This "Native Arkansas" fig guy drives me nuts with his really awkward listings, then insults people at the same time. I bought one also and it died, it was also shipped in the box just like that, it arrived half open with upside down ALL THE SOIL POURING OUT. He was a pain when email him about the poor condition of the tree when shipped. I hope you left negative feedback! I bolded some of the stuff he says. Here is what he says about the Ark fig(arrr): I found this fig tree when I bought this very very old house over a 100 years old. It still has a well in the back and the walls were just 2 by 12 stood straight up. The Fig Tree had lots of very old looking large roots that ran along the bank of the creek but the tree was almost dead from the lack of light. So I cut the trees around it and BOOM the next year it came back huge with more figs than I count. The figs are sweet as sugar and are a golden light brown when ripe. This is not a Brown Turkey fig. This is a very hardy native Hot Springs Ar fig. It is not a hybrid of any kind. It is also very cold hardy. It freezes pretty hard up here. This year we had a very very late freeze. (note photo another fig in my yard with burnt leaves) my other figs lost most of there fruit this tree lost none. This fig tree has been here as long as the house. No one seems to know what the name of the fig is so I am going to call it. Historic Ar Fig Tree I am a fig tree collector and I have never seen a fig tree like this. It is very Cold Hardy very sweet. Grows Fast. 2quart plant one plant growing on one container Rooted in Full sun Ready to go in full sun pretty heavy so shipping 12.99 this is a very very hardy fig if you kill it you had to realy mess up!!! all plants sold as is no refund no returns people do strange things with plants. Happy Bidding :) all figs I sell are self polinating all plants sold as is I am not resoponsble if fig dies people do strange things with plants. Here is the other one called a Capitola long big green: one one gallon CARICA CAPITOLA LONG fig makes large green yellow figs with long neck on the figs center is white very sweet. one crops hot summers makes figs sweeter I have only one like this to sell the price is the price sold as is no refunds people do strange things with plants

There are a lot worse things for a kid to put in his mouth than a fig ;) One thing I have noticed with my trees is that some fruit hold on to the trees very well while others fall when looked at cross-wise. While waiting for an anti-fruiting serum to be developed, try laying a sheet underneath the tree, then shake the limbs you can reach to encourage the fruit that might fall. Once they drop, gather the corners of the sheet and collect the fruit in the middle of the sheet. You can dispose of the figs as you wish. Granted you can't reach the upper limbs, but this might help reduce the number that end up mushed into the ground. If it doesn't help enough, you might be able to hire someone with a mechanical shaker to shake the tree when you think most of the fruit is near ripe. Heck, you may be able to negotiate a lower rate in exchange for all the figs he/she wants to eat. good luck, ~james

I just did the same thing. I took the heavy fruit like the cubanelles and the bigger jalapenos, so no damage there. The cayennes (even though some were big) and the smaller jalapenos I left on the plant. No droppage, no damage, and everybody seems happy. Go for it. The biggest moment of danger is when you have to get the old pot off. (Four hands really helps for this step.) Let the soil dry out some so it's not too expanded and heavy. Place your palm against the surface of the dirt, with the stem between fingers or thumb, invert the plant and whack the bottom and/or sides. This should loosen the ball enough to pull it out (or the pot off). Since your palm is on the surface, when you turn it back upright the fruit will just settle back into position without twisting. You can use the woody stem to help pull, but not too hard. The stem will also support the root ball. With the old pot off, the rest is a piece of cake. Good luck.

Best bet would be to dig them up and store in winter in a cool but non freezing place to preserve the pstem (Must survive more than one season usually) for blooming if you dont have a warm greenhouse, or large room, but this does not work with all varieties, especially not the Cavendish types (stems die leaving corms), and your summers might be shorter than ours here in Oklahoma. Some types that store well this way with varying degrees of success are Orinoco (Does great), Dwarf Orinoco, Raja Puri, Dwarf Namwah, Musa Icecream. Saba stored well like this too, but I wont see fruit on it, it takes too long, and saba gets huge eventually and probably unmanageable for storage. Here is my tall Orinoco I have fruiting right now at ten feet of stem in zone 7a planted in the ground about April 15th (gets about 20 feet with leaves) that slept under my house bare root last winter at about 45/50F, with no roots, soil, leaves, light, water, etc. (Warning, Orinoco pstems can weigh 100+ pounds, pick a dwarf variety if you have a bad back) It takes about 3 weeks to resume growth in spring, plant the pstem a little deeper the next year to stabilize, and you have to take the time it takes to ripen in consideration for the type you are growing. You have to beat the first frost, and some types take a very long time to ripen, you wont always get fruit due to timing. Its been my experience that Viente Cohol does not overwinter very well indoors, dying back to pot level for me, and re sprouting, and you would need a pretty tall ceiling if you have a mature plant, and very big windows. But it is a short cycle banana, and can fruit and ripen very quickly if you can accommodate it, and worth a try. A banana pstem (visible false stem made of rolled up leaves, like straws inside of straws) will die after fruiting, but the corm/rhizome (The core of the plant) survives and puts up new pups/babies to replace the dead one. With this dig and store method, you get almost instant banana plant, and they look very impressive at about 20 feet (Including leaves) in a couple of months. After six months of storage under the house before planting again.