So what is required for fig trees to break dormancy? What exact heat, light or other requirement? As your trees break dormancy, it would be interesting if you post your conditions.

I live in warm desert climate. This winter days mostly in 70's and 60's yet many of my figs went dormant I think due to low night time temps in the 40's and upper 30's. I'd like to know what the minimum temp to break dormancy. Could it be length of day? We get plenty of sun every day so I doubt it is that alone.

Figfinatic,
Last year I posted my observations and pictures for a few in ground trees in NYC, this was typical for most NYC fig trees.

I don't have measurements but it seems to me heat is the only factor.  As long as temps drop into the 40s I don't see bud growth.  If temps are warm they will break dormancy no matter how low the light level is.

Are there exceptions?  Will a plant come out of dormancy if it's 80 degrees for most of the day and it gets down to 49 for a few minutes at night?  Probably.  Light does not seem to be a factor, though. 

I thought the plants would come out with the mid 70's and a few 80 days but night time drop definitely keeps them dormant.

Hi,
I had a cutting in the garden until 12/12/2013 - some root suckers that I should have destroyed.
I brought it inside and kept it in the livingroom in the darkness of a sealed bucket .
3 weeks after, it went break bud . So only the 20°C of the livingroom and the initial watering made them brake dormancy.

For my in ground trees, it's the high temps (>10°) in the day that make them brake dormancy - Even with a light frost in the night, they keep growing - the problem is I'll loose some brebas or they grow "funny" shaped in case of repeated night frost
or cooler days.

I have wondered why my Verte never went dormant when all my other figs did.  We live on a hill and it is between a deck that is higher that it is, and the house west wall.  Winds come from the west.  It is planted lower than both the house and the deck on a hillside.  I may have accidentally created a micro-climate for it.  It's fig production began in November, and it is full of figs and showing signs of new growth.  It is wet from 24 hours of rain.  Cloudy day today.  Lows 36F.  The other figs, out with no wall protection have seen temps 29F at the lowest, and only a couple nights.  It's mostly in the high 30 - low 40's here.  To break dormancy, I think low temps need to be in the 50F range and highs in the 60 - 80's.  And sunshine!

Suzi

The scientist claim it is light (length of the day).  Since I've started growing in central Texas, my in ground trees have suffered near 100% die back every year because they were still with leaf when the first freeze hits.  Our winter days are longer than most areas and the winter temps stay warmer than most.  So it is hard to say, but three years ago my trees started growing back after some damage from an early first freeze.  They were knocked back by a second freeze and also grew again, but then suffered too much damage during the third freeze.  They waited until spring to grow from the ground.

~james

Figfinatic,
They seem to respond to sun hours and temp in preperation for rest period in some climates a sudden on set of cold will damage part or all of the plant because they have not had time to acclimate to the temp.



Our conditions here south of city Chicago.
I put trees away late fall in leaf or not after several hits of frost in the upper 20s. These are older trees , young ones in past years saw temps higher and in leaf but put away for there own good.

In Mid March weather permitting in upper 40s they come out onto blacktop driveway (fig shuffle) at night when temps drop
back in garage they go it helps wake them up a little earlier than what they would normally do here by 2-3 weeks in our climate and that makes a difference for fully ripe fruit later in season before the cold hits them.

Im not a expert or scientist mind you just what i been doing for many years and observing them respond .
The root system im sure gets warmer than sitting on a stable temp cold concrete slab in garage waiting to warm up and also more sun on plant and the pot.

In season i use concrete slab patio 20 x 30 and a landscape rocky area for all the pots to sit on in full sun.
In the end we get to enjoy the longer season type cultivars like the Black Madeira ripened to perfection.

This is what i do only and not a rule of thumb .

There are a few other things done but not related to your question.

Here on another forum GW i belong since 2005 Al Tapla also a member here just not very active posted in response about dormancy.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg1118511326903.html?15

Are there different types or levels of dormancy? It seems to me there are.   

I have a small late start yearling fig in my sunroom. It dropped all it's leaves but 2 this fall. The terminal bud hasn't changed since October and it still has the 2 green leaves. I have seen some root activity through the holes in the bottom of the pot. I thought about putting it in the garage and forcing full dormancy, but being the tree is small, I decided to let it stay out there and get whatever extra energy stores it can to help get a jump on the upcoming season. The sunroom gets cold, but not often below freezing , average night time winter temps are around 38-40 degrees F in the sunroom. When it gets near or below zero cold I take the plants into the house until the extreme cold weather passes. The flip side, on a sunny day it can be 80 degrees or more during the day in the sunroom, but again with a 40 degree temp shift at night.

My point being, I think the tree has been in a partial dormancy. Not ready for active growth or waiting for a more optimal time for growth, and it seems to me daylight is the active growth cue when a plant still has leaves. There has been several occasions this winter when it has been relatively mild outside for weeks and the temps in sunroom have been fine for active growth, if it were a temperature cue alone, the tree would have broken the bud. This could all be different in a tree that is older though.

I had all my trees outside until the temps dropped into the 30's in November.  Moved all to the garage where there are no windows and not an ounce of light.  The temp in the garage stays at a constant 55 degrees even though it is unheated.  By end of December all had broken dormacy.  Here is a link from my orignal panic.

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/i-was-afraid-this-would-happen-now-what-6692437

They are now upstairs going like crazy.  Full leave and they've gotten between 6 and 9 inches taller.

In other words, in this scenario, it was definitely 100% temperature that broke dormancy.

Well goodbye winter. It's now summer. Up to 80's today and almost 90s by end of week. My pomegranates woke up but figs are sleeping. Will get above 50 for low by Thursday so this week starts the fig season.

  
The above two pictures shall say it all.
The tall stick (Niagara Black) was brought fully dormant inside after frosts in October. Leaves dropped.
Next to it is a cutting rooted in September that continued to grow all the time inside on the window sill.
The dormant stick woke up on Feb 17, 2014.
What changed since October 2013?
The length of  the daylight, more sunny hours.
All other environmental factors (humidity, soil moisture, indoor lighting and temperature) were kept steady all the time.
Hope it helps understand the dormancy of fig plants

Damir