Do you group your fig trees?

[COGardener]

I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to group my potted trees this spring when they come out of storage.

Should a group them by type i.e. Etna types, LSU and so on. Or do I group them by fruit color, age, or source?

Do those of you whom plant their figs in ground do this or just put them in the order they were received?

Thoughts?

[DBJohnson]

Thank you for asking this question. As a newbie, I have no idea if there is a benefit to groupings like this. Eventually, I will have as many of my trees as possible in ground....so hope to have this figured out by then.

[eboone]

My fig trees group themselves - the snooty pedigreed ones off on one side, the LSU figs talkin' Cajun on the other with the unknowns left in the middle. Hey, at least in my fig world the ones from the Middle East and the French figs get along fine...

[COGardener]

Well, Ed.... you made me laugh. That is an interesting way to approach it.

[Tonycm]

I put my best tasting potted figs in prime locations where they get the most sun and protection from the wind.
While the second class trees get the next spot and so on.
Trees planted in ground were put in as I got them but not in the right order. There is one particular tree that needs to be taken out and a better tasting more hardy type planted in its place. Another tree was planted in a swampy spot and has been struggling the past 5 years and needs to be moved to a drier area. Needless to say I will be doing some in ground fig shuffling come Spring.

[COGardener]

Makes me wonder if the "second class" trees would taste better in a more premium spot.

Sounds like you have a lot going on there Tony!

[Kelby]

Generally they get stuck where they fit! This year I'll be a little more attentive to placing long season varieties in spots that get all the sun they can get, like Black Madeira.

[COGardener]

Last year I placed them only in the order they were pulled from the garage or received. The only exception was the WellSpring Gardens TC trees, I grouped them together intentionally. This year I think I may make a map ahead of time arranging the trees by need as Kelby mentioned. I also plan to give the roots access to the ground and increase the protection that the pots receive from the sun.

[fitzski]

With my new fig garden , I'm going to give the best spots to the those that I am more eager to taste. Which is most of them but I'll have to make some choices as I only have planted pot space for about 15-20 trees.

[Harborseal]

I clump a bunch of pots together with paths between clumps so I can reach every fig. A clump may be 2 rows of 4-6, 3 rows of 5-8 or even 4 rows of 6-8 if the plants are small. Then I arrange them so the shortest ones are south of the taller ones and the tallest of all-est are in the middle of the northernmost row. Basically so that nothing shades anything else. There are some that don't like afternoon heat and they go where the shade starts between 3 - 6 pm. I do move them around as they tell me what they do and don't like. The sunniest spots go initially to the San Pedros and anything else that might produce a good breba. After the San Pedros fruit they go to the least sunny spots (min 6 hrs, mostly 8+) where they may get pruned but continue to thrive. Long season plants get the hottest spots, which may or may not have the most sun. None get under 8 - 10 hrs, though.

[eboone]

now the serious answer...

Last season I had all of my figs in pots on the driveway (except a Sal's EL that got to stretch it's roots in real dirt). They were roughly grouped by age - the original plants I purchased or was given were mostly in black pots in the back row. Then the year old plants I had started the previous year were in mainly 5g SIPs in a couple rows. Then the younger plants - the first rooted or largest or most prized were given 4 or 5g SIPs, the ones that leafed out late or were smaller were kept in small pots. The driveway got pretty crowded and messy by end of season. Here is a pic of my fig ghetto early season before it got crowded by the newer starts:




This year the driveway extension will again be used. I am putting some hardier figs in ground, with plans to cover for the winter. I am going to rototill up a section of my back yard to sink some pots in the ground, to see if that will help with production and growth (and relieve the congestion in the driveway) The grouping will be then partly by hardiness, partly by what is chosen for the pot-in-ground method. I want to keep some of my earlier figs in SIPs that will allow me to do the fig shuffle with them.

So there is not a organized grouping by type, really

[COGardener]

I had my pots in nice double rows I could walk up and down this past season, and I'm sure I will de the same again. I might take the time to group the trees by (?) or not, I might just put them wherever they land as they exit the garage.

One thought has been to group by ripe color to make things easier on my wife when she is trying to determine if they are ripe of not.