Rich,
Simply painting the nursery pots white or using white or reflective skirt will decrease the temperature to a more hospitable range. The attached document is a control experiment showing an over 200% increase in vegetation and root mass between a black nursery pot and one painted white. Also attached are two Forum discussions that were started last year.

http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/3298/JohnMarkham2010.pdf?sequence=1
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/summer-dormancy-improvements-6438722
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/measuring-the-soil-temp-in-the-pots-6480114

Rich,
Figs trees aren't, but roots are sensitive to excess heat...
BTW what are your thoughts on the questions in the Opening Post?

Rich,

I look forward to your comments on the OP questions.

I believe an explanation is necessary for my comment that the Lenght of Season and Late Ripening cultivars are not a major concern for container grown Fig trees and for this 5 gallon production test. Steve (Fignutty) and Mike (Newnandawg) both commented on that point earlier in this topic.

Since the quantity of figs produced is determined by pruning and cultural practice, any healthy cultivar will produce its optimal amount of figs. Whether they ripen or not is usually due to location, available warmth and length of season, which are limited in my Zone 6. Most of the figs that I have collected to plant in my garden have been recommended for shorter season and are either Cold Hardy, Early or Mid Season cultivars, I have also collected several hardy late cultivars to be able to harvest figs over the entire season.

This is on my Sunday to-do list

I have Negronne ( different leaves than the VdB) and Battagglia in Bills half barrel SIPs and I'm familiar with them. However I bought them in May of last year and I got around 10 from the Negronne and a couple from the Battagglia.

I think you could grow a 15 foot tall tree in 5 gallons of perlite with hydroponics without too much effort. I have 2 foot tall trees with saucer sized leaves I started in December growing in just perlite in quart containers.

It might be better if you picked one variety and put them in 5 gallon containers and varied the soil mixture and watering frequency or type

For example all VdB

50/50 perlite/MG - sip
50/50 perlite MG - drip in a nursery container
90/10 sip
90/10 nursery container drip
50/50 pot in pot drip
90/10 pot in pot drip
Plant in ground as control
Etc.

Hi Rich, just an FYI. If you bought the Battaglia from Bill double check it from pics on the forum. I bought one two years ago and it was not the true variety.

I'm still not convinced that's SIPs are better than irrigation. I expected more growth and fruit from the two I have.
The hydro girl I buy my stuff from isn't all impressed with SIPs either.

I'm leaning more and more towards pot in pot with irrigation.

I wonder if pot in pot above ground would keep root temps lower?

Rich,
Thanks for commenting.

This test / experiment / demonstration is about producing a "large" quantity of edible figs in a simple, reliable and repeatable method not testing different growing medium and hydroponics culture. Since I was able to produce over 4 dozen figs on many cultivars in 5 gallon buckets last year, I've concluded that most cultivars can be "productive enough" even when confined to small containers for extended periods (years). "Productive enough" is a term that I have seen posted and have heard in conversation from several members, my question is what actual quantity is "productive enough"?

One difference between SIPs and Irrigation is that in SIPs many roots grow down and with irrigation many roots grow outwards then circle. You could set up a few experiments to test your theory. Pruning to increase fruiting branches will increase fig production.

Light colored, white painted pots and and or shade will reduce the root temperatures in containers and testing the soil temperatures with a probe type cooking thermometer is simple and easy.

Rich,
Its actually to show (demonstrate and test the theory) that any variety can be productive in a 5 gallon container with simple root and limb pruning...

Rich, that sounds more like a Battaglia. The tree I got from him was green and yellow/white inside. It had terrible fmv and barely grew. It ended up in the garbage.

I also got the Battaglia Green from Bill last summer. The one fig that developed on it (but didn't ripen, it sort of mummified!) was green, with a strawberry interior. I hope it is what it is supposed to be.

But anyhow. I have a concrete south-facing front patio where I plan to continue all my figging. Last year, that hot concrete slab, along with good soil, and southern exposure etc, worked well, I got quite a few figs on first year plants grown from cuttings, which was surprising.

But sorry Pete, I didn't count them!

One other aspect that I think helped was the use of the "smart pots." The fig plants in the smart pots noticibly larger. On the other hand, those same figs look terribly dissicated in my garage. But BLB Barry (Philadelphia Fig Kingpin) says they are probably OK.

So there is my unscientific contribution to the discussion.

One more thing Pete. I accidentally overwintered my TimsLight in my side garden. Oh I mean, I planned and executed a hardiness study on your TimsLight.  Results are pending:)

Hi Donna,
Thanks for commenting.
I've also gotten figs on several cuttings, but have pinched most, because they retard the growth of most cuttings.

I haven't done anything "scientific" just made observations and rough notes about fig quantity, fruiting times, growth habits of the different cultivars and the applied nutrients (quantity). The questions were to solicit opinions and any observations from forum members with container grown figs.

The documented in-ground Timlight and Bryantdark mother trees were free of dessicated branches and dieback as of the beginning of February (Zone 7, NYC). I have not checked them since, but will do so in the next few weeks.

Donna green outside and red inside is the right, I'm no expert on identifying, but I was able to get a Battaglia from another member so it's all good now.

Hi! Everyone,

How are you all doing? I was busy with my work. Thank you very much for sharing good information.

Best,
Tam

Hi GeneDaniels,
I think that I need a "celeste" !
Remember that "celeste" is a small fig -from what I've seen on pics -, and my figs are bigger, so on fruit's weight I'm probably getting the same amount.
As for pinching, it does not work on the strains that I have and with my season constraints - I don't say that it doesn't work at all, but that it doesn't work for me .

I broke my record this year with 100 figs from my bigger "Dalmatie" .
" IF " this winter is not bad, and next season is a bit more normal/warm, I may go for more . Time will tell .
" IF " this winter is bad, I may go for 0 figs :°°( . I'm in Zone7, my season is not long, I'm limited on space and my trees are in ground - but with protections and good cares during the season.

What is your own personal record ? Do you have pics of the tree ? What's her size ?

Sorry JD, but I don't have any pics from this last growing season.

My Celeste (or that's what I think it is) is 3 years old, started from a sucker on a old mother tree in town. The first year we had a puppy in the yard that chewed it to the ground over the winter. The second year it froze back to the ground. I was ready to dig it out last spring but my wife reminded me that was her favorite fig of them all. So, I waited to see what it would do.

This last year it grew 12-15 trunks, most of them reaching 4 ft (1.3 m) before the end of growing season. Because it was such a cold spring, it fruited late and only 40 or 50 ripened; there were another 20-30 still on the tree. And yes, they are smallish figs. But they are VERY good.

If it does not freeze again this year, I expect a bumper crop from it and my Hardy Chicago (which is about the same size).

Hi Pete.  Great thread.  Here are my answers:

What do you consider productive for a small fig tree in a 5 gallon pot?  I don't like to keep them in 5 gallon pots for too long.  But for a young tree (less than 2 years, usually less than 1 year), if I get 10 figs then I consider that pretty productive, or at least a promising sign for the future.  But, I think the youth of the tree is one of the primary limiting factors in my case.  I've no doubt that the 5 gallon size of the root ball would become the limiting factor if I'd let them stay in this size indefinitely.  I guess I've got a few trees that stayed in this size for a little longer (just because I didn't get around to up-potting), and the most productive of them was around 25 figs (a Petite Negra), but I think only about 15 of those ripened before the cold weather set in.

What do you consider productive for a fig tree in a 10 gallon, 20 gallon and 25 gallon pot?  I can only comment for 12 - 15 gallon size.  3rd year trees of some varieties I got up to about 40 or 50 figs.  (Aubique Petite, RDB, VDB, Conadria, HC).  4th and 5th year trees (Peter's Honey) I've gotten between 75 and 90 figs.  A word about pot size:  I've no doubt that if I used larger pots I could get higher yields, but I'm instead looking at ways to increase yield without increasing pot size... for me, a pot larger than about 15 gallons is just too unwieldy and difficult to move about.  Also, "ease of maintenance" matters for me.  (i.e. experiments about putting them in ground with minimal winter protection are interesting to me... may be a fool's errand, but hey, it's a hobby!).
 
Which standard cultivars do you consider too aggressive (grower) to remain in 5 gallon pots?  Almost every one I've encountered.  On the flip side (cultivars that may be able to tolerate staying in a 5-gallong pot), I have a "Dwarf Fig" from Michigan Bulb that might do OK staying in a 5 gallon pot (too soon to tell... it's only 2 years old).  Also I've had some of the Frank's Fig Unknown variety (a family tree, probably a close relative of English Brown Turkey) do OK in 5 gallon pots for 5 years or so.  I suspect there are more cultivars that you could treat with aggressive root pruning and bonsai-like culture, and get some amount of productivity out of them while keeping them in 5 gallon pots, but that's a lot of work for what it seems to me would likely be limited yields anyway.  Maybe not... I guess you guys who pay close attention to hydroponic techniques might coax some serious yields from them.  And it might be a fun experiment (and given your interest in these kinds of things, I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy reading about your results if you try this sort of thing).  It's just too much intense work for the amount of time that I can devote to this hobby though... root pruning every three years seems tedious enough to me :-)
 
Thanks again for another interesting thread, Pete.  Glad to catch it on this revival round.  :-)

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

Mike,
Thanks and thanks for the Reply.

I was able to harvest over 60 ripe figs from a 3 year old 5 gallon Champagne and 70 ripe but disappointing figs from a 3 year old 5 gallon O'Rourke. This season was too cool for ripening most cultivars in my location. The 2 year old 5 gallon VDB produced tasty figs also but the season was too short and only 12 ripened out of ~40.

Pete - were those '5 gallon' containers SIPs?

And thanks to all for threads like this, very helpful to us new growers