What is the advantage of buying them now? You will only have to overwinter them which is not always easy. I say let someone else overwinter them for you. Unless you can get a special deal now that you can't next spring. They certainly are not going to do any growing for the rest of this year.

Good point. :) I was just wondering since they made a point of saying they were shipping them now. I'm guessing that is just because they won't ship in the heat of the summer, but I thought I'd ask.

I sort of agree with Ejp3, but I don't think over-wintering them would be an issue at all in an attached but unheated garage. Mine have always over-wintered with no issues, along with the up to 200 other trees I keep in containers (bonsai).

I'd let price be the guide, as suggested. If they are offering plants at steep discounts, it would prolly be incentive enough to coax me into purchasing now; if not, I'd wait until spring & let them be someone else's responsibility.

One advantage to getting them now is you'll be able to do a full repot in the spring if roots are congested (unless they arrive bare-rooted after leaves fall); whereas, if you get a plant in spring that's in leaf, you'll have to wait until the spring subsequent to repot, with the best you can do for a plant with tight roots would be to pot up.

Al

I always order my plants/trees at the end of the season. Often times, the trees that I receive from a nursery have been nursed all year, therefore are larger than the new stock that was put out at the beginning of the season. My trees come with leaves and fruit and I know instantly if I have a healthy plant or not. Also, this way the tree goes dormant at my house and springs to life in the spring, unlike dormant trees with which you wait til spring to see if the tree will flourish, I have one now that I received this spring and it never came out of dormancy so now I've lost this year's growing season. With fruit trees that are shipped dormant only, I order like everyone else but with things like figs, I've gotten great results by ordering late.

My most recent experience is with Greer Gardens. I ordered five fig trees from them in September, asked them to ship in October since the trees would be in route for a week coming from Oregon. The trees arrived yesterday, in great condition, and again with leaves and fruit. The fruit is ready to ripen and I'll get to enjoy it this year. All the trees are 4ft or taller and one is even taller than me (I'm only 5'3" but...).

***I ordered larger size trees but I always do and I don't always get what I pay for.

So, I agree they won't grow much this late in the year but in my opinion it is beneficial to get them now if you are prepared to care for them. Good luck!

Thanks to all of you, that is so helpful!

What is a "larger sized tree" in your opinion? I was looking at a 2 gallon size from Encanto.

My only thought about ordering now what that I would get a larger plant at the end of the season to get a jump on next year, but I didn't know if it was a good move for a novice. I'm able to be patient when it makes sense. :)

It is certainly not necessary to start with large plants but I look for trees that are in three gal pots or larger or 3-4 feet in height or taller, taking care of a large tree has been much easier than nursing a young plant to maturity and because I am not a very patient person I want to taste the fruit before I put years into raising a tree, but that's just me.

If you want to start with a small plant you certainly should do that. It's been my experience that smaller plants are cheaper and cost less to ship so should something happen with your plant you will not loose much.

My local Pike Nursery has a great selection of figs and other fruit trees in the spring, so buying locally in lieu of paying shipping cost is a great idea. Figs are easy to grow but also easily killed if over watered so my only suggestion is to put your new plant in a pot that is the same size as the root ball. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

In my limited experience I have not had a bad fig so what type of fig are you looking to get?

If you are in a cold environment opt for a celeste or a hardy chicago tree.
I got mine off amazon and is tiny. But i have it near a big window. It is growing extremely sliwly but at that size they spend a lot of energy developing their roots as they are trees.

Mine only cost 7 dollars. And through this forum i found an expert fig grower in massachusetts. So i will buying from him going forward.

You could grow fruit in one full season, but you will have to learn about pinching if you are further north.

Good luck, hope you did order it.

In good climates a fig tree can grow up to a ft and a half and fruit twice.

Tommyg

Sorry, everyone! I thought I'd asked for notifications if there were replies, but I guess not, so I'm just seeing this now.

I was looking at Celeste, Marseilles vs. Black, Hardy Chicago, and Violette de Bordeaux. When I wrote Encanto, they suggested Hardy Chicago and Violette de Bordeaux. I could also wait for the spring for my local nursery - I know they carry Hardy Chicago and Brown Turkey, but I don't know what else. Not very many varieties, but I would save the shipping. Encanto was $20 for each tree and $23 to ship them both.

Sorry for hijacking this thread. I bought a brown turkey fig from a local nursery 4 feet tall with figs on it which subsequently ripened and were good. I planted it in the ground 3-4 weeks ago. It has dropped most of it's leaves as we have had a few nights in the mid 40's. For the winter should I leave it in the ground and mulch and tie with burlap? Or dig up and keep in a pot in my unheated atttached garage? I would rather leave in ground but am afraid of killing it.
Thanks.

pvel, It's planted now, I'd leave it. I don't know where you are but here in North Georgia, mid 40s is not cold enough to start wrapping up trees, low teens maybe. My figs are in containers and I have not protected them at all ( first fig purchased in 2007) but this year one had to be cut back so I'll be moving them to the greenhouse if we dip very low again this winter. My potted fig re-sprouted this spring after being killed back to the soil line so I think your planted fig would too, if its killed back by low temperatures and not something else like being over watered. Good luck and congrats on your tasty figs!

Congrats on your figs.
Yes try to cover them up once it gets in the 20s or 10s.