Topic: free fig tree with kitchen garden

[manicscousers]

I don't know if it's a bargain or not, KG magazine, free brown turkey fig tree for p&p 4.49
credit card hotline, quote kg7jan ..0870 950 5922
9cm fig tree in a 3 1/2" pot

[natasha]

 :o :o :o,
I bought one last week for £8. :-\

[calendula]

9 cm is a bit mean, even for £4.49, that's about as long as this sentence  :o

[manicscousers]

that's what I thought but don't know how expensive they are  ???

[Baccy Man]

That's about the same as they charge on my local market for a similar size tree, 9cm doesn't sound like much but you need to bear in mind the rate they grow anywhere from 4'-8' per year in the case of my fig trees. A lot of fruit tree suppliers will charge £20+ for a fig tree & even at those prices they have often cut it back to just 12"-18" tall to promote lots of new growth.

[Barnowl]

I grew mine from a 2-3 ft 'stick' cut off by one of my neighbours from her tree. Dug a hole in the ground buried an upside down bucket with a hole its bottom and stuck the stick down through the hole. Got first fruit from it 2 years later. So if you've got a neighbouring fig  I think it's worth trying to grow from one the prunings.

[Froglegs]

I hope I'm not being thick  :-\ but why the the upside down bucket. ???

[cambourne7]

figs I beleive produce fruit if growth is limited, if given full reign they will go mad spread everywhere and will just produce leaf growth.

[Barnowl]

That's pretty much what I was told - constrain the root system and the tree will fruit earlier in its life. It also helps send the roots downwards rather than across your flower bed, if like us that's where you plant it.

[Froglegs]

But how does a upside down bucket constrain the roots if they can get out the bottom of it. I allways thought you had to make a planting box with slabs, so you make the Fig the equivalent of being pot bound.

[Baccy Man]

Fig roots can easily spread to three times the diameter of the canopy if not restrained if you allow this to happen you are unlikely to get any fruit just tons of new vegetative growth. I have mine planted in root control bags although boxing them in with concrete slabs works just as well.
There is some good information on growing figs HERE and HERE.

[Barnowl]

But how does a upside down bucket constrain the roots if they can get out the bottom of it. I allways thought you had to make a planting box with slabs, so you make the Fig the equivalent of being pot bound.

I think it just encourages the roots to grow further down in the bed so that you can still plant on top. If you boxed in the bottom surely the tap root would have trouble getting established and you'd have to keep replenishing/feeding the soil inside the box.

Have a look at this site - they recommend slabs at the side and crushed hardcore at the bottom:

http://www.sussexcountrygardens.co.uk/reference/plantafig.htm

I missed a trick there perhaps, but our garden's hardcore about 18" down anyway ;D

[norfolklass]

thanks for the tip, manics. I ordered one on Monday and it's just arrived ;D
and I'd say it was closer to 18 inches than 9 cm tall! just got to figure out where to put it now... ::)