Everything you NEED to KNOW About Fig Trees & Winter: Zones 4-8

A lot of people have been asking about the Northeastern United States upcoming November lows. Should you be worried about your fig trees?

Personally I think these temperatures are IDEAL because that will quickly send our fig trees into full dormancy. Especially when combined with a hard freeze. It's not until you get below 17 that you should even consider worrying. I'm expecting after these lows that I'll be able to prune, root prune and put them away for good. If you prune or root prune before the sap flow completely returns back to the roots, you're in a sense hurting your tree and losing some benefits of the dormancy process, which by cause and effect should get you off to a weaker start in the spring due to less carbohydrates stored in the roots (at least that is my theory and I'm sure it could be debated, but I don't think we'll ever really know for sure). People can talk all about figs not needing a dormancy period (which they don't), but we are lucky to have such a process. Putting them away early is likely not going to hurt anything, but I feel like you're babying your trees. Let them get stressed and withstand the elements. They adapt, become stronger and the fruits taste better that way. At least not in this sense, but the fruits will taste better when your tree is deficit irrigated and slightly stressed.

My pruned Smith and 20+ other pruned potted trees survived Thanksgiving night last year with absolutely no damage. It was 14 that night. I even had thermometers out there to document. Aaron Delmanto and Mario have experimented with these lows quite a bit. I know Aaron has killed quite a few trees pushing the limits and came to the conclusion that 17 was the safe point. The roots around 12-15 start to take damage and well... if the roots die, the top follows. The roots of fig trees are a lot hardier than we think. Another example... last winter I planted two trees with their root balls above grade in a 1 ft high raised bed. I think we reached somewhere around 0-2F last winter at the lowest. Both of these trees took some top damage, but are now back in full swing. I don't imagine that the root zones of these trees got too low because I had insulated them the best I could, but it does add to the argument.

Zone 7A - Greater Philadelphia
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[klaraalex]

This is probably one of the most useful fig winterizing videos I have watched (out of many). I really liked the longer length and the many details added. Great service for the whole fig community. Thank you, Ross!

[charlesdevier]

Mid-Missouri Zone 6A I have 1 Chicago Hardy and 2 Imp. Celeste figs in ground going into their third (3) Winter. I put a plywood box over the trees and cover with a tarp to help keep out wind. Last winter, temp got down to -10 F for two days; very unusual to get below 0 F. However, mice ate every bit of the bark above the ground, so the trees had to put up shoots from their roots which they did. We still got one or two ripe figs every other day during September and Oct.
Yesterday, I put the boxes over them; temps have been down to 25 F twice and below freezing 6 or more times. Had I seen this video before install, I would have waited longer.
The main problem this past spring was the weather stayed cool (cold), rainy and cloudy until late into the spring.

[jamesfrederick.]

Thanks Ross this was a excellent collection of information about over wintering fig trees 🙏🔥🔥🔥”it’s was worth lots of money”

[rauljimenez]

Ross, lots of useful info. In my zone 7A/NJ I put all my potted fig trees in a Raised Bed Hinged Hoop house and I have Christmas Incandescent C9 String Lights inside for when the temperatures dip below 20°.

[gitatit]

Nice job Ross. Good guidelines for that area and north I would think. I'm just tickled it's not nearly so complicated down here in 8B. Just throw a little pine straw or leaves around the bases and maybe further up IF the temps do get tougher and you're good to go. We do see those teens and below on occasion but not enough to create a problem - usually. Thanks for sharing your views.

[jeffreyrossi]

It's funny how people perceive things. I live in zone 4 in ND so with only 3 months of dependable growing season so it's unlikely I can grow figs even if I were to drag them in and out constantly. Still I enjoy these videos in their longer maybe unedited versions (of course I can see there is some editing). I do feel like you are taking us all through your journey of your kind of gardening in your way. Keep up the detail!!!

[charlesdevier]

Ross, I really appreciate this post. Good Job!

[anwarhasan]

Great job
I do appreciate it
I do have 500 plant of figs

[thegooch]

I have a few in the ground, Italian honey, Riverside, Ronde de Bordeaux and I’m in Maryland, I never wrap them and they do great believe it or not.

[robertbrawley]

I'm not so sure about the carbohydrates being stored in the roots . Often touted on many YouTube Channels
An acquaintance who manages a commercial wholesale Vineyard in the Shenandoah valley told me "don't do that" when I said I was going to severely prune my hobby fruit trees last winter .
He said, cutting the top growth severely, removes the carbohydrates needed to produce the spring growth
And on this channel there is talk of the abundance of the carbohydrates in cuttings that propel root growth in cuttings

But primarily it doesn't make a lot of sense that the energy / Carbohydrates descends to the roots in dormancy since there is such small root mass in the roots compared to the top growth
It would make sense that sap doesn't flow down but stops flowing and remains in place till leaves are formed to produce a pressure difference by evaporation of water from the leaves in the spring

[gumballbreath]

I have fig trees under lights in my house they won't stop growing waiting for fruit

[RSivulka]

So I have 2 tiny figs I got in September. Probably 3 to 6 inches tall. Should they be left out to get zapped? I've been bringing them in every night and putting them in the window. We've been in the high 20's at night. Do you suggest I put them in the ground now and put a pot over it only when I get down to about 15? I'm also in 7a.

Also, I have a tarp/leaves/straw/wood chips already over a fig planted in May and others in August all in the same area. Do you suggest I take all that off, let them get zapped, and wait to protect them at around 15? Thx!

[thesarge-]

Has anyone tested the effectiveness of “wilt proof”? Ross has mentioned it a few times, but I haven’t seen anything on a comparison between plants that have been treated and ones that haven’t.

[moirai]

This is my first year growing figs in pots going into my first winter.

Great tips there but how do you deal with figs in zone 9b in arid southwest Texas? The average lows are 48° and average highs of 68° in winter. But then we get a polar vortex and get few days plummet to the 20s & 30s - how do you manage the fig trees for that?

[BHM]

Thanks man. Just getting into this for the first time this year. You’re not wrong that this knowledge is worth a lot of money. Look forward to spending some on your cuttings next season!

[patriciaparker]

I hear the wood is good for smoking meat. I also have heard you need to eat them in moderation because it can cause retinal bleeding and rectal.I also have heard they can live 200 years.

[loycemarch]

My fig trees ... in May....has leaves being eaten up from top down. Leaves filled with tiny holes from top headed down leaf by leaf. Never had in 3

[danripley]

Great video. Maybe an idea for the next video could be....pruning for winter storage...ie single stem Japanese form for tree shape next growing season. Ty

[connieferguson]

Set them upstraight.?
You mean you would (lay them down) then cover them with leaves and a tarp.?

[davidgalofaro]

In in Wayne NJ. I’d love to buy some fig trees (think 6) that mature at different times. Should I buy now? Or wait til Spring? I’d drive down to you and give $ directly to you thus avoiding fees and such. Hit me back