@floralies from what I had read, figs do better with a constricted root system, however I wanted the tree to look like it is planted in the ground. I figured I'd you can grow it in a pot, you can stick that pot in the ground 😀
I'll leave it in there for now, as @Nollie said, it's a pretty small specimen so I'm sure it'll be fine for a year, and I'll do some more research about a better long term solution.
@Dovefromabove like I said before, I'd already done it before deciding to ask the question 😀🙈
I read through the link you sent, I understand the principle but I'm not sure how big the protected area should be? In a pot I get the principle that you keep sizing up the pot as the tree grows, do you do the same in the ground?
If it's in a pot you'll have to keep repotting at the very lease because the plant will exhaust the compost in the pot.
If it's in the ground, with some hardcore below and paving slabs on edge making a contained root area of about .75m x .75m x .50m -ish, then the roots will fight their way through the hardcore and out via the gaps between the slabs where they meet at the corners ... this constrains them but doesn't totally enclose them ... that way they don't need the equivalent of 're-potting'.
Our fig is in a very large square terracotta pot on the terrace ... every couple of years in the spring we have to carefully tip the pot onto it's side (without breaking it), ease the fig rootball out of the pot ... prune back the roots and repot it with fresh JI No 3 and a lot of horticultural grit. That's a two person job and takes one heck of a time ... and we have to be careful of our backs ... but at least we don't have to dig and lift it out of the ground first ...
I hate to say it but I think you've made life very difficult for yourself by sinking the pot into the ground ... you're going to have to dig it up and repot it every couple of years minimum ... I hope you have the phone number of a good chiropractor.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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I'll leave it in there for now, as @Nollie said, it's a pretty small specimen so I'm sure it'll be fine for a year, and I'll do some more research about a better long term solution.
@philippasmith2 thank you
https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-figs/
Much easier than sinking a pot into the ground.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I read through the link you sent, I understand the principle but I'm not sure how big the protected area should be? In a pot I get the principle that you keep sizing up the pot as the tree grows, do you do the same in the ground?
If it's in the ground, with some hardcore below and paving slabs on edge making a contained root area of about .75m x .75m x .50m -ish, then the roots will fight their way through the hardcore and out via the gaps between the slabs where they meet at the corners ... this constrains them but doesn't totally enclose them ... that way they don't need the equivalent of 're-potting'.
Our fig is in a very large square terracotta pot on the terrace ... every couple of years in the spring we have to carefully tip the pot onto it's side (without breaking it), ease the fig rootball out of the pot ... prune back the roots and repot it with fresh JI No 3 and a lot of horticultural grit. That's a two person job and takes one heck of a time ... and we have to be careful of our backs ... but at least we don't have to dig and lift it out of the ground first ...
I hate to say it but I think you've made life very difficult for yourself by sinking the pot into the ground ... you're going to have to dig it up and repot it every couple of years minimum ... I hope you have the phone number of a good chiropractor.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks for your explanation though, it makes sense to me now how it works. I'll pick up some slabs and rubble and get cracking!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.