Hello Guys,

This is a fig tree that I bought last week and it came in a 10 litre container. Its a Brogiotto Nero, and its about 5-6 ft tall. The leaves started to wilt and (as you can see in the pictures), looks like it struggling. I re-potted it without disturbing the roots onto a 35 litre wooden barren container and its sort of facing south west. I used John innes 3 compost with 25% perlite and some slow release fertilizer. I live in the south east of the UK.I contacted the nursery that supplied the fig tree and they told me that it was in a pollytunned through the winter. Yesterday we had a terrible storm with gusts reaching upto 60 miles an hour, but the tree wasn't really affected by the wind. However I did notice some leaf damage and the figs on it doesn't look like its going to make it. I would really appreciate some expert advise please. I don't have a shed or garage and my greenhouse is not too big and is full of tomatoes. I am planning to get a big shed for this winter. 
Thanks a lot guys

Vinny   
 

Forgot to add this one

When you re-pot a tree it gets stressed. I would move it to full sun only after it recovers which could take about a week or two. Make sure you are watering adequately.

Hi Ginny
Looks like you are a very experienced Gardner. It doesn't look that bad to me. I think it's in a bit of shock but will pull through. I've seen much worse, I predict good things from him
Maybe a hit of some liquid fertilizer might give it a boost

Vinny - I second what Coop says. Looks like a little stress and that's it. Once those roots dig into that new soil it'll bounce right back.

That fig tree is large.  What's the diameter of the trunk at the bottom?  Maybe about 2-3 inches (5-8 cm)?  Hard to say from the photo.  Maybe more.  If they had that tree in a 5 litre pot (about 2.5 gallons), then it must be completely root bound.  They must have been drip watering it or it never would have gotten that big with the roots restricted that much.  I bet the root system can't really support that top under normal conditions.  It attained that size under nursery conditions (lots of watering, maybe in a greenhouse with extra humidity, etc. 

So even if you put it in a decent sized pot now, that doesn't change the root system that it has. 

What really needs to happen is to prune the roots so that they are able to expand properly without being so bound up.  However, if you do that now, it will most certainly drop all its leaves.  They will come back, but no fruit this year.  So you have two choices:

1.  Take it out of the pot, slice off all the circling roots.  Put back into that pot.  All leaves/figs will drop, but by the end of this season it should have recovered nicely. 
2.  Leave it as is, water it regularly (at least once per day, and make sure it soaks all the way through).  You may be able to salvage that one breba fig (woo hoo!).  It may even keep its leaves if it can recover from the transplant shock.  May even produce a couple figs this year.  However, sometime early next spring, before it puts out leaves, you will want to take it out of the pot, and do as I mention in #1. 

Vinny, if it barely gets below freezing, then you should be fine leaving it out.  Can you plant it in the ground?  That would be even better than the pot.  Maybe ask some folks where you are.  I don't know much about your climate in the UK. 

This tree reminds me of a tree I bought several years ago.  Rob is correct that it is root bound.  However, given what the situation, I'd say there is very serious compression of the roots in the original growing mix.  You can test this by trying to push a chopstick into the root mass.  If the chopstick requires a lot of effort to go in (or if it doesn't want to go in at all) then you have issues with water penetrating the root mass and the ability of the roots to move water.  The problem is worse if the tree started off in a 1-2 liter container then was transferred to the 5 liter without root work.  This issue will not be alleviated simply by trimming the outside roots.  Even if the tree does push roots into the new growing mix, the constriction of the roots will limit the transfer of moisture and nutrients to the tree.

Probably the easiest way to alleviate some of the pressure this year is to push a pipe into the original growing mix and remove plugs.  Fill the holes with your growing mix.  Another method would be to remove some pie shaped wedges starting close to the trunk of the tree.  You would want to remove 25-33% of the original root mass.  Whatever way you choose (or if you choose to let it be) you will want to bare-root the tree before next season.  In my tree, the compression had caused many roots to be girdled by other roots.

Do not plant in the ground as is.  The "ground" is part of a larger system designed to move water away from the surface.  Since the root mass has severely limited water holding capabilities, any water you try to give the tree will be taken away by gravity.  Furthermore, as the roots grow thicker, they will further compress within the area around the trunk.  Eventually this will completely choke off the flow of moisture/nutrients to the top of the tree.

Every tree that is disturbed via shipping or repotting can go through stress.  Shipping is the worse and take a toll on figs.  NEVER NEVER NEVER repot a tree when it comes in the mail.  The chance of it getting more shock is high!  Let it settle down and rest in your climate first.  This is what I do whenever I get a tree in the mail.

1.  Remove from shipping box
2.  Check for dryiness
3.  Place tree in complete shade for at least a week....sometimes 2 weeks---don't touch it
4.  Get a bucket---add some liquid root stimulator and add water
5.  Place the tree in the solution for around 30 mins
6.  Repot the tree

These are my tips that work well for me and they should for you.  Hope this helps.

Vinny I would listen to James.  

Please anybody receiving plants from me do not keep them in the shade for 2 weeks they will end up root bound!!! A few days in part sun will be plenty for them to adjust and then plant in the ground or repot.

Hello,
Just an update. I think it's recovering as you can see I put it on drip water with a 5 litre bottle feeding it slowly . I will post more pics later on next week. Thank you very much guys . Vinny

Snaglpus, you said it best but, I must say. Most of the trees I've gotten I had no problem except for one due to insufficient rootball and I also believe like your said shipping. Especially if the deliverer mishandles it.