Topics

Time to uncover trees?

I was wondering if anyone in zones 6b-7a has uncovered their trees yet. March is off to a warm start for us in Boston and the 10 day forecast looks like the night temperatures won't drop below freezing. Might wait a couple more weeks until we have a more reliable forecast for the end of the month... 

I'm in 7a and I uncovered mine yesterday.  Our last frost date is 3/30 so I'm taking a chance but so far, so good.  I only covered with cloth, then mulched up with leaves around it in a large box and put a plastic bag over the top to draw away rain or moisture.  I had no mold, no visible dying off, and the nodes all look like they're getting ready to bud.

My zip code's 10-day forecast has us in the 60s and 70s for the foreseeable future and I didn't want to incur any mold.

Moving the bulk of my trees today to the portable greenhouse to get acclimated to the outside. If I have to shuffle back inside for a night or two later on, so be it.

Thinking around the first week of May. Unless I see a particularly abnormal warmer forecast.

I partially uncovered mine yesterday to get some air in there.
I found lots of mold and dampness because of the warm winter.
I hope all is OK...

I took my 2 potted figs out of the garage today.

On Long Island zone 7b I uncovered my Chicago hardy yesterday as temps will be in 60s with nights in 50s for next week. If any unexpected very cold nights I will throw a blanket over the tree. Hope I dont regret early unwrapping but hoping to get a jump start. Last year same tree only lightly covered in a brutalmwinter and it died back to ground and by june roared back and provided 100 or more delicious figs bynthe fall. Will try to air layer a duplicate this spring. Quite a tree

Thanks for the contributions to the post everyone. To avoid too much moisture inside I tried running a PVC pipe up into the wrapped tree so that cool air could flow in at night. We shall see if it worked when I uncover them. I also took care to make sure that I used brand new tarps that wouldn't allow any water in. We are still getting 30 degree temps at night so I think I will wait another week or so before uncovering them. It does seem that an early spring is coming to the east coast, however. 

In zone 7, my unprotected trees are still alive and flexible.  Even a Gino Black in a 25 gallon pot is still alive and well, which I thought for sure wouldn't make it without damage.  Having said that, if your trees were protected up to this point and they catch a frosty night, it will be more sensitive to the frost than mine will be.  As mentioned, throw a blanket over them if you expect frost.

Moving blankets worked out well, I cant wait to see how they did in the enclose I made.

I've used moving blankets the past few years, they really are a great insulator. Especially after the 2013-4 and 2014-5 brutal winters we had up here, I was glad to take the extra precaution. A ton of people lost their trees both years, but mine were warmer than I was inside! Uncovering the trees is a tricky process - too soon and it can be too cold, too late and the trees have mold damage. I'm hoping that the PVC pipe helped reduce the likelihood of mold. But I suppose that the uncertainty is what makes gardening interesting and fun! 

Just put them all in the greenhouse on Sunday. With the warms temps they should start to wake up in the next week or so.

IMG_2511.JPG


My indoor fig trees grew some small leaves, I put it outside, and temperate went down to freezing zero at night, It dropped all leaves, I put it indoor again, It takes 3 weeks to re-grow new leaves, at the same time, It grow more branch sprouts on the side.

We brought ours outside from the garage yesterday. Gave em a good drink. Watching the weather closely to lug em all back in if the temperature looks like it will get too cool. Hence the fig shuffle starts. :-)

Reply Cancel
Subscribe Share Cancel