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Projections for this winter look similar to last winter...

Pete,

Are you referring to animal litter when you say pine shavings?
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Originally Posted by ascpete
BobC,
I agree that established potted dormant trees wont be harmed at 25*F but they will probably lose most of their breba crop and will be slower to come out of dormancy.
I had several storage areas in the past two winters and all the plants stored in in coldest unheated area died last winter.
The plants stored in an area that didn't fall below 20*F were slow to wake and did not produce any breba.
The plants that were stored in an area that remained above 32* F all produced breba and started to leaf out as soon as the daytime temperatures were above 55*F.

Although 25*F and above is recommended, growth is negatively affected by the colder storage temperatures.


Yeah, slow to wake is actually important for me.  We get up to high 60s, low 70s at times in March then drop down below 40 at night.  If a lot of plants wake up in March or April they're very hard to deal with.  I can't get them outside and I can't get them enough light and they get weak, lanky growth. 
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Kelby,
Yes, Animal Bedding, I use it as deep bedding in the Chicken Coop. I prefer the Medium (Black plastic Bags,sold as Horse Bedding) because it stays fluffy even when wet. When its not in stock at my local feed store I purchase the Tractor Supply Pine Shavings "Flake" which is actually Coarse and it fluffs out to almost 8 cubic feet.
Pine_Shavings.jpg .


Bob C,
That's when the Fig Shuffle begins... ; )
That's why Martin (Dieseler) is able to harvest so many Dark Cultivars in his short season.
BTW, we don't see 60's / 40's here until May.

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Speaking of signs indicating a cold Winter, the squirrels here are going crazy in our back garden, and acorns already falling. Some of this could be attributed to our recent dry spell, but, could be a sign to earl Winter.
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Pete
Do you rake away the wood shavings in the spring so that they don't drop the soil PH too much or do you leave them as mulch for the figs?
Thanks
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Thanks Pete, I might try that. That would probably insulate better than the pine bark mulch I was considering using. I'd like to reuse whatever I insulate with, shavings can go on the blueberries come spring.

Pino, from what I've read it takes a looooooong time for something like that to drop soil pH appreciably (that goes for needles, pine bark, etc). I doubt it would be enough to effect figs, but one could just toss on some lime to be safe. That doesn't mean I don't use pine products on my blueberries and other acid lovers, but I don't expect them drop the pH alone.
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That makes a lot of sense Kelby.
Thanks
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Pino,
Yes, I rake away the pine shavings to prepare the ground in Early Spring once the temperatures go above freezing. Its part of my fertilization schedule, http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1283647012&postcount=15

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Fertilizing Schedule for In Ground trees; 1 time in early spring.
Dolemite Limestone/Epsom Salt/Borax (80/4/1 ratio, Mittlieder Gardening pre plant mix) @ 2 cups / 50 Sq Ft.
Espoma Garden Tone @ 2 cups / 50 Sq Ft (to inoculate the soil with microbes).
Soak tree drip line with Miracle-Gro All Purpose @ 1 tablespoon / Gallon of water.
Layer of compost and a layer of Mulch all under the drip line.
. The Pine shavings are reused on top as Pine Mulch. This schedule has been used on other fruit bearing trees for more than 10 years.



Kelby,
Yes, the pine shavings do not have much effect on pH, but I've also used Dolemite Limestone everywhere except in my Blueberry beds, for over 10 years and it doesn't change the pH of soil very much when used in small quantities as a mineral supplement.


BTW, the Pine Shavings used for Fig Tree Winterizing has worked for the past 2 years only, my total experience growing figs, but I've used it to winterize Kale and Collard roots in the past.
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Thanks for the excellent link Pete!
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