I read that when you plant a fig tree in the ground, ideally you need to confine the roots inside a well drained concrete box or with bricks or rocks in a ring around the roots in the soil.

The book said that if you don't do this, the fig will take many years before it starts to make fruit. I'm a little skeptical, but is there any truth to this? Or is it a myth?

total lie.

edit: i'm the forum drunk. so i was too quick to reply :) by the way, i had a pint of gimlet and chasing that with few pints of Guinness.. so excuse me while i kiss the sky :) 

fig unlike other fruit trees will put on "fruit" very early on. a cutting that you have rooted this spring will possibly put on a fig by the summer. there is no reason to choke up the roots to get the "fruit". 

I started a cutting March 2013. I put it in the ground (open loose soil - not confined) November 2013. It now has it's first Breba crop at about 50% full size.

The more roots the more fruit and the stronger the plant will be.  Let the roots range far and wide!

Welcome to the forum, BTW!

dang it..  i forgot. welcome to the forum :) 

welcome to the forum
 pete :)

Thanks guys! Glad to hear it. I thought it sounded a little suspect. But then, since figs are native to fairly rocky/poor soils (true?) I though I'd better confirm.

Interesting. Two more root questions:

1. If I get a tree that is root bound out of the pot, should I try to "loosen" the roots before planting in the ground? Or just put the whole thing in and let the tree figure it out?

2. Let's say I get a tree that is a few years old from a friend. It has an unknown history, but has probably been stuck in an undersized pot, suffered lack of water, and otherwise neglected... Is that tree worth putting in the ground? Or am I better off getting a younger tree from a nursery which is maybe smaller, but has never been stressed out?

In other words, once a young tree has been set back or stressed out in its first few years, will it bounce back if put in better conditions? Or do you think that it would be permanently stunted due to "childhood trauma"?

For tall varieties can greatly limit the roots materials at hand. The plant will produce more fruit.

Welcome to the forum.

A tree that has been growing for several years would always be preferable to me over new nursery stock. Especially since you can never be sure of what you are getting at a nursery despite what the label says.

Look at some of the root pruning threads on here, it's amazing what a sawzall can accomplish.

In Russia fig cuttings, seedlings often acquire from acquaintances gardeners.

Thank you! I read up a bit on one of the root pruning threads, and will read more.

Is there any need to root prune if a tree is in the ground?

I would have to do the sharpened copper pipe technique that James described rather than dig it up, obviously.

Just planted the trees a few weeks ago. They are just 2' tall with calipers of 1/2" to 3/4". So I'm thinking into the future here. Maybe since they're in the ground there is no advantage to root pruning? Or would it still be stimulating to them if done after several years? Or will the damned gophers "root prune" for me, whether I like it or not? Lol. (P.s. I planted all trees in protective chicken wire gopher baskets).

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Also, some of the trees were a bit root-bound in their small 4" square x 8" tall nursery containers. Out of ignorance, I didn't loosen their rootballs too much before planting. But now they're in the wide open ground... So will they correct that themselves?

I'm in zone 9, Northern California.

One should not have to root prune an inground tree .

Hi Norcalfran,
The theory is that fig trees will go leaves and wood if left with too much place.
Some say that if you restrict the roots of the tree, the tree will go fruits instead of growing wood for wood.
Some do pinch to get the tree to focus on fruit and not on wood.
For my Zone 7, making too much wood is useless, because of winter die-back.

I'm making the test ... But still not able to report, since I started restricting roots two year ago only . I'm using 80 liters trashcans.
This year will be the first real productive year for these trees.

As for the root-bound tree going in ground, I never touch the roots, and the trees grow well.
The only tree I have problems with is a "Longue d'aout" - But rodents have been messing her roots up, and I might well move her to a new place ...

Thank you JDSFrance! I would love to hear how your test turns out. I look forward to your report.

Greetings and welcome to the forum.
This book if I remember correctly touches on confining the roots of fig when inground...

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Growing-Figs-Under-Glass/dp/1446537641/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395531380&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=growing+figs+under+glas