Well I had a Celeste that grew to be 10-12 foot tall,but the tallest it got the less fruit kept.It eather drop them or be too late in ripening them .Now i chop them about three,or four foot in the fall for easy to cover,and in the spring cut off all dead tips,again and it start growing and till fall is about 6 to 7 foot tall again.So that is how i do it.Some people cut it even shorter with better results,but that is how i was doing the pruning.And in the Spring i do the pinching too in order to slow down the growth and maximize productivity.
Regards

Herman- how many figs would you estimate some of your best 3-6' bushed/trees make in one season?

Just trying to weigh the pro's and cons of keeping them short vs taller. I was talking to my mom about the tree that used to occupy that spot in the pic above, she told me they used to get HUNDREDS of figs off the tree. They'd have to give them away!!! Imagine that?!?! :)

Well, Ive decided to wrap the tree up yesterday since I saw some freezing temps posted this week.
Here's how I decided to wrap it this yr, Id appreciate your comments/concerns if you have any!

Step 1: Tied all limbs together.

Step 2: Then wrapped it with pink insulation.

Step 3: Made an oversized make-shift igloo with 1.5" pink foam boards, then placed a large plastic bag over the top, then put a sheet of luan board on top to try to keep water out and any future snow loads.

I tied it down best I can without breaking the foam boards and left my 6' ladder beside it hoping it'll help with wind loads. I think Im gonna get my hands on some scrap carpet foam just in case this doesnt work out then wrap it with that and plastic.

Im also thinking about adding leaves inside but afraid that Ill over do it, I dont want to burn the tree up either.

Any advice would be appreciated!!!

Very good Work.One more thing:Drive
one or two wooden or metal stake next to it and tie to it so the wind ,will not top it over.
Then you should not worry till 1st of april when you shoud take all protection aside so the tree does not overheat.Best regards

When you insulate your home dont you face the "pink wooly stuff" going toward the cold or outside of the house?

It doesnt really matter which way the paper faces, some insulation doesnt have any. The most important thing is to try and not overcompress it otherwise you lose R value.

Another insulating material that works well is styrofoam blanket. Furniture manufacturers use it for protection while shipping. You might be able to get some for nothing at a furniture store. Some of it is very fragile and thin, but some of it is quite substantial and can be used for a wrap (watch out for branches poking through). Even the small fragile pieces can be used instead of leaves. I wouldn't put it directly in contact with the tree, though. The whole thing should be covered with a tarp to protect from rain (it does absorb water) and wind.

hi everyone. i am new to this forum.

i would like to get some info on my fig trees. i live outside of toronto. i have 3 fig trees and for the winter i use to bring them to the basement of my house. i cant do this anymore so what i have done is made a wooden box.in the wooden box i insulated the walls with thick stirafoam. i then put my trees inside and closed it up. i then put a plastic over the box.
will this be ok?
also someone here in toronto told me that its not a good idea what i have done because the fig tree needs some air and i have sealed the box.
thank you.

I think it gets a lot colder up there than it does in NJ so Id think about wrapping the tree itself with pink insulation like in my pic above. Ive also heard about the tree needing air saying, Im not sure if that person is Italian but it seems to be something I hear from all my Italian relatives. Ive been researching this topic pretty good now for over a yr and have never seen anyone say that. I think the biggest concern is it not getting too humid inside where it might rot the tree, thats why I chose to use some pink insulation around the tree hoping it wick away excessive moisture from the limbs. If you're that worried about Id just cut a 3-4" hole on the side and screw in one of those dryer vents. Oh and putting some mulch around the base of the tree (assuming its inground) is a good idea too.

thanks for the advice.
i think that i will wrap the trees up with pink insulation.
as for the hole not sure yet.the man that said it needs air is greek, but i heard this as well from a couple of italians too.
thanks for the info FORTISI*&^.

pantelo, I think the idea of venting these structures is to allow heat (and the associated higher humidity - as Fortisi said) to escape. Even on a very cold day the bright sun can cause the structure to heat up - greenhouse effect. Think how an unheated greenhouse feels tropical on a bright winter day. The hole is at the top because heat rises, and hopefully the bucket prevents water and (a lot of) cold air getting in. If your structure isn't heating up, you don't have to worry about venting it. Placing your structure in a shady place if possible, or even painting it white to reflect the sun would help keep the temperature from spiking.
There was an interesting post "Report on Bubble wrap insulation for overwintering" by scottfsmith that dealt with the use of silver aluminum foil bubble wrap as an outside cover. This is great stuff - it works both ways keeping covered plants warm when it's cold, and keeping them cool when it's warm. So you shouldn't have to worry about venting since the structure doesn't heat up - the foil reflects the sunlight. I've never used it for figs, but I have used it to cool down cuttings in hot summer weather. I drape it over the cold frame after dousing the floor inside the frame with cold water. It both keeps the cool in and the warm out. It's similar to the material they use for car windshield sun reflectors.
Home Depot used to carry it in the insulation department on big rolls and they'd cut what you needed. Now they only have it in precut rolls. It's pricey and I'm not sure how many times you would be able to use it - I'm pretty sure you would get one season, maybe more. Maybe scottfsmith would have some idea. I have also used Coleman's Emergency Blankets (a very thin film of silver aluminized polyester) and they simply come apart after a couple of weeks.
Actually, if the Inside of your structure were lined with this stuff you would still get it's benefit (reflecting heat) without having it break down in sunlight.
And I'd definitely take Fortisi's advice about protecting the roots of your trees.
Good luck with your winter protection.

Fignut: do you think those silver tarps would do a decent job reflecting heat? If so, that might be a cheaper and more durable way to go. I have one and might actually do that after I reenforce my structure with some poles as suggested by Herman (I believe). Im actually thinking about using a 3' section of pvc pipe as a sleeve, this way I could leave them in all yr and not worry about damaging roots every winter tapping in new poles.

Fortisi....My Italian neighbor made reference to leaving a hole for air circulation as well. He specifically mentioned that he's always put the hole at ground level (and he's got a 10-12 foot tall, 20+ year old fig growing in Michigan!). His hole this year is at ground level and is about 6 inches wide and 8-10 inches tall. From what he tells me, the hole goes through the outer tarps and continues through almost to the tree itself. There is one layer of carpeting at the hole. The rest of the tree is wrapped with 3-4 layers of carpeting at that level.

In hindsight, I might have chosen to cut my trees in half before wrapping. I guess if all goes well I can always reduce the size next year and if I have die back nature will have done it for me anyway.

~Chills (who will try and post his wrapped fig pics in the next week).

Wow an Eyetalian (as my inlaws pronounce it) in Mi eh?!?!? LOL! My wife was from Mi near the Pontiac area.

My only concern about leaving a breathing hole is in that same hole can enter those freezing temps/air. I guess if you have it down to a science and its protected from the chill it can work. But from what Ive seen here> http://www.italianfigtrees.com/blog/photos/album/1199415/wrapping_tree_for_winter.html and other winterizing techniques they dont seem to mention the need for one. You have to remember a lot of these European folk came from warmer climates in their country so what worked there may not work here. Just my $.02!

Fortisi, I've never seen a silver tarp. Is it reflective at all?
I was just re-reading the above posts and jimla's post caught my attention. Full southern exposure and sealed up with a blue tarp - no hole mentioned. I wonder if covering the soil with plastic bags traps the moisture at ground level and keeps the humidity down? And all those leaves would certainly have an insulating effect - maybe it wouldn't heat up as fast either.
jimla, if you're out there, do the plastic bags actually come into contact with the tree?

http://da.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/attributeSearch.do

If he's leaving the leaves in the bags, I suppose it makes sense but once the ground is frozen I cant imagine that all moisture comes from the ground but what do I know! LOL!

I can tell you from My Experience that if you fill Plastic bags with dry leafes and put them around your fig tree and then you Install a Tarp over you will definatelly get that fig trough the winter with little or no Damage anywhere ,in zone 6 and warmer.
My problem is that i have about six mature figs that needs that so i will have to leave some in the cold,or use other metodes.
But if you have only one fig that is the best metode.Period.

Those tarps look good. Thanks for the address. I think they would be much tougher than the foil insulation and they would reflect the sun pretty well. Win, win.
Did you get yours online?
Those tents usually get set up well before the ground freezes, and with warm fall weather (like today) you'd probably get moisture if it heats up in there.

Last year I wrapped my fig tree using dry hay. Then burlap, then tar paper. with a black pot on top that had vents in it. I mounded dirt and hay around the bottom of the tree to keep the mice out. Tree was fine when I uncovered it and the hay was dry. I was planning on wrapping C5 or C7 Christmas light around the tree limbs. I was told this by Belleclare people. On extremely cold nights, they would plug in the string of lights. In the morning, they would unplug it. I dont know how far north this person was that did this. I'm worried I might cook the tree in zone 7.

Here are a few pics from my wrapping of one of my trees. In this case it is a three trunk "Bush" on the south facing wall of the house. My method is to wrap with burlap, circle with fence, stuff with leaves and top with an old shower curtain (to keep out the water.) As I usually attempt a bit of a test each year, this year I only wrapped 2 of the 3 trunks with burlap and left the third unwrapped. I was going to prune this trunk anyways so if it is damaged it would not be a loss. I want to see if the burlap was a waste of time or a benefit. Also, this year the tree approached 8' ... it therefore took a "two story" cage setup.

-Steve

Before:

Tie-up branches:

Group two of the three and wrap with burlap:

Tie together as a single tower:

Wrap first 4' with fence and add a strong fence stake to support:

Fill with leaves and add "Second Story":

Fill with leaves and top with shower curtain:

Are we a crazy bunch or what? The things we do for our beloved fig trees!!! :o)

It is all rooted in the crazy concept of attempting to grow something in a geography where it has no business growing :^) ... in my case it is carrying on a tradition that my family brought here from Sicily (where this was easy and natural.)

BTW ... this was too late for Halloween (add a sheet and it would have made a great ghost) ... I will have to settle with stringing some lights on it for Christmas.

Steve, I like what you are doing. But shouldn't you have plastic to cover the leaves also, to keep them from compacting and decomposing with rains? Or wind blowing them out? That would be my only worry.

Here is my Winterizing:
1:My Brunswick:5 foot nBall type,got a blanket and a comforter,wrapped with 55 galons clear plastic bags(2)+Bucket in top+Horse manure around base

2:My Black Marseilles,got about 2 foot of Horse manure at base.

3:My very young Col de Dame,Got a wool carpet around +rest can be seen.Also to the right is my 1943 Mariland Br.Trk,left unprotected.Tyis is the south east of House.

I thereby declare the white pic just above this post as
the best 'space snowman' FIGure of the year...

plumfan,

Good point ... I forgot to include horizontal plastic. Last year I covered all of the horizontal leaf surfaces with plastic to help keep it dry. For the verticals I usually leave it open so the leaf mass can breath and not build up heat during early/late winter heat spells. I tend to worry equally about heat and cold.

-Steve

I'll admit I am new to posting pictures, but I wanted to share my own attempt at wrapping my fig.

here goes nothing.

Chills Btw... the fig is about 6-7 feet tall and came from a plant that survived and fruited about 15 miles away. It spent last winter in my basement in a pot.

What a great thread! LOL, yes,it is that time of the year again when our thoughts turn to protecting those "out-of-their
zone" plants. I've really enjoyed looking at all the pics of the different techiques you all have for protection. I also have tried using straw and then wrapping in aluminum foil. It worked on a couple of tender trees, although I think newspaper would probably work just as well under the foil, and would be a lot easier to work with too. What does anyone else think about the newspaper idea? Oh, the aluminum foil thing was something I read about in a gardening book years ago. I guess it's supposed to help keep the trees at a more constant temperature to avoid sun-scald??

Very good Job,Chills:I relly like it.For Easy to wrap i cut mine under 5 foot.

Here is what worked for me last year and I just finished doing again this weekend: put about 4 layers of newspaper on the ground around the trees, gather and tie the branches together, wrap with 4 layers of burlap, wrap with 2 layers of white felt-like winter wrap (from Rona), create a styrofoam box around the tree about 2 feet high, wrap the styrofoam box with two more layers of burlap. My trees are only 5 feet tall.
Regards, Anthony

So and here is my protection of fig located outside my garden:

{{gwi:835672}}

Here is a link that might be useful: FIKOVNIKY.COM

What does one do with a lot of green, unripe figs.
Leave them on the tree?

Any recipes?

I only had one ripe BT this year and it went to
Hermes over the left shoulder.

I'm posting new fotos from my garden located in USDA Zone 6a in Czech Republic. I start to winterize me in ground figs with protection made from straw. This is first winter for my figs so I was very careful. I spray entire plant and his environment with special fungicide Pervicur to avoid fungus in wrap.

This is my Violetta Bayerfeige, some braches was outside of cage so I must protect it with cocoa matting mounted with steel wire.
{{gwi:835674}}
{{gwi:835676}}

Here is my pruned and tied Hardy Chicago
{{gwi:835678}}
{{gwi:835680}}

Here you can look at my English Brown Turkey
{{gwi:835682}}

and Marseiles
{{gwi:835684}}

Here is set of my in ground figs with cages.
{{gwi:835686}}

And here you can see final protection with palstic on top of entire construction to avoid moisture transmission from melting snow etc.
{{gwi:835688}}

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.fikovniky.com

Unfortunately my Czech is horrible, is this a proven method?

I kida like the simplicity in it and like the use of straw instead of leaves that can get wet.

Anyone know if they sell that kind of chicken wire fencing here stateside?

I also really like that last method.Very neatly done.I am in zone 6 as well in Pennsylvania, US.Would anyone suggest adding a window to a box structure, or would it be TOO hot then?....I have a vent at the bottom.......Only plan to wrap with blanket, and top off with blue tarp....

>Anyone know if they sell that kind of chicken wire fencing here stateside?

I picked up two rolls of it at Lowes' just yesterday (for a different purpose) you can choose roll width as well as mesh size.

Fortisi, Around here they call it "hardware cloth".
Flax, Nice, neat winter wrap. Does the straw get moist near the tree? Or does the open mesh let it breathe and dry out?

Fingut: It's absolutely necessary to leave this construction open. Straw doesn't absorbe too much moisture from rain etc. because water simply rush from halm and doesn't absorbe it. Top plastic cover is needful to avoid moisture from melting snow etc., because wet straw isn't very good insulation. Sideways of construction must be open to let entire mesh breathing. Otherwise moisture vaporized from the groud can start retting straw.

Some growers here in Czech republic simply use dry leaves around base, but leaves absorbe too much water and very hardy loss them. Second problem is with lovering his capacity. Another advantage of straw is that there are many air bubbles in the mesh and as we all know air is very good insulation.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.fikovniky.com/

Herman2

How did the horse poo work out for the Black Marseilles? Is that the extent of protection you did for it last winter?

I've got a co-worker who is willing to get me as much as I would like, granted she thinks I'm nuts for wanting it.

~Chills
~Chills

Well Chills,It was not working very well.
It Partially burned the limbs,but not all of them.
The tree recovered,and produced a lots of fruits but i do not think is a good ideea.
Horse poop is good for a 3 inches thick layer around the tree,but the limbs are better protected by other means(Blanchets,Carpet,whatever).
tHIS IS MY CONCLUSION.

Well, I didnt get the chicken wire or hay as I had hoped so on Sunday I settled by using a damaged old plastic trash can with the bottom cut out, slipped over the bundled up limbs (covered in tar paper), then filled with mulch (some of which was moist/wet).........

being that I covered the limbs in tar paper do yall think the moist mulch will matter much?

Here'e My Metehod:

I HAVE 8 FIG TREES GROWING IN MY BACK YARD.

1- Cut back each fig tree to 5 feet high.
2- Mulch the base rooting system with one foot of mulch to prevent freezing of the roots. I make my mulch by composting dry tree leaves, grass clippings and kitchen scraps throughout the summer months.
3- Tie up and tighten each of the branches to form a closed umbrella.
4- Wrap roofing tar paper around each fig tree leaving an openning on top.
5- Wrap and tie roping around each fig tree and secure to a inground peg, i.e; a 2 foot stick banged into the ground next to each fig tree.
6- Completely fill to the top, through the top openning - in each fig tree, with dry tree leaves.
7- Top off each fig tree with used heavy weight paper to finalized the insulation.
8- Covering the remaining top openning with tar paper and secure with roping.

I have been doing this for the last 5 years with great success.

Your fellow fig lover ----- Tony From Staten Island, NY

Well, we're approaching that time of yr again!!!

FWIW- The method I used last listed above worked out but I didnt like it since it seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
Im wanting to use the Flaxo method above using that 'hardware cloth' type fencing shown above but cant find anything with that tight 1" sq holes. I checked my local Home Depot and Lowes with negative results, the sturdier fencing they did have, had 2"x3" holes....bigger than what I wanted.

Anyone else buy similiar stuff?

I've seen stuff with smaller holes (as well as the stuff you mentioned with the 2x3" holes).

The smaller holed stuff is generally called "hardware cloth" here and is frequently used to make collars for protecting trees from deer and other browsing animals. I've seen it at ACE Hardware and TSC (tractor supply co) around here, but I haven't gone looking for it in a couple years.

Last year I lucked out and got 10 bags of mulch for $1 each. (I'm on the look-out again this year) and being lazy I wrapped my outdoor tree with first burlap, then a cage (2x3 inch holes making up an elliptical cage 4 feet high with leaves. Wrapped the top-growth with a tarp and enclosed the cage as well. Lastly just piled up the bags of mulch (and a couple stems all I did was bend to the ground, pile on leaves and weigh down with bags of mulch.

Maybe it doesn't seem too lazy, but compared to what I did the year before, it was.

My fig made it through with no loss at all. Unfortunately I really don't get as much sun as I'd like and it is still full of hard-green figs. Next year the shading ash tree nearby should be dead and the fig will go from 1/4 day sun to almost full day sun. I didn't pinch this particular tree this year, but next year I will be pinching it!

I want to build an enclosure (eventually) for it, which would essentially make it easier to protect. My wife likes the idea as it would just then look like a strange growth off of the side of the garage rather than a big blue and white stalagmite in the back-yard.

~Chills

Thnx for the heads up chills, I think Im looking for something that doesnt exist. Originally, looking at that 1st pic above it appears as if the squares on that fencing are 1" sq's, the hardware cloth I found at Lowes/HD are more like 1/2-3/4" sq's.....Im beginning to wonder if thats what it actually is above. The reason for hesitation is the HWC comes in only 36" height vs the larger 2x3" fencing which comes in 4 or 5' heights.

ALSO I forgot to ask Tony from Staten Island to elaborate on step #6????
What is he filling to the top with leaves, the tar paper?

Putting a fig to bed with photos from another forum.

http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1872

The search for that perfect fencing material continues, if anyone in NJ comes across the type above shown with 1"SQ holes, Id sure appreciate it if you share the good info.

The hardware cloth from HD/Lowes is smaller imo and only 19g....there's no way that'll hold up without deforming when I fill with mulch/leaves.

I saw this type in a HD in NJ on US46 in Fairfield. It has about 1" holes and was rather stiff. I think it was about 3ft in height and there was only 1 roll left in the garden center. I also think it was called "cloth" not "fencing"

Fortisi,

I think it it called HW cloth. I used to work there and you may need to talk to someone to get it. If they dont have it, have them check the other stores for you on the computer.

If they doesnt work, there are a fencing company should be able to help you.

You may have to combine two rolls if all they carry is the smaller stuff..

Thnx everyone!

Ill have to check that other HD you mentioned but Ive been to 3 so far and a Lowes and the ONLY stuff they carry is 'hardware cloth' with 1/2" squares. Now I wouldnt have a problem with that if it used a thicker guage but at 19G I dont think it'll hold up very well.

Last yr, when I first saw those images above I could swear either HD or Lowes carried it in a roll you can literally cut to order and I believe it did come in different hole sizes as mentioned by another poster but no more. They're all precut to length.

Wrapping time is right around the corner too! ;(