In November I moved a 15 year old fig tree and planted it in my back yard . I built a structure around it out of walk-in freezer panels , the kind you would find in any restaurant.
I posted about building it in November , and am now updating on it .
I live in Toronto Canada, and the temperatures have averaged around 20F .The coldest day so far was 3F.
The Figloo dimensions are apx. 7x7x8 feet. I have 2 possible heat sources and can change from one to the other with the flick of a switch. The first heat source is three 50 watt incadescant light bulbs . The second heat source is an electric heater with fan. The lights or heater are controlled by a digital thermostat set at 35F and keeps the temp between 34F and 36F . I keep the fan running on the heater (with the heat disabled ) continuously to keep the air circulating to avoid mold problems.
It is  Jan. 8 and up till now I have not needed to use the heater. The 3 light bulbs have easily heated the structure and they are switched on and off by the thermostat as needed . I would say they are on less than 50 % of the time on an average day.
 The fan uses 22 watts and 150 watts total for the bulbs. At 10 cents a kw hour and all the extra fees and taxes I aproximate  40 cents a day max usage. I could easily put a few potted trees in there as well to free up my garage .
The ground of the structure to my surprise has not frozen at all and I have a temp probe 8 inches into the ground and it reads 37F.
I also have a couple rosemary plants in there as well and they are also doing very well.

John

Hello John.  I remember reading about your figloo in November.  I like your setup!  It is very smart and cool.....I mean warm!  cheers,

John that is great info, yeah its been real cold in T.O. this year.  Ive been nervous this year about the safety of my trees in the greenhouse.

I like the lightbulb idea a long time ago but never tried it.  This gives me some more evidence that it works.

How neat!  And that's a beautiful Rosemary plant.  How did you get it to grow in a Christmas tree shape like that?  I would love to have mine in that shape.

Thanks,

noss

Today was the coldest so far this year at -24c in North York ( Toronto suberb ). That's -12f .
The temp in the figloo this morning was 33f with only three 50 watt light bulbs as a heat source.
I think that the bulbs are on almost all the time at these low temps. But I can't complain because it is still above freezing in there and that is with a 1/4 inch opening under the door and unsealed corner joints for air exchange.
So far so good .

Dennis - Thanks

Nas- I've never tried any of this before but read a post by Arctictropicals (the other forum sight )who
grows bananas in zone 4 and got a lot of info from his pics and posts.
Its amazing what a good insulator can do.
On the other hand I have a small 7 x 9 feet glass ( 3mm thick ) greenhouse and am
amazed at how poor an insulator glass is.

Noss-I wish I could take credit for the Rosemary plant Christmas tree shape but
It just turned out that way with no pruning at all.

John,

Is it a Tuscan Blue Rosemary, by any chance?

Thanks,

noss

I like your setup and really think the name fits .

( responding to a post from another thread so as not to hijack it )

Hey Andre

I wish I knew the variety of the tree in the figloo but all I know is that an older Italian fellow went through the trouble of burying it and then building a plywood structure around it every year for the past 15 years.
It is a green fig is about all I know at this point . Hopefully someone will be able to identify it when I post some pics of the figs and leaves this summer.
There were literally hundreds of figs on it when I went to first see the tree but it was out of town and I never had a chance to try them when ripe.
I have not put any potted figs in there this year because it was a trial run to see how it would work. But I did put a couple potted rosemary plants in there and they are doing great . We have been using the rosemary all winter and it tastes perfect . And with any luck the rosemary will be the size of a small Christmas tree by the end of the summer and go back in again in the fall.

John

Did not mean to hijack the last thread :). Thats interesting, I have a small tool shed in the back, its probably 11' X 8'. If I run out of space for my figs in the house, maybe I can leave them there. But like you said, keeping the temp about freezing would be crucial. To be honest I'm surprised that your tree survived in 37 degree weather! That is pretty damn impressive. I think your potted figs would do just fine, as long as the soil doesn't freeze. I bet wrapping the containers in burlap would provide a little more protection.  

As far as temps go you need to keep the container temp below 42f otherwise the fig tree will not go dormant. Some people store their containerized figs at below freezing temps the whole winter .
I know of one person in Toronto who has 8 x 4 x 3 foot high plywood boxes permanently placed in his yard with the bottom being bare ground. He ties up all his potted fig trees and lies them down on the ground and stacks one on top of the other till full to the top . He then covers with a piece of plywood and 2 inch foam all around and on top. Then covers it with a tarp. The only heat is geothermal and keeps the trees from going too far below freezing.
His name is Adriano . Check out his website at adrianosfigs.com . He is a master at his craft and has over 200 varieties in Canada of all places ,with no supplemental heat. He also has 3 or more large in ground trees of 20 years or so..
And as far as the soil freezing in the figloo it has not even frosted over. I have a temp probe sunk into the ground about 8 inches and it never went below 35f this whole winter...

John

Thats strange, my Brown Turkey went dormant outside and I brought indoors and it stayed dormant. It's been in 68+ temperatures all winter. 

Hey Andre

Check out this exchange between Tapla ( very knowledgable bonsai grower ) and someone asking for advice.
There is a difference between dormancy and quiescence . You want to make sure your plant is truly dormant then kept at proper temps during quiescence so as not to slowly drain it's energy reserves over the winter.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg1015455027937.html

John

My inground tree thrived this year due to making it through the winter unscathed thanks to the figloo . The temps never went below 35f even though it got down to -10f outside without the windchill.
I decided to give the tree a major pruning now that the roots are well established , so there was plenty of room to store other potted trees in there as well . I put 7 full grown trees and about 15 3 gallon pots and a couple rosemary plants in there too.
The only problem I encountered last year was moisture build up that would have caused mold if the door was not opened to air out the structure , so this year I installed a bathroon fan on a timer to come on twice a day for 15 minutes . This will only be necessary during the rainy seasons .

Built walls around tree and plants ;


Exhaust fan in top corner ;


Inside figloo ;


Outside figloo ;


A well deserved capuccino after all that hard work ;


John

That figloo is something else. I want at least 10. Wondering about the fan. You might need to set something up that opens to let fresh air in when the fan comes on. If not you will have a negative air pressure. In a greenhouse just before the fans kick on the louvers open up. Reason why I say this cause this figloo looks air tight.

                                                     luke

Hey Luke ,
Thanks for your positive comments .
It is not as air tight as it looks . And there is a 3/4 inch gap at the bottom of the door so plenty of room to suck in air .

John

I bet you get a good amount of geothermal heat that helps the circulation of a median temp of 35.

Hey Domenick

Last year I had a temp probe atleast 8 inches into the ground and even on the coldest day it never went below 35f . So there is definitely some heat from the ground helping offset the cold air temps .
Infact Adriano stores all his potted figs in structures measuring apx 3 feet high by 4 by 8 feet directly on the ground with no suplemental heat .The trees are tied up and layed flat on the dirt and piled on top of each other . And that is in zone 5 .

John

Whatever your doing, Good job!

I love it! Nice work, and I hope it keeps them all happy through the winter.

Bump ,

Just to give people who are wondering about winter protection options something to consider .
A well insulated shed could do the same thing for potted plants .

John

Looks great except now I want a cappuccino

John, I haven't seen you mention any problem with voles or mice. I had a horrible time with voles last year in my hoophouse and the only way I was finally able to solve the problem was to get everything at least 18 inches off the ground. I tried several differnt traps and poison but couldn't find anything that worked at all. How are you preventing the problem?

Hey Susan ,

I have not had any issues with mice or voles .

Well, I hope that you never do! Thanks!

Did you try putting mothballs near the base of the plants?  Some people say this works well to keep them away.