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How often should I water my fig trees while they are dormant?

How often do you water your potted fig trees in your garage and how much?
If i water them once a month ,is it too much? and i stop watering them once i start seeing water coming out from the bottom of the pot, am i watering them too much?

they don't need much water.
just don't let the soil go bone dry.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hblta
they don't need much water.
just don't let the soil go bone dry.

it's hard to tell when the top soil is dry but the bottom is still wet , how do you determine that? do you have a method?
So plans of mind are in clay and it's hard to tell by weight.
I know some people stick a wood with ridges on it , to tell if the soil is moist or not, but I don't want to damage the roots.
It's hard to tell when the soil is dry in those 20-25gal big pots.

I just watered mine and that will be it until spring. They are in an unheated garage.

Plunge a "cheater stick" into the soil.  Withdraw the stick and feel it.  If it is cold and damp, there's moisture near the roots....if it's dry and warm, humidify the roots with some water....better yet, dump some ice cubes/snow into the pots so it melts, slowly, over a long period.

Medium should be damp, not drippy, not soggy....just damp.


Frank

I agree with Frank. Snow or ice cubes is the way to go, melts nice and slow and will completely absorb, especially into the top layer where water will just run through.

i usually just lift the container to see how heavy it is.

Stick your finger in deep or check through the drain holes in the bottom.  Also, I don't water as much as in the summer.  I get the top wet but don't let water drain out the bottom.

    If you feel that you absolutely must water your fig trees while they are dormant, then a good rule of thumb is to give them a "little" drink at Christmas time, and then again around Valentines day...when I had just a couple of trees, I use to follow this plan, but now the trees have grown in number to where this is not practicle to accomplish (eg. 'stored very close together, and in some cases on multiple levels'), so the last few years I have stopped watering them at all, and have had no problems.

I water the pots before storage, let them drain well, then store in the garage and cold store. I have never watered fig plants during winter storage and the soil never dried that will show absence of moisture.

And I kinda have the opposite problem.  Here in Houston the trees in pots do go dormant, but it doesn't get so cold here that I feel the need to bring them in.  I will cover with an old sheet some favorites in ground and potted trees if near freezing temps or below are predicted.  Bottom line is, they are left out to get all the rain that falls over winter.  This is my first year with fig trees, so I guess I'll see come spring if there are any ill effects.

Usually I like to wait to bring mine in for a couple big rains which usually happen in November, so they get nice and heavy before bringing them in, right now the top couple inches is drier but down below is still pretty wet (not soaking though) so I will water a small amount, 2-3 cups on the 30 gallons, 3/4-1 cup for the 7 gallons and 1/2 cup for the 3 gallons, if I have anything smaller they just get a little splash.  I usually do this once a month during winter storage and then in March or April when They go out and the weather is good for a week or so I will drench them just until they start to drain.  So far I lost 2 from being too wet but it was the same variety and I think they got too cold in storage combined with the excess water, it caused them to rot.   I have only done this for the last 3 years so take it for what it's worth.

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