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Plant Fig in Pot or In Ground and Dig before Winter?

RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)

8 years ago

I'm in Zone 6. I grow fig trees both in pots and a Chicago Hardy in ground and wrap it over winter.

Now I'm thinking. Can I plant the fig trees in ground, then dig and store them before the hard winter comes? This is like growing the trees in pot, but they have more room to grow when not in dormant. I can plant them well ahead of the season, like early March.

I know some work is involved, but may not be too bad. Just feel that the trees grow better in the ground.

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Comments (5)

myermike_1micha
8 years ago
Do you plan on cutting the roots to a smaller size too?
ottawan_z5a
8 years ago
You can have a fig plant in a reasonably big pot (7-gallon or up; 5-gal may do if you have to), make a few holes in the pot vertical sides close to the bottom. Then partially bury the pot in the ground covering the holes with soil. In a few weeks the roots will extend outside the pot to graze for moisture and nutrients in the soil. This reduces the frequency of watering and the frequency of root-pruning. In the fall carefully cut the roots existing the pot when time to store away the pot for winter storage. It is better to cover any hole in the bottom of the pots because it becomes hard to cut those roots that exit through the bottom holes.

I have pots with holes equivalent to 1" dia and 1.5" dia

I have been doing this for a decent long while.
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RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
Original Author
8 years ago
mikerno_1micha, yes, I plan to prune the roots and the top to manageable sizes. When the tree is too large, I'll just replace it with smaller ones.
BahamaDan Zone 12b Subtropics
8 years ago
Figs can be overweathered in ground by digging a trench next to them and bending them over then covering with insulating material. It's a method long used by Italian immigrants to over winter theirs in places like New York
RedSun (Zone 6, NJ)
Original Author
8 years ago
If you bury the tree, you still uproot most of the tree. There is not much difference vs. digging up the tree and pot it. There is still some risk of keeping the tree over the winter.

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