If you don't want to wait just go ahead and remove the potting soil and check the roots. The tree needs to have healthy bark and a live bud to grow back. If you can rub the bark off the below ground trunk with your finger it is toast. If the bark looks good and there is a node or branch go ahead and repot or plant in the ground. Don't feel so bad about it, as you can guess I've killed my fair share.

Hi Moses, sorry for not being detailed enough. I didn't know variety could play a huge factor in that!

I live in NYC zone 7b and have seen tons of in-ground fig trees within a large radius of my location. One neighbor's in-ground multi-trunk fig is leafing out a block away from me, no winter protection. Next door to them we have a recently new neighbor who planted their own large in-ground tree fig last summer that hasn't leafed out yet, soil mounded up the trunk maybe 1/2-1 ft.

The varieties I got are Brooklyn White, Gino's Black, and Ronde de Bordeaux. I'm really sad about the RdB because that one I absolutely wanted but it has the deepest dieback. They came to me fall as air layers in thin 10" cones. The air layers were 12-15" long above ground and even longer below the soil that rooted out. They are in black 7 gallon fabric pots and were watered heavily right before the first freeze/snow last fall. Then moved into the outdoor open garage furthest from the open door and blocked by a car we had parked there most of the winter. The door is always open because it's broken and the whole garage building is very old. When it started dipping lower than 20-25F I dragged them from the garage into my basement to a dark, cool room. Gave them a slight sip of water and left them there the rest of winter.

Around mid-April after the last snowstorm we had temperatures in the low 50s so I brought them outside. When it started getting abnormally hot in the 70s, they sat against the house in the sun in my south facing backyard. A week or two later it looked like it might've been too hot for the still dormant twigs so I moved them to the side in a shady spot still against the house.

They definitely weren't mature enough and I should've lugged them to the basement in the first place :(

Thank you for the tip hoosierbanana I may try that this week! Last week I dug down the soil to check the roots and didn't see any signs of very light colored roots that you find with new roots. Most of them looked pretty dark orange which I know is a pretty bad sign. There were some thicker fibrous roots that still seemed firm and light colored underneath the soil so I can't be too sure if it's alive. The bark rubbing will help me assess how bad of a condition it's in.

I mostly feel bad because I allowed myself to buy those 3 figs but only if I could keep them alive until my budget crisis gets better.

Kvetch,

The information you just provided helps alot. You have many options.

Is it your intention to grow in ground figs? Do you have full sun, first requirement? Average soil is fine, but it must drain very well.

How many fig trees do you have room for? Careful pruning can keep your fig tree(s) smaller, even considerably smaller than they would get to be if left to their own devices.

These are questions you need to answer before you proceed. Let us know your intentions. Then we can get more specific.

Moses

Thanks Moses! I don't intend to plant them in-ground right now. I want to some day but for now I'm going to keep them in containers and bring them with me.

I have a south facing backyard but our town used to be old farm land in the past so there are large trees that block half the yard. Against the house is the unblocked half of the yard where it gets direct sunlight for about 5 hours in spring/fall. In the summer it might be more but I didn't check for sunlight during summer since I just started gardening last August.

The soil mix I'm using for most of my container plants now is just peat:perlite at 50/50 or 60/40. I don't think I would have room for more than 3 figs at max since I also have other fruit trees/plants arriving soon. I'm all for pruning training trees!

My main concern is hoping my current figs actually grow back this summer. I wasn't responsible enough with them so it's hard to justify buying them a second time when I can't exactly afford to. Compared to my sense of guilt and responsibility though my desire for figs is winning by a margin lol

Kvetch,

You probably have the bare minimum of light for a good crop. To just get reasonably good growth, you have plenty enough light. Since they are baby fig trees, their fruit production is a couple years to come. Perhaps by then, they will have a different location in which to thrive.

Figs are tough critters, and want to grow. They are very forgiving. The worst thing you can do now is over water them while they recover. Keep them on the dry side until vigorous growth commences. Even after that, when not sure to water or not, water a little less.

I bet your figs will very pleasantly surprise you with how remarkable their recovery will be, like nothing bad happened! You have some top varieties there that can be impressive trees yielding wondrous fruit. I wish you much success.

Moses

With this whole dormancy fiasco, I would be so happy if the fig can grow healthy and huge even if it won't produce fruit yet! I may get more direct sunlight in the front yard but I'll have to check throughout this season. It's on the north side of the house but has almost no looming trees to shade the space.

I'm banking on the figs toughness to pull out a miracle. I had a miracle last summer with an unknown cutting I purchased. It got knocked over and unrooted by a raccoon in the middle of the night. I found it almost barerooted on the ground, roots not fully dried out yet, and stuffed it back into its pot as well as I could for the night. It went downhill for a couple of weeks before I repotted it into a specially made rehab pot. It recovered vigorously filling the whole container with roots. I used a clear takeout container and got to see firsthand how quickly the root system expands.

I was wondering about the watering issue for my 3 figs. It rained these past couple days but I was busy with Mother's Day this weekend. They were rained on those two days before I found an opportunity to move it to a dry spot yesterday evening. The figs may already be too wet! I may repot and downsize them to smaller pots to prevent the overwatering factor. Would the root disturbance be too much for the baby figs? If it's enough to push them over the edge then I'll avoid it like my life depends on it.

Thank you! I picked these varieties because of the wonderful qualities they're reported to have :) I want to be able to share them with my family/friends, and the community so we can have a variety of trees that grow well in my area and taste amazingly delicious too. The other varieties out there are probably just as delicious but I'm told that these three do especially well in colder zones when established and they're less commonly found for purchase than others.

Thank you so much for all the information you've given me Moses! You have been so kind and patient with my concerns. I can see why the fig community is so large and successful for this long! If my musketeers pull through this season, I'll make sure to post an update on them! Do you have some kind of blog or YouTube where you talk about your gardening activities? I would love follow along on your gardening journey if you do! Again, thank you so much Moses!

Kvetch,

Thank you for your kind words.

There's something about fig trees that draws me in like the Pied Piper's rats, and town's children. Not a good analogy I guess, but I hope you get my drift.

I would leave them in their current pots to minimize any further stress. Keep them outside, but by any means possible control their watering so you prevent root rot. Natural rainfall can be controlled by simply taking a plastic grocery bag and fashioning a skirt around the figs' trunks, and draped over the pots' rims, to shed off any and all rain water, and still keep them growing outside. This way you control how much water they get. When the fig trees need to be watered, lift the plastic skirts then hand water them. Keep the skirts in place until the trees catch up, and natural rainfall will not be of any negative consequence to their health.

Moses

From the advice I've seen you give on everyone else's questions, I feel like there is a lot to learn from your gardening knowledge. I know what you mean by being drawn in by figs. It's an amazing sight spotting fig trees randomly in people's yards. Even when it's winter and defoliated, I get excited finding one.

The plastic skirt is a great idea Moses, thank you! I hadn't though of shedding rain in that way before but it's an ingenious way to do it. I checked on the figs this afternoon and unfortunately the RdB was dark blue l right under the soil line. Like hoosierbanana mentioned in her advice, the blue bark was soft and came off with alittle bit of rubbing. It seemed like a certain type of blue mold I've seen on decaying logs in preserved forests. I'm thinking of pruning it down past the blue area of the trunk to try to prevent it from spreading but I've never encountered this scenario before. I don't think the others are affected by the same thing but I'll have to check them another time. Any thoughts on this predicament?