Fig for the poly tunnel?

[marchogaeth]

I have several pounds worth of T&M apology vouchers which I was thinking on spending on one or two fig trees. With our weather and aspect, the bushes would have to spend (almost) all their lives in pots in the tunnel.

I don't have a huge amount of space to spare so the standard ones seem quite attractive but I would be grateful for any comments regarding the choice and whether I would be better buying ordinary ones and pruning them to keep them small/create my own standard. I can go about 2m high but not more than 1m dia and that would be only one plant.

This is the link to the page so you can check out what's available Thompson-Morgan - Search Results for fig tree.

Also if anyone thinks it's a waste of time, I'd be glad to know that, too. I assume they won't be terrifically productive and wouldn't normally even consider spending out on them, it's just the vouchers that made me look for a treat.
Thanks

[scarey55]

I have two fig trees that are doing very well in quite small pots. I don't think they are specifically small ones but I inherited them so I can't be sure.

They have fruited very well in the past two years (they are about five or six years old) Last year, I lost all the fruit from one tree because I didn't water it consistently but I should say that they are doing terrifically well this year.

I leave them outside all summer and bring them in at the first threat of frost so I should think that if you give them a bit of cover they should do very well in your tunnel. They should be quite easy to prune into a standard but if you have the vouchers to buy them already pruned, I would think that's the way to go.

As you can see from the pictures, one of them has almost grown itself into a standard with no help from me

For scale: If you look closely at the first one, you can just see Trevor, my Jack Russell checking for lizards!

[veggiechicken]

Mine are outside, running wild in a narrow bed - lots of figs on it this year - so I wouldn't worry too much about the weather, M. I grew them from cuttings

[Polytastic]

Dear Marcho. I am sorry that I am so inexperienced in this field but I will give you what I do know in the hope it helps somewhat.

In previous years I was able to buy a few from a local well known gardening chain at a very affordable price (between about £3.50-£6 - I can't quite recall). I planted them in my old garden and they established really quickly and began to fruit the next year. I have no idea how old the plants were, but they certainly looked no bigger than some in the photo's in the link. I moved recently after they got large fruits on them which were still green ... and they never came with me.

I recently bought three plants from Ebay. In order to maximise my chances I bought the brown turkey ones (apparently good for UK) and one from a different seller than the other two came from. I potted them in large containers and put them in my hot porch. The last few months they have really enjoyed the porch and have grown massively (will try to get a photo up at some point) and I have to admit that they were a good strong healthy buy. I am not sure how long they will take to fruit as the two were smaller than the other one. If it takes 2 years (my estimate) then they work out as a really good buy for me at between £3.50 and £7.50.

I could simply never afford to take the risk ... either by voucher or cash .... of these kind of prices tbh. Sometimes when a plant dies it seems like a waste of nurturing but when you spend a shopping bill price instead of below £10 then it smacks you in the teeth a bit harder.

Soooo .... after a long story (sorry) my advice would be to definitely go to an online seller and take a punt on a small one rather than pay more than £15 getting an investment that may never pay off. If this is going in a poly over the winter then you really should get a good result at a way better price than those ones you linked me to ....

[scarey55]

Mine are outside, running wild in a narrow bed - lots of figs on it this year - so I wouldn't worry too much about the weather, M. I grew them from cuttings

Ooh, how did you take the cuttings VC - is it easy? It would have to be for me to succeed

[veggiechicken]

I adopted my usual "technique" Scarey Cut off any branch that is in the way, bung it in a bucket of water, just in case you want to turn it into a cutting, forget about the bucket, empty the bucket and find lots of rooted cuttings
I have also cut them quite short (18" ?), stripped the lower leaves and shoved them in around the perimeter of a large pot of compost. Takes a while but there are normally some that take.
I'm sure there's a proper way to do this but when you have lots of prunings, as I do, it doesn't matter if they don't all take
Mine's a Brown Turkey BTW.
Marchogaeth, I can always bring you some cuttings.........

[marchogaeth]

Right, well thanks for the replies. I've had figs here in the past, grown from cuttings but they really couldn't cope even on my "best" wall as it is just too wet and windy in Winter, I think. Scary yours look great and if they are fruiting well at that size, I could probably squeeze 2 in. SO anyone any advice on my choice of varieties? The only standard one is Brown Turkey. Ploytastic, I can see exactly where you are coming from but I am so Off T&M that I just want to spend the vouchers and forget about them (probably only until my delayed order doesn't turn up next year!).

[marchogaeth]

Marchogaeth, I can always bring you some cuttings.........

So maybe I should buy a different variety and we can butcher that one together!

[scarey55]

I adopted my usual "technique" Scarey Cut off any branch that is in the way, bung it in a bucket of water, just in case you want to turn it into a cutting, forget about the bucket, empty the bucket and find lots of rooted cuttings ...

Wow, thanks for that hon, I'll have to give it a go. Gawd knows why though, I am having trouble dealing with the other fruit that I have already had this year

[veggiechicken]

So maybe I should buy a different variety and we can butcher that one together!

Not sure I can cope with more figs!!

[scarey55]

Wow, that's wonderful VC! Do you have to do anything special to get it over the winter?

[veggiechicken]

I just leave them to get on with it - no pampering here
I started with 2 plants about 6 years ago and they've rooted wherever the stems touch the soil. Its a thicket and they're in a bed that's only about a foot wide. I don't feed them net them, anything them They've been snowed on, frosted, abused by my neighbour and still they keep on growing. I'll take the tops off again this winter to keep the height down below the 12' or so that they are now

[vikkib]

If you haven't ordered already!

I just received an email from T&M saying they are doing 25% off all fruit between now and midnight tonight!

Bit more bang for your T&M voucher buck!

[Alison]

Figs are very hardy but like to have their roots contained so if you're going for a pot then keep it smaller than you'd think.