I have use of a 16 by 30 foot greenhouse and am going to plant a couple of figs in there. I am wondering if I should grow the figs in large pots or plant into the ground. I have never grown figs like this before so I do not know what issues I might face. If there are any forum members who might have some knowledge on this subject I would appreciate your input.

I don.'t have much knowledge but I do have 4 fig trees growing in my greenhouse.  One was planted in ground in the greenhouse last fall.  Three are in 15 gallon pots.  They were wintered in a dark cool barn and moved into the greenhouse about Feb 20th.  All are off to an early start and looking great.  The in ground tree is a couple of weeks behind the potted ones.  Perhaps cooler soil temperature?  I am hoping for a longer season (zone 6B) and protection from varmints in the greenhouse.

Can you put the figs where the soil wont get under 25 degrees (an arbitrary # but not far from the truth)?  If you haven't measured soil temps in your greenhouse in mid-late winter I'd keep them in pots until you do.  I imagine Maine soil temps get to 100 below zero by late September, but I've never been there so I don't really know   :)

Hope your greenhouse is very tall, because your figs will grow right to the top and puncture the plastic. It may be a better option to grow in pots so you can take them out in summer and keep the at a managable size

Grow figs in pots as they will take off very fast under green house conditions. Do not fertilize too often. I have seen many fig trees grown in pots under green house conditions grow "leggy" between nodes. To consider moving figs out of greenhouse once they do not need GH help. Just some observations.

Thank you all for your input. I think I will try planting one in the ground and others in pots. The in-ground plant will need to be pampered in the winter but I would like to compare how it does against the potted figs. The greenhouse peak is at 12 feet. I would have to keep it pruned to below that height.

The coldest part of Maine is zone 3, -40 f in January nights but only in the coldest winters. I know because that's where I'm living ;)

Hi,
I don't know your climate, but here, you would need to cool the greenhouse during at least July and August.
So planting in 20/50 gallons (80/200 liters) pots would be the best option.
You could leave them in the greenhouse, even open the doors of the greenhouse, and then haul them to the outside on the warmer months.
Inside the greenhouse, fertilizing or not, the stems will grow thinner and leaves be paler green. You would have humidity on the leaves, and fig trees don't like that.
I always advise growers to fertilize their trees and water as needed - don't underwater.

Well, try it in your climate and see for yourself. Who knows, your locales may be more suited to greenhouse use.

Problems with greenhouse figs in summer: poor ripening and splitting from increased humidity. More pests and disease ( scale and rust). I found it better to take them out in summer, but I appreciated the growing season extension

I keep all my figs in a greenhouse, in pots and it works out just fine. You have to be cautious about rust on some varieties, others don't seem to care about the higher humidity you inevitably have to deal with.
Outside I would never be able to ripen the col de dame for instance, not a single one, as my summer is short and fall can start as early as september.
I have another green fig, a tree of about 15 years old, which I bought three years ago. Unfortunately I can't determine which kind it is. Anyaway the first two years I kept it outside in full sun, but the figs didn't ripen. Now they do all, starting off first of august until mid october.
A week ago I also bought a madeleine, a noire de barbentane and a negronne but these are just young sprouts.
Off course watering them is crucial since they're in pots inside a greenhouse. In july temps can raise up to 45C, doors and windows open off course, humidity drops to nearly 20 % then.
The shading I use for the tomatoes and peppers are not needed to protect the figs, I have the impression they really love the heat.
You shouldn' t grow them in ground though, think about the ground water level that could rise during winter, I am not sure how they will react to that.
Another suggestion I read here to bring the figs outside during summer and move them back in at the end of summer should also work fine, I know of a local nursery that does that and they have great results.
In other words: to ripen the figs a greenhouse works fine as long as you ventilate, you will also have figs a month earlier!

I have had a small greenhouse for three years, I grew up in a family of contract growers in Florida with 5 acres of greenhouses and there is a single word that describes all the advantages and disadvantages of using/having a greenhouse....CONTROL!!

A greenhouse is basically a neutral environment that you can control all aspects of the growing environment.  A greenhouse will never be too wet, hot, cold, humid, dry, shady, sunlit, dark or anything else without your control.  I use my greenhouse as a shade house in the summer and as a hothouse in the winter.  If it is too hot, I open the windows and doors, if it is too cold I turn on the heat.  There is no water that I don't apply.

It is a wonderful tool that will pay for itself several times over, if you control the growing environment properly.  As to the pot vs in ground issue check out the espalier pictures posted on our forum, no problem with height.  As posted, I just bought a larger greenhouse and I can't wait to have more control over more of my growing environment.

Long answer to a simple question, but basically a greenhouse allows you to "have it your way"

A greenhouse works like a charm for me. You should see the figs on my trees inside!

I side with Pawpawbil about growing in ground in Greenhouse.
You need to take the tree outside to ripe ,fruits properly,otherwise they will be poor tasting.
Of course ,it can be done like  Jap. gardeners do:
They ,have removable top and take it off when sunny and warm outside,and so the tree,will produce,tasty fruits just fine.

They only ripen better outside if the greenhouse suffers from low light or excessive humidity. All greenhouses are not equal. In fact they differ a lot. If your greenhouse is naturally ventilated it will be hotter and less humid inside than out when the sun is shinning. If you combine that with high light fig quality can be very good. If the greenhouse is closed and heated it will be humid. Combine that with clouds and the figs can be watery.

Most greenhouses vary from dark and humid at times to hot and dry compared to outside. The cooling and ventilation systems has a large effect on the environment inside.