I started way too early this year.  I didn't expect them to grow up so quickly.

I have a couple of trees that I rooted about 2 months ago and are 1.5 to 2 feet tall in 32 oz SIP.  They look very healthy with lots of strong leaves and good roots.  They can drink up to about 250 cc's of water a day!  But mainly, their getting too big to handle indoors (in my fig closet).

Would they be able to handle going outside and going dormant as long as I ensure they don't have to bare freezing temps? (say minimum 38F).  I'm sure we still have a good month left of cold temps.

That picture is about a month old, so it's even bigger now.

 

That's great growth!  I'm curious to hear the answers myself.

I had the same question, only I rooted mine outdoors in the shade in Oct. I let them grow and shuffled them many times into the shed and back out in the sun after the leaves had hardened off. They ended up going dormant toward the end of Nov/mid Dec. They are only 5 or 6 inches tall and seem to be doin fine outside. When the temp starts to drop I move them inside at night. I would think that if you put them in the shade untill they get used to it they would be fine.

You could either put it in a 1-2 gal pot and under more light or you could slowly let it adjust to cooler temps.  If you let it get too cold you'll get dieback of the fresh stem.  If it's in the 70s now I wouldn't expose it to anything under 60 at first.

I think 2 month old growth is way too young for  exposure. I would repot to something larger and keep them in the house until the daytimes are at least above 60F.

I once moved a young fig outside too early and lost all the growth. It started over, so it was not a major loss, but if I had kept in in longer I would have been 18 inches ahead of the game.

Hi,
Just my two cents of the day:
I would have up-potted - the growth is too important for the size of your pot.

My believe is that figtrees need a minimum amount of time to harden their wood. The growth we see is the first growth of the year and figtrees usually do two growths per year ( May-June + August-October).
Being disturbed now will lead the tree to let the growth die-back but the rooting system should be kept as long as you don't expose the pot to freezing temps .

If possible I would consider keeping it growing inside until spring. But if you have no other choice ... Take a chance and see what comes out .

For me, I took that lesson last year when all my 3 kept inside small figtrees died all of a sudden in May or April - so October to April in house caring for them !
This year I decided to start them as of 1st of January so 3 months later - hopefully that will make it.
The cultivars I'm using are not the same, and if I loose them this year, that will not worry me too much.
If I do succeed this year then, I'll try next year with some other cultivars - "Sultane", "longue d'aout" and "Brownturkey" (or/and some other, who knows?) just not to name them - those would be backup trees.
If my two of this year do succeed, they'll be offered to the two neighbors that did ask for some .

James,

In my opinion your best option is to up pot it now and then just shuffle.  On those nights it may frost put them in the garage.  If it is going to freeze put them against a shared wall with the house in the garage or bring them in the house.   That is what I do.....it does not hurt mine to get down in the upper 30's or low 40's outside as long as the days are warm.  Constant cold and wet would be a bad idea though.  Make sure you take your time transitioning them to and hardening them off to the sun.   

James,

Granted I am one zone warmer than you but I will start moving cups to pots here in the next few days and then outside they go.  First in the shade and when hardened to the sun direct sun after that.  I will shuffle them if there is threat of a freeze which is a royal pain for 150 1 gallon pots....but it is nothing like the shuffle the northern growers endure and with much larger pots.