The last two east coast winters were unusually cold, my fig died back as well for first time ever, I wrapped it in snow fencing (4’ diameter) and stuffed it like a giant burrito with shredded leaves. Have to refill every so often as the leaves settle. However this winter appears more normal than the previous two, so I’m hopeful for a nice breba crop as well.
exactly the case in las vegas. It is a bit demoralizing considering it is supposedly a desert, lol! If you drive around here, you’d see very few established figs big enough to be considered ‘trees’.
have seen just several around town, maybe those got lucky to have grown big enough permitted by several consecutive years of mild winters, or the owners were just outright diligent with insulation or heating.
I’m in the colder environment than you guys. I talked to another Scott who is a member here and lives about 9 miles for me. He said the most hardiest fig he has is Florea. I did some research and discovered Danny’s Delite. This fig is a found fig, it was found in Michigan! I believe it to be as hardy as anything else. A plus is it’s a darn good fig too! I have one coming from Almost Eden. They are probably out by now. I also have a Florea going on 2nd leaf in a container. The fig experts say to grow in pots for two years before planting out. I want to have cuttings of it growing as a backup before I try it, so probably three years before I plant it out.
My plan is to grow some in ground, and then remove them once dormant and store in the garage, I’ll root prune and put them back in the ground in the spring. It is so cold here, even in a mild year like this year, it really is the only way to do it besides the Zombie technique of burying the whole tree!
Here is an example of a tree that is buried each year in Quebec Zone 5.
You can see it better here.
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/pictures-of-my-bigger-fig-trees-7885714?highlight=quebec&pid=1290535821
This tree is dug up and laid down every year. I don’t want one this big, but it is a way to have a big tree in colder zones. It can be done with a lot of work. Although wrapping trees is a lot of work too! Again not much options for someone like me in zone 6a/5b
I’d like to present an entirely different slant on this topic.
Most figs that die back do so because they don’t have a sufficiently large enough root system, in order to sustain the tree from the cold temps. Many fig growers are in too big of a hurry to plant their trees, and they plant them before the root system is fully developed. Sometimes we ask our figs to do too much, before they’re ready.
I did mention waiting 2 years, although again where I’m at it not going to help that much. I agree though for me I most definitely need to wait.
I do plan to plant some seedlings in the ground, they will be removed before winter.
I agree with this advice. And don’t water especially after mid summer. You want mature brown wood going into fall. I think the main reason an older tree is more hardy is the vigor has settled down. That gives the mature wood that’s way more hardy. Too many people push their young trees with water and fertilizer. So it freezes back and the grows back with high vigor again the next yr. Break out of that cycle as early as possible.
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That is why at first at least I’m taking the trees out of ground, and storing in the garage. That way the tree can get big! Maybe try to leave it once a lot bigger, or becomes too big to handle. I want at least one larger tree here, if not all larger trees. Even in containers. I will just keep the best of the best.
What about summer pruning or would that just encourage more growth?
Mid-summer pruning is great. Just don’t prune in later summer or fall.
One caveat about older figs, I had some that got pretty big which all died back two years ago. I have also seen some really huge ones (6" diameter and more) and those also died back in a cold year. Figs are iffy in our climate, unless they are completely covered every single year. The big old fig will take 3-5 degrees more cold than a couple year old tree but thats about it.
Scott lived in Z7 and his figs had died back to the ground at times so there is no chance for my in-ground fig trees to grow big. I just buried the root systems a foot deeper to fight the -12F temp. They come back up every Spring.
Tony
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I showed pictures in this thread of a 20 foot in ground tree in zone 5. Of course you could be referring to what you’re willing to do. It certainly is possible though. I plan to have 6 or 7 foot fig tree in Zone 5b, in ground.
The 20 foot tree btw produces about 2500 figs. Now I don’t need that many and I have no place to bury such a big tree. But doing it for a 6 foot tree, and only one tree, would be fairly easy.I’l just trim it to stay 6 foot. Give me five years and I’ll post photos. I plan to dig it out the first few years, then bury it once it’s 4 or 5 feet tall. I may decide only to grow it only 4 foot tall, depends how hard it is to bury it.
Here is a picture of the large fig cover I used for several years:
It covered two 6’ high figs. The ground below would warm up the interior, at around 0F outside it was 15F under the cover. It might even work in zone 5 as the colder it gets the bigger the in-out temperature difference gets.
Tony,
Do you cover them for the winter?
I know you mentioned it before, what is the material again? For me I have to bury it as it will be right in front of the house, and if I did that the wife would make me sleep under it. Although I might use it in the back for other in ground figs.
Its aluminum foil bubble wrap insulation, for example:
http://www.amazon.com/Reflectix-BP24050-24-Inch-50-Foot-Insulation/dp/B0009XCJA2
I used regular staples to turn it into bigger pieces, and ground staples to attach to ground. One big advantage over other protections is the figs don’t overheat on hot sunny winter days and come out of dormancy too early; this is due to the exterior reflecting sun.
I only cover the Kakis with tarps and the light bulbs in the center of the trees. For figs, I covered the base with a foot of wood mulch to protect the root systems. I figured they would grow back in the Spring and still get fruits in the fall.
Tony
there are two types of men–those who’d post pictures online of their fancy italian sportscars being fashionably draped and protected with customized louis vuitton covers
and those who’d post pix of their fancy italian figs being fashionably draped and protected with customized covers from homedepot. No less!
and the latter is reason why i love this website 
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Juju,
There’s a THIRD type of man who would post photographs of hundreds of luscious figs grown on his own land-- complete with close-up cross-section shots of the delicious colorful flesh!
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Humph! What a show-off.
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