Winter Protection in 8b?

ETXfigs

ETXfigs

Well-known member
Maybe this is a dumb question and I promise I'm not trolling. I seriously don't know if I should be worried about winter damage to my fig trees. They are all in pots sitting on concrete on the porch that has a roof. This morning it got down to 27 F but it can sometimes get colder than that. Last year I think the coldest it got was about 15 F. Should I cover them with a tarp or something, or do you think they will be ok without any protection?
 
ETXfigs said:
Maybe this is a dumb question and I promise I'm not trolling. I seriously don't know if I should be worried about winter damage to my fig trees. They are all in pots sitting on concrete on the porch that has a roof. This morning it got down to 27 F but it can sometimes get colder than that. Last year I think the coldest it got was about 15 F. Should I cover them with a tarp or something, or do you think they will be ok without any protection?
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Being in pots I’d start getting really worried about root death below 20
 
It depends on how attached you are to the plants. Most trees can handle 25F without damage. You start seeing younger limb damage below 20F. And I think my area got to 4F last year and that was the time the cuttings were in the package locker (without any notification) and they were all toasted.

I would probably move mine inside under 20F.
 
I did get damage on my green unlignified tips last year in my inground tree. but I hadn't pruned it at all. I think it was in the 20s for 2-3 days. It didn't damage any lignified wood but you probably have longer cold than me. I didn't have potted figs but I had a lemon in a pot and the year before I didn't protect it and died back so I did tarp it in the nights that were 35 and below and it wasn't damaged. I'm not saying it's the same but if it's not too hard I would tarp then for the cold days. I also wrapped the bottom of the pots with straw and burlap. See if someone gives you figgy advice - like I said that was a lemon
 
betdempster said:
I did get damage on my green unlignified tips last year in my inground tree. but I hadn't pruned it at all. I think it was in the 20s for 2-3 days. It didn't damage any lignified wood but you probably have longer cold than me. I didn't have potted figs but I had a lemon in a pot and the year before I didn't protect it and died back so I did tarp it in the nights that were 35 and below and it wasn't damaged. I'm not saying it's the same but if it's not too hard I would tarp then for the cold days. I also wrapped the bottom of the pots with straw and burlap. See if someone gives you figgy advice - like I said that was a lemon
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It depends on the level of lignification and stage of growth. I put 6 rooted cuttings to the test last year. All with green tips and had rooted in recent 2-3 months. I put them outside on the deck at around 32F and checked on them every 15 mins. 4 out of the 6 flopped in the first 30 mins at around 30-31F. I moved them back in the garage at around 55-65F. It took a full day(almost 24 hrs) for them to recover. The other 2 were able to stay outside for the whole time with temperature down to 28-29F. These were very young plants. The more established ones should be more cold tolerant.
 
387PETE said:
If you can put up some kind of a wind block it would really help. Cold blowing wind does alot of damage. 20 degrees is usually not a problem but add 25mph wind and that's another story
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Yeah, our area gets some crazy wind sometimes. I am trying to think the easiest way to do a quick cover, enough to block the wind and keep some heat and at the same time discourage the critters without going all out like the northern growers.
 
I like the cattle panels for a quick shelter. They are sturdy and can take some abuse within reason and they support the plastic or tarp good with all the grids. 4’ x 16’ panels and can add as many as needed. Roughly 6’ high and 7’ wide. I did 3 panels with this one.
 

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I am on border of 8b/8a and cover my trees with a tarp on a pvc frame. This has been done for the past 5 years. My trees are protected from wind on 2 sides of my house too. I think the wind plays a big part in killing potted trees. Last year we had 7" of snow and they were fine inside the enclosure.

I would cover your trees with something just to be on the safe side. Winter hardiness of trees differ as well as age of the tree so why take a chance?
 
Wow, so much good advice here. Thank you for your replies. The coldest so far has been 27 F and the forecast for the next week show the lows from 36 F to 59 F and the trees are just now going dormant so I'm in no rush to protect them now but this information will be helpful when it gets colder.

The porch is in a corner of where the house has an L shape so 2 sides have the wind blocked and the porch has a roof, so one idea that I had and is something that was suggested, I have a big tarp I could hang to block the wind and enclose the porch even more. The tarp that I have is not in good condition and if I hang it up, I think the wind could blow it around and rip it.

I think I will put something around the smaller pots to protect the roots. There is only a few in small pots. And I have a couple tables on the porch that I can use kinda like @LadyGT does with the pvc frame and throw the tarp over the trees and the tables will some what support the tarp. If I knew which varieties are less cold hardy, I would put those ones up against the house, or move those into the garage if we have a really cold night.
 
Which varieties do you have? Mt. Etnas and Adriatics have some cold hardiness. I think LSU as well if they are over 3 years old. Smith is one of my favorites so it gets the highest priority when it comes to winter protection. It is not cold hardy. I noticed last year that one side of my house is typically frost free even with the polar vortex. That side is protected by a privacy fence, and the house next door so there is winter protection. I put 6 trees there last year and before that some small trees. All came thru just fine. This year I added more. We will see how they do. I have considered putting up one of those temporary garages you get from Sam's Club and use that whole of the house for winter storage.
 
LadyGT said:
Which varieties do you have? Mt. Etnas and Adriatics have some cold hardiness. I think LSU as well if they are over 3 years old. Smith is one of my favorites so it gets the highest priority when it comes to winter protection. It is not cold hardy. I noticed last year that one side of my house is typically frost free even with the polar vortex. That side is protected by a privacy fence, and the house next door so there is winter protection. I put 6 trees there last year and before that some small trees. All came thru just fine. This year I added more. We will see how they do. I have considered putting up one of those temporary garages you get from Sam's Club and use that whole of the house for winter storage.
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These are the varieties. If I didn't put the age, then they are 1st year trees but lignified. If I know which ones are not cold hardy, I will give them more protection.

Celeste (2 & 3 years old)
Italian Honey (2 years old)
Izbat An Naj
LSU Purple (1.5 years old)
EBT
Violeta
CDD Roja
VdS
I-258
GxY
VdB
Fico di Familia
SoCal Sunset
Dr Gowaty
One that might be Schar Israel
Green Ischia (2 years old)
WM#1
Strawberry Verte
Mavra Sika (Mt Etna)
 
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I have Celeste (5) , Italian Honey (4), LSU Purple (5), Green Ischia (5), MW#1 (2), and Strawberry Verte (5). Age is in parenthesis. I am not familiar with your other varieties. All of these are outside in my PVC structure except my MW#1. MW#1 was hard to root and in a thin pot so I will baby it and allow one more year in the garage. lol My suggestion is to look up those varieties where they are sold and see if there is any mention of cold hardiness in the info section. I check with OTBP and Tinkerbug for information on my new varieties. Once you determined cold hardiness, you can decide what to do with them in the future. Since weather is changing dramatically, I make note of any variety's cold hardiness before adding to my collection. There will be a day when I cannot move them around due to my old age so they must have some cold hardiness.

The rules I follow: those less than 1.5 years old, no matter which type they are, I put in the garage. These were rooted in the spring/summer and I am not sure how cold hardy young trees are no matter if they are cold hardy genetically. They are in really thin 1 gallon or less pots too. The ones that are 1.5 - 2 years old, I cover up and leave outside with some sort of protection. I have read that once a tree reaches 3 years old, they don't need a lot of protection. Knowing that, I still protect all my trees because one never knows how the winter will be. So far we have had 2 polar vortexes this winter which is unusual for the south. Pots are not well insulated against the cold so I would rather over protect than not enough.

For me, age, pot size, and variety are deciding factors in where they end up for winter storage after reaching 2 years old. Of course, the ones you cannot afford to lose or love the most will get special handling. lol

I am sorry I cannot address cold hardiness of the trees you have. Maybe other members can give you more information you need.

.
 
LadyGT said:
I have Celeste (5) , Italian Honey (4), LSU Purple (5), Green Ischia (5), MW#1 (2), and Strawberry Verte (5). Age is in parenthesis. I am not familiar with your other varieties. All of these are outside in my PVC structure except my MW#1. MW#1 was hard to root and in a thin pot so I will baby it and allow one more year in the garage. lol My suggestion is to look up those varieties where they are sold and see if there is any mention of cold hardiness in the info section. I check with OTBP and Tinkerbug for information on my new varieties. Once you determined cold hardiness, you can decide what to do with them in the future. Since weather is changing dramatically, I make note of any variety's cold hardiness before adding to my collection. There will be a day when I cannot move them around due to my old age so they must have some cold hardiness.

The rules I follow: those less than 1.5 years old, no matter which type they are, I put in the garage. These were rooted in the spring/summer and I am not sure how cold hardy young trees are no matter if they are cold hardy genetically. They are in really thin 1 gallon or less pots too. The ones that are 1.5 - 2 years old, I cover up and leave outside with some sort of protection. I have read that once a tree reaches 3 years old, they don't need a lot of protection. Knowing that, I still protect all my trees because one never knows how the winter will be. So far we have had 2 polar vortexes this winter which is unusual for the south. Pots are not well insulated against the cold so I would rather over protect than not enough.

For me, age, pot size, and variety are deciding factors in where they end up for winter storage after reaching 2 years old. Of course, the ones you cannot afford to lose or love the most will get special handling. lol

I am sorry I cannot address cold hardiness of the trees you have. Maybe other members can give you more information you need.

.
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Thank you, that is very helpful.
 
I wish I could have been more helpful. Texas has been hammered in the past by polar vortexes and power outages. The same could happen to us so I try to prepare for the worst weather.

Can you put all your trees in a garage? I have over 40 trees in various sized pots in ours. The 1 gallons are stacked in totes to save space. lol Next year will be tough because they will be in 5 gallons. Every winter I ask myself, why do you put yourself through this?
 
LadyGT said:
I wish I could have been more helpful. Texas has been hammered in the past by polar vortexes and power outages. The same could happen to us so I try to prepare for the worst weather.

Can you put all your trees in a garage? I have over 40 trees in various sized pots in ours. The 1 gallons are stacked in totes to save space. lol Next year will be tough because they will be in 5 gallons. Every winter I ask myself, why do you put yourself through this?
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Because you’re a Fig Fanatic like everyone else here. 👍
 
superdave336, Can you believe I have more cuttings coming this week in the mail? If I am successful in rooting the majority of them, I will really be in a pickle with winter storage next year. I'll have to get more creative. Deeper totes. 😁
 
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