Is there a preferred size or shape to a fig tree? I live in the deep south and everyone just plants a fig tree and forgets about it unless it needs trimming to allow access around the tree.  I know you that live in the northern areas usually pot your figs and bring them into protection in the winter. I hear you talk about root pruning and branch pruning to keep the tree in balance and I suppose to keep it's size manageable. How large do you allow a potted tree grow. I know it has to be governed by the size and weight of the pot and soil. Do you prune it to make a maximum amount or side branches for a lot of fruit, or would a heavily branched tree be too much on the root system of a potted tree.  Our southern trees can cover a space 20 foot in diameter and 10 foot tall or better. Also when a tree has reached it's preferred size, how much fruit can you expect it to bear. Our common Celeste can bear 20 to 30 gallons of ripe figs, more than enough for the whole family and some friends.

What brings all these questions to mind is the that since the hurricanes hit us so hard in the last few years, I have no trees to get fruit from. My friends and I have lost all our trees either from the wind or the water. I currently have two young mystery yellow fig trees that tease me with a fig now and then. I have 5 new and different varieties to pot up or put in the ground this fall. My first thoughts are to put them in the ground and then maybe next year take cuttings and get some going in pots. That way I can take them with me if I move which is a good possibility in a few years. If I keep them in pots for a few years can I then plant them in the ground with no problems.

I will appreciate any and all answers to my rambling questions. I'm new at growing and learning about fig trees although I've spent a good part of my life under a fig tree with a knife in my hand.

Thanks from the heart,

Hi Gene,
 i dont know perfect answer about the container tree's just i go by what i personally do. I keep mine between 4 and 6ft tall and root prune after 3rd season in the late winter before they awaken, i say late winter because its to darn cold even in garage so i pick a nice day. I grow in tree form not bushy form.
IF i was to grow in the ground in area with hurricane threat i would surely grow in bush form and not tree form to have better chance of survival.
Other area's i would grow mostly in bush form and a few perhaps in tree form as i like the way tree form looks, but bush form gives more figs of course.
Fig tree's will keep on growing and growing if you let them, most trim them at some point to be able to reach all there figs, be able to winterize in a easy fashion, keep maxium sunlight shinning into the tree by cutting some branches, etc,etc.
How many figs can a large tree bear, more than i can eat and i have eaten as many as 30 in one day when daughter was away as its just me and her that eat them, they dont bother me like some folks with the bathroom and the latex and stuff i guess im lucky.But thats nothing compared to what a big tree can produce as you mention in your post, thats why some dry them as i have started to do and others make a wonderful jam preserve that i will one day learn how, along with cookies and the whole 10 yards. I remember my grandmas as a little kid she lived in chicago and she had 1 fig tree in a tree form and gosh we always had many many figs during the height of the season but thats another story. Just be carful about giving them away as they might come right back to you, example 1 year i was giving all the neighbors Zuchinni as i grew to darn much well after i kept doing that that year they were all bringing me bread they made with it and i got the hint as i had to start telling my daughter here bring this to school and give to your teacher!
Oh if you want to see some of my tree's for idea's in containers just search Dieseler in the search thinghy i have posted lots of pictures of my trees with more to come of some new types im trying that should bear next season.
I and some others also posted root pruning pictures also just type in root pruning also.There's another long story about that one to when tree limb poked me in neck last year and bloodied my shirt as i root pruned that tree i destroyed this year but not because of that but i do have a baby rooted as thats another story in itself and you thought you could ramble on!!!

I just enjoy talking and taking pictures and viewing others fig tree's as well when i have the time.
 ; )
Best Health

Thanks for the reply Martin,

That's the kind of info I'm looking for. I have looked at past post looking for ideas. There are some nice looking trees out there. I have a couple of extra trees which are duplicate of the one's I have in the ground that I think I will pot up this winter and grow them into bush form. You say you root prune every 3 years. Would it made a difference if I were to use a 30 gal pot?

Again, thanks for the info.

Not sure what you mean by would it make a difference useing a 30g pot.

The 5 big ones i have are somewhere in between 25 and 30 gallon and the roots fill em in 3 years time.
Here is link and you can see all roots after 3 years
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3346808&highlight=root+pruning

What I meant about making a difference in a 30 gallon pot, is I think all the pots I've seen pictures of seem to be 5 gallon buckets. I looked at the post you linked to and wow. Now I know what I'm in far if I use pots. Perhaps I might not. I saw a post where a in ground plant was root pruned around it's perimeter with a shovel 1/3 at the time over a period of time until it was all done. I assume one could do that along with branch pruning and then move the tree to a new location with out doing much damage to the tree. If that is the case I just might put them all in the ground.

Thanks once more.

Gene,

I prune all my trees quite heavily, for size control. I don't want to climb a ladder on my hill. If you store them for the winter, size control is also important. Don't be afraid to prune - all you have to lose are our brebas - which here aren't worth a wooden nickel.

If potting up from a 3gal to a 20gal is root pruning necessary and if not should I try to at least loosen up the roots a little?

Gene, I have this vision of you and a forty-foot flat bed trailer full of fig trees on the evacuation route

One thing I do not understand about our buddies way up north, around Shreveport is they put their trees in the garage. I am sure it gets as cool in the garage as it is outside. Why are the trees not affected by the cool inside the garage, are they heated?

J.A.

Sal,
if your plant has been in 3 gallon pot for 2 years or more and when you pull it out they may be tightly wound then yes i would slice from top to bottom with sharp knife in 4 areas spaced around pot and loosen it up a little with your hand afterwards, 3 gallons is not to big a pot but if plant sat in that pot for several years yes then i would  root prune.
If plant has not been in pot too long and roots are not tight i would not prune them going into larger pot. I dont root prune my plants until they have been in final pot size for several years as i pot up before roots have the chance to get tight , i might massage them a little with my hands to loosen them up some but thats it , then sing "thats amore" and pot it up!

jstall, now thats a funny thought. But nope, the trees will stay behind as I travel to Shreveport. Thats why I think I want to keep them small but yet large enough to produce a few buckets of figs. Small might mean less wind damage. I guess I want my cake and eat it too as the saying goes.

I have some friends in Shreveport that have their figs outside without any trouble. Some of the more tender ones might not make it but most have Celeste and they do fine. A lot of figs can handle 10 degrees without dying.

I see you have fishing as one of your hobbies. What kind of fishing do you do. I'm a sac-au-lait (crappie) man myself.

Later,

Thanks Martin, my 3gal figs are all less than a year old and some put on more growth then others. I hope they go dormant that is when I will re pot the ones that have put on good growth the others I will leave till next season. I guess I'm going to have see the root development and make a decision. Thanks again for the input

Gene, you know me as WhitePerchJerker and you know I go after Sac-au-lait regularly. I am 13 miles west of Logansport. I can not get to far from Louisiana. I have lost my fig trees to the winters. They died back every year but last year, only part of the tree died back. They are 6 years old. It really does not matter because they turned out to be trees that need to be pollinated, not good for anything. Lowe's and Home Depot got me. But I am learning, as I told you before. Thanks to all the good people on these forums, I am learning fast.
J.A. 

J.A., I know one day I'll be heading north to Shreveport to visit family and friends and maybe Logansport might be a nice detour. Calling it a night I have a special weekend ahead.

"gene"