what do I do with my fig?

[mrs baggins]

I bought a fig tree last year which is in a pot (an old flower bucket) and I have noticed that there are tiny little figs on it! should I be feeding them now? I wanted to put it into a bigger pot but am scared I may knock off the budding fruit when I am doing it.

[HeyWayne]

As I understand it figs prefer to be restricted (I've heard of people planting them in the ground within an old washing machine drum), so I would guess that by transferring to a bigger pot you won't be doing yourself any favours. I would guess a feed won't do it any harm.

Someone more knowledgable will be along soon I'm sure.

[lainey lou]

ooooo! You want Bazzaboy for this one, he's the fig man!
Waynes right though, they fruit better with some restriction.
Heres the scarey bit... according to the info Bazza gave me when he sent me a little figlet, those little fruits need to be removed, the fig will then get in the zone and produce new fruit which will ripen in a season.
Not sure about feeding though...

[bobleponge]

My figs were potted on during the dormant season, I did it in January I think, and I believe conventional wisdom recommends repotting every 3 years or so. As HW says, the roots are better to be restricted, as this will encourage better fruit growth, less energy used by roots etc etc.
Re the little figlettes, they will grow into figs, although you will probably lose some.
Feeding, in my experience is simply a matter of a manure mulch around the base every spring, but much more important is to keep them watered. Because the roots are vigorous, but contained, they are thirsty things, and watering them is vital.

[mrs baggins]

thanks all!!! looks like by accident I was doing something right! I will have a read up and see what I can find out

[Lottieknees]

Hello mrs baggins,

I bought one from the nursery on Sunday. What they told me is that in the wild, they will continue to make top growth and put down roots for years. Only when they come to a restriction will they start fruiting.

What you can do is to trick them into thinking this has happened by keeping them in a pot until they are the size you want and have started fruiting.

Once this has happened they told me you can plant them in the open ground because they have already been fooled into thinking they can't put down further roots at the expense of fruiting.

[TonyF]

Lottieknees, that's a figgy urban myth.

Figs can't be trained like that, once they're in the ground they root until you stop them rooting, they can't help it, they can't stop themselves. In many gardens round here, mature fig trees are restricted by walls or by planting into soil that has a sort of wall in the ground, usually breeze blocks or bricks lining a pit. That restricts their growth and if you plant them out, they're not fooled, they will grow away. They will put on top growth and will fruit - I have a chum who has a fig tree which has masses of fruit tho it's not restricted - but the better crops come from those with restricted roots.

BTW, worth looking at the archives, do a search for figs, this somes up sooooooooo regularly!

[realfood]

I have a page on growing figs on my website, which covers most angles.