Hello all, woke up this morning to 54°F and rainy (pretty typical last month), and a 55℅ chance of snow! That has now risen to 59℅. Anyone else expecting snowfall? I'm happy that I prepped my trees for dormancy earlier this week after a we had 29° for a few early morning hours last Friday. A bunch of the stems have already dropped, guess I had better prep my basement this afternoon for storage, right?

No chance of snow here, but it was 42 degrees at 5am this morning. Just two days ago temps were in 80s and 90s, then we got a sudden cold front with several inches of rain.

Navid.

Oh my, seems so early!

I am mostly on the lookout for low temps as far as when I bring mine in to the garage. I would rather have 32 F with snow than 22 F and clear.

Wow I'm still picking daily and my leaves are not gone yet.
Location makes a world of difference.
Enjoy and good work.

Doug

Too early to hear about snow!  Meanwhile, I picked these from my yard today...  ;)

 

Hello everyone, thanks for your responses! It's neat to see how different our growing conditions are! As this is my first year of getting fruit it gives me a bit if a ripening guideline, and for sure until we are permanently settled and I can get greenhouses after September 15 ripening doesn't seem to be a thing.

@Frank, what are those? They look awesome :)

No snow, but -5C on Wednesday 
-5°C

and that should start the leaves to drop so pots can be moved inside for winter storage.
So far fig plants resisting to drop leaves where as maple trees are dropping leaves.

Wow.....that's too bad.

Wonderful picture Frank!

Another one that would look great framed in my living room.

I had an I-258, Pellegrino and Longue d' Aout today.

Many thanks. If the Longue was any bigger I think it would be called a melon. 

Devisgro,

What is "prepping" for dormancy?

My first time for this phase of figonomitry

Thanks. Mike.

We just had several days in the 90s and trees that got whipsawed in the last heat/cold cycle in Sept., and lost their leaves,  are reflushing with new growth. No snow in the forecast, maybe not in my lifetime, even.

Snow is a bad word....

@Frank: They look very tasty. I bought my Marseilles black labeled like that, no vs, so I don't think that I have the same strain. We will see in a season or two lol

@Mike: I started after the last mini cold snap of a few hours of 29°. I cut the leaves that were frost damaged or just damaged by nature etc before that point. I have noticed that leaves that are damaged are first to be dropped by a tree if it is stressed in any way followed by those that are "imperfect"/blemished. This way my actions follow normal patterns. I also double checked to make sure that no buds were trying to reform, and pinched the few that attempted. About 5 days later the first leaf stems of the cut leaves began to fall and I cut the remaining leaves, a few of which were already looking blemished. I wanted the trees to go dormant as naturally as possible while minimizing stress, knowing full well that my cold temps drop too fast when they do and a fully natural cycle was out if the question. Only one of my larger trees was 90℅ dormant, even with 40° weather and many nights hovering 32-34°, most barely had lost any leaves. I suspect that my cooler summers made the cool fall seem less drastic but have no way of knowing for certain. Perhaps I am over thinking things, but I want the trees to conserve energy before dormancy and recognize environmental weather stress, without stressing the trees out. I know from experience that they attempt to hold onto their leaves as long as possible. And even sacrificing wood to do so. This is obviously undesirable. (This has happened when the cutting makes insufficient roots and in attempt to sustain leaves drains the cutting) I would let them brave colder temps but this season they got a bit if a late start and their branch tips still have a bit of green on most. I double checked pinching buds so they don't "freak out" from leaf loss and try to grow a new one, which a few tried to do. Hopefully my energy conservation efforts will be rewarded by a massive spring growth flush ;)

@pitangadiego It is true that you live in a state with 0℅ chance of rain and high heat, so snow is a bit if a myth!

Thanks for the information.

I will start /catch-up with the leaves and pinching.

Do you clip all the little figs? And when do you give up on the rest?

How long after this do you clip the plants? I am looking to cover them and try to keep coo in a washroom.

I know, good luck with that. Especially if you have seen the plants or my little house.

Thanks for all the help, Mike

We did get some rain today but its nowhere near feeling like fall. one if my trees has a little fig growing now?! Strange.

Hello Mike! From what I've read the average ripening time falls between 90 and 110 days. So when I got a few fruit starts in the last couple days of August I pinched them. I had three mostly ripened figs in September, but I just didn't have the sun and warmth to finish them. If only I had had one more week of 68-70° and sun. I kept them on the tree hopefully, as they were mostly ripe, but my own findings have been in keeping with those of other growers. Fruits don't ripen if temps are below 50, and my day ranges for the past month have been 45-55 but rarely breaking 50 more than a few hours. After the night of mild frost I clipped the figs, they were frozen. I would check last two years forecast to see when the temps seem to drop and how hard for your area and make the decision on fruits then. I would guess that if it's not showing color it won't ripen this late for you though, and why waste energy on it? As for clipping plants, I saw a very informative suggestion from pitangadiego earlier this week detailing the same clip leaves let stems fall naturally method. He said there that once the stems fall you have induced dormancy and can trim, but to be sure to do it before frost as it can damage wood. Sounded very logical and reasonable to me. I am tempted to cut a couple of my recent additions that are a bit leggy, but I know a spring prune or air layer might cause more bushiness so I'm attempting to wait patiently... Yes good luck for sure! Your trees are quite large and well established! I wish I lived closer, I'd love to come help! Hope this helps some, I'm no expert but I'm always trying to learn!
Devin

Hello Chuck! They are doing great, the Kathleens black is looking like it might pop a new bud soon, and the desert king has two buds that will definitely open in the next few days. So far they have only dropped one leaf between the two of them, so shipping and transplant shocks weren't too bad! I took your advice and placed them with my rooting/ed cuttings rather than forcing dormancy. Sorry I didn't get back to you right away, didn't mean to worry you!

Still no frost for now.
Snow may come in December.
The figtrees are still producing ripe figs. I have some 30 figs from last friday that rotted on the balcony. I'll have to trash them before they smell too bad... and I'll go harvest some fresh ones :)
The problem is they don't last long once harvested, because they ripened in the milder/cooler weather, so as soon as you bring them in the warmer air of your house ... they ripen and turn moldy in one day.
So I need to eat or process them the same day that I fetch them ...

Devisgro,

Thanks for all the information.

It is a great help and thanks for taking the time to post it all.

Mike

Wher is the snow? I miss it. Oh, tell me please we are going to get some this year in zone 8. Live in zone 5 got more than my share. Move here no snow at all!