Hi all, been busy thru the fall, but looked at the figs in the garage, where they are at about 40 to 42 F, most of the time.  The tips seem very dry and hard.  They look shriveled, too.  I did water them some, and the soil is not bone dry, but not soaking wet, either. 
Is this too warm, and contributing to drying out?  Do you cover them with anything to prevent drying/dessication?  I can move them to a cooler place in the garage, but I am concerned about them drying too much and dying.  Dessication is a problem here in winter for other trees, as well.

Seems fine to me. =Not to warm or cold. if soil is damp/moist, that should be sufficient. Is there a chance that the temps went below freezing at some point? 

Devise some ways to keep the humidity high. One way is to make an enclosure from plastic sheet of the kind used for vapour barrier in insulation in the house. The evaporation from the pots, if the pots are even a bit moist, will keep the humidity relatively higher to reduce dessication.

Specifically, what were the conditions BEFORE you brought them inside the garage?

Jon, we did have a cold spell where it was minus 10 F for about two days, but the thermometer I keep in the same area read 34 or so.  I put them in a cabinet that is on a wall next to the house.  Even if it was below 32F for awhile, it should not kill them, should it?
Ottawan, I had considered this.  Is this how you do it?
Mark

Before I put them in the garage they were inside the house, in the window, actively growing.  They began to have leaves yellow (I presume as it was going dormant-daylight getting shorter).  I let them drop leaves and put them in the garage--with soil moisture normal.  No chilling to encourage dormancy until leaves dropped.

My garage gets very cold and sometimes we get zone 4 temperatures so I keep my plants in a dark cold store which stays between 46F to 50F. It is a room of concrete walls and top. The moisture from the fig pots keep the room humid. Last year I had only two plants and they were happy until April. This year I have more than two and will see later if humidity has any negative consequences at this low temperatures. The humidity circulates between the floor and the ceiling and sometimes freeze at the ceiling when it is extreme cold outside (-25C to -35C) the drops when moderate cold temperature comes along.

as I wrote my response to gorgi's question, an answer began to formulate in my mind.  I will state it as a question.
Do you let your figs go dormant, naturally, and outside?  We had these inside for most of the time, as we were moving, etc.  I thought they were going dormant from the change in daylight, but perhaps they were just dying.  Any further thoughts?

heirloom,
I think that you just (somewhat) answered your own question.
The figs were still too TENDER for the garage...

So, the correct thing to do is to harden it off.  How does one go about that?  I assume it means taking it outside and letting it harden off as the season cools down slowly, rather than shoving it into the cold garage suddenly.  Thanks, gorgi.

Heirloom as others have said they were tender (young as well from being used to indoor temps. Perhaps they wil lose some top branches or maybe more and hopefully the roots will be ok then next spring trim deadwood and start again and leave them outside once the time comes.
Once tree's go thru next fig season outdoors if they survive they will be ok to store in garage at your temps which are warmer than my garage temps.

Heirloom,
I agree with Martin, in that one should be hopeful that there is enough energy
left below the (tender-tip-killed) newly rooted fig twigs, to re-spout.

Speaking for myself, I did a similar mistake! I had some newly rooted
and up-potted figs outside that were supposed to go inside my small GH.
Due to sheer laziness (the hangup was cleaning the GH), I left them outside
maybe a little too long (below freezing temps). I do see most greening up
(in the GH) now; but I am sure that I will be loosing a couple (or 2).
As you described, the first earlier new tender growth is dry and dead.

One could only learn from his own mistakes.

In your case, the question is what to do now...
Should they be left in the (cold) garage or given some more favorable conditions?
What options do you have?

That is very kind of you, gorgi, to admit your mistakes. 

If only I could learn from all of the fig growers collective mistakes, I would be so much better off.  And that is why I participate and read in the forums here.  Thanks. (but I do tend to stumble along despite all the great advice...)

As for options,
1) I can move them inside and put some light on them, but heat is the main problem.  I would be putting them into a cold fruit room/storage area, and I don't have a reliable heat method there.  I could build a little (styrofoam) box inside the fruit room on a shelf and let the ballast from the light be its heater.  What is a good temp?  The room hovers around 45F to 50F, I think.  I had considered using this room to store them, but the garage is cooler, and I figured it was better for them to be cooler.  Humidity?

2) No greenhouse :-( 

3)Or, if I use a warmer area, it would be harder to get good light.  How much light do these fellows need?  My wife won't appreciate a trougher grow light in the family room ;-)

BTW, they are basically rooted sticks about a foot tall.  The one put out some nice growth, as it was just a few inches long when it took off.  The other has struggled, but is still about 9 inches tall. 

OK, to err is human.

If I here you,
(a) I would find a place in the warm house (40 *F [plus] - min temp for dormancy
to break) and put them there. No light is initially required. Provide light (even
a simple regular bulb may do) as soon as you see any green bud breaking.
It may take a month or so, to see green buds. Keep moist (not wet - otherwise
they may rot). We are already in mid-Jan. Warm spring should be around the
corner soon.
(b) I may delay the above whole process by another month, if you think
spring is too far away.
(c) I may leave as is;  in the cold garage till the real warm spring comes.

I am not an expert here! Other suggestions are welcome (to the benefit for
 Heirloom),  and with no offense by me....

Definitely agree with Gorgi.  From my perspective here in the Midwest, I would get the little babies out of the freezing garage and into the cool fruit storage area.  Light not needed until they start to break open those buds.  Just try to save those roots, again just a little moisture, not wet.   Hope it works!  And don't hurry in taking them outside in the Spring, or be prepared to get them back inside.  If it gets near freezing, they are still susceptible and like Dan in LA said, trees there have broken dormancy and are now in danger from the Northern blast.  I suspect he will be attempting some type of covering.  (Let us know how they fare, Dan).

I have read that the trees should be two years old before planting outside.  That seems to be a fairly good rule for subjecting to freezing garage temps as well.  I planted a couple small (about a foot to 18 inch) trees in the unheated hoop and they don't look great.  Only plus is that the soil doesn't freeze because of heating of sun during the day.  If they had been in a garage, I might have lost them.  I am at least optimistic that the roots will be okay.

Heirloom
As I mentioned earlier, I keep mine in a cold store which stays between 45F and 50F and I did not observe any problem last year or this year so far. The only time it will start going above this temp range is after march and it will be gradually and will remain under 60F until end of June. I am happy with it because this avoids the unexpected (arctic lows).

Question to others:
If I see buds greening and opening in early April but frosts is still expected outside until mid May, can I just light up the dark cold storage room without heat where the only heat will be the light fixture? Last year I took the two plants outside on May 1 and the leaves on one in open yard had frost bite and the plant stayed vegetative the whole growing season. The other one near a south facing wall fruited OK.

Well, that is interesting, Ottawan.  I guess I thought that 45-50F was too warm for a good rest for figs.  They will be in the fruit room for the night and the rest of winter.  Even if they do break dormancy in 6-8 weeks, that should not hurt them too much.  I can work on the light issue in the meantime. 
I guess I learned my one thing for the day and then some.

Heirloom
I am not saying that 45F to 50F is the best temperature but that is what I have. I bought bubble insulation to insulate the wall adjoining to the warm basement but did not cover the wall because of procrastination. That would have helped a degree or two F.
The best temperature is between 45F and 23F for staying on the safe side (but better closer to 30F... that is what I would like if I be able to maintain it).

Aha!  Now the light goes on.  I can be a little slow to take it all in.  Thanks for the clarification.  That's what makes this fun sometimes:  listening to little bits here and there and then putting it all together, like in your post about zones and growing conditions.  I totally understand about going with what you've got.  And that is the pickle I find myself in. 
Dreaming of a greenhouse (or maybe just a hoophouse).