I have my 7ft. tree on a dolly.  I got up at 5:20 am to check the temp. and it was around freezing.  I pulled the tree inside on the back porch for protection.  It is still pretty much in full leaf.  I don't want to put in basement until it drops its leaves.  Other than restricting water what else can I do until it drops it leaves.  At what temperatures do fig trees get damaged in a big pot this time of year? zone   4

Based on something Martin once mentioned , I let mine get a couple of good frosts in the mid to upper 20's before I bring them in the garage to finish dropping their leaves.
If there is a stretch of good weather after those frosts , I'll leave them out until the next hard frosts come along.
Often they stay in the garage until Thanksgiving before they go into their final place for the Winter , which is the garage/barn basement, where the temps stay above 25F even in the coldest part of the Winter here in central NH.

Forgot to mention I've been using some Pro-Tekt (pottasium silicate) to help harden the wood.
Not necessary ,but hardens the wood quicker and the available silica is good for toughening the plant against insect and disease damage.
There are other products with available silica, Sil-Matrix etc...
My plants are almost all in pots with potting soils with essentially no silica source that is readily available to the plant.
If I was in a warmer climate I might not worry about it, but here it is good to see the wood harden off for Winter.

Thank you for the advice.  Yes we have a metal pole barn that has a concrete floor.  I don't know why I didn't think of that...  It will be so much easier to bring the tree in through a garage door than a house door.  I will put a thermometer in there in the next day or two to see what the low temps are going to in there.  As it is now the tree is getting  a little beat up from me trying to bring it in and take it out because of height and width.  This way I can move it to the basement around Halloween or the 1st week of Nov.

I will get some of the silica supplement too.  Last spring when I brought it up from the basement because it was starting to put out leaves I noticed some vertical splits in the trunk after I put it on the front porch.  I was worried about disease but being about cat scratching height I think it was from the cats.  I didn't see anymore after it went outside for the summer.  The silica should help this potential abuse.

There are many trace minerals missing from standard potting mixes. I suggest mixing a little glacial rock dust to your potting mix when uppotting or rooting. Azomite has too many harmful things in it so I don't like it as a mineral source.  I also add a little sand in my potting mix for drainage and for the added silica.  I knew it played an important role in producing a stronger tree pest tolerant tree but I never knew it helped harden off the tree thanks for the info. 

I'm no expert but I plan on leaving my potted figs out for a few frosts and only bring them in for the winter when temps drop to low 20s at night.

Is that bad?

Were going into a warm spell with low temps in the 40's for awhile.  I will let the tree get down to mid 20's a few times and bring it into the pole barn after that if more cold weather (and then into the basement).  I don't plan to repot it until next spring/summer.  I am afraid I will have to trim roots at that time.  Then I can mix in some amendments to increase the silica.  Being that this will be it's 4th year I do hope I get a fig or two...  I appreciate the directions on growing.

[QUOTE=greenbud]Were going into a warm spell with low temps in the 40's for awhile.  I will let the tree get down to mid 20's a few times and bring it into the pole barn after that if more cold weather (and then into the basement).  I don't plan to repot it until next spring/summer.  I am afraid I will have to trim roots at that time.  Then I can mix in some amendments to increase the silica.  Being that this will be it's 4th year I do hope I get a fig or two...  I appreciate the directions on growing.[/QUOTE]

Root trim before bud break. Don't wait until summer.

OK, thanks.  That will probably be March then if it goes like last year.