This has been my best grower from my rootings last spring.  I had this in a 5 gal SIP and it became a very aggressive grower.  The SIP would be empty EVERY DAY!  That's about 1.5 gallons of water sucked up every single day during the summer.  Today I found out why.

 

I've been wanting to plant this one in ground, but had been thinking of waiting till next spring to avoid possible winter damage.  But decided to go ahead and plant it, then will erect a green house over it and all my containers.  Not going to keep it warm for growing, but will put a heater just to prevent freezing.

 
Anyway.. this darn tree was stuck in it's container.
(Lesson learned: Don't use corrugated drain pipe as the wick container.  The roots will go in and wrap around and around the grooves.)  Finally got the wick containers off, so then I was able to pull the tree out. Look at those roots!  They were all stuck together and impossible to separate.

  
Why are there too wicks, you ask? My first homemade SIP didn't seem to be sucking up water effectively, so I had the bright idea of doing two wicks in the next one.  But obviously, the issue was in the potting mix, not the design.

Anyway, I got it in the ground with the help of my handy fig assistant.
 
I hope it does as well in the ground next year as it did in the container this year.

amazing roots there. I'm guessing you cut the roots before planting it.

I didn't because I had no idea how much root mass I might be seperating from the tree by making a verticle slash across that mess. I did break a few along the bottom edge. I figured they would just start growing out from there.

Should I drive my machete down the edges of that root ball?

Nice looking tree.  And assistant  :)  I'd do something to untangle those roots otherwise they may end up strangling the plant after a few years.

Zone envy.

James you should do something to cut those roots even if you have to remove it from the ground. If not you're only asking for trouble. Cutting the roots will cause a lots of small feeder roots to branch out get the tree growing properly. Another note, I'm not sure how scientific this is but I was always told to dig a square hole so that the root will not grow out and hit the packed soil and start growing in a circle again. With a square hole the roots will hit the corner and start growing outwards.
"gene"

Very nice tree, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Thanks for all the feedback. I pulled it up and sliced the roots around the edges and loosened it up a bit.  It's been replanted now.  Also, there's a fig that's started ripening.  It's yellow now.  Another week, maybe, if it doesn't get too cold?

I love your little fig helper.  =)  Let me know how your tree does.  I was told you should make your hole 2 to 3 times the size of the root ball.  You can imagine how big of a hole I dug for mine when I put it in the ground...lol.  If such a big hole is not necessary, please someone post it here.  I will be much happier about planting more trees if it's not as much work as the first one.  =)  

James,

I see you have that lovely clay soil to work with up in northern TX just like we have down south in Houston.  : (

Actually, roots love this stuff.  I built a fence recently and had a bear of a time cutting roots that lattice all over the place.  I dug up a rose bush that had a few roots as thick as my wrist.. and i'm not a small man..

From what I understand, clay is one of the best soils for growing fig trees and apparently roses as well.....lol.  It's just a booger to dig a hole b/c if it's been a long, dry spell, it becomes hard as a rock.

without the tree that pot looks like an alien . Nice roots Bbtw

don't give away my secret of using alien technology to grow better roots!

What a beautiful mess!  I'm going to have to try the SIP next year.  What potting soil do you use?