Its possible if soil is always wet as the soil should dry before watering, fertilizer in right amount always helps plant, figs like a lot of sun, as for a parasite im cant help you there. I never cared for bareroots as i bought a tulip tree like this and they suppose to grow real fast and i put in good draining soil and it stood like that for 2 years not growing but an inch here and there, this year it took off growing well.

I have a couple of thoughts.

First, I wonder if your plant is really grafted. Figs are usually grown from cuttings. If the top of the original cutting was removed, the new top will grow from a node and come out sideways, so maybe it looks like a graft but is really your Brown Turkey after all.

Second, I wonder if it's just going dormant for the winter, and getting ready to drop its leaves.

In zone 8 you should be able to grow it outside. I would be tempted to plant it outside again. I am borderline Zone 7 / 8 and figs do fine outside here. The warning would be that if it freezes before it goes dormant, that might kill the tree.

Here's another idea: I think it probably would have been best to grow the new bare root tree in a pot this year - planning on planting it in the ground in Feb., 2009. Even if you had left it in the ground it probably would have leafed out next spring. The question now is what to do with it as it is. Like Eukofios said, it's a virtual certainty that your tree was NOT grafted (particularly if you got it from a commercial nursery). If you want to salvage the tree I would suggest allowing it to go dormant, growing it in a pot next year (3 or 5 gal. - depending on the size of your tree), and planting it in the ground in Feb., 2010. I've had bare root fig trees shipped to me in the late winter/early spring that did not leaf out very well their first year (even in a pot). Bare rooting figs is normally perfectly safe, but I can't help but think that commercial nurseries might possibly not take the adequate care with the plants after bare rooting them (prior to shipping). At any rate, your tree will probably be OK. I think it would probably be best to put the potted tree back outside and let it go dormant so it can rest and come back firing in the spring.

Henry

Thanks for the tips. My concern is that while the winters here aren't that cold, the summers aren't that warm, either. Even on days when the temperatures hit the 90s, it still drops into the 40s at night. I've been told that it's not the cold that kills figs here, but the lack of heat in the growing season. I'm thinking the wet winters might be an issue, too, since we get over 100" of rain a year here. (We just had 10" in 2 days last week.) Since the tree never grew and the top 4' of it were dead by the end of summer, I figure at the very least it needed a chance to grow and store up some energy. I may try moving it back outside in its pot next summer, but I have my doubts. Maybe I can move it out of the warm room in late winter and let it cool down a bit, then put it out, so it's a slower transition. Any thoughts on the cold summer nights? Soaking wet winters? I had some similar issues with a Musa basjoo banana that only put out 2 leaves all summer; I was afraid it would rot in the ground over winter, so I potted it and brought it in -- once I moved it inside, it opens a leaf every few days, in typical banana fashion.

I don't think this is a winter dormancy issue, because the tree continues to put out new leaves; they just don't last long.

I thought it would be weird for this thing to be a graft, but it really looks like one. However, if it was cut off 4" above the ground and grew back somewhat oddly, it might have that look. It looks exactly like my bare root apples, cherries, pears, etc. that are all grafted, though. I'm glad it's probably not -- I paid a hefty price for the brown turkey, and it's bad enough I've lost the whole above ground part of it without ending up with a standard F. carica.

Steve,

You are right to be concerned about it staying too wet - particularly while it's recovering from its trauma. No, there is not a "dormancy issue" now. However, if you want the fig to have a strong year starting in the spring the plant needs to go dormant for a while before the spring. You don't want to plant the fig next summer. If you want to give it the best chance to perform well, you should plant it in late winter before it breaks dormancy. However, given this tree's history, you probably shouldn't plant it in early 2009. Early 2010 would be a good time to plant it (after a full year of growth next year in a pot). If it is healthy and stable enough to survive being put outside, you should do so (to let it go dormant). You shouldn't have too much problem sheltering just one potted fig from the rain, huh?

Henry

So any ideas on why the leaves are dying right now, in a warm, well-lit area?

Sudden shock; if they were just brought in from the outside...

When I brought the tree inside there was nothing growing on it but a few tiny buds at the base; all the growth occurred indoors. It grew up 2 feet indoors, but the leaves never lasted.

Now the tree is not doing well at all; it stopped producing leaves and seems to be dying slowly from the top down. I moved it out of the warm room into a cooler area to see if letting it go dormant will help.