Given the turn in weather people are busily bringing their potted figs into their greenhouses, sun rooms and other protected areas to help ripen the last of the figs.

Can figs in ground benefit from the same strategy by covering now with a seasonal greenhouse or temporary covering like hoophouse and poly?   The added heat and rain protection will likely help with ripening of some remaining figs. 

Will this put the fig plant at risk with the fast approaching winter and the time required to harden off and go dormant?

Ideas and suggestions welcome.

In Brazil, winters are very short, plenty of time for the trees to do what they need to do. I'd think covering them up should not affect them anymore than the weather would do anyway.

I'll bet the answer is different in MO or BC than it is in Niagara.  It may also depend on whether you have a lot of green wood left or just a little.  I'm afraid you'll have to try it and let us know what you think.

Brazil sounds nice but I ended up in the great white north ..lol

Good points on location and greenwood!

This year I regularly pinched and thinned the fruit so I have much less green wood than in the past and not as many unripe figs but still a lot of figs left.
In this area the 1st freeze date is Oct 10.  If we get lucky and miss that date October can be pleasant 50/60 days and 40's nights.  Many years I have been able to get ripe figs (in-ground) to end of October with no greenhouse.  Then again some years it snows in early October and stays just above freezing and then temperature plummets in November.

I put up 18' hoops but it looks like I won't have much room to get in and pick figs if successful.  Here are 2 photos.  the 1st is the west side has been ripening figs since Sep 15 and not many figs left.  2nd photo is the east side most figs are unripe and lots of green growth.  

 

Pino,
If the figs that need ripening are only need 1 - 2 weeks, IMO, it would work OK as long as the days are sunny and the night temperature don't fall below 40*F. I've moved potted trees under cover to ripen figs late in the season and placed them back out once the figs were harvested. The same could be done with the in ground trees. Good Luck.

Thanks Pete!
The 10 day forecast is calling for 41-53 nights. 
So it may be worth it if I can do it today since tonight it will likely go below 40 for 1 night.

My experience with greenhouse vs outside is that it will help a little but only if days are sunny. Won't warm nights but very little. Even in my greenhouse, which pops Oct temp into 80s by day, the figs ripen very slowly when it gets anywhere near the outside temperatures listed.

On the other hand it probably won't hurt hardiness either. Cutting down on water will slow the plant down. That's what will slow green growth more than anything else.

That's good info to know Thanks Steve!

Pino, I'm thinking of putting black plastic under my figs trees to see if that helps improve ripening, won't change the air temperature, but will warm the soil. Mike in Hanover, VA

Thanks Mike!  That sounds much easier to do!

Mike,
Changing the ground temperatures may not help with ripening the late figs. The soil temperatures are relatively warm and constant, since we have not experienced any cold freezing weather as yet. Installing black plastic will only warm the top layers and will not penetrate to any depth at this time of the year.

In an earlier topic and discussion forum member Herman2 mentioned an optimal temperature for figs to ripen the number given was a daily average of 70*F and above, for a night temperature of 60*F the day temperature would have to be a minimum of 80*F to get optimal ripening. http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1284350092&postcount=32

From my personal observations I agree with the number. Over the last 2 seasons with constant summer night time temperatures in the 50's and below, the figs that ripen properly have been when the day time temps are well above 70* F and even those have taken longer to ripen than when the night temps are above 60*F.  With an average temperature below 70*F ripening will occur slower and the figs will develop less sugars and flavors. I currently have figs ripening with an average 60*F temp but they are taking twice as long (12 days as compared to 5 days at an average 70*F).

If there is sufficient sunlight, and the night temperatures are above 40*F covering the trees will increase the day air temperatures and bring you closer to the 70*F average. Using this simple formula you may be able to calculate whether its prudent to cover or simply remove the late figs.

Thanks, This is great info Pete!

 

Well snap, thats good to know Pete. We have some days in the 80's next week, but tonight will be in the low 40's, maybe even upper 30's in our more rural area. Sure hope for an Indian summer without any killing frost. Mike in Hanover, VA

Update on my temporary greenhouse covering for in-ground Ciccio Nero;

We have had a couple of light frosts.  OT: Interesting that the uncovered in-ground trees in the same location have experienced varying degrees of a little freeze damage.  Wonder if this is an indicator of how cold hardy the specific fig is?  

Back to this posting topic;  
The uncovered Ciccio Neros are still loaded with figs but they have effectively stopped ripening (1st 2 photos). 
The Ciccio Nero in the recently installed greenhouse (Oct 1) photo 3 are still ripening but at a slower rate.  Some figs that appear ripe are not very sweet but some are still very sweet.  All still edible for fresh figs or for drying or freezing for winter use.  

In my opinion it is worth utilizing passive greenhouse coverings to extend the season by 2-3 weeks. 
Next year I plan to use a temporary greenhouse in the spring (May 1/June 15) to give them a starting boost and then take off the covering for the summer and install again Oct 1 to extend the season.  I realize that proper greenhouse structure is the ideal but this approach seems to work well and it costs very little only a few hours labour.

Final update on experiment to extend the season for my in-ground figs planted in the open field.

I am considering  this experiment a success given the little investment it took.  Namely a few coldframe hoops, clear 2 layer poly cover and a few hrs of work. 

It is end of October and I am still picking a bowl or more of figs a day.  The figs are still very sweet and tasty but lack the dark colour and intense flavours of the earlier figs that ripened in the open.  Still they are delicious and some visitors and their children were surprised but very happy to eat a few last weekend.

Next year for my in ground cold hardy figs I plan to install this greenhouse as an early boost in May/June, dismantle and install again Oct 1.  
I will also use this strategy to encourage fig varieties that have difficulty ripening quality figs in colder climates. 
In the long term would like to get a proper coldframe/greenhouse once the permits and cost requirements are addressed.

Here are a few photos of figs picked this past week and the before and after of the fig covering;

 

Great idea, Pino. I wish I had the land to do this too.

Thanks Frank!
I worked in the big city for most of my life but when retirement approached I convinced my wife to move to the country to pursue our grow hobbies.  We have been very happy here but busy as can be. 

Nice! It's great to see when determination and a bit of ingenuity perseveres over mother nature. Good job on early retirement too, you don't look that old.

Calvin
That gent is not me.  I was the one taking the photo.  He said it was OK to post his photo. 
He is a F4F member and avid fig enthusiast.  Seeks out figs to see how people grow them wherever they may be..LOL.

That's Steven Biggs isn't it??? There was a video posted here not long ago with him in it.

Tyler, yes it is Steven.  He has visited a couple of times and every time he has brought some promising fig varieties for me to try out (Pastielliere, Gillete, Bianchetta)!
He has collected an extensive fig collection in his travels.  

Ahha! I thought you caught the fig pig! Thanks for the great explanations Pino. I'll be doing similar things in the spring starting in early March to warm the soil and hopefully get buds opening the first week in April when the risk of frost outside. I think poly + row cover should be ok once the soil has warmed...

Ivan,
We have to wait for May for the soil to warm around here.  It is amazing that you have such a long season and moderate winters and yet have difficulty ripening main crop figs.