I have 6 in-ground figs I am trying this year. Will do my best for winter protection. No place in the sun that I could use the brick house for winter warmth. I had to plant them in the open.
Yesterday I came up with a ‘plan B’ for the figs if in-ground figs fails. If I can’t make a go with in-ground figs, I will get a carport and park 1 car outdoors in the winter. I can store potted figs in half of the garage. But I need giant pots so they can somewhat mimic in-ground planted figs with smoothing out water requirements.
The other problem to solve is where to put the potted figs so the deer don’t eat them. The backyard is pretty packed. I would need a small fenced in coral for the potted figs. I could be seasonal, but it must stand for a good spell of the year.
I hate doing it if it goes that route, but there are nil prospects in the Rustbelt for fresh figs unless you want to drive hours away. Yesterday the greengrocer had a tray of 18 figs as big as quail eggs, hard as rocks for .99 cents each. On a better day they may have a tray of 24 Brown Turkey figs that are not ripe or overly fermented ripe for $1.49 each.
These are mid-priced $1.29 each Rustbelt figs. This is exactly how they are sold in the store. I bought them, wrapped them and took photos of them when I got home.
Decades ago, I tried growing figs (both potted and in-ground) and gave up after a few years of no success. But I didn’t have the knowledge that I do now. So, am giving it a more ‘educated’ second try. I’d like to get some fresh figs before I kick off.
I grew up with Kadota, Smyrna and Black Mission figs of the highest quality. Fresh figs and the polluted Santa Monica Bay are about all I miss about living in L.A.
I harvested my first Hardy chicago from an inground plant yesterday. I have two other varieties that should also ripen before the first frost. I am totally new to growing figs it will probably take a few seasons to get a good set up here in PGH.
Ill be using concrete blankets to wrap my inground trees this winter. I used old blankets and tarps the past few years and the trees have been good. Im in zone 6 and getting hundreds of figs off the inground trees after i started protecting them during the winter. The concrete blankets are basically insulated tarps and ive seen a guy on YouTube growing pretty large fig trees in zone 6 using the concrete blankets for winter protection so i know it works.
I also have a fig that I now have to do a “plan b” for. It’s a Celeste, that I now need to over winter in a pot outside. It was supposed to go in ground, but due to various factors I might not get to plant it in ground until next year at the earliest, or it might have to stay in a pot indefinitely.
I do not have a garage so it will be sitting on my porch. Does anyone have a suggestion for suitable pots for over winterer outside figs? It’s currently in a house plant plastic pot with the built in drip tray that I assume would freeze water and freeze the roots. It’s also too small so it does need to potted.
Not OP but I’m growing some figs in 6b because they are impossible to find where I am in stores. You might see them 1-2 week a year and they are not good. Same with apricots.
It’s marginal where I am, but some every few years is better than zero. Also the figs seem more reliable than the apricots so far… but give me 10 years before I commit to that. =)
I was thinking good protection for the pots from deer when outdoors may be a drawstring canvas type bag. During cold but not frigid spells I can keep outdoors with bags over them and move in when super cold. Garage is too warm for all winter storage.
Zone 6 here and I keep 8 potted figs and harvested hundreds of figs this year. My pots are all 5 gallons, not huge. When you prune the trees back in the winter they’re actually pretty small, I can fit all of them along the wall of the garage and still park my car in there.
I’ve tried inground figs without success. Even if I go to extraordinary lengths to keep them from freezing over winter, they just don’t want to ripen figs in our climate. The in ground plants get started growing later, and continue growing quickly much later in the season than the potted plants. They usually don’t set figs until early summer, which is too late for them to ripen before cold weather.
I’m growing figs in-ground in zone 6B/7A and have found the results to vary widely based on where I plant them. I have them spread around half a dozen properties, near buildings, in the open, etc.
Near buildings (even if it is West rather than South exposed) seems to be best. But even the ones in the open often produce, though it is cultivar dependent and they often only ripen late (>= October).
I got a few brebas back in July, but most of my figs are main season, which just started last week.
This is my most productive and best tasting (at least among the productive ones) fig. It came to be as Bryant Dark, but feedback from other posters (which matches what I’ve been able to find online) it is LDA, Longue d’Aout (“Long of August” in French).
I’ve tried growing figs in pots and they produce very little. Maybe 5 figs per pot when things go well. My biggest pot is 5-7 gal, which I’ve heard may be too small. But bigger sounds like a pain in the back to lug around.
Did you actually grow varieties known to fruit well after dying back like Bari, ciccio Nero, or Lyndhurst white or did you just try random cold hardy varieties?
I keep my RdB in a 12gal ultra oxy airpot. I let it go dormant in the fall and then I open the pot up and root prune it by sawing it up into a smaller cube. Then I repot it and put it in my cool basement for the winter. Then I top prune in the spring before it wakes up and it’s ready to go.
Last winter my young year old figs all died back to the ground despite being covered with a mound of hay for insulation.
I’m in zone 8a.
I never heard of concrete blanket, but I may try that.
Or several frost protection sheets.
One thing I will do is take cuttings to root indoors over the winter.
That way if the plant doesn’t come back in Spring at least I will have a chance to get a new plant.
For me figs have always been way more cold sensitive their first winter outside, no matter how well protected they are, even if they are up against the house during a mild winter, they always get at least a little damage the first winter. Their protective nature then kicks in, and makes them less cold sensitive. Also if the protection gets cold enough it can chill the fig tree, especially the first winter.
I have never heard of those but going to add a couple more fig plants. Was looking for cold hardy + short ripening time + fruits after growing back.
Things I’ve seen available that seems to meet this are: Ronde de Bordeaux, Improved Celeste, or Marseilles Black VS
@Phlogopite Do you think any of the ones you listed would be worth looking for? Do you think the three I listed would be okay?
My chicago hardy has shocked me by putting on figs this year. We had a cold spring so it got warm really late. I wasn’t even paying attention so I’m not even sure when the fruits appeared. I don’t know if they will ripen in time, but I guess now I’m a bit hopeful!
why not prune the top when you prune the roots for even more compact storage? also, do you happen to know how cold your basement is? always figured my basements wasnt cold enough to keep them dormant(50f-65f?).
