With the winter being mild the fig trees are waking up to early. Not sure what to do. They are in pots in the basement, which is unheated and cold enough when it's cold out, but with it being so warm I'm worried. This will be my first spring and thinking normal would be mid April before this happens. Any info on this?

luke

I have mine under fluorescent lights in the basement.  I figure it gives them a head start come spring.  Not sure if it's an option in your case but it's working for me.

Think ahead for next dormant season and ship the dark types my way they will stay dormant here in my garage for a fee and sleep so well they will have to do the fig shuffle just to get a boost to wake up course that will be another fee involved as thats a lot of work. Come late August i'll even post pictures of your trees getting ripe figs in my yard.   ; )
and
Jon thinks he lives in fig paradise hmm.

Luke how many pots do you have in the basement?
Is it feasible to move them outside to one of the outbuildings??
If they have started to leaf out they are going to need sunlight but still need protection from freezing and worst yet frost.. I was thinking put them in one of the outbuildings with a plastic tarp in front allowing sunlight in but protecting from harsh wind. Last year my trees hit the green house 1st week of march they did great..I did have supplemental heat by way of propane heater on cold nights but this year might not be needed...

Martin,

Why would a fig tree move to the rust belt, where it has to undergo dance classes to learn to do the shuffle, live indoors for 6 months of the year in cramped conditions, when it could move to San Diego, spend all year in the great outdoors, relax in a hammock, and enjoy a better lifestyle?!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would move them outside Luke. If they have not actually leafed then I would put them in the shade so they stay cooler and stall their growth. It is not even March yet, good luck.

I assume you want to stall them, Luke???  It then becomes a "plant energy" management problem. You are going to waste some of that stored energy if you prune your new growth, but there is plenty to spare. Figs are hardy, I don't think properly timed pruning will devastate them. You may want to consider giving them no light, and possibly pruning new growth after it has fully emerged. JMO, as I don't have actual experience with your exact situation.


Scott 


  

Wow, that's a lot of options. I could probably put some lights on them. There's quite few and some are real heavy.( I bought a forest from Jason V. last year.) I'm in zone 7a with the new zoning. Doing the shuffle is out of the question. @ Scott, I don't think I can perform surgery just yet. @ Martin, wondering if there's a fee for eating the figs also? ;)  @ Tim, we are basically in the same zone and you seem to be having the same problem. The lights are working for you? I have a nice size greenhouse, just need to get in gear and build it. @ Brent, your figs are all still dormant? You are in the same zone, have you looked at them recently? @ Al, you should be able to start yours early this year. March is just a few days away.

luke

I had the same issue.  I just ran the lights in the basement (fluorescents) during the daytime - turned em on when I was walking out the door on the way to work, turned em off on my way back in.  No white growth, a little light green, but not white.  I waited till they got a few inches of growth and put a couple dozen outside this past weekend, a few I had to up-pot before setting out.  Everyone seems happy, but I realized I didn't trim a few down short enough, so looks like I've got some airlayering ahead of me :)

Luke,

Mine are 20 ft. underground in the basement of an old barn, they would stay dormant until June if I left them down there, it is quite cool even in the summer. I also have some in an unheated shed attached to my apartment and only one has buds swelling just a little.

I think it's way too early to move your plants outside unless you can heat that greenhouse to stay over 40 if it freezes.  I would keep them as cold as possible down to 40 to slow their growth and get 4' T8 fixtures with 6500K tubes - as many as you need to have each plant under one.  Keeping them cool will slow their growth but using the lights will keep them from putting out lanky, weak growth.  Water as needed but not more.  No fertilizer.  You only need this for 2 months (per year) so get the cheapest fixtures you can find.  I'm using lights of America 2 bulb fixtures that were on sale for 8.99 right when I needed them.  Their regular price is only 11.98 so they're still not too bad.

Lowe's T8 bulbs are cheaper than Home Depot's, but HD's CFL 4 packs are much cheaper than L's.  Clamp lamps for the CFLs are cheaper at L's.  I can get 7 6.5" pots under 1 fixture (the ends are dimmer so you can't use the whole 4'), 21 under 2, 30 if I use 2 100W 5000K CFLs to fill in the central shadow and space them further apart.  This makes HD's resin shelves work really well.  I put 2 18x36 units together to make 36x36, use 2 poles to space the shelves far apart and hang the lights from the shelf above.  In this unit I have the top lights hanging from some PVC because the bottom shelf is short for rooting cuttings.  In the next unit all the shelves will be far apart and the top will be for rooting cuttings.  Works better, I think.  You have to unscrew the reflectors from the clamp lamps.  The heat buildup fries the CFLs in under 1 wk.  Ask me how I know  :)  Both shelves are completely full now and I've built a second unit for the next wave of cuttings.  Three of your cuttings rooted despite the mold, all from the same batch out of the 3 batches.

If your plants are too tall for this another, possibly cheaper option would be to go with all clamp lamps and 100W 5000K CFLs amd have 1 on each side and slightly above each plant.  So you have light-plant-light-plant-light-plant-light.  Or as a grid

I've had the same problem many times and what I found is if you just give them a little light and water to sustain them they will be ok. This new growth will burn when you take them outside again, unless you are ultra careful about acclimating,  but they will survive and produce. I've even had this happen when my trees were in total darkness in the garage  producing white shoots, just let them get some light from windows or artificial, more is better of course, but not necessary to keep them alive for a couple months. You'll be fine.

Luke no no charge for eating them unless they turn out to be white figs then there is a "burn them charge fee."



Jon they enjoy the fig shuffle as opposed to the ground shuffle you have in your area.

As for living indoors for 6 months yes and they get a much needed rest after expelling there energy producing figs.
Naw they dont need the California sun beating them up more in that hammock. ; )

Hey Jon ,
even that spoiled brat of a Maderia that likes your area so much even is starting to like it here .  ; )

If some have not leafed at all then the buds are still frost hardy, if they are put on the ground outside the container should not freeze hard unless we have unseasonably cold weather around 20. Lights will give them a head start but waking them up at the right time in the sun is the best for them and you will get stronger growth, large trees will quickly shade their lower leaves from the fluorescent light directly above that has to be moved up constantly because of the fast growth. If you can keep some dormant longer it would make it easier to give the leafers good artificial light.