How often do you water your fig trees?

[costa]

Obviously, there are tons of factors that influence the answer to this question, such as Zone, humidity, age of tree, etc.

I have a new cutting that I just up-potted and kept the peat moss/perlite mixture from it's original container, and just added potting soil in the larger pot. Since the peat moss/perlite mixture has very high water retention, and I live in Georgia where it's always humid (not to mention a very rainy summer we re having) I am just not sure how often to water it. What I have been doing... I just stick my finger in the dirt, and if it feels dry, I water it a bit, but not too much.

As for my older trees in the ground, I rarely water them, and they are all doing well and continue to thrive. The fruit on those trees seems smaller than normal for the species, so I just wondered if watering would help produce larger fruit.

[fruitnut]

Watering will produce larger fruit but often not better fruit.

It's difficult to tell anyone how much to water a tree esp one that's just rooted.

[JT1923]

For your new up potted cutting I'd go by weight. When the pot feels light I'd water around the edge of pot away from the trunk.

[jrdewhirst]

In short, a lot. Here, I water roughly every other day in May/June, roughly every day in July/August. The only exception is when it rains. I try not to let the pot get dry; damp seems ideal. But I scale back a little as fruit ripens.

In your climate, I'd behave like here in July/August -- water every day unless it rains a serious amount.

If the mix gets too dry, the tree will drop its fruit. If it stays too wet, the fruit may blow up, split, taste watery. You have to walk a line. But it my experience -- and it's relatively cool and humid here -- it's better to tilt toward dampness. In nature, the tree has deep roots accessing a steady if small supply of water. IMO, that's what you try to emulate.

[Halligan-]

I water everyday but my figs are in pots in Texas

[mwhight34]

I water my young figs maybe once a day. My older trees in SIPs are never allowed to go empty, and I top water every day just to keep the top damp. Now that I have ripening figs I don’t top water the SIPs, don’t want to water down the flavors

[bullet08]

used to keep newly rooted cuttings in 1gal potting with same rooting mix. first year, kept it under partial sun with watering only when the mix was almost dry, but not bone dry. during the summer, it used to be every 3-4 days. second year, i used to just let them tough it out in full sun and water only when almost dry. but, when i up pot, i almost rare root and use different mix. you don't want two zone of different mixtures. i will lift the pot to check the weight to see if it needs water. image widget

[costa]

Wow, that's an impressive line-up of fig trees! Thanks for the tips!

[BigJohnfromCT]

For your new up potted cutting I'd go by weight. When the pot feels light I'd water around the edge of pot away from the trunk.

With regard to "watering around the edge" I would suggest pressing the soil down to ensure the dirt is snug against the pot. This prevents the water from just running down the side of the pot and out the drain holes.

[PacNorWreck]

My general rule of thumb for containers - twice daily above 95F, Daily 85-94F, every other day 75-84, every third day below 75F. Only exception would be significant rain, which I count as a watering, or the shoulders of the rainy season here (generally Oct to April).