Hello all,

I am new to figs and relatively new to this site (I've posted only two other times).  I would really appreciate some advice on my Brown Turkey Fig.  I have one in a five gallon pot that I would like to plant in the ground.  I have a nice sunny spot that is restricted in size.  I was reading on the internet that you can plant it in a 'fig pit', a hole lined on the four sides with paver blocks and then 9 inches of crushed pot at the bottom.  The idea is that it will help the fig stay small and fruit heavily.  Has anyone heard of this and/or actually done it?  Is root pruning needed if you use this technique?  Is it a good idea or would it be better to just plant the fig in the ground and prune the top heavily each year?  Thanks for any advice!

Paul

Paul,

I have seen fig trees, some of them quite large, growing out of the side of retaining walls, in brick planters that maybe held a cubic feet of soil, even out of the side a second story wall of a building.  I don't think the set up you describe will restrict the growth of your tree too much. 

Another alternative is to bury your container in the ground and cut it out at the end of each year.  Cut a few holes into the side of the container before planting.

~james

I have never heard/read of such a fig-pit. My taking on that, is that the enclosing
walls will need to be very 'tight ' in order for the roots not break loose (good luck!),
but that may produce a very undesirable swamp fig condition. I have heard of
something similar, but on the contrary, used to improve drainage... I think that
your best bet to keep a fig on the smaller size is to pot it, but  that will require more
care, e.g., watering.  More  heavy pruning will still also keep it in check, if you
just choose to plant in ground.
George (NJ).

P.S.
I may have missed one point! One can do such a fig-pit,  maybe with raised
edges (to avoid runoff water coming in), that will make it somewhat like a leak-
proof  ( no drainage holes)  'sunken' pot, and assuming normal rain fall in your
area is not too excessive (which may drown the fig).

Here is the pasted excerpt that I read on the internet:

"You could grow it in a really large pot, potting on gradually each year from the 3litre size until ending with perhaps a wooden half barrel. There should be plenty of crock in the bottom and ample drainage holes. If you want to plant in the ground you can either plant in say a 38cm (15in) pot plastic or terracotta and sink that rim deep into the soil, or in the traditional way make a fig pit lined with four paving slabs set on their sides to form a square and with a layer of about 23cm (9in) of broken bricks in the bottom. Fig roots need restricting in this way or the trees go mad and grow too big"   What you guys are saying makes a lot of sense.  I don't think I am going to mess with this.  It was interesting to read about though.  If I plant the pot in the ground each year and then dig it up to sever the roots, is it a good idea to still remove from the pot to root prune?  The tree doesn't need to be overwintered.  I would only dig it up to sever roots.

This is more of a theoretical idea for me as I have not done this before...

When you cut holes in the container then bury it in the ground, the roots will grow out of the container and into the native soil.  With a sufficient number of holes, most of the roots will grow this way.  When you sever the roots, that is your root pruning.  Since there isn't as much root growth inside the container, root-pruning is more a function of the integrity of the growing mix.  If you don't need to overwinter the tree (and there aren't drain holes in the bottom of the container), you don't need to remove the container from the ground... just cut the roots.  If the tree doesn't normally go dormant, you could cut the roots in stages over a month or two period of time.

~james

Thank you James and George for you input and insights.  It was very helpful.  I like the idea of planting the pot with side (not bottom holes) and severing the roots each year where they exit the pot without removing the pot from the ground!  My only question then becomes, do you think the soil will be too saturated inside the pot at the bottom if there are no drain holes there?  Even if I put some on the sides near the bottom, it seems that water will collect at the bottom since I won't have gravity on my side.  Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

Paul

Paul:one More thing:Every year if the holes are blocked by roots you have to drill extra holes.
If not ,you have to take it out of pot ,trim some encircling roots,and set it back in a different position,so as ,that the cut roots do not block the drain holes again.
Do not worry about water collecting at bottom.
Just drill the holes as close to bottom as possible on the side.

My thoughts were of a container with more than just a few drain holes along the bottom of the side.  I was thinking more of a perforated side with many holes from top to bottom.  Basically, the container side is a guide as to where to cut the roots with the shovel rather than containing the tree itself... if that makes sense.

If you used a root-pruning container (Air-Pots, Rootmaker, etc.), you could minimize the need for annual root cutting.  As the roots get thicker, they would girdle in the hole they are growing through.

~james

I understand....that makes sense.  Thanks for clarifying that.