I am also in north NJ and I have wintered figs of this size indoors after moving to a larger pot then yours. I moved them outside in spring after frost risk is over. They have done very well. I would recommend if you re-pot these you mix perlite or vermiculite with soil with high organic content (compost works). 1/3 to 1/2 perlite worked for me. My soil is also rocky but with alot of organic matter, I added some additional to his.

Unfortunately Steve, we don't really have a place for these indoors. I'm going to have to plant them and hope for the best.

I think it is early enough for some good root development before winter. Make sure you prep the soil and keep it well watered. Good winter protection is also recommended. Figs are very robust and should be fine.

gellfex
If I was you, I will take risk with only one of the two plants by planting outside in its first year of life and take good precaution for winter protection (see posts in this forum), and take the 2nd plant to the safety of the garage for overwintering after dormancy Or inside near a sunny window.

Ottowan,

Why the garage? Mine is completely unheated, unattached to house. When I tried overwintering strawberry pots there it was no better than outside, maybe worse. As I said, I don't have an indoor spot I'd put it in. I live in a city townhouse setting with windows at a premium. Even if I had room, the light isn't good. I have a ficus that holds it own, but a mandevilla didn't make it, and the spot the mandevilla was in is now occupied by a 30 gallon lizard tank! We live small and are lucky to have outside space, unlike many of our friends and neighbors.

In ground when they outgrow a 5 gallon pot.

See http://figs4fun.com/basics.html

Posted by pitangadiego
In ground when they outgrow a 5 gallon pot.
See http://figs4fun.com/basics.html

Thanks for your effort to help, but did you even read my OP or any of the other posts? Yes, I even referenced that website in the post. NJ isn't San Diego, we have a little something called "winter".

Gellfex,
if you can i would plant as soon as you can if no other option,i know winters here by chicago can be real hard on fig trees also and the wind chill factor in winter just freexes the tree for the kill. You have several options either bury it like some do in cold climates or put make a cage like makeshift out of chicken wire and when the time comes mulch , hay or some something like that filling your makeshift cage and it shoould be fine. As for the soil before planting dig a little and put some good soil in the hole to replace a little and i think this will be ok. There are a lot of different opinons which makes this forum nice and you can choose the one that you think fits your needs best for you. With the cage or the burying method i have seen both personally work.
Best Health
Martin

Dieseler, thanks for the suggestions.

I don't think the winters here are as harsh as Chicago. Like I said, the local figs usually make it through the winters without any special protection at all, but for the first winter I'll do what I can. The spot is already somewhat sheltered, next to a 6' fence and windblocked by garages on either side.

I like the chicken wire idea, I have a roll of it I put around my pea patch every year to keep the cats out that would serve. I have no idea where to get hay around here though. I could probably get some complete with manure from the Hoboken mounted cop unit!

Speaking of manure, I have a bag of dried compost, and a bag of dried manure. would some of both be too much? My experience with bagged topsoil is that it's garbage.

Lastly, How much water do I give? I have a drip watering system I can add an emitter to, or should I just water when it seems dry? Can they be overwatered?

gellfex, Dry leaves are a good option for your chicken wire cage.
It isn't a good idea to fertilize at this point. You want the tree to root in, but also harden off for cold weather, and nitrogen will stimulate soft growth that will be a problem. I'd just plant it and keep it watered by hand when it needs it. Yes they are very sensitive to overwatering when young.

Fignut,

So if fertilizer is no good now, then compost should be out too, no? Isn't topsoil supposed to be part compost, "humus". You think no soil amendment at all?

dieseler and fignut have got it right - get them in the ground as soon as possible, don't add anything to the soil which would promote top growth, and use a wire cage with DRY leaves for Winter protection.

Thankfully, with apologies to other fig lovers in NJ, yes San Diego is not NJ. The point is that most people want to plant their trees too fast and too soon. When they out grow a 5 gallon pot, they are sufficiently developed and hardened to withstand the change in environment, and the change in care that often acompanies their being planted in the ground (people often are less careful and attentive with them). Here, I plant in the Fall, and let them settle in so that they are ready to take off in the Spring. I makes a definite difference. In other climates, winterizing and such is a distinct issue and often means that Spring planting is more appropriate.

If they are out growing a 5 gallon pot, that means that the roots are filling up a 5 gallon pot - regarless of the size of the top growth - and ultimately success is all about roots, from a dormant cutting to a full grown tree. As has been illustrated at Figs 4 Fun, top growth and roots are not necessarily related when rooting, and not always when the plant appears well developed..

It was assumed that you understood plant care in you climate. As a more general question, relavent to the entire forum, root development is a much more important, and frequently overlooked, issue which interferes with a success for many people.

I've used the wire cage and leaves last winter. I covered loosely with plastic and used an overturned bucket at top. I'm in NW NJ where is is a little colder and my location is prone to some pretty bad ice storms and a steady constant breeze off the mountains. I had no die-back or damage at all. I think the important points were to use DRY leaves and do not wrap it so that maoisture and air can not escape (can over heat the plant in the sun and could cause mold growth). The only issue I had was the leaves compacting thru the winter and the sturdiness of the cage (I think I can conquer these this winter).

pitangadiego, thanks for a less terse message, but it still begs the question: that if indoor wintering isn't an option, letting it develop roots in a 5 gal will mean either wintering in that pot or planting it in the late fall in a more severe climate than SD.

The recommended procedure for planting has changed over the years. At one time you dug a three foot hole and put in amendments before planting. Now, they say to plant in the soil you have (unless it is very bad - which doesn't appear to be your situation) and top dress. My understanding is that this encourages the plant to send its roots out and not stay in the "rich zone" of the hole. Personally I don't think it makes much difference in the long run, but you want this tree to anchor quickly, so I'd say just dig a hole and plant it.
I think you may have dismissed the garage option a little too quickly. I understand that you've had bad luck with it in the past, but a fig tree does not need a great deal of protection. (Think of how much protection it will actually be getting surrounded by chicken wire stuffed by leaves.) Younger trees do seem more vulnerable than older ones, which supports pitangadiego's point. And more care has to be taken to avoid exessive moisture in overwintering small figs in a garage or shed. The smaller pots dry out quicker than larger ones and you are more tempted to water.
Either choice has a good chance of working for you - maybe try both.
Good luck!

The garage pot drying out thing may be part of my problem, you know: out of sight, out of mind. I didn't remember to water the strawberries in the garage. So how do you know how much to water a dormant pot? Maybe I'll put the little one in the garage as a backup.

I guess I'm still not getting it. If, for whatever reason, you can not or will not protect the plant indoors, and don't plan on protecting it outdoors, then it seems to me that it doesn't matter greatly when you plant it, or if you don't plant it at all. Either way you have a good chance of having a dead plant.

If you can put in garage great ,i use payday to water as a reminder now retired i will use payday last of the month and what i do is not water heavy them but just give them a drink not to dry out oonce a month.
Best of Luck
Martin

* Posted by pitangadiego "I guess I'm still not getting it"

P, it seems mostly because you don't actually read the posts. I truly can't winter them inside, I simply don't have an available place with sun, I live in an apartment not a McMansion; and I said a number of posts back that the chicken wire cage filled with leaves sounded doable. What more do you want?

Dieseler: I'll give it a try, even though I'm self employed!

Well, It's in the ground! It was certainly ready for a transplant, just starting to get a little potbound, the rootball held together quite well.

Here's a new question that may be unanswerable due to the east-west divide: How much water a week should this get in the ground? I have an israeli style drip irrigation system, relatively rare in the east, mainly for my many containers. So I can add a drip emitter on the figs roots. Right now I drip 1/2 hr every other day, so a 1 gal/hr emitter would give a 1/2 gal. Or I can just leave it alone and see how it does from rainfall and the biweekly or so lawn sprinkler.

I hope it doesn't mind occasional rain flooding, it's near the rain gutter outfall (truly the only place I had to plant it). The rose that was there seemed to survive the water fine.

>> I have an Israeli style drip irrigation system,
>> relatively rare in the east, mainly for my
>> many containers.

I have heard/read about it. It was developed in Israel
as one of the most efficient watering system (water is
precious!) in an arid place. Did it come with instructions?
Have you read them? My guess is that it might be a little
too skimpy on the water. Some more occasional
watering/raining should do no harm.

My rule of thumb:
If the fig leaves do not droop (usually at afternoons
indicating a begging for water), my watering schedule
is fine! Else, I adjust it accordingly.

gellfex,

I think the disconnect has to do with your comment about not having a spot in the garage with sun. I do not think you need much light at all during dormancy, so almost any spot would do. Maybe we can break down that East-West thing after all.

gorgi, everything you ever wanted to know about drip is here dripirrigation.com

The cool thing about it is you can put a 1/2 gal/hr emitter for a small pot, or a 10 gal/hr sprayhead for a barrel, or area sprayers for groundcover. it's really quite a system, but hard to find in NJ. Some Lowe's have a limited selection. I've found that out west even K-Mart style stores have tons of this drip stuff.

I have the drip because I found there was always SOME weekend that everything would crash and I wasn't there to water when I saw drooping. It's heartbreaking, and containers crash way faster than beds.

What I haven't figured out yet is how to feed through the drip the way the Israelis do, and still do it organically.

OH,
I now know exaclty what you actually mean. I had that
(needed for me system under my eyes for the last 2 years).
I even designed a rough 2 branch system for my needs.
Maybe next year.

I remember asking myself whether to go 1/2 or 1 gal/hr
emitters, I had decided to best go with the 1 gal/hr.
An automatic timer is crucial I think, so as one can
fiddle with both the "on'" time and the emitter "size".

P.S. Originally I had though you meant of a sytem that
involves "some" container with a bottom pin-hole for
the water release...

George (NJ).

Clarification re: issue between 1/2 vs. 1 gal/hr emitters...

I opted for the 1 gal/hr emitters, so that if there were
any "smaller" pot in that watering-branch-line, that required
less water, I can go lower to 1/2; of course there are bigger
for bigger pots...