Looks like the 15-gal pots with bark mulch can take up to 3 days of low to mid 90’s F temp. On the 3rd day the moisture meter shows low dry. I’m watering about every other day to not stress them out. Small pots dry out faster.
The best producer so far has been the lowly and common Brown Turkey fig. Still waiting to eat some, maybe 3 or 4 weeks away. If I had a greenhouse, I’d been eating figs a couple weeks ago…from what I gather from YT. Last season I grew in the ground and got 1-1/2 figs from 6 fig trees. This season prospects are much better. I will have to give a report down the road when things develop more.
I forgot to mention. I have a few pots placed on top of cement pavers. They are in a flood zone and can’t be placed on the ground. They dry up faster than the rest of the pots that are on dirt. So, keep that in mind with your pots.
Brown Turkey gets a lot of grief for being boring but it produces reliably in containers when flashier varieties sulk. Mine has been the most consistent cropper too. The 15 gallon pots handle the heat well but I found adding a layer of straw on top of the bark mulch helps keep the soil temp down a few degrees on those brutal 90+ days. Watering every other day sounds about right for that size, smaller pots I end up doing daily once it stays above 85.
I transplanted my fig from a 3 gallon to 18 gallon this year. I’m getting 90 - 100 degree in full sun. Even with the heat, the plant has taken off. Watering every 2 days is the sweet spot.
I’m still relatively new to figs. I have about 10 figs in 15-gallon pots. Fig leaves were drooping and showing signs of water stress by day 2, or sometimes day 3, last year without water and temps around 90+. Some prematurely lost leaves in mid-summer as well and dropped some fruit.
Fast forward to this year, and they are between 3 and 4 years old. I’ve stayed on top of watering to date. I cut some limbs to shape them a bit in late Fall/early winter, but I didn’t otherwise cut them back much. After 2 years of fast growth, this year they haven’t put on a great deal of new growth. After the initial Spring flush, there hasn’t been any growth. Right now, there’s no green shoots and leaves are somewhat sparse. I have one that has figs not yet full size but turning purple as if they’re ripe and falling off. It has me a bit stumped. The others have figs, but not as many as I thought there might be this year.
I wanted to cut the roots back last year, but I didn’t get to it before they woke up. It could be the roots need cutting back, it could be the soil needs to be replaced, or perhaps add some more lime…who knows. I don’t see much bug damage and leaves generally look green and healthy.
Figs can vary a lot. I grow in pots and a few don’t do well in pots. I think they need more roots to produce well. some drop figs just before ripe often due to stress or needing pollination to mature. Soil pH is important to keep an eye on. Like check s few plants each year. Soil in pots pH increases from decomposition of organic matter.
Figs are very tolerant of high and low pH and will grow. If you want maximum production keep pH at 6.5. I culled lots of figs that failed to produce. Sometimes I keep them around but lately I have become impatient with poor performers.
I’m not a large fan of root pruning. I do when they reach maximum size but mostly to remove old soil. They can lose a year sometimes to recover. Not producing. After my years I’m still learning. I’m happy with production, but always room for improvement.
The potting mix is Back to Root. Terrible soil. Nothing, but wood-chips. I mix it with clay, leaves, and straw. I left it in the 18 gallons (no hole) for it to break down. It rain and rain some more until the container was a swamp. Then, I added more dirt on top. The water eventually filled the container to the top. It shimmer some more, before I drilled some holes to release the excess water. After 3 months, the fig was planted. The fig have grown a foot and still continue to grow. It’s doing well in the 90-100 degree.
