You might want to wait for the trees to leaf out before feeding. For my containers, I used a dilute fertilizer with each watering. There are many liquid fertilizers which are close to complete (check out Dyna-Gro Foliage). I would feed six days a week. On the seventh day, I would just give water.

~james

Here is a link that might be useful: Fertilizer Program

Hold off on the fertilizer for now.
There are many Many ways to fertilize and many brands to choose from. I think you still have another month and a half or two to begin to fertilze. That's my opinion.

You have all this time ahead of you so why not do a little research?

Go to this website; figtrees.net
He has step by step instructions on what to use and how to use. I used it last year and it seemed to work well for me.

As for the drainage I think that's o.k..
But I find myself during the hot days watering the black or dark color plastic pots twice a day.
I would water them in the morning and by evening the leaves would be wilted. So I would water them again. I was thinking of using a tray underneath them this year to see how it works and if it would be effective or not.

Good luck,
Rafed

I agree with James. Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 is an excellent choice for figs. If, by chance, you feel you are getting too much N, simply reduce the dosage and include a little ProTeKt 0-0-3 in the fertilizer solution.

Consider that it does little good, and depending on what you are using for fertilizer - might do considerable harm, if you fertilize when soil temperatures are below 55(13)*. The plant may not be growing, and ammonium toxicity from fertilizers deriving their N from either organic sources (various 'meals' - blood, cottonseed, alfalfa .....) or urea (most soluble fertilizers like MG, Peter's, Schultz, others) is a very common problem, even though it almost always goes undiagnosed. If you do apply early fertilizers, use a fertilizer that derives more than 50% of its N from nitrate sources or simply withhold until temperatures are more conducive to growth.

I would also wait until your tree has flushed and until roots have started to colonize the container before fertilizing after a repot.

One additional note about the Foliage-Pro fertilizer - it derives about 60% of its N from nitrate sources, which means it is less acidic (a + for figs in most cases) and you needn't be so concerned about using it when temperatures are cool. Blood meal is very hot and can burn easily. Ammonium toxicity is a very real problem when using it - and NEVER use it when soils are cold. It has a considerable tendency to carry over in media when temps are cool, warm, or when soil micro-organism populations are low for any reason, which is very common in containers. You'd be much better off to stick to a reliable soluble fertilizer for your N source because you are more likely to create problems when you start adding amendments aimed at supplying singular elements than you are to solve them.

Al

James;

I googled the Dyna-Gro Foliage and it seems like that the only way to get it buy purchasing it online. Do Lowe's or home depo carry it. Where did you purchase your's from? Also, Thank you for the info.

Al;
Thank for the info. I used the mixture that you recommended for my soil and it drains perry quick. Should I take the tree out of the container and mix in some more peat moss or leave it the way it is? I know that you have said, "a good drainage is a must", but I'm afraid that I have to water the plant more than once a day during summer times (it gets up to 98F).
I used Pine bark mulch instead of Pine bark "fines" bc I could not find any 1/4-1/8 size pine barks around here. Should I run the Pine bark mulch that I have through my Lownboy to chop them in much smaller pieces or leave them alone?
Thanks once again.

Navid

Check with a local hydroponics shop. I don't use Foliage, but I've bought other Dyna-gro products (Pro-tek) at shops in PA and TX.

During the summer months I used to eliminate the fertilizer (except for the Pro-tek) and try to get the trees watered just after the peak temp for the day to help them cool down. Shielding the container from the sun also helps. If your containers are on the lawn, you could just leave about a strip of grass as wide as the container +4-6" on either side to grow. Otherwise, wrap the containers in foil or an light colored material to reflect some of the sun's rays. If you leave the containers out in the sun, they shouldn't dry out in a day (even if you don't protect it from the sun), but the excess heat will reduce root growth and efficiency.

If you are wanting to use the mix above but keep your container more moist, you can reduce the amount of grit and increase the amount of expanded shale (or substitute it with Perlite).

~james

Navid - I'm not sure what mix you made. If it's the gritty mix, you should be ok, though it's best if all the particles of bark are uniformly in the 1/- - 1/4" range, If it's the 5:1:1 mix, it works best if the bark particles range from dust to dime size.

If the primary fraction of the soil has very large particulates, it's going to drain extremely fast until the fraction of smaller particles (peat) are a large portion (>60%) of the soil, which would mean you would need to return to a peat-based soil (if peat is the largest fraction, it's a peat-based soil) to get it to hold enough water. From this, you can see it's better to reduce the size of the bark fraction so you retain structure while still improving water retention.

Al

James; I could not find any Dyna-Grow products around where I live. I find some online and they are kind of pricey, but I guess I have to buy it.

Al; Originally I used 3 parts pine bark mulch, 1-2 part Perlite, 1 part Pet moss and 1Tbs Lime per gallon. The pine bark mulchs were a little bit large and my pot would drain very fast. So, today I mixed more peat moss and took out some of the pine bark mulches. I watered the plant and it drained slower than before.

Thank you all for the help. Have a wonderful weekend.

Navid, ckeck nehydro on ebay. He has a pretty good price for the dynagro foliage pro.