Hello all!

So I was just watering the Chicago Hardy cuttings I successfully began a few months ago. They're doing incredible. One of them is over 2 feet tall the other one is slightly smaller.

I've moved them both outside and they're loving it.

Then it occurred to me.... Do I let them go dormant at the end of the season?

At what point do you start to let your cuttings go dormant? I guess I can keep them indoors in a window with the same exposure they're currently experiencing...

I'm just curious because they're doing so amazing I'd hate to kill them accidentally when the season is over.

Let them go dormant naturally as the weather dictates. Just don't allow them to freeze until all leaves have dropped. Then put them in an unheated garage where it preferably stays between 32-40F all winter. They can freeze after fully dormant but I don't let the rootball freeze. Even that usually doesn't kill them if it doesn't get too cold.

They don't need to be babied in your house at room temperatures all winter. That brings on another set of issues that's more likely to end badly than normal dormancy.

I let my first year cuttings go dormant and none died.

Let them get a few lite frost and the leaves will brown and fall off. Move them into the unheated garage.

Sounds like the response is unanimous!  Followup question:

My garage is not heated, but also has no sunlight... is that ok?

No leaves equals no need for sunlight. Any sunlight would just heat things up and bring them out of dormancy too soon. Keep it as cold as possible without freezing until you want them to start waking up.

I too have been thinking ahead to wintering my young trees. Mine are first year and I worry my shed won't be enough protection. My plan is to mummy wrap them in pink fiberglass insulation with a 1" piece of PVC pipe running down through the insulation close to the soil to give them a couple of light waterings during the winter. If anyone sees a problem with my idea or has a better one, please let me know.  







Regards,
bill o.

Last year I started two cuttings in September and decided they were too young to transition to outdoor life, dormancy, and overwintering in the detached garage.  So I kept them going indoors all winter.  It was a pain but they survived the gnats etc.  The year before I started a cutting in July, moved it outdoors and allowed it to go dormant with my older figs.  It did fine in the detached garage.

Joe, is your garage attached to your house? If so it will stay warm enough. If it's detached, it will likely need some heat supplementation during the coldest spells of winter.

My garage is detached, however it's a garage for my apartment development. There are 200 cars parked in there. So it never freezes but it's also not heated. I could bring them out east to my summerhouse basement, that's another option I guess...

I bring a lot of my first year figs in the house and grow them thru the winter.  Partly because my dormant space stays around freezing and sometimes the young figs get a lotta dieback and also because by growing them thru the winter I gain a lot of root growth. Oftentime I cut the majority of the top growth back in the spring before they go outside for their second year.  I'm in Wisconsin with a fairly short growing season so for me there's a lot to be gained.

Hi Joeturbo,
In my Zone7, they all go dormant with the winter. All my trees are in ground - except some tests I'm playing with for this year.

Last year, I put on the ninja suit, to get some root-shoots in an abandoned garden . That was in June or July.
The two small trees grew - they had 3 or 4 small roots to start with - well nothing serious.
In Fall, they went dormant and I protected them - look for my winter protection post .
This year, the bigger one is growing good. The smaller one did come back from under the ground - amazingly that last one had more roots but ok, a thinner stem... go figure ...
They are in an eighty liters ( yes one more) trashcan bottom less but in ground - for rodent protection. In the same spot, I planted 2 "Dalmatie" root shoots .
They are growing good too. I already had to pinch the toughest one.

So as the winter comes, let the cuttings go dormant. They can handle it down to Zone7... as long as you protect them a bit .