Lou,

Tell me you saved the roots you pruned and gave some of them the loslunas treatment? for some more LSU G fig trees.

Cecil

Great looking fig, Lou!

How long have you had it?

~Chills

Cecil I did not save the roots. I used my old beat up lawn mower and ran over the mat of roots a little at a time to mulch them up then threw it all in to composted maker. Another reason for not giving any thought as far as keeping the roots is because I have another younger one started from the same tree _Sorry I wish I would have known.

Chills I have that tree what seems like a long time. It was when they where first sending cuttings out to growers to try to get them to root and write a report on how they preformed and send it (report) back to them. A friend of mine that owns a small nursery received them in the mail while I was with him. He kept one and gave me the other. He also gave me one of the purple but neither of his took. The LSU Gold one he gave me put out roots and since IÂve had it I have given many cuttings away from it. In fact that tree last season had a "Y" shape to it and I sawed the whole one leg of the Y off from the tree. I had many cuttings from that section that I gave out to a few people. I donÂt want to cut any more from my trees this season anyway for awhile because I trimmed my larger trees back quite a bit last fall before I put them away for winter.

Lou NE, PA

Thanks Lou,
Just a thought.

Cecil

WRITE TO ME I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU>
LOU

Lou....Who are you talking to about emailing you?

Cecil

Lou,
Nice tree, I'll stop by to try some later this season.
Bass

Great looking trees. By the way Lou, those containers sure don't look like nursery containers. I am thinking of buying some & potting my figs but not sure whether these containers would breakdown faster than those from the nurseries type. Your inputs would be appreciated.

Paully, homedepot sells them for about 8-10 bucks here. I used to work there, greatest fun job!

Hi Bass,
You know you and your wife are welcome any time and bring those lovely newborn twins you now have along with you.

ON Questions about the tubs I use. I use different types from different sources. Home Depot, Wall-Marts, some times when they have them in Big Lot. I usually get them when they are on sale about from 5 to 6 bucks. They are usually 18 to 20 gallon. I try to stick with the larger one but when I can't get it I buy the 18-gallon. The way I use them I change them every three to four years. So they work for me.
When I'm through the wife uses them for collecting yard waste as she pants, weeds and trims her flowers. Then one day they finally get to the curb full of some type of garbage for the man to haul it away tub and all
Lou Ne, PA

Lou NE, PA

pezutti9:

I viewed your root-pruning photos with a great deal of interest. I too, grow my fig trees in a very large container, and I was wondering just how often you root prune your trees? Did you lift out the tree -that is in your series of photos- and discover that it was root-bound, hence, the drastic, root-pruning? Did the root-pruning set the tree back? I thought that this is done while the tree is dormant, to avoid shock?

I repotted my three, "ATREANO" trees into one, very large, 20-25 gallon container last fall. This is their first growing season in this pot. They put on some very vigorous growth since breaking dormancy, and, to tell you the truth, the growth was so rampant, that even this size pot, now looks too small for the size of the tree. Do figs like to be pot/root-bound?

I also found that HD has many size containers for sale, - especially around Christmas time. Last winter, I saw some very large, 40-gallon, storage tubs, that would make perfect growing containers for figs, provided that holes are cut into tub bottom for drainage. Cheap, too!!! I think people use them for storing Christmas decorations. I just picked up a used 30-gallon, plastic tree-tub, at a local nursery, and, I may pot-up my figs into this container ... but I have no clue how I might eventually move this massive a weight into cold storage. I predict a hernia in my future!!!!!!!

EFDV, get a moving dolly to move your trees, makes it a cinch and it is cheaper than a hernia! (hurts less too) :)

loslunasfarms:

Already done that ..... The container that my figs are in, right now, has been rolled around on a 5-wheel dolly, but, with a 30-gallon tub, this dolly will be too unstable with this much weight.

I was thinking about cutting a series of 1" diameter holes into the side walls of the original container, and replanting this container, into the larger container. A container-within-a-container. Roots, of course will grow into the virgin soil perimeter of the larger container, and in the fall, after dormancy, I'll cut off all the roots growing outside of the old pot, and then, I can move this smaller pot into my storage shed, and leave the big pot where it is, without moving it. Come Spring-'09, I'll stick the smaller pot back into the larger container, and start the process over again. I may just have to get into this kind of ridiculous routine in order to increase container size as my trees get larger, and heavier. I cannot leave the trees out all winter on my back deck, and I therefore, MUST move them into my storage shed every fall.

Opinions, please, about the above.

effdeevee I did cover most of your inquires in the original post above. However I stick with the 18 to 20 gallon size for the weight and because of the limited winter storage area I have available. I would not want to go any larger because I am handling these things alone. I keep the trees trimmed down to about 6 feet from the base of the tub plus the fact that after the new shoots have grown to a certain length I snip off the terminal bud, which I believe aides somewhat in fruit production and size.

I change containers when I notice roots growing out of the drainage holes on the bottom and I know the tree was in that container a long time as was the case applying to this one. If I see any signs of distress
and I determine that the plant may be root bound. I always mark the month, year and type fig on the outside of the tub. This I find to be the case about every 3 years but at times I have let them stay in the tubs for almost 4 years (not very often).

This may set the tree back some but because I have another one of the same type and it was dropping leaves I decided to do it now instead of waiting for it to go dormant. It does have very small figs all over it but I will have to wait and see if they drop off or go on to maturity.

Also I do use a heavy rubber mallet to bang all around the pot and underneath once I get it turned over. This allows for the plant to slide out more easily.

Take the advice of loslunasfarms above get a handcart. I have two different types. They really are worth the money and get the one with the larger (dia.) size tires. You can get them on sale for around 50 dollars.

They say that some figs like to have their roots contained. Can't say for sure if that is a true statement. Some one else can give information on that matter. Mine seem to do alright like I have been growing them for some years now.

I hope I addressed everything.

Regards
Lou NE, PA

pezutti9(LOU) : .... thanks for getting back to me with additional information regarding the root-pruning of your fig trees.

The dolly, that I'm using to move my fig trees around, is just about doing the job, .... only, just barely! The 20 gallon container is so heavy that the dolly wheels are straining from the weight. I will have to go to a heavy duty, industrial-type caster wheels if I go to any bigger containers. In order for me to get my figs on my back deck, I must roll the containerized trees up a steep - ( very steep )- driveway, across 20 ft. of sidewalk, then I lift the container up three stone steps, to get the trees into my doorway, again I lift the container back on the dolly, roll it across my living-room, through my kitchen, then, out, through the back, sliding-doors, onto a deck. This, I do, twice each season. Sometimes my back is shot for two weeks from doing this. I can't really manage to lift any more weight without some help, so for now, I'll just have to limit the size of the fig trees by pruning them back, and nipping out terminal buds to control growth.

It was nice of you to post the very informative pictures. I learn more every time I go back to this forum for information. Thanks, everyone.

pezzuti9, Great pics by the way. Say you did the right thing by cutting it back. It will bounce back quicker now, but it will be a little stressed. I have over 20 fig trees in containers on my deck. I have a very large deck! Most of my trees are in 17 and 20 gallon containers. But I bought the super light weight containers from Home Depot and used popcorn packing material in the bottom for drainage. Why? So I can easily move them inside if I need to. I cut and repot mine every winter inside my garage. You tree will be fine, just don't place it in direct sunlight for about a week. By cutting it now, you've super shocked it and it may stress under the heat and root loss. It should be fine though. There's my 2 cents!

pezzuti9,

Thanks for posting your photos. I have a root bound Stella. I will do this.

DL

After I trimmed the one tee in the photos above I decided to go ahead a risk doing the same to the other LSU Gold I had. I thought for sure the figs would drop or the leaves would fall cutting down on chances of getting any harvest at all from not one tree but now two of them.

Today I looked both trees over and so far so good--I see no signs of retarded growth or fallen leaves or very tiny figs in fact just the opposite. The figs on both trees have grown larger the vegetation looks well also as you can see in the photos below. The trees in the photo are the two I root trimmed on the same day. One in the morning and the other later that day. It's only been a little over 20 days and if they keep doing this well I might get to eat figs from both of these trees.
Lou NE., PA

Lou,
All you used was miracle gro potting soil?
You didn't use one o the recipes that are listed all over the forum?
I was told to just use promix from Agway that it works fine.
- Michael J.

Michael,
I always make up a special mix that I use to pot up my trees but I had those two bags of Miracle Grow on hand and none of the other material I usually use. It was a spur of the moment decision to go for it and I just used what I had here at the house.

I had a Chicago Hardy last year that planted in my regular garden soil which is nothing to brag about--all shale. I wanted to see how it would work. In Italy those trees grow in soil that you canÂt even get a pick in when itÂs dry and rocky. I know because I did some metal detecting there a few times. I had to pass by a few targets because I could not dig them out and a couple times it was underneath fig trees. I had that thing for five years without ever repotting it.
I did fertilize it every month in the growing season and it always produced a great abundance of figs. I tired of it and gave the tree in the 20-gallon pot to my dentist because he wanted a fig tree of his own. He called me to tell me it's loaded with figs. The type of soil did not seem to matter at all in that case. It may be that the small shale rock in the soil actually helped the tree survive--but boy was it heavy,

Lou NE., PA

Hello Lou,

Those are beautiful trees. Care to share the recipe of your success. Is it just MG potting soil only? Also, I see LSU Gold does very well in your zone. Does this applies to main crop too. What other varieties U have that does so well, especially pertaining to a good harvest & taste. I have a very healthy LSU Gold, about 2plus ft tall & growing like a weed. I got it sometime in May '08 & it was about a foot tall then. Many thanks.

Paul

Hi Lou, What is your special mix?

Paul and mjmisgka concerning "my special soil mix". It's material that I can get easily from a friend of mine who owns a small organic farm and nursery just a block from my home. I can't say that this mix has or provides any special effects on the trees but using it through the years I can't complain.

Depending on the amount I need at the time the amounts of each ingredient varies.

If I am using my large contractors wheelbarrow then I use three buckets full of the Mircle
Grow potting soil like in the photos above. CanÂt forget that I also add two shovels of old (aged) sheep manure. To that I add one full bucket of course sand two buckets of mushroom soil and a half of bag of the planting mix (large bag) that my nursery friend sells. I don't recall the name of it but it is a mixture of fine and course particles. Almost like small pieces of bark. He usually sells out of that very quickly in early spring. That's the reason I have none on hand at this time. I do also add a shovel full of fast acting lime and using that shovel I mix it all together. That is enough mix for one twenty gallon tub plus a couple of small containers that I might need filling for trees that need to be moved to a little larger size container.

Hope this answers your question.

Lou NE., PA

Who sells planters like in the OP? Those are what I need. And those fig trees...outstanding!