hiya guys. this year people lost trees that were inground for years.

here in zone 6, i have provided a micro climate , eliminating wind, but now i worry.

i'd planned to wrap the trees for 2 years,  then let them fend for themselves. if i have to protect them forever i either need an easier way or less trees.

if i tacked a canvas tarp to the top of the fence, then built a a bar i could run the tarp over the figs then to the ground. this would leave a 6'x6' square tent in cross section. 36' long. this would cover  6 trees planted 5' on center.

this would be much easier than wrapping each tree. would it work?

I don't know which varieties you have. According to the following video all fig trees need protection for the first 3-4 years and until the trunk is over 5 cm thick.

I'm in zone 8A and not wrapping my fig trees. So for the past two seasons, I've lost about a dozen to winter injuries.

thanks, sas. mine are all ratedzone 6, but who knows?

if the tent idea works, i could do 4 years easy. they'll hit 2.5cm in 2 years.

sas, how hardy were your trees n how big when they died?

All the ones that are getting killed are usually about one year old. The older ones suffered from late freeze injuries in the upper parts of the tree and branches.
I have more Jujube trees than fig trees in the ground now. But I still have about 60 or 70 fig trees in pots.I do not wrap them , but keep them close to the wall so most survived this past winter.
Where I am is very sunny, so it warms up fast. The late freeze this year damaged some green shoots but they are coming back now.

thanks, sas. i get tons of sun here too, so perhaps a tent will work.

I'm planning on mostly in ground in zone 6 as well, minimal babying and lots of mulch (and finger crossing) is my plan after 2-4 years.

And lots of big rocks to insulate with. So many rocks.

I'm not sure of this. I believe that a tent might trap freezing air.

kelby, i can do rocks, but i can't see them retaining heat all night. has nobody tried a tent?

I used to use long sticks to prop up a tarp then ran a cord and put a 60 watt light under the tent.
Make sure you use a GFI outlet for safety.
I did this back a few years ago when my peaches and nectarine were in flower and a frost was predicted.
Now, I just let em go.

Good luck

Doug

 As of today, here's a snapshot of my three Col de Dame and Black Madeira in ground. They made it without any protection this past winter, but you can see the damage to the top part of the tree.
Hopefully they will adjust as they get older.


They are in order Black Madeira, Col de Dame Blanc Col de Dame Gris and Cold De Dame Noir:

       

I know living in zone 6b, I have a few trees 3-4 years old in the ground unprotected and a few 6-8 year old trees unprotected in the ground.  All of these trees are designed for zone 6.  I also planted a few this past summer.  The ones from the summer are dead to the ground.  The ones 3-4 years old took a beating, but suffered only moderate die back and the 6-8 year old trees are basically fine.  My philosophy is that if this is the worst winter we have, the trees will survive and thrive.  Assuming the next few years' winters are milder, the trees will grow larger with greater ability to withstand more brutal winters in the distantfuture.  That is my hope, anyway.

grow the tree in container for 4-5 yrs then put them in ground. the tree will be mature and might handle the weather better.

Great suggestion Pete. I may have put mine in the ground too soon.

I put 45+ trees from cuttings in ground last march.
I mulched them all with straw, and fertilized minimally. They grew to 2-3 feet last summer.
Many were killed back to the ground, but I only lost 3-5 trees from
this extreme weather. Even then, the very few that have not started growing still has plenty
of time yet to start growing.
In my zone I have not had any real reason not to plant in ground.
Depends where you live.

Doug

Age did not matter much for me this winter. Have not been protecting in hopes of finding one that was better equipped to deal with the cold than the others. It was -5 f for a couple of nights and close to zero for several other times.

Susie this dude used a wire to construct a long A frame tent like thing down his row of trees. http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/fig-presentation-from-ne-conference-6783355?pid=1281766020#post1281766020

IMO Pete is absoluteIy right.
Im in zone 7b and i never lost a tree inground in about 15 years.
I didn't use any insulation.
There was dieback and some years one of the trees to the ground but I never lost the whole plant. 

But i never planted trees that where younger than three years old.
Plus we don't have winds when temps drop very low.

I have never lost an inground tree to cold either, although this year a few 1-2 year old plants are dead below the soil line so might not rebound. It looks like my oldest have just a few inches of trunk left at best.

I don't think a single walled tent will be enough.  I would have more insulation and put up Christmas lights in the trees and turn them on any time the temps go below 20.  I would also plant the trees deep enough so that there are several nodes more than 6" deep underground.

I agree with the others that there is no hurry to plant them in the ground.  As long as you can move them around with a dolly and have room in the garage. 
However, for now you may still want to plant them in the prepared ground for the summer and then dig them up and move them to the garage for the winter. 
This is very easy to do and I do it with all my fig producing trees (3years or older) UNTIL they are too big for me to handle (when trees > 7 years old) then they stay in the ground and I start the winter protection (insulate, cover and provide some heat source).

Since you are Zone 6 then you have the same challenges we have up here in Niagara.  A simple tent covering is not gong to work.

thanks guys. 3 of my trees are 2-3 years old. the tissue culture hc has a main stem diameter of an inch already.

i spent more than $3000 making a micro climate, so i gotta try it out. plus, every time i move these 5 gallon buckets i wreck my back. to get them in the house i gotta move them up steps. i kinda have no choice.

Susiezq, I think you have a plan and you are working that plan with a lot of help from members here.  You will find not everyone is on board.  Happens.  Are you a member of pinterest?  Check it out.  Join, and search for solutions.  You will be amazed!  We live in a microclimate but within that, we create other ones.  It can be done.

Suzi

thanks, suzi. i never heard of that, but i'll look.

pino, how do you insulste?