That’s really cool. One could probably do the same thing you did with a lean-to against a house, it might be easier this way.
My neighbor’s one fig in a pot isn’t fruiting, he should be putting it in his driveway but leaves it on the deck during the summer where there there’s some afternoon shade. His friend around the corner is big into figs. As exciting as this is, there’s a lot of other things I should get growing before I get into trying in-ground figs.
I’ve had a bunch of figs this year! The primary reason for so many figs is definitely because i buried the fig bush in woodchips. The age of the fig is also important even though it appears to be the same basic size the root mass is very cold hardy and much larger! Could not keep the fig under 5 feet this year so it grew much taller much faster. Picked two more big figs a few minutes ago
Looks like some ants got in there, you can put a sticker over the eye once the fig swells and that will keep them out. They usually are less of a problem once the temperature goes down in the fall also.
I would have been inundated with figs this year if it were not for the anthracnose, with all of the rain they all have it, still have plenty to keep me busy though.
@Susu
As long as the leaves are thick enough leaves should work. I would weight them down with woodchips or something to prevent them from blowing away.
@hoosierbanana
Wow Brent that is a bunch! Yes ants have been a problem this year. The drought has everything after moisture and sugar anyway they can get it. Thanks!
I’m almost out of freezer space for dried figs so I’m gonna start drying them down hard and storing in jars on the shelf. No African Fig Fly this year, don’t know why exactly but I’m grateful, they took a lot last year.
This is the guy I’m trying to protect. I’m thinking I’ll add chopped leaves and wood chips combo inside the wire cage and then cover it with a cardboard box. I’m worried about how green the trunk looks this close to frost. We are probably only 3 weeks away from frost.
I tried burying in leaves last winter and it accomplished nothing- all died back to the ground. From what others say, wood chips are denser and actually work.
I think leaves would be ok if a thick layer of wood chips were used on top to hold them down. @hambone Your point is well made because I tried to use just leaves and wrapping one year and the top died back to the ground. The question is why not use wood chips because we do know that worked very well for me last year.
Well…only reason would be leaves are free and wood chips not.
At least for me. I have two giant maple trees plus several red maple and dog wood tees, so I got more leaves than I know what to do with. But if it comes down to the survival of the fig tree, I’d definitely buy wood chips.
When they are that green it does not take much to do damage, horizontal to the ground would better than standing up. I got first year trees through the polar vortex by bending over/pinning down then covering with loose leaves and tossing half full bags of leaves that are flattened out on top of the pile, turns out the loose leaves are not needed as long as the bags cover completely to the ground, pop a few drain holes for condensation to drain out. Unshredded leaves are better than shredded, especially if there are grass clipping in with the shredded leaves cause that makes them rot faster.
Last winter was different, with the trees growing into November and then a cold snap below 20, so they needed temporary cover or they were damaged… even container trees that were totally dormant took some damage, young trees planted in the ground that were not covered were crispy by Thanksgiving.
i cover the insulation with plastic.this area is arid so no danger of rot.
up north people use breathable tarps.
my trees are tall n thick so this is the only way i’ve found that works.
i use them for landscape accents so they gotta be big.
Any tips that were new growth and not hardened for me I lost. I still had 50- 70% of my fig wood left which resulted in a ton of extra figs. I saw a few branches trying to root because I had them deep under the woodchips laying flat on the ground. I covered my fig as late as possible. It got down to -10F.
