You need a lot of big pots and a strong back to winterize.  In ground, the figs grow.  Figs grow like weeds here, but I know many of you with serious snow, want figs.  Not sure how I would handle that. 

Figs just grow here like weeds, but the thing I want, well another story.

You need to keep getting larger pot$$$!

Suzi

Containerized figs.....

Yes, they can be very heavy.  Use dollies to move pots around.

Bigger and bigger pots....That depends.  If you want decorator-type pots, yes, they are expensive.  Containers could be either pots, or, storage tubs from Home Depot.  Rubbermaid makes different size storage tubs.  I buy 18 gallon tubs, drill holes along the bottom-sides, fill it with a soiless, quick-draining medium and plant my 6 ft. trees.  When you root prune, replant the tree back into the same container filled with fresh medium.  That tree can stay in that same container for years to come without potting up into bigger containers/pots..  Prune back the top to keep the tree manageable.  You will get all the figs you need from a 5ft - 7ft tall tree with a nice rack of fruiting branches.  I get dozens (60-70, or, more)  of perfectly ripe figs from my single-stem trees each year, and ... with very little splitting and souring because I can control the water reaching the roots....something that you cannot do with in-ground trees.

The truth of the matter is this:  You can control the growth of the tree.  If the trees "grow like weeds"...pinch back the growth to 6 leaves, or, if you must, prune back the branches.  If you do this, you will not constantly search for larger pots.  Of course this all depends on the ultimate size of the tree/bush that you want.  A 6ft - 8ft tree is all I need.  All I have to do is just reach up and pick...no ladders.  Fruiting branches are trained at eye level, or slightly above.  Very convenient.  When you pinch back, and prune, you will also induce back buds to break, and the tree will grow more fruiting branches.  More figs for you.

Hope this helps.

Frank

PS.  Containerized growing methods for figs require attention, especially to watering, and nutrition.  Granted, it is not as forgiving to inattention as in-ground growing, and you must provide everything the trees will need.  I don't mind at all...but, it's not for everybody.  The trees become "pets"...and, need the same attention.

Pick your poison

Yes, Frank!  The trees are pets!  And the seeds of whatever you grow... pets!  You nurture, love, respect, and take pride in the outcome!

Suzi

Learning how to properly care for roots allows you to maintain surprisingly large trees in surprisingly small pots for a surprisingly long time, if you wish. Continually potting up ensures you'll run out of room in not much time.

Al

Al, could you elaborate!  I am sort of thinking bonsai here.  Wrong?  Correct me!

Suzi

Suzi, et al. ....

You are not wrong if you are thinking about root renewal techniques.  The same techniques that are used for bonsai, can be applied to full-size fig trees...specifically root-pruning to revitalize the root system.

Essentially, old, inefficient roots are cut away so that new, efficient, feeder roots can take their place in a given volume of medium/soil.  If a pot is filled with old, non-functional roots, the plant will eventually fail.  Root pruning forces a plant to push out new feeder roots, and invigorates.  You can do this operation  just before the root mass fills the entire pot...when the plant is just coming out of dormancy.  There is no need to increase pot size.  Bonsai stay in the same pots for decades.  You want to renew roots, not renew pots.

Al has extensive postings regarding this root-pruning technique, on this, and the other fig forum.  Much more scientific lingo too.

Hope this helps.

Frank

Frank, would it be asking too much to have you take a couple of photo's of your Rubbemaid tubs and post? Brand new at this and after reading these posts yours got my interest up. Thanks

Just a word of caution about rubbermaid tubs and the like. As far as I know they are not uv stable as are pots which are specifically designed for horticulture. What that means is in a few short years they will become brittle from exposure to the sun and begin to crack when you try to move them. Cheap now, but not so much in the long run.

I have resorted to cutting down thirty-gallon trash containers. They withstand the UV, but when filled moist compost and roots, two have split top to bottom. That not withstanding, they are not a major investment,

What are the option of a Fig tree in a 5 gallon HD or Lowes paint bucket? With root pruning and keeping it 4 / 5 ft tall?

also are the roots to be pruned the older woody ones?
thanks

Another good idea Stefano

I have seen photos of Ficus carica bonsai on European sites. SO i ahve been wondering. I have some Ficus carica Smyrna seedlings and the most vigorous is growing in a shallow bonsai pot. I am wondering if most trees of the genus  Ficus prefer to spread the roots horizontally rather than vertically. 

Anyway I have a Hardy Chicago I got at Lowes in a 1 gallon pot that i repotted in a 3 gallon bucket and is bearing about 10 figs (who knows if they will mature - but I bought it on sale at the end of June). 
So I wonder for who lives in an apartment it woudl be a good compromise.

I overwinter my hot habanero peppers by cutting back severely to  a stump, washing the roots and potting them in a 8" pot in the winter, keep them on a shelf under lights  and then in the spring pot them up in a 3 / 5 gallon bucket. 

I wonder if i could do something similar with a Fig tree. let it go dormant until the first freezes, late Dec/ early Jan but then to avoid killing the roots ina  frozen pot, cut it all back so it fits in a 1 gallon pot and then keep it indoors in a southern window  let it wake up till march/ april then put it outside in a larger pot.

something like this but not as extreme 

http://www.fatalii.net/growing/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=105

HD and 5 gallon buckets will become brittle and break as well over time. I have a few trees I bought from a man in 5 gallon white paint buckets. I don't know how old but they are starting to become brittle.

Those buckets are 2 / 3 $. if they last a couple of years it would be good enough. Anyway I have a couple on my roof, been there 2 years and are not brittle. they survived a hurricane and heat waves and the heat on a roof in NYC can be a lot more than a yard.  I heard that the same buckets that are used for food, like soy sauce or bakery stuff are made of a much more resistant plastic.  my question was more about size - keeping a fig tree small in a 3 or 5 gallon pocket and then trim it to a 1 gallon pocket to keep it in an apt indoors. 

I think no one has tried but that is what I will do. It works well with my peppers, and also with my tropical Ficus I have grown from seed (benghalensis, religiosa, now crocata, obtusifolia, maxima, cotinifolia - the last 4 are just seedlings). I have seen a Ficus carica growing between the bricks of an old wall in Milan. no soil and 15 ft above ground. I suspect the genus Ficus can do well in small spaces, it may just need a lot more water

I get food grade buckets from my local Kroger's grocery.  The deli has them and they throw them away.  Any deli generally has them, pickle buckets.  Also, pool cleaning/supply houses has them and they also throw them away, make sure you rinse them well as they contain dry chlorine (bleach).

Danny K
Marshall Tx