Hey Frank, Im pretty sure dormant begins once all the leaves drop off. If you have any figs growing most will tell you to go ahead and peel them off by hand if they dont drop on their own.

I aslo think the majority will tell you to hold off on the transplant til spring time, it's too late in the season.

You havent mentioned on how you plan on winterizing???

What varieties do you have and how was your crop this yr?

Frank

First, let's make a distinction between between repotting and potting up. Repotting includes root pruning and a complete or near complete change of soil in the root mass, while potting up is simply increasing the amount of soil surrounding the current root mass when you move it to a larger container. Potting up can be done at any stage of the growth cycle, while repots are best undertaken immediately before bud movement in the spring.

Plants begin preparations for dormancy at the summer solstice. Lengthening periods of darkness are the actual trigger, and when night length begins to become longer than day length, growth regulators (hormonal changes) cause the tree to change from the business of increasing visible biomass (making leaves and extending shoots) to the business of building layers of carbohydrate-rich cells in the permanent parts of the tree (trunk and lignified (woody) branches. In short, the tree begins to save energy instead of spending it to buy more leaves and branches. The tree is charging its batteries for the portion of the growth cycle that it will be leafless and unable to produce enough food to power metabolism (trees use energy even when in deepest dormancy).

As day length continues to diminish, groweth regulators signal the tree to begin to withdray anything useable from the leaves. Carbohydrates and anything that can supply energy to the tree are translocated to the perennial tree parts. Chlorophyl is withdrawn from the leaves and they turn yellow. As this occurs, photosynthesis and accompanying auxin (a hormone) production slows and stops. A steady flow of auxin across an abscission zone (where the leaf petiole attaches to the branch) is required to keep the leaf from forming an abscission layer and dropping. Since the flow stops, the leaf drops and the tree is in the beginning stages of dormancy.

As chilling temperatures enter the picture, water migrates out of cells into the space between cells. This effectively increases the concentration of solutes bound within cell walls and lowers the temperature at which the bound water will freeze - the tree makes its own anti-freeze, and now, the tree is in deep dormancy.

Ficus c. is one of those trees thast can be grown in areas where they never see frost or dormancy, or areas that get quite cold, where they take advantage of the dormancy response to allow survival during freezing temperatures. Cold-hardiness is genetically determined and will vary by tree, but the genetic offspring of each tree will have exactly the same level of cold-hardiness as the parent tree (except as is affected by cultural conditions other than cold - drought, e.g.). That can never chance, even if the tree is exposed to increasing cold for 100 years.

A tree that grows and fruits well in the tropics will not survive or fruit well when planted out in zone 7. Here, something called 'provenance' as well as the preferred climatic conditions come into play. The opposite is also true. A tree that grows vigorously and fruits well in 7, will prefer a cold rest and would struggle or die in the tropics.

So, you can pot up now if you wish and there will be no ill consequences. Once your tree goes dormant, try to keep it cold (within the lower limits of what the tree will tolerate) and from growiong, as long as you can. Trees grown indoors, unless they are under excellent light (halide/HPS/intense fluorescent) will in almost every case be using more energy than they are producing and will be declining. The result is that by next fall, the tree will have grown less in biomass and fruited less abundantly than if it had been allowed to remain cold and quiescent after its dormancy - even in consideration of the longer, indoor growth period.

If it was possible, the IDEAL way to keep a potted tree over winter is to allow it to go dormant outdoors, naturally. Then, move it to a cold place where it passes through dormancy and enters quiescence. Keep it there until danger of frost has passed and then move it outdoors to complete the rest of it's growth cycle. I realize that we don't all have walk-in coolers to keep our plants in, but a cold garage or outbuilding is going to be much better for the plant than allowing it to grow indoors.

Al

Show off. :)

All I wanna know now is when is it better to repot instead of pot up?

Thank you Al, that answers a lot of my questions. Knock off the fruit and keep them cold and dark.
J

ok, and if your fig is still putting out new growth (and its getting colder around here) 40 degrees or so was the low last week, I think there is a 35 degree night forcast for the next week.

Fortunately its just one and its getting no more attention than the others are, it is (unfortunately) getting more light due to a large limb of a nearby tree that was taken out in early Sept.

All of them will end up in my basement (except for the one in the ground) but the stubborn one might just be let grow in a sunny window for the winter.

~Chills

Reason, logic, and eventually, practical experience will show that trees grown with their roots continually and fully confined within container walls, and only potted up instead of being repotted are living under a death sentence and destined to live with reduced vitality (inability to grow to their potential genetic vigor) until the organism eventually dies.

Strong words, but as trees grow, so do their roots. They twist and turn around each other and strangle themselves. Organic soils break down into increasingly smaller particles and hold too much water in the lower parts of the container for good root metabolism, eventually calcifying and become hard as stone, adding to the problem. Total soil volume in relationship to tree size is continually reduced until fewer and fewer new roots are available for water/nutrient uptake. Lack of branch extension is a first symptom, followed by a reduction in foliage mass and fruit production as trees weaken. Slowed metabolism also means lowered production of various anti-feedants, anti-metabolites, and toxins that make insects and bio-pathogens feel pretty unwelcome. In short - the tree struggles, and even if it LOOKS like it is growing with good vitality, plants with roots that are too tight are losing out on varying degrees of potential.

From an energy management perspective, it's probably best to repot whenever the tree gets too tight for the container it's in. Often, after a good go at root pruning, you can return the tree to the same container again and again - especially as the tree gets older. Repotted trees may pout for a couple of weeks, but they soon pick up where they left off and by the end of the growth cycle, trees that are repotted instead of potted-up will exhibit increased biomass over their counterparts - all other cultural factors being equal.

I suppose readers would need to balance the frequency of repotting against its impact on fruiting. Perhaps you'd be willing to allow the tree to wane a bit in vitality if it means an extra season with minimal impact on fruiting. I can't answer that for you - it has to be a judgment call. Ficus c. is genetically vigorous enough that very young trees could be repotted every year with very good results. Older trees might need repotting only every second or third year. You may even develop a cycle that allows the tree two years in one container, then simply pot up for a third year, before doing a major root-reduction at the beginning of the 4th year growth cycle (early spring).

Al

Thnx for the reply Al, that summed it up pretty good.

Do you leave your fig trees in pots (size?) or plant them in ground?

Hi Al.Thanks for the very Judicious explanation of Potting and Repotting Small trees such as ficus and others.
---I would like to Bring out a third Alternative to Potting and repotting,Alternative wich was working very well for me with respect to Growing Ficus tree for fruitting Purposes.
This third way that works very well,with fig is :Growing the fig in pot ,but the pot is Buried,in ground for about 4 inches,and Drainage Holes are made to Bottom side of pot so can be easily cut off,in the Fall to bring pot inside for winter.
I thought it is important to mention this third way of growing fig for fruit purpose.
A lot was written about this method on our Fig forum,so Searching for details is Easy.
Thanks again Tapla.

There is one advantage to fall planting or moving up to a larger pot: the plant settles in and is ready top grow in the Spring. Making the move up in the Spring can delay growth till it settles in. I move mne up in the Fall.

Herman - I figured someone would contribute just what you said to the conversation, so I was careful to leave room for it by referring to only ... trees grown with their roots continually and fully confined within container walls, and only potted up instead of being repotted .... The method you detailed is a great way to treat a wide variety of containerized trees & I have many growing that way.

So there is no residual confusion from my previous reply between potting-up and repotting - Pitangadiego describes potting-up, which can be done at any point in the growth cycle with little in the way of reduced vitality. Since I'm certain he takes into account the effect of potting-up on fruiting, you'd be wise to take the advice of an experienced fig grower & pot-up in the fall if you can. Repotting, which includes substantial root work should still be undertaken in early spring - just before or at the onset of bud movement.

Al

Thank-you all very much for all the replys to my dormancy commencement question.

I should have been a little more accurate in describing exactly what I had planned to do with my three fig trees.

I planned on potting-up the three, 5 foot, single-trunked, "ATREANO" fig trees into one large 20 gallon container. Potting all three trees into one container will make it easier for me to overwinter my fig trees in an unheated storage shed. They'll probably go into cold-storage around the last weeks in November, and, come out around Mother's Day ... depending on the weather/temps.

Right now, as I'm writting this post, the temps. during the night and day are around 65 degrees days, with nights in the mid to high 50s. The leaves on the fig trees are just starting to turn a light yellowish-green, with no signs of falling. I wasn't sure what stage my trees were in, so that's why I reached out for some answers ... I needed to know if my trees were still active, or, if they were dormant.

I want to pot the trees into a larger container, and now that I know what's going on, I'll start on this task in the next few days. I do not plan on disturbing the roots too much, nor, will I change the soil at this time either.

Belliclair Nursery recommended bring figs to cold storage at Thanksgiving and kept there till Easter. They will need to be watered sparingly once per month. This should be a good time table for the New york ,Long Island and metro areas.
Ed

>>>dormancy starts when ....exactly ????
In plain simple English (as others may have already so
stated), figs are considered dormant when ALL the leaves
fall off naturally due to the first fall (autumn) CHILLY
nights. The leaves will first start to yellow out, and
then eventually fall off. Ray Givan 'hints' that it is
OK to (easily) knock off the yellowing leaves to hasten
dormancy (and 'your' fig winter protection process).
George (NJ).

I'll throw in one more thing here...

DORMANCY DOES NOT (necessarily) MEAN THE CESSATION OF ROOT GROWTH! As long as conditions are favorable (soil temp above 55F and enough moisture), the trees will produce new roots.

I, like Pintgadiego, have adopted a fall repot/root-prune schedule. In Houston, most winter days are above 55F and a black container will absorb enough heat to carry it into the night. This gives the trees a head start going into spring.

I know this doesn't help those of you in the Northern areas with colder winters, but I do think it is important to note for those in the warmer regions who might benefit from the warmer winter temps.

~james