Hey all
I’m new to this group. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio.
I was so excited to finally find a fig tree at Lowe’s last year and bought the last one they had. I kept it in a pot on my patio and after temperatures started dropping in late November, I brought it indoors and kept it by the patio door which gets plenty of light. I was very surprised but happy to see leaves and new growth shooting out sometime in early January. I watered the plant every few days but didn’t keep a schedule. Sometime a few weeks ago, we had a 70degree weather and I took the plant out on the patio and brought it back in later in the day.
A few days later I saw some leaves curling up a little on the edges.
I’m attaching a couple pics for clarity. Can someone who’s experienced with growing figs indoors tell me if this is normal or ok since it’s only a few leaves? The rest seem healthy.
Do you have tips on how to ensure this doesn’t happen again? I’ve read different opinions about watering. Someone on YouTube said it should get about 1 gallon a week. Any thoughts on that?
Also, I’m torn about transplanting the tree in my garden and losing it potentially over a really cold winter. Do you have tips on how to prune it and/or ways to keep it relatively small while not sacrificing how much fruit it can bear?
Finally, is there a book/resource you can recommend that delves into all these details?
Thanks!
P.S. since I’m a new user, I can only upload one pic 
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It wasn’t used to the sun yet. Takes a few weeks to adjust from indoors to out. Figs are resilient, should recover just fine. When it is time to go out, put it in the shade for a week, then part shade, then full sun. Shade outside is actually brighter than right next to a window inside.
I wouldn’t listen to a schedule. 1 gallon a week would be way too much for a newly rooted cutting, and far too little for a large, actively growing tree. Use your built-in moisture meters: your fingers! Seriously, stick your finger in the soil. A good rule of thumb would be when it feels dry an inch down to water until some excess runs out the bottom. There are a lot of ifs, ands, & buts to that statement, but it’s a good place to start.
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Thanks! I’ll definitely do that. I have another question about pruning.
Do you know if a shoot that is growing from the base is good to keep? Or should I prune that? My plant was just one long 3ft stick this past fall. Once I brought it in, it now has two 10-12” shoots at the base, and another 3-4 longer ones at the top. see pic(sorry it’s dark. I can retake it during daylight)
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I’ve seen worse looking plants but it’s terribly spindly. As thou it hasn’t been getting enough light. It really needs a total restart with plenty of light. You won’t want to hear this but I’d cut off the bottom shoots. And then cut the top off at about 18 inches. Alternatively. but back all the limbs at about 8 inches, leaving 1-2 buds on each limb. Then get it into the light.
In a pot cut it back shorter than if it will be planted outside.
It does look nice and healthy. Possibly a RdB which is a nice fig that produces well in short season areas.
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Thanks Steven! I took a better picture in daylight. It’s a “Kadota” fig. It bears dark fruit like a black mission fig.
If I cut off the limbs and then trim it at 18”, should I repot the shoots and start new plants?
I know it would help it grow a stronger base by trimming the top. But is it the right time or should I wait until the fall when it drops its leaves? Also is there a chance it would grow new limbs again if I trim both the bottom limbs and the top when I move it outdoors sometime in April (after the frost season is over)?
Finally, when will it start making fruit if I leave the limbs or cut them?
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I don’t see any fruit on the tree now. If there are none now it won’t have any on that wood this year. If you cut it back and give it good growing conditions, then it should have fruit on the new growth. It’s early in the year so new growth could well produce fruit that ripens by fall.
So, cutting back not only stiffens up the tree but gives a better chance of fruit this year.
Get it out in the sun when possible. Just remember that leaves that develop indoors need time to acclimate to full sun. So start out with limited sun and increase over a week or two.
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Correct. I will do that. I will cut the tops and plant the shoots to start new plants. I know im impatient and want to see fruit this year. But it’s a 1yr old plant and I think it won’t make fruit until next year. Good things take time. Right?
Thanks!
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Figs fruit on new wood. To get fruit you need new growth. The best chance of new growth is to cut it back.
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Got it! What should I do with the shoots I’m cutting? Is it worth replanting them and starting new plants? Or are they not suited for replanting?
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Those are mostly too green to try to root. You could do airlayers off the two bottom shoots. That way you could cut back the top while making new plants with the bottom shoots.
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Cool. I didn’t know about air layering. I looked it up and found some cool techniques. I will try the plastic bag with dirt technique.
Thx for the tip!
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