I just looked up my thermometer in the garage where figs are stored it shows
28 F.
This morning temps. outside is -1 F below and I believe it will get even colder so my garage.
Should I get heater and keep temps. around 32 F or it is ok ?
Thanks,
Remis

How large are these figs? if they are in small containers, you may need a small heater, but larger trees can take a bit colder temperatures.
Buy a min/ max thermostat, it help you see the temperature range in your garage a lot easier.

Bass

Hello,

Remis,
dont worry about the Martin Unknown last season it saw 6 to 8 degrees in my garage as you know it was a brutal winter for us. That temp stood for a week in my garage and then climbed only into the teens for several more weeks thats between 10 and 20 degrees.
If you have other fig plants that are smaller and younger cover them with an old blanket and they should only get a little branch dieback as in our area this happens until the plants reach about 3 to 4 years old and each year you will be cutting of about 6 inches of black branches that will show come spring . You will not notice it now but in spring time look at the ends of branches and you might see black ends those you nip off till the good part (no more black).
The young plants you seen had the blue tarp attached to the wall and draped over them those are the 1 to 2 season old plants, the others which are well matured on the other wall are naked and on there own and will be fine as they were last season. Our garage temps are near the same.
So in short your young guys just throw old blanket over them , the one i gave you can take temps as low as i mentioned above as it had no damage to it last season just dont leave the overhead door open for a long time and let the damaging winds stay on it.
Best Health

A small 1500 watt heater is less than $20 at Home Depot. Almast all small heaters are the same 1500 watts, so not much point in paying more.

I do have oil heater ,I will set it it up to keep above freezing temps. Have no desire to have dieback on branches.
Martin,
I have not yet watered my figs since I stored them in garage my smaller plant soil looks wet,but bigger plants (yours and my BT) I think they need a drink. Have you watered yours yet ?
:) this may sound weird but I water my plants with Rain water and at winter time I just get a bucket of snow and melt it  :)

Remis

Hi Remis,
no i have not watered yet as i dont think the water has evaporated yet, i will wait till month of february . If your small plants or plant looks wet then it shoould have enough moisture in soil as i read while back that even though soil is dry to your touch the moisture is still within for the plants. Also i read that in cold weather the roots really take up water very little as everthing just slows down a great deal with the plant as it is sleeping.
My pots look very dry on the top but the moisture that was further down in my pots im sure is still there enough to sustain them thru most of the winter at least till Feb as opposed to being out in the sun on a warm cement patio which just evaporates and heats up the pots.
Anyways this is just what i do i water once or twice in winter unless its very mild winter and my garage temps climb.
Remis as i type this i got up and went in garage to see the temperature and its 17, the outdoor temp right now is right at 0.More than likely some of your small plants will get a little dieback is my thinking as end of those branches might be really thin and just cant help it but no big deal as plant ages and wood thickens the so called antifreeze works much better in plant and as it matures it all works out rather well with the mature plant being able to take our garage temps this has been my experience. 17 now and im sure before its all said and done come mid January my garage temp will drop below 10 as i do not use any type of heater.

But Remis this is just what i have been doing all these years and please i do not suggest you do not use heater USE it if you have it im just an older hardheaded stubborn fella in how i take care of my plants.
I dont tell folks this is the best way or this is how it should be done i only mention my experience as i do somewhat go against the grain . Later this month i will probably take pictures of thermometer temp like i did last season when temps dropped pretty cold in garage. In meantime here is picture of temps in late Decmeber last season and it stayed beow 10 the following month January for several weeks when outdoor temps were between 15 and 23 below for 1 week at night. Yeah i know im push them plants but thats just me !

Hope this helps and look forward to seeing you this spring.

That's very helpful information, Martin. It is really hard to determine what temperature each variety can stand in a pot.

I have always left my larger potted plants (Hardy Chicago, Peter's Honey, VdB, Osborne) out on the deck in the winter, only bringing them into the garage if the temperature falls below 24 (for us this is usually just for a few days  now and then during the night hours). This has just been an arbitrary number, but I have had no die back on the deck figs. I have had some limb die back on the brown turkey in the ground on the south side of the house, none on the other in ground figs (I don't cover these at all). I have stuck most of my small ones in the crawl space this year to keep from moving them in and out of the garage, so hopefully no worries.

Can't wait for my Martin's unknown to have one of those tennis balls..

That thing is the size of my last kidney stone...

Martins uknown, Hardy Chicago, VdB , EL Sals, Italian Unknown, all had no limb damage at those temps but they are my more mature plants minus MU which i gave away and IU i destroyed but kept a sucker when i found it growing in pot. This winter season i have a dozen or 14  1 season old in similar situation in garage but have tarp nailed to wall draped loosely over them to protect from wind so i expect some limb damage .
I will report on there condition and the type of plants they are come spring time when they hopefully start to bud out but sincerely i expect limb damage to those little guys but they should live on and produce upcoming season .