Chicago Hardy Wintering and Explosive January Growth

11 years ago

Need help with a Chicago Hardy Fig. Left it outside all the way until early Late November/early December here in Chicago, Illinois. All of the leaves fell off at the end of September, Early October. Continued to sit outside without leaves until I finally brought it in (it is in a container).

I've read lots of conflicting information about how to winter the fig/whether to bring it in or not, where to place it once its inside (ie, dark place versus light situation making no difference), etc. Strangely, in the past two weeks or so, it has grown extremely rapidly. I had it sitting in a hallway with no window access. It's easily doubled in height, although the leaves are long and stringy. Obviously, this new growth has no bark and I cannot just put it back outside at this point. What should I do with it? My goal is for it to produce fruit as soon as possible. I bought it as a cutting late summer so it is only one season old. Thanks for any suggestions! Picture attached.

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Comments (9)

bonsaist
11 years ago
When you brought it indoors it broke its dormancy. The leaves look very weak due to lack of strong light, your indoor growing conditions are not ideal. At this point you can't force it to go dormant again. You should have kept it in a cold storage where temperatures remain below 55Ã¯Â¿Â½ and above 25Ã¯Â¿Â½ to keep it dormant.
Try move it to an area close to a sunny window until spring slowly introduce it to outside light.

Bass
eukofios
11 years ago
I agree with Bass, it wont go back into dormancy. I would keep in in a cool sunny spot. If it has been fertilized, I would water several times to flush out the fertilizer, then water only when it looks dry. The idea would be to promote as little growth as possible. The stem actually looks sturdy, so it might be OK. Once spring is definitely there, it will need gradual introduction to outdoors, starting in a shady spot and slowly acclimating to sun.

My 2 cents. I'm not the world expert by far!
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I don't know about the fig process of dormancy and what the sugars/cells go through but it sounds alot like regular freezing behavior of most liquids. Like freezing a bottle of water, the resulting ice expands and takes up more space than it did as a liquid. From what Martin said about his split trees, if it rained alot before the end of the season and suddenly became cold, I assume the tree created alot of sap and was in the process of sending it to its roots for dormancy. But instead of getting enough time to send all its sap into the roots before cold temperatures hit, the sudden cold arrived when the sap was not fully in the roots. Maybe it made the traveling sap in the cells of the trunk freeze and expand more than it can handle? That's just my guess at what could cause a split. How warm was your garage where you kept the fig? I just googled "fig dormancy sap" and got a link to a google book that describes sap tension and pressure based on air temperature. It mentions the pull and push of sap in the wood as well as what causes sap to move from the inner areas of the trunk to the outer areas. So it looks like the tree can move the sugar sap outwards to intentionally generate pressure during low temperatures for repair.It says that when the temperatures are lower, the efflux or the movement of the carbohydrates outwards is much greater. But when its warmer, sugars move inwards to become reabsorbed for bud break. Sorry I hope this helped. It doesn't really explain why the sap moved this way in your tree but I enjoyed looking for the information. I guess my theory about expanding because of freezing was wrong then!
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Thanks a lot but no Bob , it and a few others did not wake up sadly including my 2 UcDavis black madeira's still in their containers in yard. The madeira's i treasure the most for its flavor on palate and still hold out hope as i cannot replace them being UcDavis no longer has the scion program along with one of them i finally was able to have it show FMV symptom free after constant propagating from mother tree i have had since 2008. It is shown above. Noire de Barbentane just started growing from soil line and Hardy Chicago started sprouting from its limbs. The 3 year old Madeira that looked fmv free of course only a test would tell for sure from last season.It was a lot of propagating to get to that point with Madeira and heart breaking. Still i look each day at it after cutting it back for a node to awaken even sprayed some old harpin on it had laying around. Jolly Tiger is totally lost i originally bought from now closed nursery that first brought it out , it was so expensive back then i had called and talked to the owner on phone about it but only grew it for the beauty of its leaves as the taste was not good to a me so no big a deal. Spring started ok but turned cold un like all other years growing the figs. Martin
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foolishpleasure
11 years ago
Either take it near a window with sun or hang on it a strong growing light. I provide my young fig trees brought inside with a lamp each supplying 1500 lumen and they are doing great. Fig is a tropical plant needs no dormancy. We forced into dormancy because of our lousy cold winter.
cis4elk
11 years ago
You might need to support it with something like a stake or pole when it does go outside again, that main stem might not do so good with some strong winds. Putting a fan on it occasionally may help build some strength and decrease leginess.

This post was edited by cis4elk on Mon, Jan 14, 13 at 15:57
fignewbies
11 years ago
Hi,

Your tree is surely growing fast,
my little Kadota sucker fig (10") is growing much
slower than yours.
Just curious, is Hardy Chicago a fast grower
to start with?
Thanks!
centurion_
11 years ago
"is Hardy Chicago a fast grower
to start with?"

I have one indoors in a pot and it is a fast grower. It's in a south facing window and is becoming a big strong tree. I can't wait to plant it outside.

To ajh2844...If you do decide to put it in a south facing window for more light...do so gradually. Full exposure to sunlight for long periods might well kill it.

I would start it out under shadecloth, an hour or two a day, and gradually increase it. It might be several weeks before it is ready for full sun...even through a window.

I have a pale looking little mulberry I am doing that with right now.
fignewbies
11 years ago
Hi,

Thanks Centurion for telling me the HC is a fast
growing fig variety!

To cis4elk: "Putting a fan on it occasionally to add strength..."- interesting! Never heard of that before but
maybe one day I will try it out too!
milehighgirl
11 years ago
A fan is important as it will help increase the strength of the branches. Also, when you do put it back outside you will need to put it in the shade and VERY gradually give it more light. Ideally put it under a porch where it can only have a short time of early morning light. Even a few hours of direct sun will scorch the leaves and likely kill the plant.
raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
11 years ago
Glad that I came across this post; my Chicago Hardy was dormant, also brught in in early December as I didn't think my pot or garage offered enough protection (previous attempts at unheated garage overwintering figs have failed). So it has been in the 50 degree basement, but unfortunately has also leafed out. (The callas and amaryllis have sprouted too, much earlier than they usually do)

I will bring it up and put it in a north facing window at first, if you all agree that is what I should do now. The main part of the house is never over 65 degrees; my citrus seem to like that quite a lot.

Raee

Chicago Hardy Wintering and Explosive January Growth

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bonsaist

eukofios

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