Hello! I've been lurking the past couple weeks and thought it was high time I introduced myself. Also... I have a question or two. But first... introductions. 

I'm excessively new to both gardening in general and figs in particular. A couple months ago a friend of mine moved into a new house with an absolutely ancient fig tree in the back yard. It sparked my interest and I decided that my foray into growing things should absolutely start with figs.

So I bought three little figs from EL. A Celeste, a VdB and an LSU purple. I only meant to get one, but they were on sale... and each of them was so particularly appealing that I ended up just buying them all. 

So, they arrived about three weeks ago. The LSU had two little leaves and is doing fantastic. However, the celeste and VdB haven't done anything. I'm trying to be cool and to give them time and everything. I'm keeping them inside so it's about 70F and they don't have any leaves so I'm not making any particular effort to get them light... 

Should I be worried? I would've thought that the buds would've started to open by now or that they would be doing *something*

I attached a picture of what they looked like when they first arrived.

Stick the 2 without leaves in the garage.  Your life will be easier if they don't come out of dormancy until May.  The one with leaves needs as much light as you can get it.  Water it when the top gets dry.  Don't let it sit in standing water.  If it gets leggy - a long distance between leaves - that means it needs more light.  I use 32 W fluorescent tubes and 23-6W CFLs on for 14 hrs/day.

Hi Bramblebee, welcome and it is so nice to meet you!

Bob - MAY!!!!  I think we first need to know where Bramblebee is located!!

How about it BB, where are you?  You can edit your profile by going into the control panel link on the top right of the page.

I'm in Kennesaw, GA - zone 7b. 

Ha!  Good call, JoAnn!  Why did I think you were in NJ, Bee?  Well, keep them in your garage till either they leaf out or your night time temps stay over 45, whichever comes first.  If they leaf out first they need light and indoor living.  Water them in the garage once every 2-4 weeks.  Water lightly when they're dormant.

Aaaaand, the one on the R looks fine.  You have healthy looking buds on it.  If you give us a close up on the one on the left so we can see some buds, particularly the top ones I can tell you more.

Well, I don't think you want to wait till May for the trees to start budding out!!  I would say more like mid March or so, go by the last frost date in you area

Welcome to the forum. Personnaly I would put them in the brightest window right now and get them going so that when it is warm enough to go outside you have some growth going. The top growth will likely be weak but it will also be putting on roots

welcome to the forum

Well... Unfortunately I am without shed or garage. It's a hard-knock life. I'll see if I can maybe find a particularly cool place in the house for them. 

I had just expected them to come out of dormancy after 3 weeks of nice indoors temperatures. 

Here is a close up of the little VdB. Sorry for the flash wash-out. All I have is a phone for picture-taking :-P

The dust you're seeing is diatomaceous earth. 

The VdB looks great.  You shouldn't have any problem with it.

bramblebee,

Welcome to the forum community. I was about to recommend re-potting the plants into 1 gallon pots, but I see that you have done that. I am currently growing several dozen fig plants in south facing windows without any adverse affects.

I purchased figs from EL last year in 2 inch pots, they were well rooted cuttings that grew over 3 feet in my short season. Their 3/4 gallon and larger figs are well branched 2 to 3 feet tall, and will bear fruit in the coming season ( I purchased VDB and Brown Turkey in 3/4 gallon). I purchased a few 4 inch pots recently (on sale) and they are well rooted plants, but they are all still dormant. Their Hardy Chicago is reputed to be a very good variety.

Keep a lookout for fungus gnats from the EL potting soil.

Good luck and Happy gardening.

JoAnn and RC - Thank you for your advice! You've definitely put my fears to rest :)

Pete - Yes. I have already experienced the gnats. When I repotted I went ahead and mixed just a little bit of the diatom-earth in with the perlite-compost mixture and also dusted the top of the soil. Annoying little buggers. Right now my figs are in the study next to my computer and I can't STAND having those pesky little gnats hanging around. 

Also, thanks for the info on the EL fig sizes. I was just on their website earlier today and was wondering exactly how big a 3/4 gal fig would be. 

I would also keep them cool and dormant until your outside temps are over 50F. Don't keep them too damp or it can rot the roots.

welcome aboard!

Welcome BB you found a great place here.