I've got a black mission fig that I planted this spring, which is growing really well so far. I live in Knoxville, TN in the river valley at the base of the Smokey Mountains. This area is borderline between zones 6 and 7. I've got an unheated garage and plan to make room to bring my fig inside the garage for the winter. In another tread about growing Apache blackberries in a boderline area, I suggested an idea I plan to use to protect my muscadines vines this winter. I have 3 of them in containers, and they're too big to bring inside for the winter. If you don't have a basement or garage where you can put your fig for the winter, you might try this idea to give your fig some extra protection from the cold. Rose growers in the north have long protected their plants by building a cylinder of chicken wire around the plant and then filling it with dry mulch such as leaves or straw. The top and sides of the cylinder are then wrapped in plastic to keep the mulch dry, with only the bottom portion left uncovered with plastic so that some air can circulate to keep the mulch dry and prevent rot. If you use plastic on the top to keep the mulch dry, you must leave the bottoms uncovered so that air can circulate. Some people say to use burlap or something porous and never to use plastic, but they are often in climates where all winter precipitation is frozen. Burlap would keep snow from wetting the mulch, but would not keep rain from soaking through. Either way the mulch must stay fairly dry, otherwise it will rot the plant you are trying to protect. Southern gardeners have long used this same idea on a larger scale to protect tender hydrangeas and gardenias during the winter. This protects the limbs from cold dry winds as well as keeping snow from breaking the limbs. The biggest problem you might have with figs in a container outside during the winter is that the root ball might freeze in a pot that is exposed to the cold. If you don't have a garage or basement where you can bring it in during the winter, you could dig a hole to sink the pot into the ground for the winter to give the pot some protection from hard freezes. Even if that part of your yard does not get enough sun to be a place you could grow the plant during summer, a protected place on the east side of the house could give the fig a better chance of survival during winter. There is some contradictory advice on what exposure is best. North and west exposures are often bad because of the cold prevailing winds are often from north and west. South and west exposures are often bad because a few sunny days can fool a tender plant that spring has come and encourage the plant to bud out in February. Overall an east exposure during the winter may be the best compromise. The north side of the house can be good, if there is something that blocks the north winds, such as a hedge or fence. I used to live in Atlanta where I grew gardenias in pots on the patio of my condo. Most of the winters in Atlanta were mild, but we could get 3 or 4 nights each winter with temps near zero. On these extra-cold nights, I would pull all my tender potted plants on my patio up against the sliding glass doors. I would cover the top and outer side of the plants overnight with a mover's quilt. The heat that escaped through the glass was enough with the plants covered by the quilt to keep them protected overnight, when other gardenias planted on the grounds would get their end bitten back by the cold. I saw another idea on television that I thought was interesting but have not tried. I was watching 'Gardening By The Yard', which I find funny and interesting. He was doing a show on micro-climates in your yard. He interviewed the head gardener at one of the large hotels in Las Vegas. The guy said that tourist expected to see palm trees to go along with the sun and sand in Vegas, but the desert can actually get fairly cold at night during the winter. His solution to protect his tender palms was to decorate them with small Christmas lights. He said that for palm trees the main protection was needed for the trunks rather than the fronds. He used the tiny lights to wrap the trunks from the ground up to the top. They were really pretty and looked like glittery barber poles. He said that beside looking festive in the winter, the electricity going through the wires generated just enough heat to keep the trunks warm enough overnight when temps dropped below freezing. My guess is that a fig tree would look quite cute decorated white or coloured fairy lights. If you had an extra-bitter cold night, you could cover the lighted plant up with a blanket as well. In the fall most years, we will get a frost followed by a few more weeks of Indian Summer. I always have a large patch of tomatoes in a raised bed that I want to protect for as long as possible. For the past 2 years, I've covered them with a blanket just before dark and put a shop light with 100 watt light bulb shop near the base of the plants. Last fall we had about 3 nights down to 25 degrees, and that light bulb was enough to protect the plants with the blanket until temps rose the next morning. By protecting the tomato plants for 3 night of below freezing temps at Halloween, it warmed back up enough that I had fresh tomatoes for another month. It was really great to pick fresh tomatoes and bell pepper for Thanksgiving dinner. The link below is one I found that has lots of different figs described. There are lots of varieties that are more cold hardy than the Black Mission that is normally stocked by nurseries. For people that have never eaten a fresh fig pulled from the tree, they have no idea how good they really are. I like dried figs, but most fresh ones you find for sale are not very good. Fresh figs pulled from the tree are heavenly. Good Luck with your figs, Greg Here is a link that might be useful: descriptions of lots of different figs, including cold hardy ones

jFlowerman you really hit the right approach for having fruit trees in containers! !! What a huge difference!! We're in Norco Hills high up with cool breezy winds and hot summers! The black plastic big containers -- 15 to 25 gallons seemed big enough and are but the hot summer sun hitting the black plastic cooked the tree roots so I was dragging pots to bottom shade or wind protection... Then I discovered Paradise Nursery in Riverside and they sold us big boxes -- the ones nurseries use for trees ---wood is light blond so cooler and huge compared to the pots. We bought 3" casters at Home Depot screwed on the casters -one at each corner... four each box and now our trees are ultra healthy and I can slide them into shade or away from wind like magic! Zero effort!!! The nurseries grow the bigger trees in these boxes and my miniatures to standard are easy to prune, cool in the heat and Super attractive on the patio! Buying the soil will cost but getting half a yard for 22.00 for four boxes---plus the 18.50 per box-- is super cheap compared to whiskey barrels or bags of soil in black deco hot pots! And one can always fill boxes half way if desired! hope this helps!

I live in New York, zone 5b. But I have a heated greenhouse facing south (hot, dry with full sun in winter). I want to grow some fruit trees in containers. But not sure whether I can actually get fruits. I know that some trees are not self-fertile. And some flower in dead of winter when there are no pollinators in the greenhouse. I have a Carrie mango in a 25 gallon pot that has been flowering since February but hasn't set any fruit. Do any of you living in the north have had success in growing the following fruit trees in containers and indoors? Malphigia glabra (Barbados Cherry) Muntingia calabura (Jamaica Cherry) Manilkara zapota "Makok" ( I heard it is sweeter than Silas Woods) Annona squamosa "Kampong Mauve" Thanks

You can grow darn near anything in a container if you size the container correctly for the plants and follow some basic container gardening practices. Using the correct potting soil is the most critical element so I've linked you to a discussion about the importance of a good potting soil from th Container Gardening forum. The second link deals specifically with growing trees in containers. Container soils trees in containers