Fig tree froze?

10 years ago

I live in zone 7 and have a 4 year old Brown Turkey Fig Tree. This year we had a late freeze. The tree was already starting to bud. The buds and about 1 foot of the ends of the branches are now black and the tree is showing little signs of life. Is there hope for it and is there anything I can do to save it?

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Comments (6)

shane11
10 years ago
Give them time, once the ground is consistently warm they should resprout from the ground. You may or may not get ripe figs this year but they should live and be fine. I lost all the top growth on my figs this year.
CathinFairfax
10 years ago
I have the same problem with our fig, only it's very clear the wood is dead everywhere above about 12" off the ground. This is a big fig too - 4 trunks from ground 3-4" in diameter. We're seeing ground sprouts popping up from the root area, but nothing on the above ground limbs at all. Our local nursery recommended pruning the dead off about 2" below the highest point of healthy bark. I posted this same question on one of the other similar forums. What do you think? Cut, or wait?
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Your trees were pruned to be trees, not bushes. They appear to be at least 3 years old. Really hard to tell age because some trees are more vigorous than others. For instance, I had a Fig in a pot for two years, then planted it in ground. Suddenly that little thing trippled in size and it's trunk(s) became thick. Now it's huge, and I think nobody would guess it's only 4 years old. It's got about 15 figs per branch and there are a lot of branches. Every year, as your trees grow older, they will put out more figs. Really hard to know what a potted fig can produce. A lot depends on variety too. I don't have LSU Purple, but my Celeste is very productive. At 2 years old, it has about 20 figs, but it's still in it's pot and has worked it's way into the ground. This year when it's dormant, it will be planted in ground. You'll just have to be patient and wait. The figs will come. We get mild snow fluries here in winter maybe for a day or two, so planting in containers isn't important, but many who live where it snows have to bring their containers in for protection from freeze. I know you rent so want to take them with you. Good plan! :-)
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tmeserth
10 years ago
I would say wait

Same situation. 3 fig trees (unsure of varieties)
- ~6ft tall, I was threatening to pull up because of unproven production, had no frost damage and finally has a single fig (of course)
- also ~ft tall, has produced wonderful racquet ball size brown figs (breda) but has three branches where there is about 18 inches of no growth. Earlier this spring it looked like we lost half the tree but have started seeing bud and figs on most of these branches (except for the tip section described above).
- ~ft tall, newly planted last fall also lost major section of primary trunk.

Pruning questions:
- 2" below the highest point of healthy bark? Seem extreme to get rid of live section? Did nursery pro provide reasoning?
- When do i get rid of dead sections? Even if I follow above and cut away into the healthy section I don't want to do it now when that section may produce fruit.
User
10 years ago
Cut Them kike the nursery advice was given.
The 3 inches live to be cut is partially damaged and will produce cankerous wood terminal,that will invite borer to move in.
The advice was sound !
phippeli
9 years ago
I had same problem with mature fig trees freezing this winter. The whole tree(s) are dead right to the ground. New growth is now sprouting from base and are around 6-8" tall. MY QUESTION is when is it okay to cut down the dead tree around these sprouts and how far down should I cut? Thanks! Pat
User
9 years ago
Cut down the dead trunks to about 2 foot.

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Fig tree froze?

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shane11

CathinFairfax

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