Moving a mature fig tree.

[SimpleSimon]

So my allotment neighbours wanted rid of a mature fig tree. It’s about 2.5m wide and 2m high. It’s been mostly contained in the ground with paving slabs tho some large roots have escaped this. So we dug it up and moved it to my plot. My question is now is this likely to survive? It’s sat in a wheel barrow of water for now.

If there is a chance it’ll survive where do I plant it? I’m told they like to be on a south facing wall but I don’t have that available. It was up against a fence panel and has tons of figs on it. I was gonna dig a large hole, drop half a plastic barrel into it, drop something to stop the roots going down and fill it with a a very gritty compost mix. Tho not sure it’s worth the effort if it’s going to die anyway. My backs already hurting from digging the thing up.

Simon

[ameno]

As long as you get it planted soon it's pretty likely to survive. Figs are very tough.
My allotment neighbours got a fairly large fig tree which had been given away on Facebook. It had less root than branches, and was just left sitting on the ground drying out for more than a week before it was planted, but it still survived. It did look dead for a while, but then it start shooting lots of new growth from near the base (most of the upper branches had died).

As for location, just put it somewhere as warm and sunny as you can.
I wouldn't fill the half barrel with gritty compost, though. I'd use gritty soil, if I were you. Gritty compost will likely hold too little water, and you'll find yourself watering it all the time or else you'll get no fruit.

[SimpleSimon]

Gritty soil sounds good. Would it survive in a big container for this summer? Say 150 liters. Think I can get the root ball in. I can get it planted in the ground but it’s not an ideal spot. All the sun going but kinda in an inconvenient location. I know where I want it permanently but I don’t have time to prep the ground properly at the moment. It’d be a huge amount of work.

[greenishfing]

In my experience figs are extremely hard to kill. If you give it some soil and water it will live. My husband dug as much of the roots of one we had out of the ground as we wanted to build a patio. He then built a fire in the hole and kept it alight for days to burn the remainder away. We then built our patio. Next Spring at the edge of the new patio.....about 10 feet away (3 metres) the fig tree popped up. I didn't let him attack it again. Don't be surprised if your neighbour's tree regrows if there are still roots.

[SimpleSimon]

Oh there are defo roots. Some as thick as my arm. I’ve had to cut loads of them back and wrestle into this. My back is absolutely battered. Fingers crossed. Not sure where it’s going but I defo need a trolley to move it now.

[DannyK]

Try taking some cuttings.
"A more popular method of rooting figs outdoors is through fig cuttings. Late in the dormant season, after the danger of frost is past, take fig cuttings from small branches that are two to three years old. They should be about ½ to ¾ inches (1.3-1.9 cm.) thick, about the width of your pinky, and 8-12 inches (20-30 cm.) long. The bottom end cut should be flat and the tip cut on a slant. Treat the slanted end with a sealant to prevent disease and the flat end with rooting hormone.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Rooting Figs – How To Propagate Fig Trees https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edi...ropagation.htm "

I snapped a piece of Brown Turkey from outside the Stationmaster's House at Worthing in 1980s. Struck it in Lewisham and it stayed in a pot when I moved for seven years. I planted it in a slab pit 1995 and get some really nice figs. It's like a triffid!

[Snoop Puss]

Figs are nigh-on indestructible, especially one that size. Looks like some of the branches could do with a trim, though.

Here, when a fig tree stops fruiting, some of the roots are hacked off with a spade about a metre from the main trunk. This jolts them into fruiting and causes them no harm whatsoever. Ours was treated in this way and responded really well.

Whatever else you do, don't leave it sitting in the water. They don't like getting too wet. Ours is in clay that bakes to terracotta in the summer heat. Gets watered pretty well three times a year: spring and autumn rainfall and summer storms if we and it are lucky. Fruits every year, no problem, now. I'd cut some of the straggly branches off yours, though

I know everyone says fig trees should be confined and you could restrict the roots, but that's not easy to do. Any barrel or container above ground and it will bust through. Underground, it's likely just to force roots through as well. A plastic barrel won't contain it. The easiest thing to do is as above, cut through some of the roots if it stops fruiting.

[Plot70]

I had a couple of seeds sprout from the dust in the bottom of a fruit bowl that was rinsed out onto the soil.
The trees are now 3 feet tall and have not produced any fruit yet.
I broke a low branch off by mistake last summer and found that it had a root or two. I potted it up and a few days ago gave it away.
The planting hole for the biggest one is over a pit full of tree trunks that were buried to get rid of them and recycle the energy in them over a few years.
I would just brake up the root stock and plant the best looking bit and give the remaining bits away.

[SimpleSimon]

Figs are nigh-on indestructible, especially one that size. Looks like some of the branches could do with a trim, though.

Here, when a fig tree stops fruiting, some of the roots are hacked off with a spade about a metre from the main trunk. This jolts them into fruiting and causes them no harm whatsoever. Ours was treated in this way and responded really well.

Whatever else you do, don't leave it sitting in the water. They don't like getting too wet. Ours is in clay that bakes to terracotta in the summer heat. Gets watered pretty well three times a year: spring and autumn rainfall and summer storms if we and it are lucky. Fruits every year, no problem, now. I'd cut some of the straggly branches off yours, though

I know everyone says fig trees should be confined and you could restrict the roots, but that's not easy to do. Any barrel or container above ground and it will bust through. Underground, it's likely just to force roots through as well. A plastic barrel won't contain it. The easiest thing to do is as above, cut through some of the roots if it stops fruiting.

How much should I prune off it? It’s tied up with a rope to make it easier to move. If I remove the rope it’s sprawled out all over the place. The branches are so flexible it should be easy enough to fan it out when I finally decide where it’s going.

[Snoop Puss]

How much should I prune off it? It’s tied up with a rope to make it easier to move. If I remove the rope it’s sprawled out all over the place. The branches are so flexible it should be easy enough to fan it out when I finally decide where it’s going.

Prune off whatever suits you to turn it into a more manageable shape, but don't leave it totally without branches. It's got such sturdy trunks that it will recover well. I've got a small screen so it's not easy for me to examine your photo in detail, but those long, wafty branches look ripe for a trim.