Looking for Zone 7b Fig Advice

[CyntheB]

Alan & other cold winter fig growers ~ Arizona has just experienced a record-setting snow storm in the last few days. We got 15 inches, but it's much deeper in spots by the greenhouse and fig bed where snow slid off the greenhouse roof. Had to take the frost cloth 'roof' off of the figs' winter tent due to the weight of all the snow. Now nighttime temps are plummeting to 11F and I can't get the roof back on with the snow in the way. So....I've piled snow up around each of the figs to keep them around 32F (until the snow melts).

I'm feeling my goal of protecting the figs' trunks / branches from cold damage is unrealistic at this point. Here at 5600ft, we still have two more months of possible cold temperatures. What more should I do for these young trees? What expectations are realistic, so I don't get too worried.

[alanmercieca]

Alan & other cold winter fig growers ~ Arizona has just experienced a record-setting snow storm in the last few days. We got 15 inches, but it's much deeper in spots by the greenhouse and fig bed where snow slid off the greenhouse roof. Had to take the frost cloth 'roof' off of the figs' winter tent due to the weight of all the snow. Now nighttime temps are plummeting to 11F and I can't get the roof back on with the snow in the way. So....I've piled snow up around each of the figs to keep them around 32F (until the snow melts).

I'm feeling my goal of protecting the figs' trunks / branches from cold damage is unrealistic at this point. Here at 5600ft, we still have two more months of possible cold temperatures. What more should I do for these young trees? What expectations are realistic, so I don't get too worried.

Wow 15 inches of snow, with exception to when I lived in Vermont I have never seen snow like that in real life. The only thing that you can do before that snow is gone is to keep the trees burred as deep as possible, snow would work very good. When the snow is gone, if you could find some huge tires, much bigger than car tires, like tractor tires you could pile them up one right on top of the other until they are higher than each tree, using plywood to cover them up, using cinder-blocks to weigh down the plywood. Yet as is obvious, the trees in time will be too wide for that. You could put frost cloth between the plywood and the cinder-blocks, for additional protection.

[CyntheB]

The only thing that you can do before that snow is gone is to keep the trees burred as deep as possible, snow would work very good.

Thanks for your quick reply! Alan ~ I will continue working on the snow piles tomorrow. Our next ten days are due to be clear and sunny. Nighttime temps will be warming up to the high 20s-low 30s by mid-week, so the snow won't last long. Once everything melts, I will reassess the cold damage and prune it off as you have advised before.

Don't really have room for those big tires in the raised bed. But I could create large chickenwire cages filled with piles of pine needles surrounding each tree inside the frost cloth tent....

[alanmercieca]

The only thing that you can do before that snow is gone is to keep the trees burred as deep as possible, snow would work very good.

Thanks for your quick reply! Alan ~ I will continue working on the snow piles tomorrow. Our next ten days are due to be clear and sunny. Nighttime temps will be warming up to the high 20s-low 30s by mid-week, so the snow won't last long. Once everything melts, I will reassess the cold damage and prune it off as you have advised before.

Don't really have room for those big tires in the raised bed. But I could create large chickenwire cages filled with piles of pine needles surrounding each tree inside the frost cloth tent....

The only thing that I am worried about is heavy snow exposing the trees to cold by taking away the protection, especially if it happens on a cold night, especially if you don't notice it for many hours. Something solid like huge tires would work, and not break no matter how heavy the snow is. Nothing else like that is coming to my mind.

[CyntheB]

The only thing that I am worried about is heavy snow exposing the trees to cold by taking away the protection, especially if it happens on a cold night, especially if you don't notice it for many hours.

Snow here tends to be very light - a lovely powder - since we're in a dry, high elevation desert climate. It's heavy only when it melts or is a deep accumulation like this particular storm. The chickenwire cages I have around some plants in our west meadow are holding up just fine.

Will email you some photos of our deep snow, since they don't relate specifically to the figs.

[CyntheB]

eFIGS-ChickenwireCages+PineStrawNests-1854.jpg (534.03 KiB) Viewed 2628 times

End of March update: Have a question, Alan.
So I did create large chickenwire cages filled with piles of pine needles surrounding each tree, after the snow from our unusual big storm melted. Now we're definitely into springtime - daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, early fruit trees in bloom, strawberries growing vigorously but not yet in bloom. Nighttime temps are in the mid-to-high 30s and we could still have a frost in the next 6 weeks. Should I uncover the figs? Or wait?

[alanmercieca]

End of March update: Have a question, Alan.
So I did create large chickenwire cages filled with piles of pine needles surrounding each tree, after the snow from our unusual big storm melted. Now we're definitely into springtime - daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, early fruit trees in bloom, strawberries growing vigorously but not yet in bloom. Nighttime temps are in the mid-to-high 30s and we could still have a frost in the next 6 weeks. Should I uncover the figs? Or wait?

I'd wait it out until like 3 or 4 days until last chance of frost, look at the extended forecast, see what they say then. If there is no chance of frost in the forecast, then you could uncover them. They have had enough exposure this winter to the cold to push the fig trees to gain cold hardiness for next winter, yet they are still fragile it being their first winter.

How much pruning did you have to do after the snow melted?

[CyntheB]

How much pruning did you have to do after the snow melted?

I've cut 50% of their height off from last summer. The figs still need more pruned as I can see reddened bark from cold damage. Am hoping to have 25%-33% of their growth remaining once the danger of frost is past for the season.

[CyntheB]

It's been two months (April / May) since posting an update... We had an unusually COLD May with nighttime temperatures varying from the high 40sF to dropping to freezing briefly. Didn't take the trees out of their deep pine needle mulch 'til a week or so ago.

Both figs - Aldo & Dominick's - are just barely beginning to push new growth. I cut off more cold damage on all the little stems. Have 12-18 inches of height left from last season. The main trucks haven't been pruned back any more yet...though there is some reddened, cold damaged, wood. Am waiting to see how far up the remaining wood, new buds will start growing.

How are your figs doing?

[alanmercieca]

It's been two months (April / May) since posting an update... We had an unusually COLD May with nighttime temperatures varying from the high 40sF to dropping to freezing briefly. Didn't take the trees out of their deep pine needle mulch 'til a week or so ago.

Both figs - Aldo & Dominick's - are just barely beginning to push new growth. I cut off more cold damage on all the little stems. Have 12-18 inches of height left from last season. The main trucks haven't been pruned back any more yet...though there is some reddened, cold damaged, wood. Am waiting to see how far up the remaining wood, new buds will start growing.

How are your figs doing?

Very good for the 2nd winter in the ground, also it certainly sounds taller than it was spring 2018.

So far this was the best year for our fig trees. We are actually having a breba crop on all of them, even the potted ones, past years there was only one fig tree that we got any breba crop from that we got to eat. We are loaded this year. This winter was the mildest winter that any of our fig trees have been in the ground in. There was not much frost damage on them. Although one of our fig trees has been deteriorating for years due to fungus getting in to the fig tree. The sick parts will die and the healthy parts will turn in to a new tree. It's our Dominick fig tree that is sick. Here it appears that when a fig tree grows in too much of a tree shape, too thick trunked then fungus gets in to it, not sure how it gets in, by shothole borer beetles or some other way, it seemed to me like fungus might have attracted the beetles to the tree.

I forgot to tell you before yet the Aldo I got already propagated, from someone giving a lot of Aldos away. I did propagate the Dominick though