Bada Bing
Finished the root pruning i had to do <<<sigh>> 
Now the fig shuffle has started for me.

Martin ,
What are the fig shuffle steps again ?
Minimum temp to move outside?
Minimum temp indoors once shuffle has started to wake up plants ?
This is a dance I need to learn for NH.
Thanks ,
Kerry

Martin ,
What are the fig shuffle steps again ?
<< Time of year to get my trees a head start on season by moving them in an out of grage as weather permits.

Minimum temp to move outside?
High 40s about 50 or so.

Minimum temp indoors once shuffle has started to wake up plants ?
<<not sure what you mean by question>>

This is a dance I need to learn for NH.
<< Kerry not all my plants are equal i have been doing this for many seasons , these are my plants and i know them well and i dont suggest this as a guide its just what i do.
 For instance the bigger containers in 30plus gallons which hold the elder plants get abused more even outdoors some and in storage as well by where i place them.

My madeira i leave in garage for now because of what happened to it last season.
 A few others i hold back also like macool, jerusalem, simply because of how they look at present time and i dont want to damage them.

Most my other young ones will be fine with the elders.

Hi Martin ,
What I meant by :  "Minimum temp indoors once shuffle has started to wake up plants" , was once the trees start to leaf out , how cold can it get when the plants are stored for the night without you worrying. Can they get as low as 35*F , 40*F.
Don't want to start the shuffle if I can't keep them protected enough at night.

I pull my plants in anytime the temps were forecast to be lower than 38ºF outside with less than 5mph wind, or more than a day of moderate rain (or more than 3-4 hours of downpour).  For every +5mph wind, I add a couple degrees to that; 10mph winds, and I'm pulling at 40-42ºF, for example. 

I use weather.com for my zip code, knowing I'm in a microclimate where I can be a couple degrees under (typical) or over (atypical) what is forecast.  I look at the 10-day forecast every couple of days to make sure no sub-40s are upcoming.

I've never lost a potted tree to frost damage or drowning.

Yes indoors and out of wind at 35 mine are fine if leafed out, this time of year here the normal night  lows temps in Chicago is 29 and a little lower in my area for this time of year but garage is little warmer so i never worry.

Rain i no worry about the pots drain excellent, they have been in some nasty downpours over the years at this time thats for sure. !
They like it.  ; )

Thanks for the answers .
Martin , how long will you wait until all your figs are doing the  "shuffle" ?
For instance your Madeira and others that you have kept in place for now.
Thanks ,
Kerry

Kerry i will wait for madeira a 2 others that are in garage until temps are steadily at 55.
Madeira looks good no damage that i see.
Two other types appear to have some partial damage to main .

Also have Oleander in tree form and Jasmine plant in vine form that a friend brought back from Italy as cuttings some years ago. These have very fragrant flowers and also are tropical that i used to bring in house but now store in garage as well for 2 seasons now unprotected. Oleander does not get damage and Jasmine died near soil level last season. Both doing the shuffle with my fig trees.

The Oleander has very poisonous leaves that reportedly can kill a horse if enough leaves are ingested. So i pick up any fallen leaves during season so my dogs don't, it holds its leaves very well here though going into dormancy .

Here is picture of a baby Oleander which makes perfume pink flowers that i go to smell them each day when in full bloom along with the Jasmine which make small white fragrant blooms.

Martin , Thanks your fig shuffle info is a big help for me in zone 5.

About the poisonous quality of oleander , I grew up in Tampa and some of the beaches there had large oleander plants . Some visitors who were unaware and ignored the warning signs would make themselves very ill or die because of the smoke from the fires they built on the beach using oleander as a fuel source.

Reminds me of a few lines from Shakespeare that an old garden teacher used to have us recite to bring home the powerful qualities of plants and humans.
It is the soliloquy by Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet , starts off with the words : The grey-eyed morn...

A little off topic , but hey its The Bard , he always has something interesting to say , though I'm not sure he ever fig shuffled.

Hello everybody
I am kind of new at the fig shuffle,I started in the fall of 09,
I just put about 70 or 80 fig plants in my driveway and wanted to know if wind would damage the plants, they don't have leafs yet just started to swell.
Thank you all in advance.
Vito

Well Vito it depends on what the air temp is, im not expert on that by far .
I keep mine out during day when temps near 50 wind or not rain or not buds or leaves.

High 40s there out
Mid 40s i do not bring them out.

At night if temps forcast below about 38 or so they come in otherwise they stay out wind rain whatever .

Also im retired and have luxury to bring them out after cold night when temps come back up late mornings sometimes otherwise i could not if at work.
Work is 4 letter word for me now.  ; )

Ciao Martin,,, My fig shuffle OVER! husband and myself took 3 1/2 days and finally my greenhouse is built! all figs are inside and they love it growing out like mad, all the veggie seeds have germinated inside, it was the best investment we made in long time! Today was 50 degrees outside and it was 98 degree inside greenhouse, opened roof vents to let out heat as dont want to stress figs with such high temps so fast and dropped the temp inside to 87 degrees, this has been the case since we built it, I never have seen all the figs trees leafing out so beautifully! Oleandra is leafed out beautifully as well withing the last week! One night dropped into the 20's lite up propane heater inside the greenhouse, it kept the temps over night to 65-68 degrees, I know as I went out 4 or 5 times during nightime hours to check temp especially right before dawn. This will be good in summer for the figs "Bianca" or white or green as these to me seem to take longer to ripen as they need more heat in summertimes. Black figs will continue in the yard. I am thrilled with it very very much. I would recommend a greenhouse for any northern American grower. Ciao

Martin,

Similar here but only 60s couple times no 70 yet.
I now here birds each morning singing.
Coldest day was 15 below zero had lots of darn cold days.

All plants did ok in garage except 2 small ones. Most all still asleep except a few.
Macool looks bad but i think alive still early to tell , stick is very dark.
Jerusalem plant looks a little better and can tell its alive.
Those were cardboard sleeve and protected on top with old bed sheets.

Starting wednesday highs in 30s with frost each night thru Sunday
So no fig shuffle.
All plants out on driveway now at 46 degree's with high today about 65
and will stay out thru tomorrow night then come in and stay in garage thru Sunday till i see 7 day report then .

Also my 'Pieris' shrubs are in full bloom - tiny white bell-like flowers.

Weather here is being stubborn , calendar says spring.
Had snow flurries last night.
Normal temps this time of year 50 for highs but its just not happening.
Figs been in garage for least last 3 days and have to stay there at least another week as daily highs will only be in mid to high 30s with frost at night .


So compared to last season about 2 weeks behind for now.
Last season at this time many were showing green buds this season many are not. For me seems like 2009 season when spring was slow to arrive as we receieved several inches of heavy wet sleeting snow April 3rd as that evening i had to cut down a pussy willow that split bad and was laying on top of our new chain link fence.

C'mon spring.

Martin, I shared in the fig shuffle tonight.

Frost warning tonight.  Somehow we went from 85 yesterday to 34 overnight tonight?  Oy vey.  All the figs and cherries come inside.

Yup its Crazy eh?
My figs due to weather are behind this season but thats ok no rush cause by the time i know it the growing season has passed.
Seems the older i get the faster the seasons go expect darn winters here!
Birthdays come and go faster too least for me.

A few trees starting to slowy wake up, mostly the little younger ones. Spell of nice warm weather coming tomorrow in 70s and possible 80s Sunday that may bring nasty storms to our area for late Sunday going into Monday. Its 45 out now.
B.Maderia has been staying in garage except a few times, temps in 30s at night still.
In and out in an out.

Least we will get a hint of warm weather for a few days .

My trees was outside for a week and now they back in garage ,seems like they will sit in there for another week. This Spring is way colder then last year.

Similar , on mine most of the ends have been cut this past season for pruning and or selling. So looking lower on branch at the nodes thats were mine are showing  . My older ones are slower to wake up than the young ones but they are coming around.

Yes been much cooler than last year and now all mine are back in garage, cement floor still very cool to the touch unlike during day when drive way top is so much warmer .

I came close to moving several of the large trees in yard for season glad i did not yet.
Ohare airport reported 1/2 of snow and out west and around there was several inches reported...... ouch.

Dont you just love our fig growing weather?

I just took 3 figs and move them to my basement it`s around 65F in there. Thinking to take all my figs outside again on Friday this week.

Thursday it will be 48 i will take mine out then in at night as temps go to about 39.
Friday mid 50s thru next Tuesday but then hitting 60s and maybe 70s for longer term later part next week.
At that point next week i watch long term forcast and maybe large trees go in yard for good.

The parent of your ronde was a year old last season , grew like a weed i topped it off and pruned some select  branches and ate some good figs.

Yours will need a bigger pot this season , mine was just put in its final size pot last week along with a few others that grew well for me.

This is my first fig shuffle after bringing my fig trees out of the well house to my back porch in mid March due to unseasonably warm weather.  For the past 2weeks, the trees ( about 120 in one & 2 gal pots) were moved from the the back porch to the back yard under shade trees to harden off.  Today we are forecast to have sever thunderstorms and 3-4" of rain so back to the porch they went earlier today.  My wife said " When are you going to move those consarnet figs out permanently?"  Consarnet is not a fig variety but Pam's own cuss word  So Martin, now I feel your pain.

My trees are outside ,hope I don`t have to drag them back in garage :-)