Size of a Brown Turkey fig rootball

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by Daniel Mosquin, Oct 15, 2009.

  1. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Take cuttings in February and grow replacement tree(s) or buy a new one at a garden center after you have moved.
     
  3. thanrose

    thanrose Active Member 10 Years

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    Damn, I'd root prune at the drip line now, do it again a couple of weeks ahead of transplanting it in late winter. With one this big, it might be best to get a tree surgeon's advice and have the pros move it. I've successfully transplanted mature figs, but none quite this big.

    My latest fig did not like the fourth time transplanting and the scion has died back almost completely. I had it growing as a standard and now it's a small thicket.
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    For it to accomplish anything root pruning beforehand requires enough time to elapse for new roots to grow and form a more compact ball before the specimen is lifted. And for it to work when the specimen is dug up the new roots that came out of the previously cut root ends must not themselves be cut off at that stage - cutting again a mere two weeks beforehand would serve no purpose.

    With non-tropical trees and shrubs the usual routine is for existing roots to elongate markedly in fall after winter buds are set on the ends of the branches. This is the one time of the year when other parts of the plant are not dominating the plant's energy supply, with the result that 60% of the annual increase in the length of the roots occurs at this time. During the winter comparatively little root growth occurs. New roots of transplanted stock with cut root ends do not appear until winter buds open in spring. In both the fall and the spring the root activity is triggered by hormones generated by the winter buds.

    Fig trees are fast growing and easily obtained here. There should be little need to molest a long-established, awkwardly large specimen that will probably be spoiled or even killed by the effort. A friend's fig tree that froze down to 2' stumps last winter is now already head high or taller, after getting off to a very slow start this spring. The frosted trunks were several inches in diameter at the point where I began to find live cambium when I cut it back. Before the winter damage it was several yards tall.
     

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