I've only grown figs in containers up til now and this year I'm considering keeping them in containers but putting the containers in the ground. How deep do the containers need to be buried? And, living in CT, with cold winters, at what point do you take them out without damaging them? Thanks for any input.

Not an expert but I have had good results burying my 15 gallon potted tree fully about 4 inches underground. It's a bit of work but I made a cart narrow enough to wheel into my house so once my tree is on the cart an 8 year old could transport it. I also make a soil wall about 5 inches high in a full circle outside the perimeter of the pot. This "pool" will hold about 3 gallons of water so when I have to water I fill it up and I'm good for 3-4 days. This summer was really dry here and I had to water every 3-4 days for most of the summer. However the previous 2 summers I rarely watered at all....the buried pot was doing fine on its own. You would not believe how many roots will run out of the top of the buried pot and when I dig it out in the fall I have traced some of these roots to be over 6 feet long!!! As far as when to bring in my trees, some got nipped by our first frost this year October 9th and all my trees had dropped most of there leaves by Mid November.  I brought them into my cold cellar then.

Good luck

I shoot for about 1/2 way. Not necessarily becaus the plants need it, but more so the plants stay stable. And don't blow over. All they really need to do is make contact with soil

I have buried pots in the past, I keep the edge of the bucket 2" above soil line.
I dont want ground surface water running over the top of my pot edge as it
will just fill with water and wash soil from the pot.
I do mulch heavily around it all when done.
Pine bark chips worked best for me.

Doug

edit
make sure to check hole for drainage before sticking pot in it.
It will need a very well draining hole, or you just build a mini pool
that will hold water.

Lukie, I have some photos of inground pots I wanted to post. We are in the same zone and it worked really well for me last year. This photo posting issue really sucks big time. Hopefully it gets straighten out by spring.

This year, I tried burying buckets fully, burying halfway, and setting them on top with much. They all seemed to perform about the same. I still had to water everyday in the heat of summer. All of them were wind proof including the ones sitting on top once the roots grew into the ground. The difference was in the labor required. It took about 5 times longer to remove the fully buried buckets vs the half buried. Even with a spade as long as the bucket and somewhat sharpened, it was difficult to get a clean cut of the roots.

In the future, I'll just bury a few inches.

Remove after they go dormant but before it gets to cold out.

I appreciate all the info friends.

I set my 15 gallon pots on top of the ground and mulch around them with straw.  After a couple of weeks I don't need to water.  By November, the root system is huge.  I go around the pot with an ax first, then a shovel.

Where in ct lukie

I'm in Bridgeport, CT

Lukie --

I was born in Bridgeport and grew up in Fairfield.  My parents and wife were from Bridgeport too.

The best advice I ever saw about pots in the ground is to be sure that the holes are on the side, not the bottom.  It's hard to cut roots coming out the side but almost impossible to cut roots coming out the bottom.

I think it's good to get the plants seriously dormant before taking them inside.  I like to give them many nights with temps down to <35F and at least a few down to 25-30F.  The leaves will have fallen off or will be easy to remove.  This year, for example, I brought mine inside in early December just before temps went into the teens.  Then if you keep them cool (<50) all winter, they'll still be dormant in mid/late April, when you can bring them out without fear of frost damage.  

Small world man, Happy New Year by the way!! I went to school in Fairfield. I see you now reside in Rhode Island, I spend as much of my free time in the summer as I possibly can all alone the shore. I really like it out there. What varieties do you grow?

Kool im in stratford. Happy new year. What kinds you grow

Hey Lukie, thanks to Toronto Joe, I think I might have figured out this photo posting thing. As you can see from the photo I buried the bottom two thirds or so of the pot. Because in my yard there isn't much soil, I had to build up the beds. This made it much easier to dig in and bury the pots. I used pots with holes on the sides, as stated in previous posts. I also covered the beds with water permeable block. This kept the weeds down, soil temperature even and the soil soft for any roots escaping through the holes. The soft soil also made it easier to dig out when the fig went dormant. I used grass clipping between rows to keep the weeds down. I also set up drip irregration for when I went on vacation. However, being retired I mostly watered by hand. I am also zone 6A and use this system for two years without any issues. IMO, burying the pots prevents tipping and keeps the root system at an even temperature. As the tree aged, I increased the pot size. Eventually the larger trees went into a Bills fig type SIP. I didn't dig up the trees until they went dormant and the leaves fell off. Hope this helps.

Hello everyone,

I have figs in containers that are not IN ground but ON the ground. I made large holes in the bottom of the containers and the roots easily grow into the soil under the pots. The big advantage here is that in the fall you don't have to labour that hard, you just cut the roots by horizontally putting the spade under it. It works!

Black pots do get hot in the sun. In my garden the pots are protected against the sun by flowers and knee-high berrybushes. Works really well and looks nice, too.

I was thinking of trying something crazy. Cut the bottom out the pot. Attach a metal screen to let the roots grow massive out the pot. Then winter time. Use a saw or sawsall to cut the roots. I wonder how the fig would respond to cutting its roots like this every year. I think I might try it on one or two.

The advantage for me is keeping a smaller pot. Hopefully the fig will think it has more room. I wonder if trying to grow roots every year would decrease fig production?

I noticed some plants did better than others. Most of the better plants had massive roots growing out the pots. I'm not a fan of sips.