hi
I was wonder can you put plants in ground and then dig up to pot them in fall? Is it  any good will plants grow bigger and better. This will be my first try as i live zone 5 nwnj along the pa ny border. all my fig trees are potted

Thanks
dennis

Better is to plant your potted trees directly into the soil (pot and all) just a few inches deep and the roots will grow into the soil for better growth. In the fall you can cut off the external roots  and store  the potted plants in a protected area.

Planting trees into soil and then re-potting them would be too much work for you and too much stress for the figs, IMO.

I started out with a UC Davis cutting, laid it on it's side, covered it with soil (like the old Greek does), and I got a fig!  It sat there for a year with one leaf.  Next year it had two!  Crazy!  We dug it out, put it in a pot, and now it thrives!  Guessing it didn't like the spot where it sprouted, but potting did not set it back.  It now has 5 leaves, is about a foot tall, and is about to make a new leaf!  There is even something that looks like a baby fig.

Dennis, there are a couple threads that discuss what Frank mentions about burying the pots.  Here is one: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Container-Volume-vs.-Tree-Size-5800124

I would think burying the pot in the ground, rather than the tree directly, would be preferable in every regard.  If you can put the holes on the side of the pot (right near the bottom), then it should be easy to cut the expeditious roots come fall.

It is doable and you will get lots of growth, but as most would agree, not the best practice. I know a grower who routinely plants in ground and will move trees around from time to time. They grow very fast that way, but I feel once in ground they should stay there.