Black Mission in a pot?

9 years ago

I was given a Black Mission fig today by a friend and want to know if it can be grown in a container. I know it's a pretty large fig but I live in Zone 7 (near Richmond, VA) and want to be sure it isn't killed back if we get a hard winter. I've never grown figs before although I'm an experienced gardener. So here are the questions...

Will it be okay to stay in the 6" pot it was rooted in for this winter and kept in an unheated garage? If so, do I need to protect the root ball in any way and how much/often does it need to be watered during the winter?

If it can be successfully grown on in a pot, how and when and how much do I prune it to keep it a manageable size? I don't want it to get so big I can't handle it in and out of the garage.

If none of the above works for a Black Mission, when should I plant it outside?

Thanks for any advice and direction you can give this new fig grower.

Sandy

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Comments (3)

dieseler
9 years ago
Hi,
my expierence with black mission.
Some dieback stored in attached garage near Chicago,was lightly watered in the winters to keep roots from drying out
sometimes with snow.

Was limb pruned and root pruned to match pot size of 20g and was fast grower , needed to be kept in check.
Produced good amount of figs but eventually discarded for
taste .
Martin
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bronxfigs: New York City/7b
9 years ago
A 6" pot is awfully small....

I personally would slip that small tree into a 5-gallon bucket, making sure it has drainage holes, and then store the tree in your garage when temps. start to plunge. The extra mass of media around the roots will insulate, and will be slower to react to temperature extremes, than just a few ounces of soil in a 6" pot. Make sure you keep the tree hydrated while dormant.

If you don't want to disturb the roots now, slip the tree in the 6" pot, into the 5-gallon bucket, and proceed as above. Of course the bucket will contain growing media. Double-potting works. Then, you could up-pot your tree next spring, just before bud break.

"Black Mission" can do very well in a large container....the larger the better. I grow in 18-25 gallon containers, and avoid hernias by rolling the potted trees around on dollies. Alternatively, you could also plant the tree into the ground, eventually, as the tree becomes larger, but containerized trees will be your best bet while tree is still young....less than 5 years old. Older trees are somewhat hardier than young trees.

Standard pruning methods for figs will keep that "BM" within bounds, and manageable.

Post some photos of your "BM" figs next year. : ))

Good luck.

Frank

This post was edited by BronxFigs on Sat, Aug 30, 14 at 9:20
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"Black Mission" is one of the most underrated and one of the finest figs that can be grown. It is a flavor standard. If your tree is not giving you delicious, complex-flavored figs, you should take a good, critical look at your cultural practices. Your tree might also be too young to produce figs packing a lot of flavor. Trees need at least 3 years to settle in. Root Bound trees = stressed trees = poor nutrition and uneven moisture levels, at the roots = poor quality figs, aborted figs or, poor flavored figs. You mention cracking of the figs. Ripe figs can have water cracks and sugar cracks. If you over water a fig tree at the last stages of ripening, you can dilute the sugars inside the figs and the flavor will suffer and become bland and washed out. Restrict water reaching the roots as figs ripen and water just enough to prevent leaf-drop. Grow fig trees in hot, blazing sun, but keep containers cool by shading them if necessary to prevent overheating the medium. Keep medium moist at all times but not drippy wet. You also mention that your figs are in a "sizable" pot. Your container should hold at least 12-18 gallons of a quick-draining growing mix. Small containers heat up very quickly and stress the roots from excessive heat. Did you add Garden Lime to the soil? Figs hate acidic soils that are loaded with peat moss. If your trees dry out very quickly the container is probably filled with poor quality roots that do not absorb water very well. So, I'll guess it's probably a cultural thing...not the fig variety... As others have suggested make damn sure your tree was propagated from an original tree that produces high-quality fruit. Many dishonest wholesale nurseries grow figs from seeds and release them onto the market as the real McCoy, and they are not. If the parent tree produces great figs, then your tree has the same potential, so then, your problems are cultural, bad harvesting timing, or a combo of both. Don't give up on "Black Mission"...you'll be sorry. : )) Frank
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mgginva
9 years ago
Sandy,
This may be already be posted and I see Frank has already given you great advise. So, to the department of Redundancy department.
None the less;
I live in Warrenton Va and have a Black Mission in a 5 or 7 gallon pot (off the top of my head??) that I put into my garage every winter. It will be OK in a 6 inch pot but will be in a more stable environment in a bigger pot. I use fafard #52 soil mix which I get from Griffins nursery supply in Richmond. It will need very little water - but you can not let it dry out completely. I usually water my 1 gallon size figs 2 times per month but my larger pots only once.
Figs are super easy and if you know anything at all about pruning you probably know enough to deal with fig trees. As some figs are grown for their breba crops more then their main crops pruning gains more importance as the brebas grow from the previous year's wood. You don't need to worry about that - until you start collecting figs. And you will.
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Black Mission in a pot?

Comments (3)

dieseler

bronxfigs: New York City/7b

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