Zone for planting a Chicago Fig tree outdoors. I am in zone 5

Question

I have 2 Chicago fig trees and I need to know planting, soil type and zone safe to plant outdoors.

Answer 1

Chicago Hardy is an unusual fig in that is it is cold hardy to zone 5. This medium sized fig produce fruit on old wood, they ripen in late summer - late fall, depending on your heat index. Even though it is hardy to zone 5, it still requires heat & sunlight to ripen fruit. It should be planted in a location that gets no less than 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day from Spring until Fall.

Dig a hole that is twice as deep & wide as the pot or the bare roots. Fill the hole back in with a mixture of half native soil to half a good rich compost like a fish compost. Or whatever you can get. Fill the hole to the depth of a little higher than the bottom of the pot. (If you were to hold the pot in the hole, the top of the soil line of the pot will be a little higher than the soil line of your planting hole. When you are done there will be a small mound higher than the rest of the soil around it.

As the plant grows, the ground under it will settle, eventually the mound will disappear, becoming even with the soil around it.) Take the plant out of the pot. Hold the plant in place while you fill in the rest of the hole with that same mixture of native soil with compost. You will end up with a small mound.

If the trees are tall they will need staking. Place two stakes on either side of the tree use women's leggings or hose to attach the tree to the posts. This elastic material will not damage your tree as it rubs against it. It will also move some with the wind, so the tree does not break. Even if you tree it not very big now, figs do grow fast, so you may need to stake it in a few months.

Learn about hardy Chicago Fig at Gardening Know How

Answer 2

The most important thing for you to prepare to do is acclimation before planting. What size pot are your figs? Make sure you understand fertilization. Do not plant any deeper than the root ball. Don't dig any deeper than the root ball height, leave the subsoil undisturbed. Do not add any weird soils or sand or compost.

Supervise the watering. Do not over do nor under do. Send pictures of your plants and where you would like to move them out of doors. Begin taking your plants out of doors in the direct sun for 5 minutes the first few days. Increase to 10 minutes for a few days...20 minutes (for a few days), then 30 minutes, then an hour. Up to 4 hours in the sun and you should be good to plant out of doors. Keep weeds away from the base of your tree.