Have been growing figs in containers for a few years now but will be putting a few in the ground one of these days.
I have bunch of established trees trained to open center and the main scaffold branchs are around 20” above soil line. I also have rooted cuttings that are still whips.
What kind of spacing would you recommend for in ground?
Fwiw I’m the only one who eats figs in the house so they do not need to get that big.
@100904
10’ on center at a minimum. At this spacing annual pruning will be required. 20’ on center is common in orchards.
I planted figs at my mother’s house back around 1975. They are 30 feet apart. Branches are now touching.
Richard makes a good point, I personally prune mine to control vertical growth so that I do not need a ladder to pick them. They will certainly grow too tall quickly if you allow and your opportunity to control the height will pass by without notice. If you are in a northern climate like mine I use this video guide to keep trees growing new wood, to promote Breba figs.
Pruning video for Breba crop in cool climates: How to prune figs in a cool climate for first (breba) crop fig production - YouTube
This video features the Dessert King variety which he says does best in cool climates.
Dennis
Kent, wa
I see no reason for a full size tree. One, its to tall to reach the figs, and two, it would produce way to many figs for this one guy.
So what do you do for spacing if you keep them smaller?
if I wanted to plant inside an insulated greenhouse/hoophouse and keep them pruned small, I could stack closer together yes? I’m thinking of training then almost like big bonsai.
I only need a good handful of fruit from each, I will eat tons but my partner only wants one or two a week at most.
My in ground CH Fig in year 4.
It gets cut back to 2 ft stumps once dormant… and all that growth happens each season.
Ps… those shoots will grow up and shade each other out… unless you stake and pull them out so that each shoot gets good sun.
If you had 10 shoots and you pulled them so that each shoot had 1 ft of space… 10ft.
I’m building a dark fruit wall in south sun for my Chicago Hardy, this is the result I’m after! those are different to me, they should go outside I think and will have plenty of room. two trees along a wall about 8 feet from each other.
I’ve got all the potted babied figs that won’t do this though- I’ll want breba and they are producing already at 3 and 4 feet tall, 2 feet wide at most. they could stay that size and productive level forever and I would be pleased
Indoor figs do not ripen properly nor are their roots willing to be restricted to a small container.
I would have 25-30’ center on center and prune them to stay no higher than 10’for the main trunk, they will fill in easily all space between trees
Dennis
Kent wa
so 25 gallon pots cannot hold fruiting figs? I’ve been misled
I don’t propose to use anything smaller than a ten to twenty gallon fabric pot. I didn’t think they could grow in anything smaller, so I misunderstood
the ones in my greenhouse will be in ground though, I just plan to prune severely to keep them small
I have over 50 trees planted in rows that are 4-5 ft. apart. I let them grow however they want, and they all do fine.
Your thinking was fine. I’ve seen sellers (posing as gardeners) on other sites posting about the great fruit from their 100% indoor (not greenhouse) bananas, figs, etc. in 2 gallon pots.
Picture please.
oh no that’s so little. I’m thinking to plant in ground. the greenhouse/hoophouse over them to insulate and warm them to 38F plus all winter, under shade cloth. in summer, pull the lid off and let em go. then cut back and prune and train the branches to fill the space.
I do have two that will stay potted but they’re in massive grow bags. and the CH are going to go outside of the greenhouse entirely, with just enough protection to keep roots alive.
hope that close spacing in ground in a shelter will be ok if I prune heavily. I’m not looking for a big crop. I’m sure if I wanted to sell, I would need a better climate plus more space
@resonanteye
Maybe you already know this.
Be careful about the season you prune figs and what you choose to prune. The breba crop appears mainly on the prior year’s growth and the main crop primarily on new growth. In your climate the summer might end too soon for the main crop to ripen – check with @SpokanePeach . In that case your fall pruning is restricted to big old wood and doesn’t include branches that will supply the breba crop.
rows 4-5’ apart but is the tree spacing within the row also 4-5’? if yes how many figs do you get per tree w/ this tight spacing on average?
