Good day, I've got 3 fig varieties that are just growing out of there pot.  They are:

Smith
Jurupa
Atreano

Out of these 3 varieties, Atreano is one heck of a fast grower!  Man ole Man!  I've got 2 Smith trees in 5 gallon pots and I'm watering them daily.  Well, not really!  It's been raining here every day but 2 weeks a go these trees have one massive root ball.  Jurupa, what can i say!  It's growing so freaking fast!!!!!

I haven't decided whether to put Atreano in the ground near my other monsterous Atreano VS or to place it in a whiskey barrel.  I went to Lowes 2 weeks ago and bought 6 whiskey barrels for $26 bucks each.  I got 3 in the back of my pickup.  I just love to open that tail gate and smell that Jack Daniels smell on a hot day!  It just cracks me up to smell that!  Anyway, I'm trying to decide which trees to place in these whiskey barrels.  These whiskey barrel will remain outside until November 15th.  I am placing 4 caster wheels on the bottom of each so I can roll these trees from the road  to the inside of my garage this winter.  Plus I am placing a 2 foot concrete paver under each barrel to keep them out of the water, dirt and mud.  I am counting on them lasting at least 12 years.  I'm placing drain holes on the sides, not the bottom.  I'm also sanding the bands and painting them with black Rustoelum paint , just the bands!  I'm not sure if Atreano can be kept in a container.  What do you think?


Here is a list of figs I am considering for whiskey barrels:

Improved Celeste (one huge tree)
Malta Black (one huge tree)
Conadria
Hardy Chicago (one huge tree)
Brown Turkey NOT! (I think this tree is Valley Negra)
Improved Brown Turkey
California Brown Turkey
Atreano (not sure if a pot can contain this guy)
Malta Purple Red
Paradiso (one huge tree)
Ruby 3
Orphan
Excel (one huge tree)
Panachee (one huge tree)
Mary Lane
Janice Seedless
Oregon Prolific

thanks in advance!  I'll post some pics this week of the barrels and trees.

Dennis,

I agree on the Jack Daniels smell. I had a few of those half barrels in the garage for about a month, every time I walked through the garage it reminded me of a party.

Sounds like a good plan! 

I do believe you should be able to keep Atreano, or just about any other fig, in a container with proper pruning AND root pruning every few years.  I'm growing all my figs in containers, but they're all still relatively young so I can't tell you have had one in a container for 20 years, yet.

I can't answer your question but I can admire you for growing pre-marinated figs.  So which of those figs taste best with a hint of Jack Daniels is as much an issue as anything else  :)

Hi Dennis ,
yup grow any type fig tree in a container just the aggresive ones need root work more often and pruning to keep in check.

Anyways i still have 1 whiskey barrel left that has some age to it the other rotted its wood and fell apart on way to be disposed as it stayed outdoors here year round but the steel straps were fine just rusted thats all.
Paint em for looks but otherwise they will last 12 years easily and longer since you will be bringing them indoors.


Have to say they make nice flower planters but for the fig trees i had difficult time moving them as there heavy and we have a bumpy walkway leading to yard.

Man you guys crack me up!  I really want to put Atreano in one of these barrels, but I wasn't sure if it would live there fine.  It's good to know that it can.  My Improved Celeste and Malta Black are 2 beautiful large bushes.  I know they would look awesome in one of  these barrels.  I have several Hardy Chicagos and Excel that are as thick around as my wrist.   Each are over 7' tall.  These will have to remain outside all winter.  They can not go inside my garge.  They're too tall and can handle my climate.   My Improved Brown Turkey, Callie BT, Janice Seedless, Oregon Prolific, and Mary Lane are a tad bit taller than me but they are small like a broom handle.  I think I'll just leave these guys where they are till winter.  Paradiso and Conadria are some of my oldest trees.  Both put out a huge amount of figs.  I think these 2 have to go in a barrel.  Their growth rate is amazing! 

Martin, I can lift one barrel with a tree inside with no problem.  Now I might have a sore back hours later but I can lift and tote them fine.  I'm a pretty big guy.  I do cross fit.  Plus I plan on using Pro-Mix BX which is very light.  To help me move these bad boys around the yard, I have one of those garden wagons with knobby tires.  I just strap the barrel on top and push.  I also have one of those fold-up carts that I pull behind my riding mower.  And I have another secret weapon....my son!
 
Ok, here are the ones I will put in whiskey barrels.

Atreano
Conadria
Paradiso
Malta Black
Improved Celeste
Smith

Smith is not that hardy.  It does well in my climate but we do drop down to 20 degrees.  My in the ground Smith does not like those low temperates at all!  I'm planning on taking  my large in ground tree out and potting it up in one of these barrels.  Thanks for all the input!  Tonight, I will be potting up 6 trees in whiskey barrels.

I would get Plastic Barrels like Bill's figs....

they seem fine on the long term. and are also very nice with the alumminium stripes....

Thanks Eli, I plan on getting some of those pots from Bill when I visit him this Fall. I hear those pots are 65 bucks a piece! I can get 3 barrels for the price of just one of Bill's pots. Outch! If Bill's pots were 30 bucks each, I'd get 300 of them! I'm in the process of working a deal with a company to get some 40g air pots. With these pots, I never have to root prune! YEA!!!

Dennis, let us know how that goes.  I'd love to get a bunch of 25 gal air pots.

I believe the air propruning caused by the pots work well. Dense root system will give better up take of nutrients. I don't have the room to try it. 

Looks like those Smart pots work. I haven't used them. I do have many Superoot pots and a variety of sizes ranging from 1 gallon to 15 gallon. I know they will last longer than those Smart pots.

I want to try drilling holes in one of my pots to test the theory. 

I've been using SmartPots for a little over two years.  I'm definitely a fan of them and tend to use them more in the bigger sizes because the roots will grow into the pots which makes it almost impossible to transplant to larger pots without damaging at least some of the roots.  They have held up very well, so far, and much better than the plastic pots which tend to get brittle and break in the hot South Florida sun.