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I'm thinking about buying my OH a fig tree for Valentines Day (he keeps banging on about getting one for the new garden).

I rather liked the look of 'Panachee', which has varigated fruit, but I'll have to keep it in a large pot on the patio, and don't have a greenhouse to move it to for the winter...will it survive, or would I be better getting 'Brown Turkey', or forgetting the whole idea altogether?

Help!!

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A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

Is there a reason why your OH wants a fig?
Although the tree will usually survive the winter in the South of the UK, the fruits - which continue to grow during winter - won't tolerate any frost.

If you can't give it winter protection, then you need to accept that it may not be able to give you fruit.
If you just want it as a decorative feature, that's fine.

Do you know, I really don't know. There is a beautiful one growing in a garden on the village High Street which he loves, but it is planted in the ground, and I don't think they bother about harvesting the fruit.


If I keep it pruned, and could fleece the canopy, do you think that might be sufficient?

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The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

I think that pruning risks cutting off tiny fruits before they become visible - so you need to be careful when and how you prune.

You might be OK in mild winters if you go for "Brown Turkey".

Hmmmm...this needs thinking about. Thank you very much for your advice FB.

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The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

They do better with root restriction. A decent sized pot should be ok. It's often recommended to sink a pot or restrict with slabs if you plant in the ground. That in itself might restrict top growth. (Mine's in a pot up in E Yorks. It's a Brown Turkey cutting from a friend - hers does well in a pot)

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Thanks Flum, trouble is, the house is in a conservation area, and I'd have to apply for conservation area consent to actually plant it in the ground.

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The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

What if the pot fell over and the tree rooted itself before you realised?
What if a pruning/cutting *accidentally* didn't get picked up, so got pushed into the ground and the cutting managed to grow into a fig tree?

...cunning, very cunning, I like your thinking FB.

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The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

Couldnt you bring it indoors in the winter? Or would that be too warm?How about in the porch or such like?

In a big pot you could certainly bring it under cover, unless it gets VERY big on top.

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Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated March 14th - Peas - I like peas!

www.henheaven.blogspot.com - Updated February 27th - Rooftops and Caulis

Wow - I know you need consent to chop down existing trees, but a fruit bush? That's a tad annoying....

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Possibly initially, but I think the final pot would be pretty big and heavy...I suppose it could go on a trolley maybe.

My whole house is underfloor heated, so it may well be too warm, and I don't have a
porch...and I'd have to get the pot up the steps...

Who designed this house anyway...? Oh yeah, we did...ooops!

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The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

The council wanted detailed planting plans, almost down to what colour flowers we were going to grow!! To be fair, its trees and large shrubs that they seem to be most interested in.

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The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

I dont know how long figs live in pots anyway, but I would have thought you should be able to bring it in for a few years before its too heavy...

Dont figs like warmth? Wouldnt bringing it in mean the fruit would set better?

Sorry just trying to work out a solution and ending up showing my naivety

Not at all, they're all useful and thought provoking questions

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The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

I'm no expert on figs, but I think that they need cool but not freezing winters for their dormant/rest period.
Quite a lot of plants do strange things -sometimes becoming unhealthy- if they don't get their proper winter dormancy.

Have a search in this section for figs there's a fair few threads...

I had a bit of a 'thing' for wanting to grow some figs (not as many as Seahorse, but well that's another story!) and did a fair bit of research about figs & temperature. There are a fair few varieties that will withstand cold winters but with our limited summers you'd be better looking for figs that only fruit once a year - or if you get one that fruits twice, then take off the unripe ones.

Here's a link to someone who grows figs outdoors in Sweden!

Confrérie des Planteurs de Fruitiers Rares : Article 41 page 1 Fig Ficus carica

and a link to a general 'fig site'

Figs 4 Fun

and varieties at Reads

Fig Trees for pots and the garden trained as fans and bushes and advice on how to grow them

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Manda.

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And a heaven in a wild flower

I'm not an expert on figs either, being optimistically about to plant mine oop North in Yorkshire. However I did live in South West France where we had three incredibly productive and luxuriant fig trees in the garden and also cold winters with snow, temperatures well below freezing for days at a time. So I think the problem with growing them in the UK may be more a lack of longer and hotter summers rather than cold winters. Spring came earlier, Autumn later, in other words a longer growing season.optimistically

I have (I think) 7 figs in pots. Not had an edible fruit yet (they're only young) but they have survived being outdoors in all weathers and temperatures.

My neighbours have a huge fig tree, planted in the ground, that gives a bountiful crop every year (happily, much of it reaches over the wall into my garden!).

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We have got two 5 or 6 year-old Brown Turkeys in pots, and they both fruited brilliantly last year, plus an ancient one in the ground (var. unknown, but it's Victorian so probably BT), that fruits q. well most years. The one thing we've found is that they all thrive on neglect! The potted ones last year actually had to spend most of the year tucked in a corner with hardly any direct light, and they produced 8 or 10 each!! The one in the ground is, in effect, potted, as it's planted the old-fashioned way: 3 'walls' sunk into the ground and rubble on the base - the fourth wall is to the shed it's planted against. Bear in mind, this is a very cold bit of our area, we are actually in a frost pocket, and plants have to grow or succumb, so if it were me, I would definitely try one, but maybe BT would be good for a start.

Thank you all so much for your input. I had a good read of them and the links SBP posted, and I think I'll probably opt for a 'Brown Turkey' in a pot after all, it sounds more suitable for our conditions (I liked 'Panachee' coz its all stripey and pretty, but you can't have everything).

Thank you so much.
PB x

__________________
The Grapevine's very own Chocolate Guru

http://ashfordgardeners.solarispublishing.com/

Head of D M-T Sales and Marketing and Management Support.
Ollietopia Inc.

A Dremel Multi-Tool is for life, not just for Christmas.

Good luck with yours, Pumpkin! I found your thread really helpful as I also have a Brown Turkey as of today. Hope it works out.

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I have a fig planted outside against a South facing wall in Glasgow. It has produced and ripened figs for the last four years, with no problems. It is an un-named variety, not Brown Turkey from the shape of the fruit. Panachee looks pretty, but I suspect that it may not be hardy outside. Brown Turkey, Brunswick or Violetta are reckoned to be the hardiest and most likely to succeed in the UK.
This page gives details of fig cultivation figs