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Safe to uncover trees in NJ?

I uncovered all but a few over the weekend.  
As long as it stays cool & they don't start growing they are better off in the cool fresh air.

Dormant mature Fig wood can take -9C so unless we get hit with a polar vortex should be fine for now even with most nights below freezing.
Once ground warms & temps spike (May 1) they will wake up & then fun begins to protect them from freezing.  

I haven't uncovered my Desert King yet since I don't want to lose the brebas.  To uncover DK I need to come up with a lean-to type protection since frost will kill the breba embryos. 

IMO its all a trade off;
-  Leave them covered & they smolder, lanky yellow growth, mold ...  
- uncover them & be ready to protect them if cold weather rolls in.
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I see 32 overnight on Sunday, Monday a high of 67. I'll wait until next week.
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Its a delicate dance for sure. I can't wait anymore. For me this weekend....I think :-)

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I am taking my big container pots out of the garage this weekend and will play shuffle with the figs and persimmons and what not... Already been doing a shuffle between basement and kitchen with rooted cuttings for weeks to get them some sun in front of the sliders and begin the hardening off process.... Looking forward to the day when all will be outside and the varmint watch begins on the squirrels and chipmunks to keep them out of the pots....
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Originally Posted by figgi11
How many ingrounds do you have? Any pictures? Glad they made it through okay. I think it's very wise that you wait until the 10th. Weather is forecasting 36 overnight this Sat here in NJ. I hope it's not going to cause and damage. Maybe I'll throw on the heat lamps that night. I feel confident when temps stay above 40.


I will post photos next week, when I uncover. I have 6 in the ground. Planning on grafting others onto these six. The old time Italian people tell me that as long as it doesn't go down to 28 the tree will be okay. I kept some in pots in my greenhouse with no heat, some nights going down into the 10s, but the trees still kept beautiful. I think the wind is more damaging than the cold.If you are worried about the temperature, fill some buckets with water and put them around the trees. They retain heat from the sun and absorb the cold at night, keeping the area above freezing. I use 5 gallon jugs of water in my greenhouses to heat them. They keep the temperature from going down as much. Last year I made the mistake of waiting too long to uncover them. By April 15 they were covered in mold and had died back a lot. Important to uncover them once we start getting consecutive 50 degree days, even if the nights are cold 
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I love the look of your fig trees against the fence with the great view. When I bought my first fig trees from Joe Morle, I think it was 2011, he told me to bring them in at Thanksgiving and put them out at Easter. I only have potted figs. I have had to shuffle some with leaves in the spring, but in general that rule has worked well. I believe this year we will have the least loss as my husband spent a lot of time putting cardboard along the walls of the shed and I have been able to see how each plant is doing. I agree with FigTrees 2013 that the wind is often more damaging than the cold. I'd love to see more pictures of your trees through the season.
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  • gorgi
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Our local back yard Red Cardinal bird is singing his sweet song loud out too; a sure sign of Spring ...
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Originally Posted by crazy4figs
I love the look of your fig trees against the fence with the great view. When I bought my first fig trees from Joe Morle, I think it was 2011, he told me to bring them in at Thanksgiving and put them out at Easter. I only have potted figs. I have had to shuffle some with leaves in the spring, but in general that rule has worked well. I believe this year we will have the least loss as my husband spent a lot of time putting cardboard along the walls of the shed and I have been able to see how each plant is doing. I agree with FigTrees 2013 that the wind is often more damaging than the cold. I'd love to see more pictures of your trees through the season.


Ann, I am very good friends with Joe Morle. I have known him for years and have had the pleasure of learning almost everything I know about figs from him. He's a great guy. Growing figs in Boston is tough, so it's great to have a such a skilled grower here who can share his more than 30 years of knowledge 
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Originally Posted by crazy4figs
I love the look of your fig trees against the fence with the great view. When I bought my first fig trees from Joe Morle, I think it was 2011, he told me to bring them in at Thanksgiving and put them out at Easter. I only have potted figs. I have had to shuffle some with leaves in the spring, but in general that rule has worked well. I believe this year we will have the least loss as my husband spent a lot of time putting cardboard along the walls of the shed and I have been able to see how each plant is doing. I agree with FigTrees 2013 that the wind is often more damaging than the cold. I'd love to see more pictures of your trees through the season.


Thanks! The fence buts up against the woods which buts up against a rock wall along under the fence. I actually go behind there and removed some branches and trees to allow more light in and preven the woods from overshadowing. Luckily the birds and animals don't bother the figs, but the peach tree is a different story!

I have one potted Kadota that I keep in the garage. It woke up the second week in March:

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love the forum.  first post.

frost is my only worry for unwrapping

use 'last frost date' and your zip code in a search engine and look for a result that says you can look it up, should be toward the top results.  

nice cause it gives percentages, so for me by april 22 i have only 10% chance of getting frost.  Lets you eval the risk.

if you want to open them early just do it and if you get frost just put a bag over the top.
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Originally Posted by tonynap
love the forum.  first post.

frost is my only worry for unwrapping

use 'last frost date' and your zip code in a search engine and look for a result that says you can look it up, should be toward the top results.  

nice cause it gives percentages, so for me by april 22 i have only 10% chance of getting frost.  Lets you eval the risk.

if you want to open them early just do it and if you get frost just put a bag over the top.


The forecast is saying 35 tomorrow night. I hope that's absolute minimum! 😳 Trees haven't leafed out yet but those temps makes me nervous.
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It got down to 37.5 here last night so no worries 😉

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hey Figi what do you winterize your trees with? I see the insulation, Do you then follow up with the tarp??

        Chris R 
        Zone 7A Toms River NJ
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Originally Posted by Luigi6809
hey Figi what do you winterize your trees with? I see the insulation, Do you then follow up with the tarp??

        Chris R 
        Zone 7A Toms River NJ


First I tie all branches together to make it suitable for covering. Then I take weed cloth and wrap it around 4-5 times. After I use 6" pink insulation and wrap once around the width once, cut and tape, starting from bottom in pieces. Last I use a tarp wrapped around 10 times. Always works. Never moisture or rot.
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Moisture is a killer. I winterized a customers fig trees (2) with just carpet underlayment. He then (after I left) tied on tarps. When I unwrapped them a couple weeks ago...surprise surprise mold and some kind of hairy brown fungus was growing on the tips. Not really a big deal. The trees were fine after a haircut, but why would he do that? There must be some air circulation to get that moisture out. The pink insulation is good because it wicks that moisture out and holds it away from the branches.

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Here are my two inground trees

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