Cold Nights Ahead - Need Help w/ Potted Fig

15 years ago

I have a potted brown turkey fig that I keep on the south side of our house, a few feet out from our brick foundation. It's lived happily there for about seven years now. In the past, when the weather was forecast to be especially cold, I've moved it into the crawl space under our house (4' high at the lower corner). This year, though, it's gotten a bit too large. Later this week, the forecast includes two back-to-back nights of 10-15 F temps (uncommon here in the Piedmont region of NC), and I'm trying to decide how to best protect it. With some modest pruning, I could fit it under the house. Alternatively, I could wrap it in heavy blankets. I'd appreciate any recommendations on the best course of action...

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Comments (6)

ottawan_z5a
15 years ago
shazaam
There is no harm in storing it horizontally in the cold storage or crawl space. Just make sure the temperature is under 50F (better under 45F).
See the following thread:
http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/figs4funforum/vpost?id=3118371&highlight=horizontally
(pick and past)
Ernie
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion and link. Unfortunately, the fig is every bit as wide as it is tall, and pruning would still be necessary in order to get it through the crawl space door or to lay it on its side. Is it a bad idea to prune in mid-winter?
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I did fail to mention that I went with all white pots this year. Last year I had two in white pots and top growth was more substantial for the trees in white pots than in black pots. Later I discovered the roots also were more substantial. Al's response to this was: "I believe it to be temperature related. The black pots are much more likely suffering more severe heat stress & would unable to metabolize properly & use water from the containers. The plants in the opaque white pots would be the coolest (possibly as much as 20* or more) of the lot & would therefore show more vigorous transpiration rates & be able to carry on (closest to) normal function. I often see water requirements (especially in plastic containers) diminish during the heat & usually don't fertilize containerized plants from around July 4 to mid-Aug in my zone. Most of my trees show almost no growth during this period, so use much less water & almost nothing in the nutrient department. Fertilizing at this stressful time can increase the probability of root rot. Though we rarely associate a weak or sickly tree in fall or spring with root rot, we can often trace the underlying cause to exposure to temperature extremes the summer previous. It is very important for me, in zone 5b/6a to be cognizant of high root temperatures & try to moderate them, & even more so for the growers in the higher # zones, like yours." This is why I not only switched to the white pots, but also water in the afternoon when I can. I remember reading about using one of the turface like products on a lawn. The recomendation was to aerate the lawn and spread the product so that it fell into the holes. Perhaps you could use a pipe to pull a few plugs of your mix out of the pot, mix the turface into what you pull out and pour it back in. You may be able to avoid repotting. Another option is to nest your pots in a larger one and fill the space between with more mulch as an insulator. The mystery fig you spoke of, is that from PN? Mine finally broke dormancy about three weeks ago... about five weeks after the others leafed out.
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Mister PH, I either loosen the roots or lift the tree entirely (all small) lie it on its side along an 18 inch deep trench with mulch in the bottom. You can bury several in one place. Branches are tied to make it compact. I put mulch through the spaces, cover with garden fabric, cover with mulch and maybe some soil. Everything is cold. Branches do not rot. You just need to take care digging it up again in March or later, so mark it well with stakes to show where branches are. The fabric tells you when you reach the tree. Stand it up and let it grow in place again. I hear the Greeks do this in Montreal which is where I learned of it. I plant my trees in ground for summer, but you could do it just as well with plants in pots. A couple of feet of mulch keeps frost out. I noticed when I dug-out this last spring, that there was only a 6 inch layer of solid frozen mulch to clear off. Everything below there was healthy, though I did damage a very few branches digging them out.
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That's kind of what the temps are currently here where I am. They just never got appreciably colder than that .....high 20's was about the lowest. Since I don't need to worry about single digits or even teens, my trees are outside year round with no protection. They are perfectly happy now under conditions similar to yours and buds are beginning to swell. I would not have any concerns about you bringing yours out, provided you do it gradually (over a couple of days to a week)......and are prepared to take them back into the garage should temperatures plummet.
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ottawan_z5a
15 years ago
It is not a bad idea to prune in the winter or during dormancy. However, you have to know the variety and if you expect breba crop then pruning will greatly minimize the breba crop but will enhance the main crop which the plant bears on the current (new) year growth. Some varieties such as Desert King have breba crop as the major crop in most places, so Desert King can be pruned in summer after the breba crop because in most places no main crop is expected.
I tried to find a link of thread by Herman2 but coulkd not (probably archived), but here are my notes from Herman2 post that deals with the issue to some extent (minor edits for clarity to myself): quote:

"If you bring your poted figs inside every winter then you do not need cold hardy varieties, but early fruitting is what you need. Now there are two kind of early fruitting figs:
Type #1 Figs that have an early breba crop, such as Desert King, Gentille, Dauphine, St.John, Gillete, where breba crop is the main crop.
For Type#1 you never prune in winter but when you see the fruits buds in spring,for shape only .Also you have to bring them inside imediatelly after leafe fall in order to preserve the breba fruit buds that are allready on the tree in the fall ,very small you can't even see them,but no doubt they are there,and need to be protected.If not bud fruits freeze and no fruits next year!

Type #2 Figs that has an early main crop as :Celeste, Hardy Chicago, Pastilliere, Sal"s fig, Early Violet,.There could be more but I do not have experience growing them. Growing this figs in pot and bringing them inside for winter should guaranty ripe fruits, in colder climates.
For Type #2 you can bring them in later because rhey produce main crop on new growth so no fruits buds in the fall. regards" unquote
kalymnos
15 years ago
Shazaam7b
Tie the branches together so they wont be so wide spread and just prune it on the top.
Good luck
maria
Scott F Smith
15 years ago
Maria has a good idea -- with some rope you can make a fig tree have about half the span, by cinching the limbs together. Hopefully it will fit then. If not, cut out only the limbs getting stuck in the door. If you have cut your own christmas tree you have seen how they take a fat tree and stuff it into that plastic mesh hoop to be compact enough to fit on top of your car -- its the same general idea.

Scott
Ernie
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions, folks. The idea of tying the branches together is a great one, Maria. I'll definitely give that a try. Some pruning will definitely be necessary, though, so thanks for the tips Ottawan. As best I can tell, Brown Turkeys are more of a main crop fig (mine has been in the past), so pruning moderate pruning, should it be necessary, shouldn't be a big deal.

Cold Nights Ahead - Need Help w/ Potted Fig

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Cold Nights Ahead - Need Help w/ Potted Fig

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