Hi everybody.
When I winter my figs outside here in zone 5, I will make a trench in the garden and lay the potted trees, branches tighted close together, plywood on top,snow does the rest.
Never loosed a fig tree yet. In spring ( End of april), I open the ends to let in air  so they dont get mold. When temps warm in late may I raise them up.
Do you guys have another methode that works well for you? New ways of wintering welcome.
Thanks cold growers.

How deep do you dif your,trench?

for my potted plants, I just bring them in the cellar. Given how much more of a yield I get from my in-ground trees (as long as we have a warm summer), I get some 2x4s and make a square frame around my trees. then I put a plywood square on top, and wrap the frame with old moving blankets and insulation. Don't let anything touch the branches -- any moisture will suffocate them and cause mold. Then I cover it with a tarp, leaving a little bit at the bottom open (but protected with a screen to keep out mice). A guy in my neighborhood has 2x 50+ year old trees with massive trunks and he does something pretty similar, so I'm just following the expert. He gets 5 gallon pails of figs every couple of days from just 2 trees! 

How cold does it get in the winter for you guys?

I use a root cellar to overwinter my figs. It works great and had no tip dieback last year.

2016

Hi Rio,

Thank you for sharing your overwintering method.

Ottawa winter is similar to Montreal's.  I am looking to explore the overwintering method that you are using. 

My current issue is my basement does not have a root cellar (in which temperature is actually ideal for fig dormancy) and my attached garage is uninsulated and unheated and will have two cars in it.  I don't believe figs can survive the winter here being inside my garage.

Becky -- Could you describe the root cellar (dimensions, especially depth; materials)?  It sounds like a great solution.  I'm guessing that once the cellar is built, you are able to keep the plants roughly at ground temperature in the dark with modest effort.  That sounds perfect.

I store my 25 trees in my unheated attached garage. I stack the pots against the house side of the garage, cover with old sheets, blankets and a large tarp. During very cold periods 0 F or below I will put a small electric heater under the tarp to help. I have a thermometer with a remote sensor that I put with the trees to monitor the temp. Works very well. It doesnt get as cold in there as I thought it would.

Hello all.
I live in zone 4, I put all my trees in the garage, I have a thermometer when It gets below 45 I turn the heater on,my garage is insulated so I don't have to use it much.
Vito

Steve --

How did you care for the fig while in the garage?  Are you sure it didn't dry out?  What variety was it?

I ask because I stored pots in my unheated, attached (insulated) garage last year without a problem despite outside temperature lows well below
0 F.  I've known lots of people who stored pots in garages successfully, so I'm curious about reported problems.  I want to avoid losing plants, if possible.

Actually, I did have one problem -- warmth.  In March, the garage got too warm and the figs came out of dormancy earlier than ideal.  But cold was not an issue.

Thanks. 

I really want to keep the tops of the trees from dying, but it gets so cold here and stays that way for long stretches of time.  I can't imagine any variety not losing the top growth without heroic efforts.  But since I've got enough plants to play with I'm going to give the trenching a try with a couple of the Hardy Chicagos and see what happens.  There's one bed that I used this summer to harden off the plants (improvised a shade cover).  I'll do one Hardy Chicago that I started early last year and one that I started late last year.  Then I've got a pretty big chest cooler that I could put a few of the smaller plants in and leave it in the garage to see how they make it.  The rest will go in the basement.