Encanto Farms Nursery > Categories > Winter prep

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Jamesoneil1012

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Posts: 18

I'm moving my potted trees to shed or garage both are unable heated is this an issue?

jdsfrance

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Posts: 2,591

Hi,
What kind of usda zone are you in ?
If in zone 6 or under, you'll need in insulated and/or attached garage with some source of heat for the colder days.

chucklikestofish

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Posts: 1,316

[QUOTE=Jamesoneil1012]I'm moving my potted trees to shed or garage both are unable heated is this an issue?[/QUOTE]~what varieties i am in zone 6 i insulted my shed ,the first year i ran an electric heater in there with thermostat ,kept temps around 40 * F ,then i experimented i did not heat at all last year ,results were exactly the same as heated year before,so i don't heat them anymore.i even had desert king and kathleen black,vdb etc in there so they were fine + i have a few diff. mt etnas they were fine to.

Jamesoneil1012

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Posts: 18

I'm in ct. My attached garage gets down to 25 30f

jrdewhirst

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Posts: 91

imo, 25F would be no problem.  The question would be whether the attached garage gets too warm in March/April, so plants come out of dormancy too soon.  Them they would be very vulnerable to cold. 

Jamesoneil1012

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Posts: 18

I had 2 sals last yr stay out all winter lost foot off top

jrdewhirst

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Posts: 91

[QUOTE=chucklikestofish]~what varieties i am in zone 6 i insulted my shed ,the first year i ran an electric heater in there with thermostat ,kept temps around 40 * F ,then i experimented i did not heat at all last year ,results were exactly the same as heated year before,so i don't heat them anymore.i even had desert king and kathleen black,vdb etc in there so they were fine + i have a few diff. mt etnas they were fine to.[/QUOTE]

Chuck -- How cold did it get, unheated?  This would be great data on the cold-tolerance of varieties when protected from wind and sun in winter.

chucklikestofish

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Posts: 1,316

[QUOTE=jrdewhirst]

Chuck -- How cold did it get, unheated?  This would be great data on the cold-tolerance of varieties when protected from wind and sun in winter.[/QUOTE]~i really never noted coldest temps.i believe around 10-15*F  for lowest ,but could be more. i will watch this year. most figs as i have heard are good down to 20* F and some 10 * F or so,so i would not worry you should be fine ,they can take a lot of cold.we don't stay sub zero here for long but a week or two usually and it's usually jan or feb for this bitterness.they are a lot tougher than people make them out to be so go for it ,if they die contact me we will get you going strong again,for sure~

figgi11

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Posts: 153

For those of you who overwinter your dormant potted trees inside, how often do you water them?

PeterC

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Posts: 286

once a month or when the soil look too dry

chucklikestofish

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Posts: 1,316

[QUOTE=figgi11]For those of you who overwinter your dormant potted trees inside, how often do you water them?[/QUOTE]~the rule of thumb i always heard was 1 cup per month do i do it no ~! buy a soil test moisture meter and guessing is done with .   $ 9.00 on amazon .com~last winter i didn't need to water them i tested them each month and they really were wet enough. 1/2 a guage is time to water,this moisture meter is a real plus for newly rooted and potted figs like i said no guess work,

jdsfrance

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Posts: 2,591

Hi,
Your garage would be fine !
As for watering, I have standard pots ( no water reservoir ) and in the winter I remove the plates under them.
Here, the problem is that our cold dry weather tends to drain all moisture. So just to be safe and to avoid the potting mix to turn into dust (bone dry), I water them a bit .
I water once every month or every other month - remember that this without water reservoir.