Well, I carried 45 potted figs ranging from 1 to 10 gallons, down the hill, around the house, and back up the hill to their winter resting place in the shed. This year, they are a little more cramped since the collection has grown but they really aren't complaining :) Now I have 2 in-ground trees that need to be wrapped. That will leave just 3 small cuttings growing in a window sill that I will care for over the winter. I have a few cuttings of some of the trees that I will root over the winter. Figs are hard work in the Northeast, but it is a labor of love I guess. I think I need a nap now!

GHi Steve,
I know what you went through. Its worth it isn't it?
I'm mostly likely incorrect but in your photos your tees look like they can use a little water.
Good luck through the winter months.
May we all have a better season next year.
Lou

Which 2 varieties are you leaving in ground?

The top of the soil is cover with much that is a little dry, but the pots were very heavy and wetted well. They have been dormant for nearly a month and it has rained since.

The 2 I have in ground are both my Italian unknown Bella

Ah Steve i hate putting them away for the dormant period  last couple season especially its a bit depressing time for me , see during season i enjoy very much now that im retired each day going out in yard with the 3 dogs , cup of coffee, pipe or cigarette in mouth my windup - solar radio and looking at the trees for progrees or just their beauty for what can be several hours .
Watering them all has actually become fun and i can now take my time doing so. Yes now i can gander at the fig plants and the flowers along with the smells of them much more ......oh la la .
Yours look similar to mine in storage on top each other nice and cozy.
Spring cannot come soon enough i suppose.

I feel the same Marty, everything looks so barren now without the figs to look at and care for. It will be a long winter. I think this spring I will thin out the collection ... too many to handle.

I use cheap nursery pots, 5 gallons or smaller depending on plant size. I place them on top of each others for winter storage and that makes the lower nursery pots crooked though some recover and straighten up when pushed by hand for recovery.
Now looking at StevNJ pictures, I got the idea that I can use wooden planks over one layer of pots to place another layer of pots on top and the planks will distribute the wight load causing less problem of potential damage to the pots underneath.
Thanks for the picture, SteveNJ.

I went for the sturdier kind but the wood helps balance them since some are different heights and shapes

 So rite its just boring while they sleep but all i can do to sty busy is try to start cuttings. and go visit the trees in the garage everyone thinks I'm nuts

I get the strange looks from the family also!

I spent two days moving trees me and my dad. I still have a few trees that I'm about to move in still.
If you run out of room, the only option is to stack them in top of each other.
I placed the large trees at the bottom, then the 3 gallon, then the one gallon trees in top of that.

Well Bass you certainly have me beat on number of pots!

Here are two pics of my potted plants in their insulated box inside my old 'tack shed'. I have a light on a primitive thermostat (goes on at 35, off at 45 F.) to keep it from freezing. I am paranoid about killing these potted small plants. My first winter as a fig caretaker saw me at the beginning with one in the ground and one in a pot. I left both of them outside for the winter, the one in the ground cut back to 24" (which is about 1/2 of how big it got from a cutting its first year) and covered with leaves, the one in the pot just sitting on a bench in the back yard. Guess what. The one in the pot didn't wake up this spring, while the one in the ground got to 6'. Anyway, now I have over 30 varieties and more than 50 individual plants rooted in pots (increasing  soon with rooted cuttings). I am trying to let them be dormant, but some haven't lost their leaves. I am thinking about leaving the light unplugged for a few nights. We are having lows predicted of around 28 f. so inside the box it likely won't freeze their roots. I am worried about that.

Any thoughts on how tender they might be?

So, I guess most of the pots seen in pictures here are the same nursery pots that I use. Most of my 2+ years old plants are in 5 gallon pots but 4 plants are in 7 gallon pots. Reluctantly I have decided to pot-down the four in 7-gallon pots to 5-gallon pots next year because I had trouble moving the 7-gallon pots down the stairs to the basement cold storage and with each year it will become more difficult. I will be relying on partial burying the pots during the growing season to let roots go out from the side holes for grazing in outside soil and compensate for the pot size. I hope it works. I also hope that letting the roots go out for nutrients (& not growing inside the pot) will give me extra time between the periodic root pruning.
Please let me know if there is any flaw in this thinking.

Bluesguy are those trees dormant?  They still have leaves.  I have 3 trees still with leaves, all the rest are in the garage.

Well after seeing some folks pots in storage i feel better as i do not have as many i know its a lot of work especially when it comes time down the road to root prune all those pots as i have posted pictures in older threads.

Tom i know the light helps keep things warm , but plants sense shorter days and that would help them go dormant (less light ) if possible .

Ottawan, the roots will love the natural earth and grow probably thicker into it, the other roots in the pot will keep growing as well round and round that pot as they always do and need regular pruning probably.
But the benefit of having part of root system inground outweighs everything , less watering , more nutrients etc,etc and most likely overall a happier plant .