Here are some excerpts from a series of emails to another lady back east recently, who is moving a tree next month from New Jersey to Florida. Make sure it is well watered b/4 you dig it up. Keep the temp in the van down (air conditioning, or whatever - no parking it in the sun during lunch, etc.). When it gets to Florida, plant as soon as possible (somewhere near immediately). I would set up a mist system to keep the humidity up (though that would be more critical in a drier environment, such as So Calif. - though I guess Florida has been pretty dry of, late). I would also put it under a shade cloth for the rest of the year, until dormancy. The issue is moisture. The plant will not be able to take in as much due to loss of root mass, so you must compensate by lowering the amount of water that is lost, so that the lower intake is equal to or greater than the new, lower outgo. If you accomplish this balance, by whatever means, you will be fine. The S D Zoo moves a 80' tall ficus of some type, a total of 200', and it cost them $250,000.00 for the move. They pruned it heavily, and had misters hanging in tree continuously for about a year and a half. It was a bigger project, and more expensive, and it was successful. But your situation is the same, only smaller. Here is another idea: why not take some cuttings and root them as a back up plan. If you need info for doing this, let me know. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0601351931848.html Get the regular vermicualite, from the nursery or Home Depot. It will be fine. Put it in a tub of water and get the material wet (stir it into the water). The finer stuff will sink to the bottom and the coarser particles will float, and get seperated out that way. The coarser particles take longer to absorb enough water to sink.

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

Fungus gnats are puppies and kittens compared to their primary food source, fungus. Fungi can eat wood! No animal alive can do that, termites "eat" wood but they rely on microbes in their guts to digest the cellulose for them. Fungus gnat larvae can only eat delicate root hairs, fungi can eat a mature tree. "Dirt" is not the right term to use, did you use soil? Potting mix? Compost? The shock from adjusting to water may have been the problem, tough to say really I have only tried water a few times and it did not go well for me. Soil is not meant for containers, it might work sometimes but never as well as a proper potting mix. Did you unpot the wilted ones and look? The longer you wait the more chance you will miss what the real problem is.

looking forward to seeing periodic updates on how everything fig related does this year. Send some warm weather east towards Chicago . Martin