Keep them Cold as you did last year.You move them to a warmer spot and the results will never be the same.
Chieers

Hello J,

I think you're best bet is keeping them where its darkest, Id even consider throwing a drape over the light source if need be.

Last yr, I had all my potted figs in a part with the least amount of light and much warmer than your 30-35*, more like 50ish. My Hardy Chicago had 1-2' light green shoots by Feb-Mar......
I believe as a result of that early awaking it slowed its normal growth for the remainder of the season.

Due to the lack of having a cold basement, Im now considering burying them which is a LOT more work than I wanted. );

Thanks. I'll keep them in the coldest part of the basement and maybe drape them to keep them dark.
I still have quite a few small figs on the in-ground tree...do you leave these on or knock them off. I doubt they'll ripen before frost.
J

FTU - I can almost guarantee your basement is not so cold as you might think it is. In USDA zone 6, soil temperatures at 6 foot depths will range from 45-65*, summer - winter. This means that most of the radiating surfaces of your basement, including the floor, are warmer than 45* at their very coldest. Factor in the influence that heating the house causes, and you're probably going to see 50* temperatures (or very close) as the coldest.

That aside - trees pass into a period of quiescence or cold rest after dormancy. During this period, they are fully capable of normal growth. All they need is a few days of soil temperatures above about 45*, and they're off. Light has no effect on this response - it will occur even in total darkness and continue in darkness until all energy reserves are expended.

When trees begin growth in a cold, dark basement, the tree invests energy in foliage that will never provide a return. It cannot make food and serves only to drain the energy reserves that should be going to production of a spring flush of growth at a more appropriate time. This lack of energy to produce a spring flush of growth is why Fortisi's tree's growth seemed slowed for the remainder of the season. By the time the tree recouped sufficient energy to produce abundant foliage, it had already turned a corner in the growth cycle and was at the point where energy was being allocated to storage organs instead of foliage and stem elongation.

So - if you cannot keep your trees quiet and cold enough to inhibit growth, you should give them ALL the light you can so there is at least some food production. From the tree's perspective, keeping them in cool, dimly lit sites is a near total waste of the energy being expended.

Keeping them cold enough to keep them quiet until danger of frost has passed is best for the tree. Providing all the light you can, if the tree happens to begin growth, is a distant second.

Al

Thanks Al. That's very interesting and explains the very long pale green shoot my tree produced last year. So you're probably right about the 45 degree basement temperature. I thought the dim light caused this growth.
Even though this particular "basement" is away from the house and is a dug out wine cellar it probably doesn't stay consistantly below 45 degrees. That, coupled with the relatively mild winters we've been having, leads me to believe it's very difficult to achieve the ideal state of quiescence.
Would burying the trees (they're one and two years old) make any difference?
J

That's what I wanna know!!!

Im leaning towards that since my basement doesnt get cold enough, plus having 30 potted figs dont help matters. :p

Thanks Al, this was very informative. What would you recommend for a tree this size that was started from a cutting this year in February. Should it also be kept cold?
Thanks again for your help.

Peg

FTU - it wasn't the light that caused the growth; the warm temperatures were the actual cause. The light does have an effect though. It makes growth long and weak, with reduced amounts of chlorophyll. Burying the trees is very good, as long as you bury them in a place where they will not see killing cold (north side of a heated building). Reasonable protection against dessication is advisable, too.

Peg - Mother Nature knows best for her trees, so what we should strive for is to optimize the conditions she would have provided if the trees were growing where they naturally occur under her care. No one takes any special care of the billions of trees that naturally occur in our fields, woodlands, and sometimes flower beds. ;o)

From the tree's perspective (and I know I just mentioned this in a thread somewhere - maybe this one) the best you can do is allow them to go dormant on their own. Then move them to a very cold place or bury them where they remain too cold to grow but not so cold it kills them. This range varies by tree - it is genetic and will be the same as the tree the cutting was from. When danger of frost has passed, the tree can be moved into full sun gradually.

In your zone, burying the entire container against the north wall of a heated building, mulching, and perhaps some wind protection is about as close to ideal as you'll come. The tree will STILL bud out before danger of frost has passed, but for a couple of short weeks, you can keep it protected from frost while it's in leaf by moving it in and out.

Al

FTU - Re: small figs that don't ripen. I went to a fig talk recently, and the speaker said leaving those small figs on trees exposed to freezing temps encourages a fungal (maybe?) growth that spreads from the small figs to the tree branch.

ok I'm really, really fuzzy on the details here, but the bottom line was this could be potentially a bad thing so remove the figs that don't ripen.

I have 3 new figs in 25 gal tubs .I thought about putting them in the basement but that rarely goes below 50F .How about an unheated garage ,that may get as cold as 5F?

I think 5*F is too cold, maybe wrap it with insulation or toss in a space heater for those colder nights that go below 30*.