I have some potted figs here in NJ about 2 inches in diameter - it's supposed to dip down to 30 degrees F tonight....

Can I leave them outside?   

mine are in, its getting too close for comfort

I'm thinking the same.  However, I won't have access to a garage until Saturday.   If I bring them inside the kitchen, it will be 72 degrees F.  

Will it hurt them if they are inside at 72 degrees for a week, then put them in a garage?

Supposed to hit 28 for 6 - 8 hours at my place tonight and then bounce back up. It was a lot of trouble, but all of my fruit trees and potted tropical plants are in and the in ground ones are covered. I'll have to put it all back tomorrow afternoon, ( but dang they can be hard to find/replace ).

why not leave it outside close to the house and wrap with a blanket?  I have a small fig tree near the house, by the chimney with ALL leaves on it still!

Mine still have all the leaves on as well, but I don't have enough blankets to cover all the trees.  Also, no chimney, otherwise I'd make it so hot that the figs would think they were in the jungle. 

If they have leaves bring them inside. They are not dormant. Bring them out from the cold. Bringing a dormant plant to warm temps is way better than freezing temps.

I am in Louisiana and we are dipping into high 20's. You sure your not getting colder then 30's? Bring them in they are not dormant if they have leaves. Even if dormant warm us better than cold.

One cold night won't kill your trees. I've been moving my trees in regardless since it's that time of year anyway, but I left one of my big trees outside since I need the hand truck to move it and I was tired. One cold night shouldn't hurt it in fact some long time members liked to leave them out for one or two freezes to make sure they would go dormant. It will probably zap your leaves though. My leaves have been gone for a while now.

Ok, looks like the consensus is to bring them in.  

Since they are technically not dormant, can I cut them back (even though leaves still on) and then put them in the garage for the winter?   

I don't know if you're supposed to cut them back once dormant or before. 

My fig trees always stayed outside, they are planted in the ground. When I am honest never thought about bringing them in or cover them. We got down to 33F last night and everything is just fine. I have a lot of tropicals in the ground aswell, when they are fine at 33F, I wouldn`t worry about figs.Just my two cents.

I just gotta say, I really appreciate everyone's input.  This is a fantastic forum and it's great to know that kind folks out there are willing to impart their knowledge to newbies like myself.  

Once I have enough trees I'll be sure to pay it forward and offer free cuttings to anyone interested ;)  

I cut mine back when they are done producing. Even though there is still leaves they are starting to go dormant this time of year and wont bleed to bad

30f won't hurt your trees at all.
I only move mine when it starts to get  around 16f ((dormant trees only ))
Windshield factor is what you need to keep an eye on.

We had 28F since midnight.

When in doubt, bring them in. However, some fig trees are hardier than others. For example, Beall and Smith are NOT hardy trees. And there are a few others in the same boat. I spent my entire weekend moving trees around between greenhouses and my garage. Yesterday, I ran out of time and left a few Smiths out. Will they die, no. But the cold will impact its growth rate next year. The good news is it will warm back up to 50 today but cold again tonight.

So, my rule of thumb is, when in doubt, winterize.

Snaglpus. We have the,same weather as you high 20's in early morning then high 50's during the day tgen in a few days we are back to the 70's. They say in Louisiana if you dont like the weather just wait till tomorrow. Lol

It matters more what color your stems are than if there are leaves or not.  If your stems are green you need to take cuttings and keep them above freezing.  30 is borderline whether it will kill them or not but if it goes lower than predicted you have an increased chance of losing the green wood.  If the green part of the stem dies it may take the whole branch with it.  There's no way to know in advance.  If the whole branch is brown then 30 won't hurt it at all.

Yeap, I agree Richie. Our weather is very similar. We're suppose to have a mild winter this year. I hope it's true!

Most of my potted figs are in the greenhouse for the winter. I had a few still outside. I tossed the youngest and most rare ones in a closet attached to the outside of the house. The others were on their own. Some of them still had green wood. I would guess the green wood died back. The soil in the pots was frozen at the top. NJ zone 6

My figs are stored safely in the basement hatchway since last Saturday. Normally, they'd go in a week earlier, but we had extra mild weather this fall. They've been out through nights in the upper twenties, and it will probably get that cold in the hatchway before they come inside. Around here the worry is getting them in before unexpected bad weather can freeze the pots to the ground. Chance of precipitation is as important to watch here as temperature.