Winter Protection and Cold Hardy

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garden_whisperer

Registered:1353347580
Posts: 1,613

Posted 1445061959	Reply with quote #1

Hey Guys over the last few years I have been not protecting my trees in winter to test for cold hardiness. I wanted to see which ones could freeze to the ground in zone 6, have complete winter die back, and still come back to produce a fair crop. I am writing at this time as this is our first frost warning of the year. MvsB did the best for me this year, with full winter die back. it grew very quickly with good node spacing and ripened over 30 fruits. RdB did very well for me and grew even faster, I have pics but it says the exceed the maximum file size of 1MB . it too had full winter die back. As a matter of fact all my Trees had full winter die back. I have a few unknowns that produced great fruit. I even got a co worker that had never seen a fig before hooked. My Sal's G is another one that did well. While most did not ripen this year its OK because they have in years past and I know they are good. added to my collection this year is Nero 600 I had rooted it 2 years ago. it was a rough go at it with that one it only produced a few roots at first and I babied it in a small pots until it was good enough to go in ground. this guy is the fasted growing one I have ever seen with some narrow but long 5 lobed leaf like the RdB and some single node. interesting to look at IMO. it is loaded with fruit but I don't think I will get a taste this year. Another new one Is Kathleen's black It grew a few foot and produced one very nice large fruit. I am going to protect a few of the trees this year with water line insalation and or those pool noodles. Im going to slit down the side and wrap around the tree. put a bag around that fill with leaves or straw and tape it up real good and see what happens. Sadly it wont let me post many of the photos I took due to file size. the pic above is my nine in the back yard that are 3 desert king, 5 unknowns and 1 lattarola . the ones in the front did much better. My Norland fig tree did not make it through this past winter sadly. __________________ Dave Zone 6b Illinois "Be the change you wish to see in the world"

RegencyLass

Registered:1441763907
Posts: 136

Posted 1445104599	Reply with quote #2

Great experiment! Thank for sharing the results with us. Your trees look fantastic without any protection, so I can only imagine how amazing they will look like if you cover them. :) __________________ ~RL~ Zone 5 Wish list: Saint Martin, Pastiliere, Panache, Dark Portuguese, Alma, Nero600m, Salce, Vista, Malta Black, Gino, Galicia Negra & Conadria.

aphahn

Registered:1354927274
Posts: 321

Posted 1445141665	Reply with quote #3

Looking good Dave! Be sure to protect your trees from rodents if you are going to cover them with leaves. I lost a few trees this year to voles doing the same. __________________ Andy - Zone 6a Lat 39.9º N, Alt 5390' Westminster CO ⚘ Scion List

garden_whisperer

Registered:1353347580
Posts: 1,613

Posted 1445371119	Reply with quote #4

didn't really think voles and moles would be a problem in the dead of winter but I guess it would be a perfect place for them to nest. thanks for the heads up. ill do a little more research to refine my plan. __________________ Dave Zone 6b Illinois "Be the change you wish to see in the world"

ADelmanto

Registered:1359774201
Posts: 911

Posted 1445383827	Reply with quote #5

I've read that they don't like the smell of peppermint. Some people spray the branches with peppermint oil. Of course the rodent bait blocks work well too. __________________ https://www.facebook.com/From-The-Ground-Up-403313193085649/

FiggyFrank

Registered:1347560723
Posts: 2,713

Posted 1445403203	Reply with quote #6

I had pruned back some trees last winter to about 18" tall and wrapped with a pool noodle, then with thick mil plastic. In the spring, they were rotten. Be careful using that for protection. __________________ Frank zone 7a - VA

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