Based on a presentation from 2008, here is good new information on growing figs in containers on the east coast. http://figs4fun.com/bills_figs.html

If other people have material such as this, and you are willing to share, I can format it and post it at Figs 4 Fun as well. That way everyone benefits.

Great information. Thanks for making it available.

great information thx for posting this, next i bet someone is going to make a video on how they propagate and take care of their figs. mmmmm that would be nice.

Good Info, thanks.
Is my assumption correct that the plastic cover is for keeping the moisture in and heavy rainfalls out so the soil moisture is better controlled? Mulch is good too but heavy rainfalls cam leach the nutrients away.
Can anyone comment any negative about this cover before I start trying it because I think it can be useful.
The presentation did not mention the watering technique or the function of the three soil connections to the bottom of the pot if these are to act as wicks for taking the stale water from the 3" deep reservoir at the bottom to the soil above the mesh to create perch water level until the water gradually dries out.
The proof of the pudding is in the healthy looking plants.
Now here is a good business opportunity for someone to supply PVC cuttings because it will be difficult to cut a dozen pieces for each of the plants if someone has 50 plants.

I've seen quite a few postings and links on self-watering containers that are a variation of the technique shown in Bill's pictures and description. The only thing that concerns me with this technique would be the potential problems with keeping the soil wet all the time. I thought figs "don't like wet feet." It would seem that this technique would keep the soil very wet and might limit the amount of air that could penetrate the soil. But I can't argue with the good looking trees he has. Curious to hear others opinions on this aspect of what is posted. 

Steve, Ottawan
Very good points. But I am sure if we contact this person (he also stated to contact him with any questions), all will be explained.

Ottawan a sawzall would handle all you cuts easily.

Im no expert only a amature trust me!
But this is partly what i understand .

Thanks for your perspectives Martin. I guess you are right ... it's working for him and he has good results. Can't argue with that!

Wow, I am impressed with Bill!
A no-nonsense, consistent method that produces good fig results.
A great presentation too.

I am amazed at the efforts/method(s) some people go through for the sake
of figs. I do not think that I have all that energy left in me to do all my figs
like that, but I will certainly try a couple (in a self-watering pot).

Re figs not  liking wet feet, I did have some (regular) potted ones
with a saucer. Other than for a rare constant rainy week, they sucked up
any excess water pretty fast. Either way, no serious damage was ever
oberved, just less watering was eventually needed.

Bill only lives ~40 miles west from me, maybe one day I'll visit?

Thanks also to Jon for showing the presentation.

I did have a conversation with Bill a couple months ago. He's been growing figs for the past 7 years only. I think most of us have grown figs for a while, but as serious collectors we're only been doing it for around the same time.
I might give that growing container a try with one of my trees.

Gorgi,

I've seen the same thing with the water being wicked-up from a saucer with some of my figs. It is a little different than letting the soil stay as moist as with the self-watering containers. Again, I'm not disputing the great results he has, I'm just a little concerned about root rot. Maybe is is the complete system he is using - the covers which add heat and maybe he let's the water level run down and that lets air at the roots.

I saw a great post somewhere on "earthboxes." This person used the same technique as Bill but he added some pipes with holes through the root zone for air. That would solve the air problem.

Bill visited me a couple months back, and brought me some printed pages of the presentation, and he and I worked on it to get it ready for the internet. We had a nice afternoon talking about figs. Anyone with 650 trees stored for the winter gets my hat off. That's a lot more work than I would want to go through. He has the experience and is serious about his figs and has made the effort to share that experience. Kudos for that. I certainly learned some things. Perhaps the soil warming affect of the plastic cover is enough to ripen figs sooner, or extend the season on some varieties. I  think the point is to take the information and adapt it for your own situation, and get more out of your own collection.

I agree Jon. He gets great results and I certainly learned from the posting. Thanks.

Jon and anyone else who would like to comment:

I have two figs recently transplanted in Bill's pots, one is from Encanto, it's an F. Nero, my most prolific producer, and the second is a beautiful white fig with strawberry pulp I grew from a cutting, don't know the variety but it has great sentimental value and probably the best flavor and size I have seen for this type in New York.  I don't believe either variety is supposed to have a breba crop, which is fine by me.  I am very upset and worried.  Both plants began to break buds and immediately began to produce small figlets in April.  Now, however, the figlets are turning black and falling off, but the leaves are growing slowly and apparently normally.  I wrote Bill, and he responded to me that these are breba figs and that some if not all would fall off, but that new figs would start to grow on this years growth in about a month, so not to worry.  I called Joe Morle, and he told me that when a plant is suffering, the first thing that will fall off is the fruit and then the leaves.  This seems to make sense to me.  I fear I have made a grave error with these pots and am wondering whether I should take action to save my beautiful plants by bailing on Bill's system.  Every time I try to water them the water immediately starts to pour out of the escape hole, which indicates to me the plants may be overwatered or are not sucking up the water supply quickly enough.  I do not over water them as I only try to fill the pvc tube once every week or two, although that would not appear to matter as excess water immediately drains out of the hole.  Help!!!!!

thanks

Rafael

Rafael ,
I've been growing in Bill's system for 3 or 4 years now and it has worked very well.
As long as you built it correctly and there is an air space between the bottom of the soil level and the water reservoir ,you should have no problem with drainage into the reservoir so it doesn't matter that water comes out the overflow hole , just means the plant isn't using that much this early in the season
For me plants in the sub-irrigated pots like Bill's put on the equivalent of an extra 2 months of growth compared to the same sized regular pot.
If you think you've got it built correctly , just give it some time and I bet you'll be pleased with the results.
Best ,
Kerry

Thank you Kerry.  But what about the dropping figlets???

Rafael...I have been using Bill's system for about three years now...I have three of his self watering pots, with Black Mission, Kadota, and Atreano in each...all three of the trees have breba's on them for the first time this season...so far the figs are a nice green color and don't show any sign of falling off(although I understand that dropping brebas is a common happening)...as far as the watering system, I have noticed in previous years that at the beginning of the growing season it takes very little water, and then as the season progresses the pots will use increasing amounts of water as the growing trees put more demand on the water supply...but even in the hottest months(July / August), I still only top off the reservoir once every three days, and even then it only takes a little bit from the hose before the water comes out of the overflow hole. The tree will only take the water it needs, and no more...it is virtually impossible to over water the tree using this system...."Note": as with all self watering pots, when you first plant a tree in the pot you need to thoroughly "water in" the tree from the top before you place the plastic cover over the exposed soil...this gets the wicking system activated, and soon the tree will be drawing up water from the bottom(If necessary leave the plastic cover off for several days and continue to water from the top until the wicking system is operating....as for the brebas falling off and the leaves showing some stress, that could be the side effects of transplanting into the pots.

Thank you Vince.  Is there any concern that a plant's root system may not reach deep enough to draw water from below, especially a smaller sized plant that is but one year old?  Or does the wicking system deal effectively with this issue?

Thanks again

Rafael

Rafael...all the trees that I planted in Bill's potting system were 1yr. old trees...I just took them out of the 1gal. pots and planted them in the self watering pots...I didn't even work on the root ball to break them loose or spread them out in any way...I just placed them in the pot and that was it...the self watering system took over from there...tree roots have an uncanny way of traveling to wherever the water is ...in this case they travel downward to the source of the water, and the water wicks it's way upward to meet them...if you take a look at Bill's step by step picture presentation of how his system works, you will see in one of the pictures the massive root ball at the bottom of the tree that he is about root prune...that big tree was placed in that pot as a 1 yr. old tree out of a 1gal. pot.

i took a county education class given by bill a few years ago about figs and his self watering pots. i made my own, similar to his and everything in those pots does BETTER! i use a dripworks irrigation system for watering during the summer. don't worry, when the plants fully leaf out and the temps stay warm, those figs will suck those pots dry every day. that usually happens here in west new jersey in june. if i had to choose between a swc or just a normal pot sunk in the garden....self watering every time...joel

to all that use self watering container or Bill's pots.
Is the soil mix for these pots supposed to be different from soil mixes used in top watering containers?
soil mix in my watering containers is less water retentive and allows for easy drainage, can the same soil mix effectively wick the water from the bottom?
I am in the process of building 4 of swc type pots, and supposedly have understood the principle and benefits except for wha ttype of soil mix is needed to make it wok as supposed.
ForeverFigs, Driweyfarmer 5fignut6 if you can respond, please do so it is much appreciated.

Damir

EDIT
I believe the following post provides the answer, please confirm if you can

Bill's soil is called "mushroom compost."

Hi Damir ,
I've been using Bill's system for several years with a soil mix basically like Pro Mix BX with Mycorrhizae , http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/pro-mix-bx-mycorrhizae-growing-medium/  , to which I add compost up to 20% of the mix and various organic fertilizers. The pro mix wicks well for the SIP and doesn't hold too much moisture.
An old post by forum member Duane ( he only has a couple of posts , so it should be easy to find) , may have some info on soil mixes for this system.
Best ,
Kerry