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Subject: Air Layer Removed Too Early? Replies: 13
Posted By: ross Views: 388
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TahomaGuy2
Try soaking the roots in B-1 solution for several hours just prior to planting to reduced transplant shock.
Another intervention would be applying mycorrhizal granules directly to the roots at transplant time. 
Remove all but a few leaves and keep out of direct sun.



Keep them out of the sun even though the tree I air layered from was getting full sun?

Subject: Air Layer Removed Too Early? Replies: 13
Posted By: ross Views: 388
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by figpig_66
Myself i remove large leaves and leave the newer leaves. I was getting water from motger tree now its depending and new root system to get water to all the leaves. Less leaves less water needed and less stress. Also i remove all the leaves from airlayer after two weeks of starting it then let them all frow back fresh. Then remove airlayer only after roots are full.


I like that, but won't more leaves provide more energy, which helps the tree grow roots faster? I guess a balance of removing leaves and leaving some on might be best.

Subject: Air Layer Removed Too Early? Replies: 13
Posted By: ross Views: 388
 
I'm assuming the root system isn't strong enough to suck up nutrients into the plant, so I added a little lime because I thought there was an iron deficiency. Any other ideas? I removed the air layer at a little over 3 weeks.

Attached Images
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Subject: Woke up this morning to find huge Rust spots? Replies: 8
Posted By: ross Views: 388
 
ANTHRACNOSE looks a lot more like what my leaves have in the first post, although I have no fruit to see if it'll fall off. Anyone have any more info on this?

Subject: Woke up this morning to find huge Rust spots? Replies: 8
Posted By: ross Views: 388
 
Rust would make sense because the humidity last night was very high, but that's not the rust I'm used to seeing. That has huge spots, and normally I've seen this during the summer:


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Subject: Woke up this morning to find huge Rust spots? Replies: 8
Posted By: ross Views: 388
 
These spots on some of my leaves. Any idea what this is? Wasn't there the day before.

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Subject: Panache tantrum Replies: 11
Posted By: ross Views: 391
 
Check the temperature of the soil. It may actually be in a stage of summer dormancy. The heat you're describing is very similar to my summer, and most of my trees quite literally stopped growing. After 2 months of experimenting/searching for a solution I found that the soil in my pots were reaching temperatures of 100 degrees or more. Anything above 80 is pushing it because roots can't handle those temperatures. If that's the case, figs will stop growth and eventually go dormant until fall temperatures cool the roots, which will break dormancy. OR you can cool the roots now... wait a week or two and break dormancy yourself. There are many ways to do this, but I suggest top dressing your soil with plenty of mulch and cooling the outside of your container by either mulching around the containers, changing the color of the container to help reflect heat or covering them with something that will provide shade. Frequent watering also helps reduce temperatures.

Keep in mind that soil in containers gets much warmer than the soil in the ground.

Subject: What to do with young shoots? Replies: 5
Posted By: ross Views: 367
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. I decided to air-layer 4 of the larger branches, and root a few in cups. Some with water.. some with moist sphagnum peat moss. I've got the cups in clear plastic bags, which is creating added humidity. Hopefully all goes well. I'll be sure to give an update when I see some positive results.

Subject: What to do with young shoots? Replies: 5
Posted By: ross Views: 367
 
Hello!

I've got quite a few shoots at the base of the main trunk on my 1 year old trees. My worry is that they are taking too much nutrients away from the main trunk, which is slowing/preventing vertical growth of the main trunk-- my main goal for a young tree.

I'd like to keep the shoots to produce more trees of that variety. Inevitably air-layering next year to reach a tree style rather than the style of a bush, but I'm assuming they're too young for that. Is there anything I can do right now to promote vertical growth? 

Here's some pictures:

[image] 

Each shoot ranges from a couple inches to 2 feet in length.

[image] 

Subject: Summer dormancy - improvements Replies: 30
Posted By: ross Views: 1,476
 
I've recently taken steps to reduce soil temperature within my containers. I have to say this thread was very informative.

My question: How long would it take to break summer dormancy?
And at what temperature is optimal for roots? Below 30 degrees Celsius according to that study, but is that true for figs?

Subject: Am I overwatering? Help! Replies: 10
Posted By: ross Views: 418
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by james
Another avenue to explore is container temperature. If it starts to get warmer than 85F o easily reached if the pot gets direct sunlight] the roots lose efficiency and the tree struggles to get moisture and nutrients. When I was still in Houston, my potted trees would go through a quasi-dormant period every summer.


Does anyone else have this problem? I wonder if that's what's happening to my trees.

Bills Figs who lives relatively close by successfully grows his figs in containers. This is what he said on his figs4fun guide: "With the dirt packed in and the top secured with the bungee cords. The plastic covering stays on all year. The only time I take it off is to fertilize the plant, then I put it back on. The cover is 3 mil plastic but thicker would be better. The plastic cover has two purposes: first, to seal the pot so no water escapes (see wicking system in the presentation) and it helps to warm the pot (figs like warm soil). I water through the fill tube which places the water in the bottom 3 1/2 inches of the pot. The fill tube is a 1 1/4 inch PVC pipe which runs to the bottom (3 inches) of the container. This way the plant doesn't get confused by the addition of water from above. It only gets water from below. I fill the container up with water slightly below the overflow hole and place in the garage for winter storage. The plant doesn't drink any water during the winter."


I guess you mean hot and he means warm, James?

Subject: Am I overwatering? Help! Replies: 10
Posted By: ross Views: 418
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdsfrance
But, fig trees grow in flushes - so might just be normal.
Here in general they make 5 to 7 leaves and then start pushing figs. If the weather allows, the tree will then grow again while the figs are in the stagnant stage.


I guess this depends on where you live? Others have told me the opposite-- that their trees continue to produce leaves throughout the whole season even while figs are ripening.

Subject: Am I overwatering? Help! Replies: 10
Posted By: ross Views: 418
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DesertDance
I don't use his recipe exactly, but I'm sure you need more than just perlite to get your soil draining.  

Suzi



I've amended my soils to be very well draining. Thanks for the link, Suzi. I also added lime/fertilizer to each batch of new soil. I have to say it's been a success and overwatering will no longer be a problem in my eyes.

I've also done something very similar to this at the bottom of my pots to reduce the amount of sitting wet soil at the bottom. http://figs4fun.com/fpix/FP866-15%20800.jpg

Subject: Am I overwatering? Help! Replies: 10
Posted By: ross Views: 418
 
It's definitely not well drained-- What would be the easiest way to add perlite into an already existing container? I don't want to have to move my trees up to a bigger size pot.

Subject: Am I overwatering? Help! Replies: 10
Posted By: ross Views: 418
 
Hello, I'm a relatively new fig grower-- I've been lurking on here for a while trying to find solutions myself, but after a couple months of the same issue I think it's time I ask for some help.

The problem:

My figs this spring/summer were doing amazing for months-- they were spitting out new leaves and getting bigger at a pretty incredible rate, and then new growth completely stopped for weeks or months at a time. This happens on and off only on my larger trees (2-4 ft tall, most are under a year old with no figs) and it's now been about a month since one of my trees has put out any new growth on the lateral buds, terminal buds or on the buds from suckers. New growth seemingly stops after rainfall or watering. It could be something else, but my intuition is telling me that I'm overwatering. Please help.

Some details:

-I'm growing all my figs in containers. The larger & older trees have pretty well developed root systems and fit well in 20 gallon smart pots.
-None are root bound. I'm pretty religious about moving them up to bigger pot sizes to maximize growth & scoring roots when needed.
-I use Dr. Earth's Pot of Gold all purpose potting soil with nothing added. It's very heavy and full of organics.
-The tops of my soil are covered in wood chips to prevent the tops from drying out.
-I'm in the Philadelphia area (6b/7a). Typical day summer day: around 90 degrees with a good amount of humidity.
-They get 7-8 hours of direct sunlight.
-Only one of my larger trees is infected with FMV.
-I sparingly fertilize with Osmocote 14-14-14, and sparingly re-fertilize when I re-pot.
-I have dolomite lime that I've rarely used. Most trees have healthy green or dark green leaves.
-I've been watering from the top, and very recently started to water from the bottom only. Almost every other day for younger trees, and what seems like never in the past 2 months for my older trees. It's been raining a lot here, and I've been pretty good about covering my pots or moving them out of the rain to prevent any excess watering.