Do Not transplant (TOUCH) them now. Both seem to be a very
rescent cutting (rooting) and the roots most probably
are Not fully developed yet, even though you see leaves.

*Use shade
*Water - minimal
*Flood tolerance (...?!)
*Fertilizer - Not now! only when/if fully establisbled.

George (NJ)
P.S. Remove that little figlet ... it only takes 'energy' out of the (still rooting) cutting...

Thanks George. You grow figs in NJ? Indoors?

First of all, I am a new fig gardener. I am on Longboat Key -- the barrier island off of Sarasota. We are in residence here only seven months of the year. We head North in mid-May, and return mid-October.

I started last winter, around Christmas time. I now have a grand total of five trees. I started by buying two -- a Brown Turkey and a Green Ischia. They came in as four feet tall -- and bare-rooted.

I planted them on the south side of my house -- actually right next to the foundation.

I soon added another store-bought into the ground, a Black Violette from Paradise Nurseries (Sybil). (I also bought two Celestes in one gallon pots, which I carried back North and stuck in the ground. We are in Princeton NJ. Hopefully they have over-wintered (carefully wrapped) and should surprise me -- or disappoint me -- on my return.)

I have a Greek neighbor, who started me in this, and who gave me a couple of cuttings. (What he called a "black" and a "white.") I applied some Rootone to them, and started them in one-gallon pots, and transplanted them when the roots started to show from the pot.

We returned here last July, and the Brown Turkey was very fruitful. We picked about a dozen.

Well, this fall, on our return the Brown Turkey and the Violette were producing, deliciously. Now, the Brown Turkey has lost all of its leaves, and has dozens of buds. The Green Ischia is fully leafed -- and has a couple of dozen figlets. We have a dozen Violettes filling out -- they are black from the start, but still small and hard.

But, my prize and joy is the Greek "White." It is fully leafed out and is putting out the most gorgeous and delicious pale green figs. Twice the size of the Brown Turkeys. It started from a twelve inch cutting, and is not double-trunked and four feet tall. The Greek "black" is healthy and growing leaves -- but that's all.

My neighbor is "green with envy" while eating my "whites". His father tree is still bare -- and he swears that he has still not gotten it to fruit.

They do not require a great amount of irrigation -- I try to keep the soil from baking out. Fertilizing, minimal -- but they do require liming. (Actually they are a great source of calcium.)

So -- I think it is the fact that having the trees against the house -- and baking in the noon-day sun -- is the answer.

They all just sat there all summer, untended except for occasional spraying by the gardeners -- irrigated only once a week. (It was a rainy summer, anyhow.)

Come back to me if I can help.

Be well

:)

Sorry, I missed the part of you already moving them into
gallon cans! Consider using a dome - with an air vent (plastic
bag, or similar) for a week or two, just in case any (young)
roots were damaged.

George - it's 80 degrees in the day time and only 65 at night now. They're just at the edge of my mist bed and get a light mist during the daylight hours. Right now they get afternoon sun only. I'll probably plant them in that location under an ice cream bean tree (Inga edulis) The soil is fast draining and somewhat alkaline in that bed.

You are in 'fig heaven - temperatures'. Being somewhat
'misted' definetly helps, just watch them for the next
couple of (or so) days...

Figs LIKE alkaline soils (I add lime/marble chips) to my
potted figs (stored in unheated garage in winter and half
buried in backyard - to graze - in summer).

By watching them, I meant that at the first sign of wilting
(if any) apply (a) mist - a hand sprayer will do fine, (b)
shade (e.g., carboard) and (c) dome; else all is fine and
nothing needs to be done...

I would do the following. Make sure they stay damp, NOT wet and are not allowed to dry out (small plants means not a lot of roots). Check every day. give them a week or so in shade or very filtered shade (with just a little sun. Then gradually introduce them to more and more sun. Once they have settled into their new pots, more sun will promote growth. Give them some 1/2 strength MiracleGro after they show some strong new growth. Water first, and then fertilize a couple hours later to avoid fertilizing a dry plant and causing root burn.

I'm going to eventually put them in the ground. One will go in almost full sun, raised mound, positive irrigation every 3 days like the rest of the garden. The other will get hard afternoon sun, again positive drainage from the slope towards the lake and runoff from the mistbed.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'll be back to report in a few months. In the meantime please have a look at the garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: to see Ricky's garden