Drivewayfarmer inspired me so I wanted to share a third of my container trees.  Those with black plastic tops are my man made self watering pots.  Last year I tested these out to just plain on watering from the top.  My healthiest trees were those watered from the bottom!  Those on my patio are in the Walmart self watering pots, 16in and 11in.  All are being watered using 1 gallon drip emmitters.


These picture only show about two thirds of my container garden.  I love to see neighbors faces when they walk by!  I had a snapping turtle problem last year.  I live only minutes from the river and adjacent to a creek.  They were eating my bottom hanging figs until I caught one.  He's now in Turtleville. 

And the bowl of figs is just an average daily pick of figs.  Enjoy.

Wow!  Great job Dennis!  I envy you guys with all your green grass!  We have to WATER to get ours green!

I envy your daily harvest too!  One of these days............ :-))

Suzi

Dennis
Great picts.  What is the fig at 4 o'clock, the striped one, in the second pict of the daily harvest?

Holy cow! I've got to step up my game.

Again, this is only two thirds of the containers!  There's about 250 more on the southwest side of the house and pool.  These too are on drip irrigation.

Danny, that one was Smith and that bowl is my fig bowl.  It's 16inch in diameter.  The big green one was White Greek JV and the big yellow ones are Excel.

Best thread of the day right here!  :)

Lord, PLEASE help me not jump over his fence.

Wow... very impressive.

I formerly thought I had a lot of figs in pots, lol. Thank you for making me think my collection is 'normal', lol.  :)

In total, how many pots do you have? What size pot(gallons) do you utilize the most for your figs?
And, how long does it take for you to root prune your collection?  I would guess that you only prune a certain percentage of the figs each year.

Thanks

Dennis,

Wow.

Are the photos from last growing season? I have a few of those SWCs from Walmart. Now I know what happened when I went back to buy a few more. I bought four and there were 25 left.

From what you say and what I see, then you must have about 100 trees in containers...in addition to your in ground orchard. Will you please post a few photos of the in ground trees?

Thanks for sharing the photos. Great work!

Very Impressive.

I hope Turtleville is not a euphemism for eternal damnation.

Terrifig! 

Tell me about the clothes pins. Thanks George SLC Utah

Dennis, that is one marvelous collection. How old is your habit? Do you move your plants around for the sun exposure? I see you have tall trees also.

You are the King of potted trees! I bow down to you Sir Dennis. What you've done is amazing to say the least. You have to be proud of your mobile orchard. WOW!

I only have one thing to say......WOW!

Nice work Dennis. Thank you for the photos.

Navid.

WOWW Dennis you are awesome. Your so lucky to have the time for all those trees. Keep figgin and God Bless.

thx for sharing dennis.  looks like a labor of love.  very inspiring.

thanks for the kudos! The clothes pins are use to cover up one or 2 figs using brown coffee filters. I'll take photos of the orchard some time in Feb. First I have to fix a hole in my irrigation line and add more mulch to my trees. I got 3 truck loads coming in 2 weeks. How old is my habit? In Charlotte, it started in 2005. But I started growing my own fig trees in 1995 in Marietta Georgia (West Cobb).

These photos only show 2 watering links in my irrigation system. I have 3 additional water timers that water the orchard and 2 other container gardens. I can't show the other container gardens because they are tucked away inside my garage and greenhouse. Those are smaller than theses. They're in 1, 3, 5 and 10g containers. I'll take pictures of the other part this spring. I've only moved one tree last year from too much sun, and that's Petite Negra. The others are fine where they are. Here are the pots I use.

Wow... Nice container garden.  Those are some containers I need to find at local hardware store.  Thanks for sharing.  

Dennis ,
That is just a beautiful sight.
If you do move some to the Bills Figs type containers , you will have to buy the place next to you !
I showed my wife this and she said she was thankful my space was limited , except when she saw those daily bowls of figs ,that made her change her mind.
Fantastic job Dennis , lets see more pictures when you can.
Best ,
Kerry

Bumping this for the beauty of it.  ;)

Dennis, all I can say is wow. You have been a busy man.Good to see them.

Dennis, WOW, WOW, WOW, just I want to know how Many people you hire to do the fig shuffle, and to winter them, and when the weather warms out, to get them out.
that is Impressive,
Mark

Thanks Franks for bumping this thread. Thanks Tim! It's been a while.....good to see you posting. Mark, I don't do the fig shuffle like I use too. I got too many. Those sitting on the concrete patio remain outside all winter except for a few young rare ones like Rouge de Bordeaux, Ruby 3, Ruby 4 and a few others. I just did not want to risk leaving trees outside in 25 degree weather under 2 years old. So, about a third of those I did move inside. For those in 20+ gallon containers out in the yard.....98% of these remain out all winter un protected. Now, I did move 10 of those inside b/c I wasn't sure how they would do in my climate. Those like Noire de Caromb, Black Mission NL, Carttengna Negra, Macool, Black Maderia, Maltese Falcon and others....I had to move inside. thanks,

I have a huge case of Dennis envy. That is fabulous. I enjoyed the pictures very much. Thank you.

Those are such beautiful trees, Dennis and delicious-looking figs.

noss

Hi Dennis,

   I'm new to all this yet found myself ending up with about 50 or 60 fig plants that I have in black plastic pots with holes in the bottom. I intend to transfer most of them to my land sometimes within the next two to three years.
I was wondering as to your potting Mix in those self watering containers , how often do you feed your plants and how much? It looks like they could use a lot of food.

I will post a picture of my pots ASAP..

Thank You

Hi Sas,  Wecome to the forum!  I was going to ask the same questions about the potting soil and plant food.
I saw, on your profile page, you planted your trees by the river.  What river would that be?  It looks like a very lush and fertile area you chose for your trees, so much luck with your fig growing.

Hi Dennis,  I got several of these pots when I was at Walmart the other day.  It looks like the potting soil would be able to sift through the slots in the bottom of the pot--Is it supposed to do that and is that how the water gets up to the roots?

Thanks,

noss

Hi Noss

As you can see in the pictures, the San Gabriel river is about 150 to 200 feet past my first two planted trees. I chose a Brown Turkey and a Kadota that I purchased from Lowes and Wal-Mart for $20 a tree. I just put them into the ground to see what happens this summer. I had to recover the Brown Turkey roots that were partially exposed by some hogs perhaps less than a week after I planted it. There was no planning I just decided to put the two trees into the ground and see if I could get a couple of figs this year. They look like they are at least two years old when I bought them. I also got hit by the poison oak and poison ivy twice in less than a month which slowed down my work dramatically. This property is mainly used for hay and along the edges was never cleaned for many years now.
I will at some point clean up the areas around the edges of this property and plant my trees as close to the river as possible. This property has over 3300 feet of frontage along the river, but the banks are high. I'm hoping that the humidity will do the trees some good. It's an experiment. Most probably I will not irrigate or fertilize etc... I just want to see what Mother Nature does.

Thank you for the photos Dennis. They all look great.

Nice looking place !  Best of luck with the trees . Hey hows the fishing ? Welcome to the forum .

Thank You JR. I heard that there might be some fish in that river but never saw any yet, as this property is too new for me. The other day I saw some guys with a boat trying to fish and they told me that they were fishing the place since they were kids and took out a 35 pounder out that place once. I'm having a problem believing it since if I go upstream a little bit the river appears to be shallow clogged by debris such as heavy branches and tree logs. If you're wondering as to how I found it, try http://www.landwatch.com/ . It took a long time to find it.
I will try to post some pictures in a new topic at a later date.

Thanks! Noss, the water gets to the roots by wicking. It's the same theory and system that Bill uses and others using self watering pots. But you must have a good mix to ensure the tree is getting water. The soil in the pot goes all the way down to the bottom in the middle, so as long as there is water in the reservoir, the tree will not dry out. Plain ole MG will work fine but All's mix will not....it's too fast draining. I use UPM, MG and I also make my own mix using Peat Moss, Cow Manure, Mushroom compost, Perlite, and lime (not the white fast acting stuff) in a ratio of 2/1/1/1 and a cup of lime. Soil medium will compact so when you add your mix half way, press the center gently to compact it add your tree and add more mix. Like Bill, I mound the soil about 3 or 4 inches above the rim. In other words, sit the tree high in the pot, add your fertilizer and for prettiness add some pine bark. I shower the tree on top with water then I fill from the bottom. I don't move the tree around once I place it unless I really have to. The pine bark keep squirrels out and the bark keep the soil in whenever it rains heavy. And if the tree gets too much water, it simply comes out the refill side. I like these pots. Just wish they were larger. cheers,

Thank You for the recipe Dennis.

Sas,
IMO, you may want to trim that Kadota down to 3-4 branches for this year. It well help them grow better and faster. If the BT looks like that, then you may want to trim it also.

I have seen some pretty big cats come out of rather small holes. Nice property, I wish I had some river property with free bacon. Glazed ham dressed with figs, mmmm.

Thank You for your suggestions Calvin. Perhaps I will wait until next year just to see if these two trees will make it till then as there are hogs, deer, squirrels and rabbits that might trim them for me perhaps LOL, not to mention that I do not have any irrigation or feeding plan. I did this on impulse, bought the land and the trees hoping to eat fresh figs someday. I would be reluctant to trim them now that the growing season is on the way. I just hope to be able to get one or two figs perhaps this summer just to see what they look like. I'll keep you posted.
I still have many rare baby fig trees coming this summer that will be in pots in front of my home for a while just like Dennis's set up but on a much smaller scale. I believe that preparing the site is going to be key and since I'm doing this solo at my own time it's going to be a while before I’m really ready.

I just purchase some 9.5 Inc Containers from Walmart and hooked them up to a timer. I will be using them to propagate some of my new figs this summer. Unless otherwise suggested, I will probably repot next season.
I put on the 1 gallon drip irrigators from the top and set them up for 3 minutes daily for now just to test.
They are sitting on a table to protect my plants from rabbits for now.

Sas, may I suggest something? The pots work great and you're going to love them. But your timing may be off a little. Remember, you're using 1 gal emitters. They drip 1 gallon of water in one hour. Your pots hold about a half a gallon of water. So, I recommend running your drippers for 30 minutes twice a week. If it gets warmer, and it will, you're going to have to water them every other day. If you get to the point where you have to water them every day, that's fine but there maybe 1 or 2 pot that will want more water. In that case then your trees have out grown their pot and will need the 16 inch size. Skip the 13 inch pot. I use them but the 16 inch pot is best for up potting. good luck!

Dennis i have my 4 little figs in some of the WalMart self watering pots . the buds have opened and there are little leafs popping out .

Also, Sas the drippers should be the inside the fill opening at the bottom.

Dennis, Thank You very much for your suggestions. I will adjust as prescribed and water from the opening at the bottom. One thing I've noticed was that when I put the drippers inside the opening at the bottom the water chambers get filled fairly quickly. Should I stop watering as soon as the water chambers get filled or keep the drippers going for 30 minutes as prescribed? 

Yes.  Just watch them until you see them starting to reach their max and stop the timer.  Some fast rooters will suck more water than others like Atreano.

Dennis,
The potting mix in that Sas has in the SWCs appears to be heavy on perlite. I do not know if it wicks or if it meant to be fast draining. If it does not have a wicking medium as a base, then watering from the top may be a better option for Sas. I know that you use UPM (peat based, right?). Thus it has "wick-ability" and you benefit from filling the reservoir.

Sas,
What is the composition of your potting mix?

JD, you make a good point. It's hard to say what his soil is based on the photo. I do know if you water on top, the perilite will or can float to the top. I used UPM on some of my pots, not all. It's too expensive. I make most of my mix with Peat moss, Perilte, Cow manure, mushroom compost, water saver and lime.

JD, before I saw what Dennis used, I used 1 part perlite and 1 part peat moss and a little bit of composted cow manure(about 1/3 part) along with 1/2 a measuring cup of Osmocote . Since the roots are still fragile, I will leave the figs alone for now and when it's time to repot I will use Dennis's formula, namely "Peat Moss, Cow Manure, Mushroom compost, Perlite, and lime (not the white fast acting stuff) in a ratio of 2/1/1/1 and a cup of lime."
I will monitor to see if my mix has "wick-ability" or not and report at a later date along with some pictures. If I see any signs of stress, I' ll go back to watering from the top for now.

Since I started this thread and tested various soilless mediums. Those trees with plain old UPM needs more water than those with other mediums. Each large swp container hold a little over 2 gallons of water. Galbun has UPM and to keep the trees completely happy, I have to keep them in total shade and water them every 4 days or just keep them watered daily. I've added 12 more trees to the large container garden. Will take pics after the rain stops and I'm able to get rid of the wasp nest inside my garden hose caddy. Haven't been stung yet but almost broke my hip after a nasty fall while running away from them.

Dennis looking forward to more pictures as the season marches on from your plants and hearing your thoughts about them as you enjoy their bounty.
Watch them wasp Dennis .

I'm posting the picture of my Col de Dame Blanc fig plants, planted from cuttings at the same time. One was planted in a self watering container while the other was planted in a regular 5 gallon container.
I'm a believer in self watering containers, where the plant uses what it needs and you never over or under water. I'm still not sure about how they perform during the winter. Perhaps it's the regularity of watering that matters and not the amount. The plant in the black pot was and is still being watered irregularly while the other one is being watered daily using a timer.
I'm going to move the black pot, put it in a sunny location and put it on drip irrigation and see what happens.