Ready or not, I'm making spring happen. Like everyone in New England, I'm done with winter.

I took some of the smaller trees out the other day and stuck them in the greenhouse. It was 73 degrees in there when I put them in and I was thinking I need a lawn chair, some shorts, and a 6 pack of beer! Night time temps a dropping below freezing but I still think these guys should be just fine as its only for a few hours each night as it warms right back up in the AM in the greenhouse as soon as the sun comes up. I've still got 2 VDB trees hibernating and will move them in once I know the freeze is gone as they are in 25 gallon pots and moving them isn't fun.

Has anyone started trying to wake the dead by doing the fig shuffle?

 

i live in Louisiana so not good compair but i kept all my figs in greenhouse and just for your info. The more plants you put in there the warmer it gets. And if you put a small heater in there during the day and night wet the floor or ground in there they will all wake up. If temps are dropping at night the extra heat in there will drop down to a good level and during the day will hit the upper 80's. And wet floors make it very humid. I do this and i am in the south. They love it. I have done this all winter long. How you give it a shot and i would put all pla ts in there with heater. Works wunder full richie

Ps water those guy's with some liquid fertilizer just to kick them off for the new season.

I have no firsthand experience doing this, but I think I've heard about people putting jugs of water (e.g. the 5-gallon water cooler type jugs) around the trees.    The water warms up during the day and slowly releases the heat at night.  It might be enough to keep things above freezing at least..
Jim

Nice photo - I'm jealous of all those large, empty pots! I'm running out of the larger ones.

Yes I opened my greenhouse March 2 and have about 12 trees of varying sizes in the heated greenhouse, gets up to 80 F in the day and down to about 55-60 at night, they are very slowly breaking buds only about 3 plants are starting to open, but no leaves yet, very slow unfortunately but I am experimenting with the longer season ripening varieties to give them a head start, Battaglia, Col de Dame, Smith and Panachee and some others. Also experimenting to see how breba develop protected and not exposed to spring winds and cold shots.

Spring is in the air.  I put a quick hoop house together this afternoon.  Plan on moving some one galloners from the garage into it this weekend.

 

Bill, nice looking hoop house, that should do the trick. Is that another fig tree wrapped in blue? Id think you could take the can off now and let it start to warm up.

Mark, The hoop house was pretty simple to put together.  Pretty much just some 10' lengths of 1/2" PVC from Home Depot at $2 a piece and a 10' x 25' roll of clear plastic.  Hopefully it will give the plants a head start.

I have two in ground trees similarly wrapped with a garbage can on top.  I plan on uncovering them on Sunday, it's been raining all day today.