I need some help/advice. The only thing i have ever planted are vegetable plants. last spring a co-work gave me a fig tree cutting. Tt was about 6 inches high and had no leaves on it. i repotted it into a five gallon container and gave it a shot of MG fertilizer for tomatoes as that is the only fertilizer I had. It gree very well and i got some very small figs on it but that ws it.My friend told me to expect that and that i would get figs next year. He told me wait until the leaves fell off (I live in upstate New York and my first frost date is around Sept 15th. He said to put the container in my garage away from light which i did and to water it about once a month which i did. This spring i put the container out and gave it the same fertilizer. I am in zone 6b and my last frost date is May 15th. At first nothing seemed to happen. he advised me to check all the branches and to cut a little off the top of each one. if the wood was brown to keep cutting until i reached green which i did and all of a sudden the thing took off. It got so big that I decideed to put it into a 10 gallon container. before long the tree was filled with green figs. in all there are now about 2 and a half dozen very large figs on the plant. I checkeda few website and determined that the figs i had were called Conadria because of their light green color. I also noticed that the figs were very hard and this was now into August. I spoke with someone from Willis Oorchard who told me that the figs should ripen before my last frost date. I also found out that they grow bst in zone 8 and above. two weeks ago I noticed two of the figs were turning a purple color. that week were were hit with heavy rains and when it stopped two of the figs were nice and soft so I picked them and they were very sweet however the rest ofthe figs are still hard and some are starting to turn purple. Is there a chance that the figs will ripen before i get my first frost?? what type of fertilizer should I be using and how much and how often. I know that when my tomaotes do not ripen in time i put them in a brown paper bag in a dark closet and they will turn red. Will the ame thing happen with figs?? I forgot to mention that i plantedthe tree in MG potting soil for containers. I will be heading up to Canada tomorrow morning so if canyone can give me advice before then it would be appreciated. Thanks

Wow, that looks seriously bad, especially after 3 years. The large cuts might have let some disease in, that the tree is fighting now. But since your goal is to save your ancestor's tree, did you know figs are REALLY easy to start from cuttings? You can just start a new tree, which might be able to outgrow any disease. Normally you would want to do it when they are dormant, but you could still try now if you think it is dying!!! You take at least one (but I would do at 5) 6 inch branches and clip off all the leaves, leaving the little top sprout. Dip it in fungicide or a light bleach solution, then wrap the top half in a damp paper towel, leaving a few inches on the bottom free. Dip the bottom in rooting hormone, put the whole thing in an empty sports/ water bottle with the spout lid on, but open, and put the bottle somewhere warm but NOT where it gets sun (top of the water heater is perfect) Check it periodically to see that it is damp, but not wet or dry, and soon you should see little white roots coming out of the bottom and the leaves on the top starting to go. When you have nice little roots you can plant it in very light potting mix kept moist but not wet, out of the sun still, with a plastic bog lightly over the top until it is growing well. It's worth a shot for your family heirloom! Carla in Sac

Hi Kelly, Condgrads on your Heirloom fig tree, Like you I live in Texas too, under no circumstance would I plant that tree now in our heat....I have did that in the past only to lose my little fig tree because of the heat stress, You could plant it maybe in Oct. with care when the winter temps get down in the low 30's I did that last year by putting a 5 gal bucket over them in the cold weather, then as it warms up remove the bucket. Good luck with your new Fig Tree Regards Cecil

I have 3 fig cuttings from last year, they are about 12 inches tall. They dropped their leaves in the fall and I wintered them in the garage. I watered them about once a month in the winter. I just looked at them today and noticed there were some new leave tips at a the very top, which have dried out and the stem is dried out also, Should I water and trim off the dried out stem. Also when is a good time to put the pots outside. I don't plan on planting them in the ground but want to keep in pots for awhile. Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.