Cold hardy figs

My BG just finished ripening. The late ones were good but many not as good as some of the dark figs ripening at the same time. Also not as good as earlier BG. It can be a great tasting fig.

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Well, as you know-- My BG is YOUR BG! Mine is your clone. It just doesn’t benefit from your greenhouse-enhanced Texas climate.

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Many of you like me are getting fig die back in the winter which greatly reduces next years yields. This year I’m not going to take it lying down! The greenhouse gets me 6 degrees warmer. That 6 degrees is not enough. I need to put a blanket of types on figs just like I would me if I was trying to stay warmer. Every layer gains me another few degrees. I decided to make a fig blanket out of wood chips! I’m hoping it will gain me 20 degrees! In this picture I’m bending the fig down so I can cover it up. I learned this trick by attempting to root a fig via layers and the branch survived the winter underground.

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Clark,

Your figs will appreciate you and will reward you with an abundance bredas and main crops next Spring.

Tony

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Hope it worksTony! Thanks

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Yes that is difficult. One way to do it with figs is to Bonsai them.
I did it with peppers once, but it is way too much work for me.
My favorite indoor plant is a philodendron, it requires little light, almost none, yet tolerates it well outside in the summer. It got hit by a frost, so bringing it in today or tomorrow. It’s about 40 years old. It keeps it leaves all winter, growing new ones all winter. In the spring I remove most, and let it grow new leaves in the sun. The only light is from a north window. Yet it grows well. It could use a new pot, been in that one about 8 years.

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Yes that does look like a neat house plant. Slightly yellowish leaves I assume is from getting hit by frost?

Yes, it browned some edges too. Leaves are usually very nice, and interesting. Some other cultivars are awesome looking. I bought this when I was 20. It refuses to succumb to neglect. I’m 60 now.
To compare and stay on subject, “Phil” did better than some of my figs

The peppers are the most sensitive. The tops all died back.

“Phil” has the least damage of them all, a great house plant.

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We’ve had 3 light frosts but the figs are still kicking, expecting two more picks.


Gino’s Black

Tatnall (Sicilian) Red

Italian 258

Adriatic JH

I hate to be a worry wart, but I’ve never covered them before leaf drop because I’m afraid of rot… I’d sneak a peek every so often to make sure the wood isn’t getting soft. Maybe lay some of the ones that are left down after the leaves fall (and leaf scars dry up) as well, just in case.

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We are hitting 26 F at times and this fig is hardy down to 0 - 10F so I don’t have much time. It will suddenly turn on a dime and be -10 by December I think. January is nasty and nearly always negative temps much of the month. February & March begins to warm up and by April 15th most frost has passed. I will be out of the safe zone soon. Having trouble finding many fresh wood chips so I’m having to go get them here and there.

Mine are done. I just picked my last VDB an hour ago, all on the plant ripened, what a great fig in container. Here we expect freezing weather next week, the season is over here.

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Yikes! I’m very interested to see if it works for you, if it gets cold quick that should help, the weather is always up and down here.

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It has been a season for the record books here, it was cool in early summer so many of them really needed this extra time.

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The weather fluctuates here but it’s heading down right now. It will go up to 80 here and there and then wham 0 to 40 degrees for a month solid. Our months that end in R are typically wet with rain, snow or ice. Then January can be -20 or warmer. Last year was exceedingly warm. This year sure doesn’t act like it will be warm by what it’s done so far.

We have pretty mild autumn here. Two light frosts (the kind that you need to scrape ice of your car’s windshield).

My in ground Chicago Hardy has not been affected. A couple of fruit are ripening. I use organza bags to keep ants off them.

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you have warmer temperature, my Hardy Chicago leafs are curl up ready to fall already

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Is Chicago Hardy always that nice and compact or do you keep it that way by pruning often?

Honestly, I don’t know. This is its 2nd year in ground. I don’t do any pruning during growing season. Last fall( late) I did cut the whole tree down to about
2 ft tall before winter protecting it.

@IL847, winter is coming. Starting next Tues, night temp will be in the 30’s for a long stretch.

Pruning young trees makes them grow bigger and faster, even being frozen to the ground every winter a 6 year old tree can grow back 10 feet. A tree that starts growing in the spring from terminal buds will branch more from the short spaced internodes near the tips: that divides the energy so they stop growing earlier in the season than one that gets heading cuts which force growth from fewer and more distantly spaced internodes lower on the trunk and from suckers.

Pruning pushes the crop back as well; pruned trees have fewer growths with many more figs on each but they form later in the season, unpruned trees have more branches that grow less and have fewer figs each but the figs ripen sooner, the figs also tend to be larger and better quality because they are nearer the bush canopy.

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Thanks @hoosierbanana,

I personally think my in ground CH set fruit quite late this year without any pruning. If we have a normal autumn, I don’t know if I would have gotten many figs.

I re-read your statement. I did prune the tree heading into the winter although not in the spring or during a growing season. I have no choice. I can’t wrap the whole tree as is. It is too tall and too wide for me to winter protect without heading it.

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