I'm thinking of planting a number of my figs in 15 gallon pots and have a couple questions.

-How long can they be in a 15 G pot before they need root pruning? Most will be moved up from 3 or 5 gallon pots.

-What would be good spacing between the pots? 

Gina 15g pots 2 seasons then a root prune , some types can be more aggressive .

You ask good spacing between pots ?
I like to be able to freely walk between them to pinch pick and eat and or take pictures without getting poked.

Thanks Martin. :)

Right now I'm still assessing which figs are going to be 'The Keepers' verses 'The Culled'. A two year window (before having to root prune) sounds about right for deciding about most of them. By then most will be in their 4th year.

One of the good things about figs being in pots, if I put them too close together, I can adjust spacing. Once planted in the ground, not so easy, lol.

Ah well, maybe the ground is just a very large pot  (when it comes to moving a tree, I mean).  I didn't know two seasons for 15g (as Martin said).  I was planning to do every 3rd year, rather than every 2nd.  Too soon to tell if 3rd year is too root bound  (but for 10g pots I think 3rd year is too root bound).  Guess we can compare notes next year Gina.  

Mike   central NY state, zone 5a

Yup Mike to truly keep them at their best every 2 years in a 15g pot.

I know im picky about the best for them , the smaller the container the faster they get rootbound and
more difficult to get water and fertilizer where it truly belongs as it should run more down the middle not pool up and or run to
the sides of the pot looking for a way out.

My 30g i go 3 seasons then they get a rootprune.

Martin, you are sitting on a goldmine of information.  Which fig varieties are you keeping and which (that you remember) have you thrown away?

my 5 yr old trees are still in 10 gal tubs. they are doing just fine and giving me about 60-80 figs per season. if i want more, i guess i can move them to 20 gal tubs. 

Thanks Martin.  Guess I've gotta figure out a good root pruning strategy.  I've seen a few other threads on here with good pics of pruning roots.  Not sure what tools I'll use yet.  Seems like root pruning becomes the thing that convinces pot growers to limit how many trees they keep  (if they haven't already set limits, that is).  Something I never had to worry about back when it was in-ground trees only.  :-) 

Mike

RC i said some were keepers in past and gotten rid of them like 10 year old Sals EL it practically outproduced everything each season but feel down list in personal taste little by little.
I dont really want to mention much else because my palate is my palate please no offense intended but don't want to discourage
nor encourage anyone to somethig they may or may not like or do well for them per there growing experience.

Mike,
I show some root pruning pictures tomorrow in new thread for those curious how i like to do it .
Its the only thing i despise most with container culture as growing them comes easy for me.

Gina i apologize if i took thread in another direction.

gina,

i have to. this yr my VdB put on 80+ figs, and Paradiso Gene about 60. Kathleen's Black around 40. but we had too much rain and most of the figs soured. last yr, little less figs, but they were much better tasting. production on some figs are just not up there. White Greek is going into 4th yr, but this yr, it only put on about 10 figs. Black Madeira is in 2nd yr and it took some time getting used to the new container.. only about 6 figs. my other Black Madeira in 3 gal put on 10+ figs.

i did emergency root prune in early spring since the soil was compacted and didn't look like the water was getting to the root. this winter, i'll do major root pruning, taking about 1/4-1/3 of root mass out. per martin and others root prune every 2-3 yr is suggested.

take about 2" off top, bottom and side, then take about 1/4-1/3 wedge out of the root mass. replace the soil/root removed with new soil of the same type. about same portion of the top (branches) will have to be removed to balance things out.

Sorry for getting in on this late. I think there are many factors which effect how often root-pruning needs to be done... including the method of root pruning. Martin cuts wedges out of the root mass. I can see how this method would require maintenance every 1-2 years (alternating where the wedges are taken out). I used to (and will again if/when I go back to growing in containers) bare-root my trees and remove a large % of the roots. Some of the more aggressive varieties would occupy a container within a growing season. Others could probably go 4 years or more without root work providing the growing mix lasts that long.

Growing in containers is a series of compromises. I'm not arguing one method is better than the other... they just require a different set of compromises.

Gina,

I moved mine from a 3 gallon to 15 gallon container. A 10 gallon container does not buy enough additional capacity.