During this summer I have acquired several different varieties of 1 Gal. fig plants. My question is, should I leave them outside until they lose their leaves or should I just put them in my Garage maybe the nite before a freeze or Frost? I guess what I'm asking is, do most of y'all store them just before a Freeze and leave the Leaves on the Plants?...I am still a newbie and have not went through a Winter with the plants in pots so I need help on this... I would appreciate it...

Frank from Bama

I'm a newbie too and hadnt thought about that.  Glad you asked so I wont be in a panic over the first frost warning and trying to get that last minute info.
   I just assumed the leaves would be off before the first frost but they probaly wont be.

I'm pretty new myself, but last winter I think I left my
one plant out too long, into the mid 30's.

This year I have about 40 plants, and as soon as I have
3 consecutive nights below 40 degrees...EVERYBODY
IN!
They'll know what time it is!

I will keep them in some light, and will only cover them when all
the leaves have turned or fallen off.

I leave mine out until I have several frost and the leaves fall off. Not hard freezes.

Green stems are in danger from a freeze. Brown stems can take a freeze(there is some variance to this in fig varieties however). Small trees are more vulnerable than larger trees. If it doesn't kill you to do it...do the fig shuffle when it freezes and let the leaves fall off in their own due time outside. If serious cold comes and stays and they still have leaves, no biggy they will fall off in the garage and go dormant there.

Hi Frank.
when i have the fig plants small in 1 gallon pots they come into garage but usually attic(gets cold here) before frost hits with leaves on and all, they are juvenile and still adjusting and may be killed otherwise, they will go dormant in garage in time in your climate.

The elders always see 2 hard frosts in the 20s then in garage.

Good information, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

I didn't want to start another winter storage thread for this so I posted it here,
Is there a way to tell the difference between a dormant plant and a dead one? I think I may have left one out a bit too long in the cold.
Second question, my basement is hovering around 58-60 degrees right now and I've had the plants down there for maybe a week now. I am watching the temps and hoping it gets closer to 50. Should I be concerned if it dooesnt get colder in a week or so or not?

Hi everyone! My name is Mare and I have the same questions as Frank and Travis, as well as other questions. I live in Western Washington (Enumclaw). Thus said, is everyone using the USDA Plant Hardiness zones?
If so, I'm in zone 7b. In June, my husband drove my down to Olympia to Raintree Nursery and bought me one gallon potted Desert King, Lattarula, Peter's Honey, and Black Turkey fig trees. I replanted them into 14 inch pots and left them out all summer. Now that it's cooling down, most of the "trees" have lost their leaves. It's really rainy here so I've left them outside, temps 40-50 degrees F. I have no idea when I should bring them in, and once in the garage, how warm or cold the garage should be.

If there's anyone in the same zone with this problem/question, could you please help me?

Thanks!
Mare