limbs being cut back to 1 or 2 nodes from the trunk at the end of every season.  Also, I am planning on maximizing the container volume by using root pruning containers and a growing mix that will not hold onto much perched water at the bottom.

James,
 that tree in your picture would have snapped in our harsh winds down here.  And I know that tree sucks a lot of water and is a bucket of roots.  But it does look healthy. Nice job!  I had 3 Black Jacks and 3 Peter's Honey figs that came from Monrovia in the exact same pot as yours in the photo and I have to water them daily and sometimes twice a day.   After repotting them to 15g pots I only have to water them every 3 days.

Mara,
Craig's list is going to be your cheapest place to get containers in my opinion.  Since these are large in size, even if you find a good price the shipping to out weigh the price of the product!  Lowes and Home Depot have some too but they are VERY pricey.  I get my barrels off Craig's list for 10 bucks each.  Once I cut the barrel in half, I've got 2 - 27g pots @ $5 a pot!  If you have a space issue like James, then you're gonna have to find smaller pots and figure out a method for keep them alive and healthy.

Is there a better way of controlling the mosquitoes in the bottom of the pots besides mosquito dunks? yes.  You can put a cork in the filler tube.  I don't.  My drip irrigation dripper fits tight inside my tubes.

Are there some varieties that do well in pots and stay small, such as Violette de Bordeaux or Rouge de Bordeaux?  In my opinion, they all do well in SWps, you just have to root prune the trees every 3 years.  I'd rather sweat and work hard now and repot 3 years later.  Violete de Bordeaux is already a naturally dwarf tree or yes it will do fine in one.  My Rouge de Bordeauxs are over 7 feet tall and lives in one too.

here is a picture of 254 fig trees.  The first 4 rows of these trees are in SWPs.

 

Mara - in my area a source of those big barrels is an Italian specialty store that imports literally tons of olives in them yearly.  They sell their barrels to some peddlers or stores that then market them - I can buy them for about $15 per barrel from a middleman.  Check directly with any import markets like that.

Thanks for the info. Dennis and Ed: Is it difficult to cut the barrels in half? Don't they fall apart over time without special metal loops around them?  I remember buying a barrel shaped redwood planter and it only lasted five or ten years, where as my 15 gallon black plastic nursery pots are still good after 20-30 years.  
I have a small saber saw around here somewhere but trimming my trees with a landscape saw is about the extent of my woodshop skills. 

@snaglpus did you find Bill's method easy to construct based on his step by step guide?

I should have specified the pic was from 2007. I bought the tree in NJ. I could not water the tree enough because the roots were so tightly packed. This tree took longer (by far) than any other to bare root. I meant it to be an example of the limits in smaller containers.

The self-service car washes near my house get their soap in 30 gallon barrels. They let me have those for free. There is also a guy close by who makes hot sauces. He gets his vinegar in 55 gallon drums which he sells for $5.00 each. Harbor Freight Tools sells a 4.5" angle grinder for about 15 bucks (12 with the 20% coupon) that works great for cutting the buckets in half. It does not come with a wheel. I used a masonry cutoff disc because it was what I had. I'm willing to bet the cutoff disk for metal will work better.

Dennis, I don't know how you manage all those! I have a fraction of the property and trees. My new house with a half Acre and half as many trees are kicking my butt.

Well, I do have to spend a lot of hour checking and fixing things.  But with so many trees, water is the main need so if they don't get water, they dry up fast.  Again, squirrels are biting my lines getting water.  I could place these figs in the ground but it is a honest fact that they grow better inside SWPs in winter.  Although the USDA says I'm in zone 8a, we do get sever cold temps twice a year.  The harsh cold only last for one of 2 nights in November and again in January.  But 5 degree temps do a  lot of damage to my trees.  And not to mention the ambrosia beetle got some too!  I had over 67 trees planted on my hill years ago and today I'm slowly removing them.  Most are still there but I got tired of just only getting a handful of figs from them every year.  My container trees can give me over 20lbs of figs a day in summer.  So, I dug up my De La Senyora, my Italian 258, My Noire de Caromb, My Smith, my JH Adriatic, and a few others because the winter weather was just too much for them.  

And not to mention, I also have several Poms, Jujubes, and Paw Paws in containers too.  My biggest surprise are my jujubes.  All I did was plant them in pots and water them every day.  Today, some of these trees are just loaded with fruit and the trees are barely over 2 feet tall!

What can I say?  It's a passion!  

Where do you put them all in the winter? You must have a barn or something else pretty large.

Gene, I have 4 locations, shed, downstairs basement, 6x8 GH and an insulated car garage.

The shed is not heated at all.
The 6x8 GH is heated.
My car garage is not heated.
Basement is heated.

And this year, I have an additional 12x20 green house which will be heated to around 40 degrees.

All trees do not get winterized. Only a seleect few go inside chosen by me. This year, I plan on purchasing 4 additional temporary green houses to be placed on my decks, patios and another spot.

@snaglpus did you find Bill's method easy to construct based on his step by step guide?

Thanks for the comments, photos and links. I'm going to get some big containers, but I am trying to figure out what size to use for the rest. I think the answer is as big as possible, considering my zone and even with root pruning.

Dennis: How long is your growing season in 8a?  How often do you think you will need to root prune in the 27g containers?

James: Out of interest, what happened to that tree in your photo?  Do you maintain it in that container size? It'd be great to see what it looks like today.  Is your 12g goal for your 8b trees? (How is the ebb and flow going?)

Figaro: Interesting link. What size container do you use? I think your zone is similar to mine.

Greenfig: "loaded with figs"  yes, that's my real goal!

I grow EVERYTHING in containers and most of my figs have 15 gallon Smart Pots for the "permanent" home.  They're all less than 4-5 years old, so at some point, I may go slightly larger, but I'm betting I can get at least 10 years out of the 15 gallon! :)

Mic,

I ended up bare-rooting it and potting up to a 10 gallon container.  The limbs did get some decent growth on them while in the larger container.  My guess is the limit in the 10 gallon container was about 30% more top growth than what's in the picture.  I bought this tree when I was working in NJ.  When my job ended, I had three trees there that were too big for me to take back to Texas. Unfortunately, my kids did not follow instructions on how to keep them alive during winter.

My growing season varies. Sometime it's late October and some times its mid October. It just depends on the weather. Back in 09 and 10 we had 90 degree weather in October and March. I root prune my trees every years in SWPs. There are a lot of people that never tried this method and think it takes too much time. But when I compare trees in SWPs to plain ole pot, it's just no comparsion. Not all of my trees are in swps.....but they will be in 2 years.