You may get responses here (lots of zone deniers in New England), but there is a Fig Forum on Houzz that may help.

Claire (who knows nothing about figs)

Brown Turkey variety. At bottom edge of zone 7, near the RI seacoast. Before the winter, I make a cylinder of chicken wire higher than the fig tree (which is only about 28" tall so far) and fill it with hay. In late April I removed the hay (over several weeks) and the cylinder. So far, 3 figs are growing well. This will be my first harvest, and I'm hoping the next month will get them bigger.

Carol

I only have one in a pot right now, though the variety I bought might be hardy here in 6b. I just haven't been brave enough yet. My folks in 6a have a Chicago Hardy in the ground, and it comes back every year, though it usually dies back to ground level first. At the moment, it is in a spot that's much too shady, so they don't get any figs, but with enough sun I imagine they would.

Well, this is all somewhat encouraging. I'll probably take the figs I have now, which aren't happy in pots, and plant them shortly.

I was in the south of England a few years ago, several zones warmer than here, and there was a huge fig tree overhanging the street, loaded with unripe figs. I don't know the variety, but just the thought of that adds to my motivation.

--Rr

I have had a brown turkey in ground for 5 years. I protect it as Carol described and it dies back to the ground every year and has never produced fruit.

Carol and Vladimir (and anyone else?)

How much sun are your plants getting in the summer? Mine have been in pots for years, and have produced small fruits only rarely. I was told that they're sensitive to too much fertilizer, which can make them grow faster at the expense of fruit. I guess they do better in poor soil generally?

Carol-- how far back does your fig get frozen when you wrap it like that?

Thanks,

--Rr

I've had the fig BUSH (it does die back to 24" twigs) for only 2 years. No fertilizer. I planted it amidst herbaceous perennials, facing south, sun all day.. And this past winter was cruel to it: first a thaw at the end of Feb. then a strong frost in early April. Luckily I hadn't de-hayed it yet. I do have 3 small figs on it! And I hope they'll grow bigger and edible by the end of September.

I've had a Brown Turkey my parents gave me in the ground for the last three winters. It produced a couple ripe figs last year. I wrap it in mulch and burlap every winter, but it still suffers pretty severe die back and more or less grows from the ground in the spring. It's been more vigorous every year. Got probably 8-10 little green figs on it right now -- fingers crossed. It's in full sun.

I'm just outside Boston.

Mine gets sun 6 - 8 hours a day.

Nekobus, when are those figs ripe?

I use the same method except that I build a cage out of wire and stuff leaves into it and cover with a blue tarp. Have dieback to the ground every year and never had fruit.

hmmmm....

the only thing i can think of is maybe your not using enough leaves possibly? in the picture above we usually go thru about 20 of those tall brown paper bags. i know he grabs a bunch of those bags from his neighbors when they put them at the curbside.

i hope this helps...

Stevin, you've given me a lot to think about. I'm definitely going to plant my figs soon, and I'll have to choose a method of protection shortly after that.

Thank you for the detailed description of how you and your family manage these!

--Rick in SECT

Stevin, I will give your dad's method a try. Any idea of the size of the tarp?

Rick in SECT: I know nothing about figs but I'm going to respond anyway. I would worry about disturbing the roots of the fig and promoting new growth now when we're nearing the end of the growing season.

Would it make sense to bury the whole pots in the ground rather than planting them, so they're heeled in and protected by the soil but the roots aren't disturbed? Then plant them in the ground without the pots in the spring so they have a whole growing season to get new roots established.

That way you can go through the whole above-ground protection routine knowing that the roots will be insulated and the figs will be under less stress.

Just a thought.

Claire

Vladimir, all depends on the size of the tree.

Rick, Claire is right. planting it now would encourage the tree to put on some new growth which most likely will not harden off by the time the cold weather arrives. i would store your trees this winter just like you have in the past and then get them in the ground once they break dormancy in the spring as long as there is no longer a threat of frost.

All my trees are in 20 gallon pots with maybe 1 or 2 going into the ground possibly next year. all my trees are 4yrs old started from cuttings. as for fertilizer, i give them spring application right around the time they are starting to wake up using Joe Morles recipe. then roughly a month after that i start feeding them every other week with a liquid fish fertilizer called Organic Gem. I stop feeding them mid august just so that they don't put on much new growth. i also sprinkle a handful of garden lime 1-2 times during the season into each pot. once frost hits and all the fig leaves fall off i usually leave the tree outside to get a couple more light frosts to help harden off the new wood. once majority of the new green wood has turned brown, i bring them into my detached garage where they will stay all winter. i dont cover them nor do i provide any heat for them. matter of fact every time it snows its my sons job to place 2-3 grapefruit sized snowballs on each pot to assure that the soil never goes dry. it typically take up to a week for the snowballs to completely melt.

sorry for the rambling....

Stevin, doesn't it go way below freezing in your detached garage? I assume it is not heated. Do you protect them from the cold? I was thinking of putting my potted figs in my cellar but would rather not have to haul them down there and instead put them in my old, drafty barn.

i know it's dropped into the high 20's before in my garage. my garage is constructed of cement blocks which i think may help regulate the temps inside. no heating system what so ever. while i'm outside cleaning snow i leave the overhead door wide open at times which is usually for 2-3 hours. a couple of friends last year put their trees in sheds. one friend lost all 3 trees and my other friend lost 1 and the other died back to the soil. The temps in a shed are very unstable, warms up during the day and then drops bigtime during the night. Also, not sure if they kept the soil moist during the winter, so that might also be a factor as to why their trees perished. . do you have a bulkhead going to your basement? at the bottom of the stairs where it would stay cool enough (below 50) would probably be your best bet. how many trees are we talking about here & how big are the containers?

My two cents:

I grow "Olympian" fig, I purchased it as a one year tree from Logee's last season, making it two years old this season. It is planted in a raised border edged with stone, and has southern exposure of a very protected back yard.

Winter 2015, the fig died almost to the ground. In late winter, the frosts nipped an extra bit of the remaining trunk. However slow, it finally resprouted from its base. It currently stands around 5 feet tall and is bearing around 10 fruit.

It shares a bed with sage, and is close to the foundation. I water it thoroughly, and only when we've been getting the pissy rains that just wet the surface of the soil. This way the plant is more receptive to the hose water.

__

My microclimate in Seekonk faces south west on our hill, so we get more natural rainfall and more sunlight than other areas of 6a. The soil here is healthy/fertile.

Carol, ripeness dates vary year by year. If I'm lucky, they're ripe before frost :) Seriously, usually late Sept/early Oct. Mine are about the size of a quarter right now, so they have a ways to go.