Have my smaller fig trees in shed protected from this nasty winds we been having that would damage the limbs knock them over etc.
The larger trees are fine and can handle the 40 to 60 mph gusts and are just about leafless as they endured frost of 34 and 28 and i was out today looking at them knocking off yellow leaves here and there and cutting some scion for auction .
I also moved some things in garage to make room so they actually fit in there with the 2 cars, 3 outboard motors, snow blower,freezer,recycle bin, gas cans, 2 door cabinet and various smaller items. Yes its a tight fit.
They will be going in garage in a few days as the next few nights temps are suppose to drop into the 20s and will take care of things.
 Most of the small first season ones will stay in shed until winds are fair come back out and eventually go in attic for the winter when its there time to do so.
This season was very good for my trees.
But it seemed to have went by so darn fast !
Martin
Ebay Id - Dieseler6z92

Dieseler
Time to relax.
You did not count in your lawn mower in the garage!

You are 100 percent correct Martin, the season went too fast. But I must say it was a good season. My in ground Celeste produce it's first harvestable crop this year. We ate bunches of them fresh and put a few up to eat over winter. I got to taste Martins Unknown, Flanders, Mead, Marsielle Black VS, Strawberry, Osborn Proflic and even my own Richard's Uk (pretty sure it BT). I also got to taste, thanks to a friend, some Smith, Hunt, LSU Purple, and Strawberry. I also succeded in starting 46 different varieties that I hope to plant in the ground for further evaluation. The thing I missed most was the breba that fell off of my LSU (not). I will pay them more attention next year.

The best part of the season was all the nice on line friends I've made here and especially those I got to meet in person. I wish I could meet all of you. May everyone have a restful winter and may we all emerge in the spring with renew vigor just like our trees.
"gene"

Thanks ,
Akram your memory is very good, but this season the lawn tractor and mower are being put into the shed to make room in garage for the plants.
This season the large container tree's will be stored right behind overhead door as they can take it when door opens , the next oldest go on side wall that that not attached to house, then the younger ones go against side wall attached to house and the even younger ones go against back wall next to freezer and perhaps a old bed sheet over them or sleeved in large cardboard box depending on how severe the temps will be this winter as several season back garage temps were 6 to 8 above zero for a good week when we had 23, 18 and below zero for a cold week outdoors. This season i put most first year late purchased in seaon plants in attic and i hate going up there but temps will be slightly warmer than the garage but cold enough for them to get a good snooze.
Gene yes seems like winters are long and growing season short. 
But i hope that will change for me in years to come.  ; )

Hey Martin!  Yeap, the cold front is headed our way down south.  Yesterday, I picked my last 2 Hardy Chicago figs.  They cracked and started to wrinkle.  Yes, they were very good.  I got about 6 more Strawberry figs to pick. But with this weather turning for the the worse this weekend, I probably will only get 2 Strawberry figs.  Like you, I've got to move some trees inside my garage.  I got my greenhouse full at the moment and I got about 40 or 50 outside waiting to come in. 

It was a good year for me.  I had so many varieties I got to taste this year.  I am excited about next year.  I learned a lot from my trials and errors and from members of this forum.  Thanks everyone.   cheers,

Yup great year indeed, it feels like yesterday they were starting to grow leaves now most of my plants are leafless already. Boy time does fly once you go over the age of 20 doesn't it.

Now the storage part is another nightmare, wonder how plants will do in their first winter in the unheated garage. Its due or die time I guess

Neslon
What is the lowest temperature you can expect in the winter time in your area?
In Ottawa one can expect -25C (-13F) over winter in many years; it can go as low as -30 (-22F) some years and sometimes -35C (-31F) in extreme cases once in a while for short periods. I am wondering how much will it cost for electric heating over two months of January and February to keep an uninsulated garage at -10C (14F) if the outside temperature is at -25C (-13F). I know there are many variables unknown but some experience person can give an educated guesstimate.

My basement cold cellar can't take any more.

Hi Akram,
It would probably be cheaper to build a big insulated box at one end of the garage, and heat it, not the whole garage. If you made it in a corner, you already have two sides and the bottom (floor) that you only have to insulate, then only two sides and a top to build. It would need some small air holes.

Grant

Hi grant, thanks.
That corner of the garage was offered by son (without asking me!!) to an out of town University friend to store his stuff from May until the next session in September. His friend decided to skip one semester and will be coming in January (if he comes).
You mentioned insulating the floor. Do we need to insulate the floor? Does not the geothermal heat case apply to a concrete floor. I though the ground under the concrete floor may have more modersting effect than the outside cold temperature through the walls.
I will apreciate input .

Hi Akram,
maybe I wrote poorly. the box would best be insululated, sides and top too. The floor would not be as important to insulate, but by insulating the floor the space would be easier and less costly to heat. But I think you are right that the floor/ground would provide a moderating effect. A friend of mine recieved  a fig plant from a gentleman here in Kitchener, and this man overwintered his figs in an insulated box outside, no heat, just covered with plastic tarp to make sure it stayed dry and to give some shelter from the wind. Adriano over-winters some of his plants in a similar fashion outside in a box too. Grimo suggests that if a heat source is needed a 100 watt light bulb would be sufficient. I guess you would have to hook it up to a thermostat and rig some way to keep the box dark when the light comes on. When I get some cuttings rooted from my plants and have multiple figs of same variety, I plan to try overwintering some in an outside box. as well as try some inground with insulated box built around them.

Grant
z5b

Well looks like the cold finally is finally putting my figs to sleep. The smaller trees started this year had all their leaves removed. Not sure whether its a good idea but did it. The big pots will likely stay outside in a big plywood(some insulation) box with the plants laid on its side. Those going into the unheated garage will have a blanket thrown over. I am glad that it has come to the point where I can consolidate. This was made possible by many good fig friends who were kind in sharing their variants.

Thanks Grant for the encouragement (for next year). For this year I will place some (not so productive) plants in the crawl space near the outside wall where the heat ducts will be at some distance away. Then I will do something to isolate the plants with sheets from the crawl space relatively warm temperatures. I hope they stay cold enough.

My hat is off to all of you who deal with such cold winters, and still manage to grow figs! That's dedication!

Akram winter in toronto varies I would say average winter is somewhere in the -10 to -20 celcius range with temps varying daily, but we too have days that can reach -30 with winchill.

I put an electronic thermometer in the uninsulated unheated garage last season the coldest temps was -12 celcius and that was the day it was -30 celcius with windchill outside this season we isulated part of the garage plus put a big 2x6 on the floor behind the garage door to keep any winds from entering the garage. I think that should help it stay in the -5 to -10 range over winter.

You folks mention garage not insulated so its not attached to house ?
Im just curious.

I decided to move all plants in garage, to much up and down temps this season, yesterdays high made it to 45 with strong winds and my ears were red like tomato moving my plants and were stinging, i should have had a hat on my bald head. The little ones of course always stubborn and green as can be with little figs on them but they have seen several frost and now we had another last night so there in as well and soon to be in attic.

This season i decided to sleeve some first season but taller ones
grise olivette, mission, sals uncle's plant, maccol,mavra sika, bethlehem, jerusalem etc. I had some large cardboard boxes that were folded and i unfold them and siimply placed over those plants and will loosely throw bed sheet over top when it gets cold.
I dont want to loose a seasons growth with bad winter ,  the elders no protection they do fine in garage.

I have simple ingredients ready to mix in late winter to root prune some trees (argh) , i just wait for nice day to make my mess.

Martin yes garage is not attached to the house its house then Backyard then garage at the end of the backyard. I would say the majority of homes in dowtown toronto are this way where you have a Laneway in the back where you and neighbours drive to get to you garage most of the time 2 streets will share one laneway.

There are several inexpensive plug-in thermostats available that will turn a heating unit on and off at specific temperatures.  Does anyone have a particular recommendation for type or brand?   I am in the process of constructing a holding room in our unused barn (the basement if full) and plan to use one of these.  Here a couple of sources I am looking at:

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/controls.shtml

http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovators-TC-3-Thermostatically-Controlled/dp/B0006U2HD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1288359668&sr=1-1

C.J.

I agree, you guys living up North with temps dropping down in the single digits....hats off to ya!  I don't know how you do it! 

Thanks CJ for the info on thermostats!  I've been looking for one.  I like the plug in thermostat for 59 buck and may get one in a few weeks.  You guys know I have a small 6 x 8 greenhouse that I built from a kit last year.  I keep a small heater inside to keep temps above 25 degrees and it worked great.  I connected a timer to the heater and had it turning on at 4PM and off at 9AM during winter.  If I get the thermostat, I can do away with the timer.  thanks!

My garage is not attached to house. It is about 10 ft from house. Biggest threat in my unheated garage is not from the cold but root rot. Some tender growth maybe affected by the cold but overall no issues. A serious threat does comes from slugs crawling out from the pots when weather warms up. They selectively feed on the tender growth and their dry slime trials are spotted easily. Sometimes they would even feed on newly potted figs just above dirt level. It is a pain trying to catch them as they normally comes out to feed in the night with pots stacked making it hard to reach them. I should have over 180 pots to deal with.

Not attached now i see you folks useing heat to help for most part , geez i remember when i first started out
course i was older back then ; )  I lost several trees stored in my wood shed , afterwards i tried attached garage and it worked decent. So im very lucky afterwards i never looked back except fond memories of whenchild eating them off gradma's tree.

Paully i dont know if this works but have heard folks put a dish with Beer in it under slug problem tree and they go to it and drown ?
But with your large amount of fig trees i see how that would be too much, hey Paully you know how conservationist shock fish to surface for studying?
Zap em  !
Jokeing.  ; )

Paully, let us know when you are going to serve up beer for the slugs in those 180 pots.   I'll be over to "help".   Would you mind making it Samuel Adams?

C.J.

............you guys crack me up.

With the new drink & drive penalties, it seems a can of beer is enough to get one a $2000 fine + 30 days impoundment of the car & driver's license + demerit points.

Martin/Nelson
My garage is attached to the house but the way it is built is with no insulation in the walls but bricks on the outside. The roof is just an inverted "V" made with 4" wide wood planks with tar-sheet on top and then shingles (should have been plywood board under the tar-sheet as the rest of the house but it is not). It is not draft-proof. Last year was a moderate winter and the min/max thermometer in my garage recorded -23C (-10F). I did a trial with three plants (LSU Purple, King and Bifara) in thr garage by enclosing the plants in a circular tarp enclosure filled with maple leaves. The King died, LSU Purple was very very late in leafing (late June) but Bifara survived with some  delay in shooting. I am afraid to try the garage again without adequate arrangement such as more insulation and heat source.
The purpose is not just the survival of the plants but survival with capillary hydraulics intact so the plant can rebound in spring as early as possible.
As Gorgi had mentioned in a few posts in the past, the unheated garage temperature eventually settles down at the outside temperature after some time except with some difference if the garage is attached to the house side-wall.

Akram i dont blame you , your garage sounds like my shed cold and drafty and will get to be same temps as outdoors for sure.
My attached insulated garage that i insulated years back between the studs and insulated steel door with window panel on top layer does not react like that though its always warmer in there than outdoors in winter.
Im lucky to have it for plants .

Akram,