I've been hauling all the figs in and out over the past several days here in NJ - it's getting to be too much.


At what overnight low should I be unconcerned and just leave them out.  Several are probably dead from my basement mistreatment, but that's not the point for today.

Overnight lows are stated at 37 F for the next 3 nights.

Can I leave the little darlings outside?

Andrew

Ill leave mine out when the forecast is above 34 and no frost is predicted.

It's not an easy question to answer as temperature is not the only indicator of damage.  It also matters somewhat whether you are talking about recently rooted/leafed-out cuttings in 1 gallon pots or 3 year old trees.  We are supposed to have a low of 34 tonight.  I'll probably move my 1 gallon pots into the garage but leave my larger figs out.

generally 45 and above is safe. your trees won't get any root growth below 45-50. older tress will be fine after 35 or so when there is no danger of freezing your leaves off.

i take anything older than 1 yr out when night temp is 40 or above. i won't take them in again unless the temp is below 35 or chance off frost.

new cuttings usually won't be out there till the night tmp is 50. this yr, i left them out once the night temp reached 45... i'm out of room indoor.

It depends if the buds have opened up.  If not 35 should be ok but it will delay their opening and therefore their fruiting.  Otherwise I'm with Pete (Bullet).  Mine are still not out yet.  I'm keeping them as cold as possible to slow leaf growth.  Many already have leaves.  We've been up to 80 but also down below 29.  I will begin moving them out in a few days.

These are all 1+ year old plants; the new cuttings are still in the basement.

Is the forum on the forum to leave them out?  I'm unclear from the responses.

Andrew

if they are all 1+ yr old, leave em out when temp is 40 or above. 35 if you are willing to chance the temp dropping suddenly.

It depends if they've leafed out or not and what temps they've been getting in the garage.

I left over 200 outdoors night before last, Low was 33.8 degrees. Some only a couple of months old. No damage on any. I do make sure they are protected from frost under trees, and house eves. The temperature in those areas probably give a few degrees of warmth.

Jake

Well, I can't say what I did was the best option but . . .

I moved 20 figs out of the garage (over 200 trees are stored there) and down to the back yard. It was quite warm this afternoon when I did this.

It's NOT warm any more.

I just brought those trees inside where it's 73 degrees (area is warmed somewhat by my plant room set-up). They range from 3g to 15g in size and I hope the move from 34 degrees (the current temp according to the 2 therm.s hanging in the trees) to 73 degrees doesn't affect them too much.

Usually I use one of my old row crop covers as they are good for a degree or two and keep the frost off.

BUT unrolling a 25 by 100 foot "blanket" seemed absurd for just 20 plants.

Anyway I'm sure all will be fine . . . famous last words.

And the trees are certainly entertaining the cat. Next time I'll be more conservative with the catnip.

the low temperature is not as bad as the cold wind, perhaps you can shelter them from draft, I put mine next to a fence and hang a shower courtain on the fence, it blocks the cold draft and allows them to acclimate, get some rain water.  Even a dry cleaning bag works also, beats hauling in and out.

I look for about 38 as a night time low. That gives me some room for forecast error. It's the freeze point I'm worried about, anything above that is all good. If it's not a whole lot above freezing they are not going to grow anyway. To me, if they have broken bud, I want the leaves opening in sunlight so I don't have to deal with stretching and leaf burn/drop later. So, a couple of cold crappy days they will go in the garage, it gets nice they go out. Night time forecasts are below 38 I shuffle in and back out in the morning. I have often seen night time forecasts of 36 (in spring and fall)which thankfully I brought them in, and in the morning when I left for work there was frost.
 When the forecast is right around 38 I like to go outside before bed and do the breath test. If I can see even a faint whisp of my breath(which you can see before it is actually below freezing in the mid 30's) I don't trust the forecast and I bring them in.
Of course, another factor is how many trees you have. When you have less than 30 trees, it takes 15 minutes or less, so shuffle moring and night is no big deal.