This is the continuation of my previous post on how I have winterized the trees I have in pots.  I saw this method when I visited Adriano.  He was very helpful and explained to me how to do it.

I built 2 boxes with 2x12" wood panels.  The boxes are 4'wide by 10' long.  I have laid the pots down in the boxes and placed 3/4" plywood on top of them.  I also put some rat poison at each end for intruders.
 

I then placed a 2" rigid insulation sheet on top of the plywood and a piece of thick carpet. 


 


I then covered both boxes with a plastic tarp and anchored it all around with interlock stones.
 

If you look at the picture closely, you'll see a frame around the boxes.  It is a gazebo frame that I picked up.  In March, I intend to cover the frame with plastic as a temporary greenhouse.  I am hoping that the sun would warm it up so that I can open the boxes early enough to give me a couple of months head start on the growing season.

The second box had to be built due to the generosity of JohnPav, Chivas and Tylerj.  A big thanks to them and to Adriano for his expertise.

Luzzo


 

Looks like a great job Luzzu!

Looks good Ralph! In the spring when you make that gazebo into a greenhouse I would think those patio stones will act as a nice heat sink on cold nights to help maintain some heat. Good job!
Tyler

Hi luzzu,
Some thoughts :
How did you lay the trees inside ? Are they alone ? With some insulating material ? Insulation on the ground ?
How do you water the trees during the winter?

Hi jdfrance,

yes, unfortunately they are all alone for the long winter months.  They seem to keep each other company though....dunno....maybe they play cards or something to pass the time.

As for watering, the pots were wet because it had been raining for a couple of days so I did not water them.  I think that they need to go dormant and I thought that if the pot is too wet, the root ball may freeze.

There is no insulation inside the box. The only insulation I used was on top of the plywood.

This is my first time winterizing pots this way.  In the spring I will post an update to let you know how things went and how successful I was in keeping them alive.

Luzzu

Great job Ralph .
Thanks for sharing .
I may be wrong but I think Adriano insulates the sides as well .

John

Adriano insulates the sides of the boxes with 2 inch ridged insulation.

hmmmm, that's way too much work for my zone. Whatever works though......go for it!

Hi Luzzu,
How is your fig cage ? Buried under snow ?

Oh yes....we've been blessed with a lot of snow this year.  I've taken a couple of pictures of my boxes.  Look closely...they are there!!!

If anyone is interested, I will be updating in the spring when I find out if any survived this method.

Luzzu

 

 

wow, looks good!

Let use know how it turned out

Looks Great!  All the elements working together  a 2' of snow blanket.

Insulating the sides is definitely a smart idea in the future. However, snow is a great insulator also. The sides will not dip below 32 if covered in snow. The problem is if there is no snow.

Hi Luzzu,

how did it work out?  Was it a success?

Hello everyone!  I have an update for the winterizing of my fig trees.  As previously stated, this is my first attempt at this method and I was very anxious to see the results.  I have to say that it turned out very well as they all survived the terrible winter we had.  Below are pictures of what I did.  The boxes were covered until the middle of March.  I then erected the plastic tarp around the gazebo frame and kept the boxes covered for about a week.  I couldn't stand it any longer and just had to open them.  Once opened I saw that they all survived nicely and was able to stand them up.  There were no buds on any of them.  I kept them under the tarp till the last week in May.  I kept opening the zipper to get a good air flow as the temperature inside the 'greenhouse' went up to 90 degrees on some days.

The first pictures were taken late March. 

 

 

Here are pictures taken during the month of April where all the trees are up and I am monitoring the temperature in the greenhouse:

   

 

 

Below are the latest photos of all the trees as of June.  Some have breba, some are too small but thriving.  I'm really thrilled that my Pinache actually has a breba on it and waiting for it to ripen.  The Lampa Branca has a lot of breba on it as well.  Thanks to Chivas!  I'm also trying my hand at air layering a few of the larger trees and that seems to be going well too.

 

 

 

That's it for now.  Thanks very much for your interest!

Happy Figging Everyone!!  Here's to a great summer filled with loads of tasty figs!

Luzzu

Ralph
Looks like a very nice set up!
It must have been a lot of work to set up but now looks easy to repeat every winter.  
We had a couple of really cold months this winter glad to hear your fig trees survived!
Did you buy the plastic tarp covering for the gazebo as shown or did you have to cut and put it together so it fit the gazebo?
Best of figs to you!

Hey Pino....

I bought the tarp from a liquidator in Vancouver.  It was 24x30 which was pretty close to the size of the gazebo frame.  We had some overlap in the corners and on one side, but now that we've taken it down, we sized it correctly by cutting the corners out.  This way, when it goes up in the fall, it will be easier to manage and no slack.  It will be held in place by wire channels to keep it taunt.

How are your figs doing?

Luzzu

Doing great and so are my figs. 
The in ground seem to have survived last winter very well.  I seem to have lost 3 potted plants although it is still too early to know for sure NdC, Encanto BT and a Catalan.  
One set back was the 2 hard frosts we had in end of May. 
The in ground were growing so well before that.  A few fig trees got some of their young leaves close to the ground burned but recovered.  The only fig that took it bad was the hardy Chicago...LOL
   

Wonderful Luzzu !