This is my five year old tree and the roots went nowhere.
My conclusion: Planting younger cuttings in ground is better than planting larger trees as long as they are protected and well taken care of. The key is to give the roots the right conditions to get established and the rest is easy. Almost every trees that I planted in ground whether young or old needed time to get reestsblished all over again to its new environment. So a large tree in pot does not necessarily mean immediate in ground success just because it is large, especially if in ground conditions are not as hospitable as in pot conditions.








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How often did you water it?

Sas what would you have done differently for this tree that you didn't?  I see the circling roots.  Did you score the roots and/or clear an area twice the size of the root ball when you planted it?

Had it on drip irrigation daily during the hot seasons (about 20 min per day increasing to 40 min per day and no irrigation during winter months.)
Treated it the same way as my other trees (unprotected) that were also getting reset by the winter months. This one tried to wake up this spring then went into shock.
P.S. I also concluded that Jaune de Gascogne and Blanche de Gascogne had the least hardiness of all my trees, as they were first to go under different conditions and locations.
They are no longer on my list.

About doing something different, I would dig much deeper holes and amend more soil. It seems that the trees with deep holes keep coming back despite initially losing the whole tree.
More mulch helps a lot too.

I forgot to mention that raising the ground is important. I kind of broke all the rules on this one and just sank it inground without doing much work.

Do you use anything to treat your grass? And how far away from the plant was the drip? Before planting a compact root ball it's a good idea to pull apart the roots, or even cut them. The hole should be as deep as the root ball but 2-3 times as wide in diameter. 

This is a perfect example of a three year old mistake and what could happen if the tree was not planted properly. First of all the two year old tree wasn't dormant when I planted it and didn't really do much since it was put in ground.
Now I know that the hole wasn't done properly and in the clay soil the roots just kept circling until the tree choked to death. As far as treating my grass, most of my other fig and fruit trees are doing ok. So I don't think that is a chemical that did this. I use weed control for St. Augustine grass.
After losing several trees when transplanting, I've been very careful not to disturb the roots when moving non dormant trees and in this case along with the wrong size hole and poor soil most likely lead to this final outcome.

Sas,

I've planted out a number of #15's.Some sit there and sulk for a year and other's never miss a beat.
All were planted out after the heat abated in the autumn.The ones that stalled were in premium
soils,heavily amended,5-1-1,etc...The ones that did exceptionally well were the ones that I continually
up potted in a 50/50 mix of my native clay and a local product that consists of rice hulls,horse manure
and compost.When I transplanted them the same amendment was used to create a similar soil structure
4'-6' in diameter,12"-18" deep.They were planted 6"-8" above grade.

I don't believe the local mix is a panacea,what ever is available locally will do.The key is the soil structure
of the pots and the in ground location should be as close as possible.

Make sure the planting hole, is 2-3 times wider than the size of root ball. And if planting in heavy soil, plant a few inches higher above ground. I've planted and transplanted many old trees, peaches and figs, never lost one. Here is a 14 years old fig that was planted in ground (was grown in a 50 gallon drum for many years), and doing well.

Navid.

My rule of thumb for planting trees in the ground is this:

1. Dig a hole twice as wide and twice as deep.
2. Add about 2 gallons of clay buster and till with soil
3. Drip the rootball in some rooting stimulator and let it soak for an hour.
4. Loosen roots, Add the tree, rake up half of the dirt, add water in the hole, add remaining dirt and stomp out air hole
5. Mulch tree with mini nuggets and water again.

I never lost a tree following this method. It works for me and maybe it will for you.

Sorry about the tree.

Some good advice dennis gave Y'all on clay. My soil is so poor (sand ) that planting in a 5ga. Bucket with the bottom cut out permits me to use potting soil, and keep it in place...helps with mole activity, ( and if you have it root knot neamatodes).

Every thing I do not plant that had been growing in its own 5ga. bucket, be sure to pull apart the root ball carefully, you need to break up the "circle of death".

Thank You all. Very helpful tips and tricks. I wasn't even close on the size of in ground hole not to mention the other missing ingredients. Just planted it on a hot day hoping to get lucky. Well it finally caught up with me.
Navid, for your 50 gallon tree, you must've used a bulldozer:)
I have a few 25 gallon trees that will eventually go in ground.

Dennis,
Do you plant this time of year, when they're actively growing or do you only plant,
when they're dormant.

I plant my winter grown cuttings as soon as night temps stay above 45 degrees.
From cup straight to soil.
Ive built up my 80 figs in ground this way.
I water daily for 2 weeks then they are on their own.
Mulching around the tree makes all the difference for me..

Doug

Plant a $10 tree in a $100 hole.