My office window at work gets more sun than any of my home windows so I am growing some of my recently rooted figs there.  The three on the left are Battaglia Green and one on the right is Kathleen Black.  The KB was started from a one node cutting (thanks Bullet08!) that I totally buried in the growing media.

I tried using various forms of BT to keep down the fungus gnats but in the end what worked was to take off the the upper inch or so of soil and replace with sand.  Then I noticed the gnats congregating around the drainage holes - d'oh!  So what I have on there now is old panty hose (yes I got a strange look from the wife for this request) held on by rubber bands.  This did indeed do the trick.

My only concern is that even though they do get some direct sun on sunny days, such as they are in January, they haven't done any real growing for at least 6 weeks.  Is this typical for figs overwintered in this fashion?  Is the only way to get growth in the winter is to put them under grow lights?

Steve

when they are ready they will take off. nice work with the gnat controll i will have to try that one.

Yes, Spring can't come soon enough!

Growth is mostly temperature related IME. More hours of light help too.

Yes, the thought crossed my mind that it is temperature related.  I know the thermostat does go down a bit overnight and on weekends so this is definitely a factor.

Hmm, that's a great idea, but I just want to know what you tell your co-workers about those strange looking little trees wrapped in pantyhose.....  : )

That window has to be cold too. It is probably a good thing because when it is warm and they don't get enough light they grow weakly. And our days are still so short. They look great to me, keep doing what you are doing.

Steve, amazingly no one has stared at them long enough to figure out that it is panty hose wrapped around the containers, or at least they have decided not to ask!  However, I have to admit that my co-worker next door now has fungus gnats in his potted plants.  I suspect that has something to do with me...

Looking good :)

Ha, that's funny about your co-worker having gnats now.  Do you like your boss?  Does your boss have any plants in their office????

Great idea!  Love the panty hose!  I'll be shopping for sand and panty hose tomorrow!
Suzi

Will definitely try that pantyhose idea. Thanks.

Grow lights definitely make a difference if you don't have a bright window. I tried growing my cuttings indoor without them and they grew very leggy reaching for some light. The next year I got my first grow light rig and there was a night and day difference in plant health. I just bought another rig for my taller plants last week because they work so well.

I love the sand and panty hose idea! Please update in a few weeks. I did something similar with perlite before but roots started hanging out on top of the soil in the perlite for some reason.

Steve, good point about my boss.  She is several doors down but within reach of the gnats for sure.  She does indeed have some nice plants.  I haven't gotten up the nerve to ask whether she has a gnat problem yet!

Jason, I have some grow-lights but had been think of saving the energy by using natural light; plus at some point the system will be used for veggie seedlings.  However, I will have more rooted cuttings coming along, and limited window space, so I should probably start using the lights for figs, at least for a while.

Steve , love the sand and panty hose idea ! I've put 1" of DE on top of soil and that has kept them down to a minimum also. Gotta try the panty hose now too. I'll get a bag of sand just in case they decide to take off again.

Just lugged home a couple bags of play sand from HD.  If I knew how cheap it was, I'd have done it a long time ago!  Now to look for cheap panty hose....  Here, where I live, it's very casual.  NOBODY wears those things!  LOL!  And even the new property... rural.. cowgirl stuff, farmer stuff.  I don't miss those binding things at all!!

Suzi

Suzi, good luck with the sand.  The lack of "formal" attire is so west coast and I personally wish this trend would spread east!  I work with medical researchers who come from all over the countries the most casually dressed ones are from the west.