OK, I know many of us are thinking the same thing, "when to I uncover these figs?"

I am in zone 7b, right on the 8a line. It has been bouncing back and forth between 60s and 40s, but we have hit 70 more than once and will again tomorrow. Not only that, but we have not had any really cold nights (mid- 20s or below) since the mid Jan. Our official last frost date is Apr 10.

All my figs are wrapped in burlap, mulched (18-24 in deep) and topped with buckets or trashcans. I am worried that they are getting hot inside there. Should I just pull the cans for now? That might let out most of the heat but still be easy to recover if a hard cold snap comes in.

What say yea?

You're right to be concerned.  I'd provide ventilation at this point.  If you can peek at the buds that would help.  Once the buds start you're pretty much stuck unwrapping them and using frost cloth and Christmas lights if needed.

Would taking the cans off the top be enough?

What is the temperature at which lignified fig wood is actually damaged? I know there are lots of variables, but can we say 30F? 27F?

They are forecasting lows around 31 next week while I am gone out of town. So I am thinking I should wait another week or two before I pull the buckets for ventilation.

Hi GeneDaniels,
The choice is all yours, but at 31°F, I let my trees handle the cold. Just the pots go to the garden house.

I would pull up all the protections until Saturday, keep the trashcans next to the trees and just put the trashcans back on the trees on Sunday.
In fact, that is what I have done too.
I even took all my pots out of the garden house for the last two weeks. They stayed outside and took the rain.
Two days ago, I put the pots back in the garden house because temps will sunk a bit. I'll let them stay in the garden house for the next two weeks, and then if the temps get back over 2°C/36°F even at night, they'll go outside again.

As for the damaging temps, it depends on the strain and on the windchill.
Breba buds are more sensitive too.
I would say that down to -5°C /23°F, you're safe for closed buds.
I would say that down to 0°c/32°F just at night, we should be safe for both the brebas and the (leaf) buds.
Most strains on closed buds can take -10°C/14°F. But figlets will fry, darken, and fall.

JD, thanks for the input. It is supposed to hit 70F the next two days, so I am uncovering the figs this morning. I guess it will be an early spring here in Arkansas, which means a longer fig season ;-)

Three days ago I pulled the straw off my strawberries and they are responding already, reaching upward and looking great.

Well, I just uncovered 5 trees and carried my potted ones out of the shed. With a winter low of 19F, 4 of the 5 inground covered ones suffered absolutely no freeze damage! (LSU Gold, Hardy Chicago, unK, and Black Italian) Actually, those 4 look about the same as the potted ones that were kept in a heated shed. Unless something really strange happens I should have a really good crop of figs this year!

Also, I have one unKnown (visa?) that I did not cover, I was planning to remove it. But it came through the winter with almost no damage, looking really good. I don't have the heart to remove it now ;-) It makes small, but great tasting figs, when they don't drop. I am going to try it one more year since it did so well over the winter.