Looking for Zone 7b Fig Advice

[Dig]

Old style christmas lights strung in the tree can also work on those cold nights. They cannot be the led lights.

[CyntheB]

eFigs-inShrubCovers_7718.jpg (616.62 KiB) Viewed 2881 times

Here's how the shrub covers look in place. Night temps are chilly, mid-30s just above freezing. I added my own hook-shaped stakes. And did put more pine needles around the outside edges.

[Dig]

Sharp looking tents.

[alanmercieca]

Here's how the shrub covers look in place. Night temps are chilly, mid-30s just above freezing. I added my own hook-shaped stakes. And did put more pine needles around the outside edges.

Where did you buy them? They do not look like the ones in the photos. Hmmm we will see when I get mine how mine looks. They still look nice regardless. Things should be okay if you get some decent frost cloth for the colder nights.

[CyntheB]

Where did you buy them? They do not look like the ones in the photos. Hmmm we will see when I get mine how mine looks. They still look nice regardless. Things should be okay if you get some decent frost cloth for the colder nights.

Alan ~ I purchased them from one of my favorite catalogs: https://www.gardeners.com/buy/pop-up-pl ... 09802.html . They get very good reviews and the cost was slightly less than from EBay.

Appreciate your comments about how long they should last. I likely have unrealistic expectations of wanting them to last 'years.' I bought two large and two small. They can be stacked on each other for taller shrubs. Will be using the smaller ones on newly planted shrubs, mainly to keep animals from browsing them 'til they're larger.

[CyntheB]

Alan ~ We've had a weird winter. No precip from mid-September 2017 'til early January 2018, when we had our first snow storm. Temperatures have varied from the low-70s F during the day to the mid-teens F at night.

The plastic snow shelters I bought to protect the figs through their first winter worked fine, until we had strong winds. It seems the wind creates a swirling vortex in that area near the raised bed and tosses the shelters right off the baby figs...even when I have ground stakes at the corners and bricks in the pockets!!! So for our cold nights, I'm using a bucket with a heavy rock on the front fig. And triple layers of bubblewrap over the back fig held down with stones. Uncover the little trees during the day, once the temperatures are several degrees over freezing.

Q1) Is it okay to let the snow (when we have it) contact the dormant figs directly?

Q2) The front fig (Dominick's) has some freeze damage at the ends of several stems. As much as 2 inches on the longest stem. Less on the others. As long as the base of the stems seem fine, the tree should recover in the springtime...correct?

[alanmercieca]

Alan ~ We've had a weird winter. No precip from mid-September 2017 'til early January 2018, when we had our first snow storm. Temperatures have varied from the low-70s F during the day to the mid-teens F at night.

The plastic snow shelters I bought to protect the figs through their first winter worked fine, until we had strong winds. It seems the wind creates a swirling vortex in that area near the raised bed and tosses the shelters right off the baby figs...even when I have ground stakes at the corners and bricks in the pockets!!! So for our cold nights, I'm using a bucket with a heavy rock on the front fig. And triple layers of bubblewrap over the back fig held down with stones. Uncover the little trees during the day, once the temperatures are several degrees over freezing.

Q1) Is it okay to let the snow (when we have it) contact the dormant figs directly?

Q2) The front fig (Dominick's) has some freeze damage at the ends of several stems. As much as 2 inches on the longest stem. Less on the others. As long as the base of the stems seem fine, the tree should recover in the springtime...correct?

A1) Their second winter outside yes, yet this winter it's best that the snow does not. The first winter they are way more sensitive especially when they are that small. Yet their second winter on the snow can not hurt them.

A2) Yes, and even if it got worst than that they should be fine, the first year out during the winter can be very scary for a new fig tree owner, so far it looks like your nights have been warmer than ours. Here it got down to about 3 degrees Fahrenheit a few times. Yet we have the same kind of warm days here many years like you are having. We have had them over a week now. The 60s or 70s and then freezing is very common here, yet it has been very warm and not freezing here for over a week.

[CyntheB]

Alan ~ We've had a weird winter. No precip from mid-September 2017 'til early January 2018, when we had our first snow storm. Temperatures have varied from the low-70s F during the day to the mid-teens F at night.

The plastic snow shelters I bought to protect the figs through their first winter worked fine, until we had strong winds. It seems the wind creates a swirling vortex in that area near the raised bed and tosses the shelters right off the baby figs...even when I have ground stakes at the corners and bricks in the pockets!!! So for our cold nights, I'm using a bucket with a heavy rock on the front fig. And triple layers of bubblewrap over the back fig held down with stones. Uncover the little trees during the day, once the temperatures are several degrees over freezing.

Q1) Is it okay to let the snow (when we have it) contact the dormant figs directly?

Q2) The front fig (Dominick's) has some freeze damage at the ends of several stems. As much as 2 inches on the longest stem. Less on the others. As long as the base of the stems seem fine, the tree should recover in the springtime...correct?

A1) Their second winter outside yes, yet this winter it's best that the snow does not. The first winter they are way more sensitive especially when they are that small. Yet their second winter on the snow can not hurt them.

A2) Yes, and even if it got worst than that they should be fine, the first year out during the winter can be very scary for a new fig tree owner, so far it looks like your nights have been warmer than ours. Here it got down to about 3 degrees Fahrenheit a few times. Yet we have the same kind of warm days here many years like you are having. We have had them over a week now. The 60s or 70s and then freezing is very common here, yet it has been very warm and not freezing here for over a week.

Okay. Alan ~ I will keep any more snow this winter from touching the baby fig trees. Yes! It's a bit anxiety producing to get the figs through their first winter. Thanks for your advice and reassurance.

Was at a fruit tree pruning workshop Saturday morning, where the subject about hardiness of figs and pomegranates came up. Two fig varieties that seem to tolerate our climate / elevation are 'Hardy Chicago' and 'Brown Turkey'. Are the 'Aldo' and 'Dominick's' hardier than those? I don't recall now which pomegranate was discussed as being able to survive here. Several of the ones you mentioned in your greenhouse experiment post sound interesting.

[Dig]

Alma was developed at texas A&M. I do not think it is nearly as hardy as the Chicago variety.

Ronde de bordeaux is one that is fast and hardy as well.

*edit

read as alma and not aldo, oops.

[alanmercieca]

Alan ~ We've had a weird winter. No precip from mid-September 2017 'til early January 2018, when we had our first snow storm. Temperatures have varied from the low-70s F during the day to the mid-teens F at night.

The plastic snow shelters I bought to protect the figs through their first winter worked fine, until we had strong winds. It seems the wind creates a swirling vortex in that area near the raised bed and tosses the shelters right off the baby figs...even when I have ground stakes at the corners and bricks in the pockets!!! So for our cold nights, I'm using a bucket with a heavy rock on the front fig. And triple layers of bubblewrap over the back fig held down with stones. Uncover the little trees during the day, once the temperatures are several degrees over freezing.

Q1) Is it okay to let the snow (when we have it) contact the dormant figs directly?

Q2) The front fig (Dominick's) has some freeze damage at the ends of several stems. As much as 2 inches on the longest stem. Less on the others. As long as the base of the stems seem fine, the tree should recover in the springtime...correct?

A1) Their second winter outside yes, yet this winter it's best that the snow does not. The first winter they are way more sensitive especially when they are that small. Yet their second winter on the snow can not hurt them.

A2) Yes, and even if it got worst than that they should be fine, the first year out during the winter can be very scary for a new fig tree owner, so far it looks like your nights have been warmer than ours. Here it got down to about 3 degrees Fahrenheit a few times. Yet we have the same kind of warm days here many years like you are having. We have had them over a week now. The 60s or 70s and then freezing is very common here, yet it has been very warm and not freezing here for over a week.

Okay. Alan ~ I will keep any more snow this winter from touching the baby fig trees. Yes! It's a bit anxiety producing to get the figs through their first winter. Thanks for your advice and reassurance.

Was at a fruit tree pruning workshop Saturday morning, where the subject about hardiness of figs and pomegranates came up. Two fig varieties that seem to tolerate our climate / elevation are 'Hardy Chicago' and 'Brown Turkey'. Are the 'Aldo' and 'Dominick's' hardier than those? I don't recall now which pomegranate was discussed as being able to survive here. Several of the ones you mentioned in your greenhouse experiment post sound interesting.

The problem with Brown Turkey is that many different varieties get called that as you already know and some are more cold hardy than others. The BT mess is so confusing that my best response to that it trial and error with brown turkey until you find a more cold hardy one. LOL

Hardy Chicago, and Dominick, and Aldo are all put in a category called Mt Etna, as far as actual cold hardiness there is not much difference between them. What varies between them is "if there is serious die back" can they grow back and still produce a decent crop. Hardy Chicago I have never grown yet it has a reputation for coming back from die back and producing the same year in zone 6 and even in zone 5 yet a think in zone 5 it needs to be protected to reproduce the same year, Dominick might actually be even better than hardy Chicago at recovering from frost damage yet I have not grown them side by side to compare. The Aldo I had never left the pot, I sent it to you, the first frost it had seen was at your home. I just read that Palermo Red did not die to the ground at 3 degrees Fahrenheit even though it had die back it has survived temperatures under zero degrees Fahrenheit in west Virginia, which of course is die back to the ground. It's supposedly comes back from die back very well yet like I said I have no experience with it and die back. In your climate the late frosts may do more damage if they come out of their dormant stage too soon.

PS the Aldo cold hardy facts that I am telling you are for a bigger and probably older tree than yours.