Some friends have offered me gardening space in their large sunny Burnaby backyard and I'd love to try growing a fig in a container. Is this a practical idea? If so what varieties are best, and are they easy to find? How big a pot is needed? What kind of soil? What kind of support or pruning would it need and what is a practical size to keep it?
Desert King is likely one of the best in the Vancouver area. Can be planted in a large pot (largest you can find is probably best). Fig trees can be found at most nurseries (Art Knapps, Garden Works, lots of independents in Richmond like Gardens in Gardens etc.).
'Negronne' is a popular fig for containers, being naturally compact. Not hard to find locally: less hardy than Brown Turkey and Desert King (the two local stand-bys), but you'd likely need to protect/move to winter shelter a containerized fig anyway, as a cold snap will be much harder on a potted plant than one in the ground.
