Fig Tree Planting
"Most fig trees thrive better in a sheltered but full sun position i.e. facing South or South West. For larger crops of figs, contain the roots because if allowed to grow uncontrolled, the tree will do a "Prescott" (Put all efforts into getting bigger). Fig tree roots are known to be wanderers and can travel quite a distance. Keep in a 45cm (18 inch pot) or more, which can also be buried for a conventional look. Do not fill with soil, leave at least 10 cm (4 inches) for compost which will be required every year or other form of feeding. You can vary the size of the pot or other root restriction e.g a hole surrounded with buried paving slabs and broken brick on the bottom, the rule of thumb is the smaller the pot or confined area, the smaller the tree will be but pruning can also be used to restrict final size. We put ours in 25 gal containers and may take them up to 150-200 depending on their progress.
No need to worry so much about soil quality, Fig trees will thrive in most conditions, especially chalky. For legal reasons we should point out that a nuclear winter, meteorite strike and agent orange do not come under "most conditions". "
I cut this article from a UK posting.
In my area it is poor, sandy, nematodes infested soil and trees do much better in pots with the addition of compost. When planted in ground, trees grow only one or two inches a year. I will experiment making a bigger hole, putting a lot of mulch and compost and maybe even some manure. But having a humid and wet summers, pots give the advantage that they can be covered by a plastic sheet and limit the amount of water for the root. This prevents certain varieties from splitting. Our summer showers only last about 20 minutes a day.
Sal
zone 10b
