Thanks, bboy. :) Unfortunately, I don't know that there are any nearby-- I've read about them mostly on the web, I can't tell what trees are what other than the ones I know, IRL. KWIM? (blushing over the message board = me). I usually buy my trees at a local place where the experts are very helpful, these I bought on more of a whim (though I'd wanted some for a while) at Lowe's, without talking to the guys who normally help w/ my tree info. There's almost nothing that isn't leafed out yet just from Winter's slumber, here, though. So that bodes poorly for the dogwoods? I have read that the dogwoods take a long time to 'wake up' after transplant, is why I was holding out hope. I'm sure raspberries are different-- but I know of all the raspberries I put in this early Spring, some leafed out right away, some took a month to start for some reason; and all were later to awaken than the raspberries that were already in my yard from last year. I'm hoping like with those, there's still reason to hope?

Dave, I assume from your post, the tree is planted in the ground. Either way, you should check the roots of your tree for rootknot nematodes. If you pull the soil back to expose some of the roots, the gals the nematodes create will look like a brown pearls on the roots. I am convinced that most ficus carica will root faster than nematodes can keep up with... especially when the weather is cool enough that the nematodes are largely inactive, but it is warm enough for root growth. Being in zone 10, however, the ground may not cool enough for RKN activity to slow down. Or, as is the case sometimes, the infestation in the ground is broad enough to be everywhere the roots grow. In these cases, the number of roots blocked with gals may be high enough to kill the tree. It is possible the weather was sufficiently different to effect your crop. Last year was a very wet summer in Houston. The figs which were already beginning to grow before the rain hit, split. Most of the trees defoliated due to rust and did not recover enough to produce fruit afterwards. All in all it was an extremely poor year for fig production. Pruning the crown of your tree to let more light and air through will help deal with moist weather. In zone 10 it is probably too late to do any major pruning. You should consider only pruning what is absolutely necessary now. Then plan for a more significant pruning after this season. ~james

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!

HU, root pruning is a must when growing in a container as eventually the roots will start to circle and slow strangulation occurs eventually killing the plant. You can wait until after the ripening crop and watch the leaves for any change as in color or some dropping then wait until soil is fairly dry yet compact enough not to fall apart, tip container to side grab trunk and pull out. When root pruning you must top the canopy as well otherwise you risk plant dropping figs because to much canopy the pruned root system cannot support and plant will compensate by dropping figs thats mother nature helping its survival. Martin