Fig tree indoors over winter is producing lots of new leaves already...

[Russel Sprout]

Hi all

I'm new to growing figs, having bought a young plant around this time last year if memory serves me!

I remember reading that they need looking after if it is very cold out, and so we decided to over winter it in the house. Not sure if that's a bad idea and the house is too warm? For the record, we don't have the heating on very high (usually around 15-17c during day and 12c or colder at night). But that's obviously still much warmer than outdoors. The plant has also been kept in quite a dark corner.

To my surprise it has been growing new leaves. Here's a couple of photos from a month ago:






And here's a couple taken today:





Is this a good thing or a bad thing? And what - if anything do I need to do?

Many thanks

Max

[veggiechicken]

It looks as if its not getting enough light.
My outdoor fig is just starting to bud up.

[Russel Sprout]

Thanks for the reply veggiechicken. I'll see to moving it.

What are the signs that it is not getting enough light? The fact that it has leaves? The colour of the leaves?

[veggiechicken]

Looks like the stems are stretching to the light. Just my opinion!

[Russel Sprout]

That makes sense. But should it even have leaves at this time of year? I guessed (as in totally guessed!) that it should be dormant over winter... And if the leaves are earlier than they should be, how will that affect the plant overall as the year progresses.

Thanks a lot for your time and help

[veggiechicken]

I can only compare it with my outdoor figs which are just showing signs of life.
Yours is a young tree and you've cossetted it over winter. I think you need to slow it down a bit. Do you have anywhere sheltered outside where you could put it - if frost isn't forecast?

[BUFFS]

Well MD, where abouts are you as you should be able to leave your fig plant outside in most areas of the UK, highlands excepted, mine has sat in a half dustbin for 12yrs now without any cossetting and providing we get some sun we get a reasonable crop each year..

[Alison]

Mine lives outdoors permanently but some varieties are more tender. In a house would definitely seem too warm though and lacking in life. Most plants prefer it outdoors if possible.

[DannyK]

What's the variety?

My GH one kept at about 5C is showing buds, no leaves.

[BUFFS]

my brown turkey fig is showing big fat buds at the moment, but in two weeks time I will snap them all off the ends of each branch, which will encourage more fruit to grow from further down the stems, I still have 5 pea sized fruit on that will start to develop when the weather warms a bit, so bring on the sun..

[Russel Sprout]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

@BUFFS – I'm in Norfolk (just updated my profile to show this. Thanks for the reminder!).

@DannyK – it's a Brown Turkey.

So, it seems I might have messed up then! I just remember reading that if left outside, horticultural fleece would need to be used during cold snaps (frosts). Or the plant could be moved to a warmer place. Perhaps I've gone too far and moved it to too warm a place then!

Well, I can move it outside no problem, but what I'm interested to know is now that it has the leaves on it, will it cause problems moving it into the cold? How will this early growth affect the plant and this year’s growth?

And to satisfy my curiosity (and help me understand), what would happen if it were left indoors? Not that I plan to do that. Just curious…

Many thanks

Max

PS – BUFFS – I'll look into what you describe in post #10 RE snapping off the buds. Is that a standard thing to do with fig plants/trees?

[Thelma Sanders]

I certainly wouldn't just stick it out in the garden all at once. Harden it off gradually by putting it out somewhere sheltered during the day, against the house wall, in the lea of a fence or hedge somewhere like that. Then bring it in at night - do this for a couple of weeks.

It will probably drop its leaves, but should grow away again once it warms up.

If you keep it indoors in poor light conditions, the shoots will grow thin/long/weak, rather than short/thick/strong, so IMO you'd have to prune it back when you did put it outside.
Good luck whatever you do with it.

[BUFFS]

I was taught to snap off the tips quite a few years ago and it must be done in Feb (outside plants anyway) and it does seem to promote extra fruiting. As for th cold, we had about 6 weeks of -14-16deg in 2010 and over 4 weeks of -13deg in 2011, and the fig sat there,in its pot, uncared for , but as soon as the spring came it burst back into life and produced its fruit..

[DannyK]

There's a useful guide to figs on this site Growing Figs | How To Grow | Grow Your Own

I usually snap off tips off in June but I'll try some in a week or so as an experiment.

My Brown Turkey is in a pit and has survived 20 years with no protection.

Might there be a risk of roots freezing in containers?

[Snoop Puss]

I reckon it thinks spring is coming! You've been keeping it nice and warm and now there are longer daylight hours.

Our fig tree is in the ground, so the roots are pretty well protected from cold. But we get down to minus 17 ºC in winter not including wind chill factor, and it survives very well. It is just starting to bud up now.