Topic: another fig question

[norfolklass]

I got a fig (Brown Turkey) from an offer in Grow Your Own or Kitchen Garden recently, and I don't know where to put it. I've only got a tiny back (communal) garden so I don't really have room for it at home. I'd prefer it on my allotment as I have loads of space, but I think it may be too exposed – my plot is at the bottom of a hill and when it's frosty it takes the longest to warm up.

I had a quick google to see how hardy they're supposed to be and found this on the bbc gardening website:

"Only a few varieties are hardy enough for outdoor cultivation on warm walls, where they survive most winters unscathed – very hard prolonged frosts may kill all the top growth, but plants revive from below ground."

I'd be extremely grateful for any advice. is it too risky to plant it where it's going to get frosted? will it die or will it cope? (can I trust the bbc?!?)
thanks folks :)

[PAULW]

You could grow it in a large pot 20 ltr plus keep it at home for the winter and take it down the lottie for the rest of the year, I sink my pot in the ground this stops the wind drying the pot out to quickly.

[saddad]

Mine's fine... I wouldn't put it out while there is danger of frost as the smaller ones are most susceptible..
 :)

[jennym]

I have Brown Turkey in an exposed area, and that has survived. The site is in a frost pocket too. But, I did grow it in a pot until it got to about 5 ft high, and transplanted it in autumn. I also have another variety, Brunswick, that has survived too.

[norfolklass]

excellent! I'll go down the 'stick it in a pot til it's big enough' route then plant it out.
thanks all for the help, it's very much appreciated :)

[Jon Munday]

They are very strong growing trees and must be confined to a pot or a specially dug trench which has something in the bottom to prevent the damaging tap roots from escaping.
Regards
Jon
Blackmoor Nurseries

[norfolklass]

something in the bottom to prevent the damaging tap roots from escaping

thanks Jon. my plan was to eventually plant it in the ground but in a dustbin with the bottom cut out, but if it's the tap root that needs restraining this doesn't seem like such a good idea. how deep do they go?!? :-\

[saddad]

Very deep the trick is to put a layer of coarse rubble like broken bricks in the bottom so the small roots can get out but the taproot can't...
 ;D

[norfolklass]

finally, a use for all the henormous flints I've been digging up ;D
thanks again!!

[cleo]

Restrict,restrict-sound like a Darlek don`t I ;D

I had(have?) a Brown Turkey in my greenhouse,it`s pretty well surrounded by the brick walls that make up the raised beds around and there is the foundation rubble under it. It still became a triffid over 10 years and has been cut back to a load of stumps. They might grow back but I think it will take some pruning and training to get what I want-ie one or two fruiting branches properly trained.

And if it dies?-oh well I like them but usually lose so many to wasps it seems a small price to pay to get a lot of greenhouse space back

[GrannieAnnie]

I read of a man in NewYork (or was it Canada? Some place way north) of Italian descent who has a fig festival for his friends every year. It showed them burying huge fig trees in a trench for the winter. He wrapped them in straw and canvas first then bent the whole tree into the trench.They weren't in pots. Can't remember what he covered the trenches with though. You might be able to Google it . I'd never seen a large tree layed flat like that.

[Jon Munday]

A ggod way of planting them is to use 5 paving slabs. Dig the whole roughly the size to take each slab.
Lay one at the bottom and use the 4 for the sides. Remember though that it might require some watering in the Summer months.
Regards
Jon

[GrannieAnnie]

This forum is dangerous. ;D We went to a flea market today in Florida and what should
appear but a Brown Turkey Fig complete with 9 good sized figs needing a home. How we'll
find room in the car to drive it back up north is questionable. Think I'll try the suggestion of
planting it with paving stones in the hole. A woman from Chicago told me her husband used
to bury his in straw every year and they did fine below the frost line.