I’m receiving Panache and Italian Everbearing at the end of week from Fruitwood nursery. Rooted plugs.
I plan to only bring then in for freezes. We hit 70+ frequently in winter here, and only get a dozen or so freezes.
The in ground fig trees manage to stay dormant even in our fluctuating winter temps, but with cuttings I’ll treat them like a tropical for this winter.
Temp dropped down into the high 20’s F last night, fig leaves got nipped. So i decided to go ahead and set them up for overwintering.
Here’s what I came up with in the tack room of the barn, using a couple feed tubs, 12 foot of heat cable and some sand . Hope it works out.
The feed tubs are pretty thick plastic. The heat cable is about 85 watts and has a built in on off thermostat, on at 30F off at 50F. I still need to stuff some insulation in where the two tubs join. But hopefully this will work out.
What’s the temp in the tack room? Are you planning on adding any outside insulation around the feed tub, like strawbales, for example?
I tack room is closed in but not currently heated. I could set an electric milk house heater in there to keep it from freezing. I also could put some straw around the feed tub. What do you recommend?
Thanks
I received two rooted plugs this week. Panache and Italian Everbearing.
I’ll keep them outside but protect them from anything below mid 20’s, if we even see those temps this winter.
The bad part is we get days in the 70’s in winter more often than overnight freezes.
If they wake up early, I’ll just treat them as a tender houseplant and take them in and out as needed.
I’ve never overwintered anything inside an unheated building, so I don’t know. I was just curious about what your plans are.
Me either… I checked with my inkbird and It was 28F in the tack room this morning, just before dawn. I driiled a hole in the top feed tub and stuck the inkbird probe inside and its 37.5F in there. I also stuffed some insulation in the gap where the two feed tubs meet.
I think you may be right about insulating the feed tubs. I dont have any 24" insulation, i’ll have to pick some up and wrap the tub with it later today.
I think it’s a good idea to insulate it. I look forward to the update on this project in the spring.
About noon today it’s 32F in the barn, 46.1F in the little makeshift feed tub shelter. The heat cable is said to turns on at 30F and turn off at 50F. So far it appears to be working. It will be slow to heat up which is what I wanted. I’m still going to insulate around the outside though.
A lot of houses in Northern VA have basement with window wells. I’m attempting to overwintering them in these at my house. I got these fig cuttings from a friend in mid August and rooted them. With the opening covered by a plywood, the covered environment stayed in the low 40Fs while the outside temperature were 22-25F the last few nights.
I like your reusable coffee can nursery pots 
. If you can find a incandescent 75 or 100 watt bulb for a trouble light it may keep that environment from freezing during cold snaps. Here in southern IL, we can and mostly will drop down into the single digits F. Those temps usally come the beginning to middle February.
