There are some nice, plump, green leaf buds that are starting to push out but not open.

Now, though, the forecast is for freezing temps on Friday night (19 F) and Saturday night (29 F).

My question is...do I need to protect the new growth and recover? Would simply covering with a cotton sheet help protect the buds, or should I go heavier with a heavy gardening plastic?

Thanks for helping me save my first-year-in-the-ground fig.

Geoff

Yes, you will get die back. The temp will kill all the green growth including buds.

Would simply covering with a cotton sheet help protect the buds, or should I go heavier with a heavy gardening plastic?

The plastic my not be enough. The whole tops could die because your tree now has come out of dormancy, thus the antifreeze it has within its cells from what I remember is gone. A plastic with some old type christmas lights or heat lamp. If you cover with a plastic cover the entire tree in a tent style and cover the edges with dirt.

Thanks for the quick opinions.

Being that it was above 70 a week ago, I uncovered the plants and the buds all seem to be in tact with some having a hint of green. I do not regret uncovering them because there was slight mildew that would have worsened from the warm temperatures.

Over the winter they were wrapped with blankets and then a black plastic bag, kept open under a bucket atop. Would this be a good approach to protect them from the cold spell? Thanks!

This approximately the method that I used during this winter (my in-ground's first winter outside). I wrapped with attic insulation, covered with black plastic, and then used raked leaves in those large brown bags to surround as a wind barrier.

Geoff

Dan

I might be wrong in my assumption, but I'm not necessarily worried about the wind at this time. I'm more concerned about the freezing temps. As long as it doesn't drop below 33'ish, I think I'll be okay. That is, tonight is supposed to drop to about 36 F and windy...I'm more concerned about the 21 F forecast for Friday night.

Am I wrong in this assumption?

Aint' pretty but it works.

All you are trying to do is keep the temp above 32-33F and frost from forming on leaves.

Thoughts?

I've done this only this year, and it worked just fine. What ever our lowest temp was this year was the lowest temperature that it worked to...probably around 5-10 F...but I'm not sure.

I think, though, that this is only half of the answer. It really depends on the cold hardiness of your tree.

Geoff

With the light, it is much lower.

The ten gallon jug with hot might best work. It should be in a tent. The amount of calories energy release are ~2384550 Calories for hot water to go to freezing.

-jbs

Thanks,
Geoff

Dan

loslunas, we are expecting in the vicinity of 21 degrees F Friday night. What I was wondering was how much of a heat boost the light gives over outside temps. If we get 21, we'd need at least a 12 degree boost. Is that likely?

Damage to exposed fig leaves occurs thru radiation heat loss thru the unprotected leaves of a tree. A 300 watt quartz bulb provides quiet a bit of this type heat and can protect a tree from a late cold spell. I have given a more detailed technical explanation for leaf damage by this phenomenon in another thread as follows:

"This is FYI only and for those other forum members who might want to know some "WHY's" behind potential leaf damage............it is not just about AIR TEMPERATURE. It is also about wind, leaf temperature, and air humidity level. On a windy night with clear or cloudy skies LEAF temperature will be nearly the same as AIR temperature. However, on a cold, clear night with little to no air movement.....leaf temperature can easily drop 3 to 4 degrees lower than the ambient air temperature. (It can drop as much as 8 degrees in my area.) This is because of the radiation heat loss of the fig leaves. The rate of heat loss of those leaves is a function of the air's humidity level. At higher humidity levels often frost will form on those leaves. So, while the ambient AIR temperature might only be 35 degrees F......the actual LEAF temperature might well be 31 to 32 degrees F. That temperature could affect tender new growth.

In my area it is not uncommon for us to see frost form whenever the ambient air temperature is at 40 degrees F or below. This means that the actual leaf temperature reached 32 degrees F or below which froze the dew that condensed on the leaves as the dew point of the humid air was reached during the night. Late Spring frosts can kill fig trees in South Louisiana......especially if the outside air temperature has been cycling through several periods of warmth and cold. Yes, in my area, damaging frosts can form on fig leaves with ambient temperature as high as 40 degrees!! Ask me how I know and what I fear most at this time of year. It is really about leaf temperature and that is a bit harder to measure."

Dan

For future reference, what I ended up doing is...

1) place a 5-gallon jug of hot (i.e., boiled on the stove) under the tree. I placed this on top of insulation so that I didn't lose heat to the ground.

2) surround the base of the tree/water bottle zone with pink fiber insulation...I did this to have most of the heat go up and not out the sides.

3) covered the tree with a light insulation layer, basically an old mattress pad.

4) covered the whole deal with very large piece of heavy landscape plastic.

5) as a final barrier to any winds and to weigh down the plastic, I placed leaf-filled yard bags around the edge.

There were two days of sub-freezing temps. The day in between got up to the 40's, so I uncovered the tree in the late morning after it warmed up...of course, I repeated the covering again the next day.

This really was a simple operation, since I had all of the material left over from my winter insulation. The longest and most dangerous part of the project was boiling and pouring the water.

This was a very helpful thread. I appreciate all of the thoughtful comments.

You seems to have all the basics covered. Way to go.