So I was at a local nursery looking at the fig trees and one of the folks came over to see if I needed help. I told him I was looking for another VdB but didn't see any out. He told me to walk across the street to their overflow field... so off I go. Once I find the fig trees I see they have a couple hundred and I find the VdB row. They are all fresh from the nursery recently up potted around 3-4 foot tall with just a few leaves growing from a top node. As I was scrutinizing them the guy that manages their overflow field walks up and asks if he can help. I tell him I am looking at the VdB's they have but looking for one with more growth. He tells me they have all just recently arrived but he does have one plant with more growth if I don't mind a shorter plant with "character"... so he walks me over to this plant

So this plant has obviously been around the nursery for a while... looks like someone broke it in half and it grew back short and squat... I noticed it has 9 well developed stems growing. The guy says "this is all I got if you don't want one of the new ones"... I say "That's the one I want" SOLD

You an see the size of the trunk by comparing the quarter at the base of the tree in the photo.

I planted it right away in a nice spot on one of my banks. It was slightly rootbound in the 5 gallon bucket but the roots looked healthy. It has been in the ground for 2 weeks and the leaves curled slightly but no other signs of stress and the leaves still look quite healthy. Figs are starting to come in.



It would probably be smarter to pinch off the figs to let the plant continue to get established, but I figure this tree is at least 2 years old I am tempted to let them (the figs) grow out and see what happens... what do you all think pinch off or let em grow?

You never know what kind of ugly ducklings your nurseries might be hiding away!!!
Tim

Looks like my vdb. It goes from long finger leaves to single lobed. Let that sucker make figs. It will have plenty of time next year. The roots,will be established and ready to fire up. Keep them unless you see the tree not continuing to prosper. Or you can keep a few but go for it.
Richie
LOUISIANA

Hi TGO,
That tree looks happy, and strong. Let her fruit !
Don't forget to fertilize and water it , especially this first year .

Thx for the responses, I will leave the figs on and see what happens!I put 4 fig trees in the ground this year so far and this tree is by far my favorite, I ck on it every day lol... of course my overall favorite is thd figo preto I got from Jon, it is doing well but will stay in a pot for this season anyway. Regards, Tim

What a cool looking little tree!  Keep us posted on how the fruit turns out!