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Just purchased: should I repot my fig tree now (late June)?

9 years ago

I just purchased my first fig tree...a Peter's Honey and it's late June (6/22/2016). It's in a 5 gallon pot, and you can see the root ball busting out of the soil line. Tons of figs already on there (is this the winter crop or the fall crop?)

Question: I purchased a 15 gallon container and was planning on repotting it to that. But a lot of what I read said you should wait until early spring or late fall to do that. Should I just leave it in the 5 gallon until winter? Or repot now? Any advice would be greatly helpful!

Comments (9)

  • 9 years ago

    All of the above, but don't make the new pot too much bigger. Figs produce good crops of fruits precisely because they are pot-bound. That is a cert for good fruiting. The more room the roots have to spread, the smaller the yield.

  • 9 years ago

    I'd be tempted to remove most of those fruits, so the plant can focus on its roots. I would do that on a dry day before watering though - less latex to deal with.

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You might get different opinions on removing the fruit, but I would not. It will probably ripen in July. For those of you that don't know where the OP is, see that palm tree in the background? It's pretty hot where he is in summer. The fruit will ripen. I would still repot now, but if you soak the existing pot so you can extract that tree from it's current pot and carefully set it on about 6" of new soil, compressing new soil around that, it will not know the difference. Just don't mess with the roots! They will happily fill in their new pot. Not sure if you get snow in winter. If not, I'd plant it in ground where it sits. But if you do, you'll need to keep it in a container so you can shelter it in winter. Soak the thing only for the transplant, then let it drain for a day or two till a stick you insert tells you it's time to water. Figs hate to sit in water. Well drained soil is best. A poster on GW in the container forum named Al has a formula for gritty mix. That stuff is magic!

    Google "Soil Sleuth." Its a sweet little cheap plastic stick with notches. You insert into the dirt, twist and bring back up. Easy to see how damp the soil is that's caught in the notches. Too dry, it all falls out. Too wet, it's stuck in there and VERY wet. CHEAP!

  • 9 years ago

    I just got a fig also and I see that it also needs repotting. I have two questions:

    1. I don't like Talpa's gritty mix because it requires frequent watering. Will his 5-1-1 mix work well instead?
    2. When potting up, shall I remove all of the soil from the roots or should I leave the roots alone as much as possible?
  • 9 years ago

    I don't think you need to repot now. Just wait until it goes dormant. That's the best time.

    In MA you will have cold winters and it will need protection in your garage, basement or shed. Figs don't like freezes. I would both prune the roots and the top when repoting (a few inches here and there). You can try to root the cuttings of the top prunings for back up trees just in case.

    Fig Trees are Tough. Hard to kill. Freezing temps will do it, and sitting in water will do it also. They don't care if you mess with their roots or prune their tops. That just makes them tougher!

    Good luck to you!

  • 9 years ago

    Hi Suzi. Thanks for the quick reply. Should I repot in the spring and in what soil mix?

  • 9 years ago

    I'm no expert on potting mixes for MA! I'm in the perfect climate to grow figs, and ours are all in ground. All I know is that the mix should be well drained. We have a few in containers and we use a combo of our compost, our sandy soil, some perlite, and some turface. All our containers are on drippers that run for 45 minutes 3 x per week.

    Not sure when your spring is. But I would watch for signs that the tree is thinking of coming out of dormancy and do it then. Signs like swollen buds, or if you know the month when your spring hits, do it the month before. Cuttings have a better chance of rooting when the tree is pushing growth. Roots won't mind being pruned or disturbed. They are going to growth mode. They will just put out more roots!

  • 9 years ago

    Vladimir,

    Repotting now will help reduce the amount of watering you will be doing the next 2 months till it cools off in September. Personally i wouldn't mess with the roots, especially if they are not badly rootbound. I just repotted 5 trees this past weekend and still have a few more to do. As for the potting mix, i've gotten away from all the different mixes due to the fact that my water bill was thru the roof and spending most evenings after work watering my trees was not fun. i experimented on a few trees 3-4 yrs ago and used MG Organic Choice Garden Soil straight out of the bag without adding anything. I saw no difference in growth, vigor or fruit production. What i did notice was that i had to water those trees much less than the ones in different mixes. i went from watering minimum 4 times a week to 1 sometimes 2 times a week. it doesn't drain FAST but fast enough and i think that is the key. seeing the water pour out the drainholes just as fast as i was putting it in was a waste of water & $$$

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