Hi!  I just got my first fig tree (I have experience with houseplants but none with fruiting trees) and I have a newbie question about wintering/dormancy.

The tree is sitting on my apartment's roof deck now, against a south-facing white wall (in full sun - pic is from evening, the only time with shadows).  It's about 2.5 feet tall.

 


I'm in zone 7a and I don't have anywhere like a garage so it could winter in an unheated but protected place.  

Do I understand right that if I bring it inside to live in a normally heated apartment for the winter, it will lose its ability to fruit the next summer?  What if I brought it inside during only the coldest months and let it go through some milder freezes in fall and/or spring?  

(Also, in my apartment there's bright indirect light everywhere, so it couldn't live in a dark area either - the bathroom is the only room with less natural light, and it doesn't look like figs are too fond of high humidity.)

Hi Philly, welcome to the forum.

Thanks Shailesh!  I would love to keep it like a house plant indoors for the winter, but what I'm not understanding is whether doing that (i.e. giving it no period of being dormant) will prevent it from fruiting next summer.

Phillyfigs,
Welcome to the forum community.

Growing indoors in winter may put additional stress on the young tree if not given enough light. Also the tree will require very little water when grown indoors and over watering will quickly cause root rot. I have grown a few through the winter, though I wouldn't recommend it since they seem to grow healthier with a short dormancy period.

IMO, If there is no other alternative for cold storage, let the tree go dormant outdoors in the fall, in temperatures above 30 deg F. then place indoors. It could also be shuffled outdoors daily in mild cold weather, since its only one tree. It will break bud early indoors and can be placed in front of a sunny window in late winter / early spring and treated as a house plant.

Good Luck.

BTW, that tree looks healthy and may need to be up potted soon before it gets root-bound.

It will fruit normally next yr if given a brief rest period this fall. Leave it outside until it drops it's leaves but don't let if freeze below 30F. You might need to move or protect a few nights. About mid to late Nov move it inside and give as much light as possible. It looks like the plant isn't in active growth right now. Keep it that way via fertilizer and water management. You don't want the dormant period next spring because it will be actively growing again by then if kept in your house.

In your zone it might be preferable to keep it outside in winter with some protection from the worst cold. But I'd probably go the route described above because it could potentially double the length of your harvest season next summer. To do that you'll need a high light level indoors prior to moving back outside next spring.

 hiya, philly
in it's first year, i didn't let my HC go dormant at all, in an east window. this yielded some nice growth.

last year i didn't want dormancy either ,  so i  brot it into a cool room, around 60 degrees. it decided to go dormant anyway, sitting in the same sunny window. it stayed dormant til early spring.

i put it inground may 1 because the pot was heavy. it now has 6 main crop figs.

other people here say this doesn't happen, but it did for me. bringing it from  full sun to bright indoor lite forced dormancy.

it didn't care about room temperature or good indoor lite at all.

so, stop worrying. let the plant decide what it wants to do. have fun.