Spring update...

[TorontoJoe]

With so much going I haven't haven't posted any figgy pics lately. Most of the trees are getting off to a decent start.... especially the ones I broke out early and popped into the greenhouses. I really hope it warms up soon..... at least before they grow out of the tents. Temps have been hovering around 10-12C (50-54F). It's the winter that wont end.

For now they're happy



@Kid Fig Rionon Santana set figs earlier than most... and a lot of them.



I really need to do some weeding. There just never seems enough time to get everything done.

 

[Kid Fig]

Awesome!

I recongnized RS by pic 2 before I read the @ and I must say WOW!

Yours has put out more than mine and it's 7 ft tall lol - I think it's time to either add new soil, root prune or add fertilizer.

So psyched to see it do so well outside of SoCal.

At this point you'll have ripened ones before mine do!

 

[TorontoJoe]

Awesome!

I recongnized RS by pic 2 before I read the @ and I must say WOW!

Yours has put out more than mine and it's 7 ft tall lol - I think it's time to either add new soil, root prune or add fertilizer.

So psyched to see it do so well outside of SoCal.

At this point you'll have ripened ones before mine do!

If I do happen to ripen it before you... is it cool if I rub it in a bit?

 

[Kid Fig]

HA!

No it's OK, I'll just post pics after yours and claim I forgot to post about how much earlier they ripened before @TorontoJoe 's RS figs did.

 

[Figgin' A]

With so much going I haven't haven't posted any figgy pics lately. Most of the trees are getting off to a decent start.... especially the ones I broke out early and popped into the greenhouses. I really hope it warms up soon..... at least before they grow out of the tents. Temps have been hovering around 10-12C (50-54F). It's the winter that wont end.

For now they're happy

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@Kid Fig Rionon Santana set figs earlier than most... and a lot of them.

View attachment 22514

I really need to do some weeding. There just never seems enough time to get everything done.

Nice progress! When did they go into the greenhouse, and what temperature do you maintain at night?

 

[TorontoJoe]

Nice progress! When did they go into the greenhouse, and what temperature do you maintain at night?

The greenhouses went up March 29. That's when I reported my fail with the Vince #3 in the ground under the barrel. Temps have been kept at minimum 16C. The electricity bill is likely be the subject of some conversation. I have two, 1500w heaters in each. One set for 10C and the other for 16C. Thank goodness I beefed up the electrical all around when i moved in to handle heavy loads. I have a habit of working systems, hard.

I'm still looking at and experimenting with methods that might yield better results

 

[ktrain]

With so much going I haven't haven't posted any figgy pics lately. Most of the trees are getting off to a decent start.... especially the ones I broke out early and popped into the greenhouses. I really hope it warms up soon..... at least before they grow out of the tents. Temps have been hovering around 10-12C (50-54F). It's the winter that wont end.

For now they're happy

View attachment 22507View attachment 22508View attachment 22509View attachment 22510View attachment 22511View attachment 22512View attachment 22513

@Kid Fig Rionon Santana set figs earlier than most... and a lot of them.

View attachment 22514

I really need to do some weeding. There just never seems enough time to get everything done.

Sheesh you're ahead of me, awesome start!

 

[Figgin' A]

The greenhouses went up March 29. That's when I reported my fail with the Vince #3 in the ground under the barrel. Temps have been kept at minimum 16C. The electricity bill is likely be the subject of some conversation. I have two, 1500w heaters in each. One set for 10C and the other for 16C. Thank goodness I beefed up the electrical all around when i moved in to handle heavy loads. I have a habit of working systems, hard.

I'm still looking at and experimenting with methods that might yield better results

16C min is impressive, I bet the figs love it... Thanks for posting this info. I like reading specifics like this, I find them very helpful...

Let me post my experience this season, hope you will find some helpful bits as well...

Mine started to break bud in the garage on March 29 - March 30, with the exception of RDB and Crozes, which broke bud on April 15th in the makeshift greenhouse. My make-shift greenhouse went up on April 8 and the trees went out of the garage for the first time on the 8th.... it was too cold before then as I have no heating in there...

Here is my RDB, which stayed outside all the time since April 8, with the exception of 2 nights when we had night lows touching 0 °C. No heating at night. Daytime temps ranged from 8-10C to 34C, depending on the sun and ambient temps.

My other trees that broke bud at the end of March are quite a bit further along... Here is my Smith... I tied the branches together a little as was too wide on the hand truck... it's a jungle now...

I see some tiny bumps this morning... looks like we are 3-5 days from pea-sized figlets...

Other trees are more or less similar...
Here is my HDA...

So, these trees go back to the garage every night, with the exception of 5-6 nights when lows were at 8C or above. The heat from the lights in the grow tent in the garage keep the temps in the otherwise unheated garage at about 16-20C at night, depending on ambient temps.

Here are a couple of quick observations I made while comparing our results that may be helpful to you....

1 - if you can somehow apply heat to your trees in the garage to wake them by April 1, that will buy you at least two weeks.
2 - your trees seem at roughly the same development stage as my RDB, no?... and I give it no heat at night... only took it inside for 2 very cold nights... hm... that's interesting... I am sure we need more experimenting here but it really makes me wonder...

I am thinking about insulating my GH a little next year... I want to make it double-walled... that way I can run a little heater in it when night temps drop below 6C or so, otherwise let them be as is... I think they will be just fine...

How are your daytime temps in the GH? It's nice and sunny today... the ambient temp is 9C, 31C in the GH.

 

[2Angels]

They are looking great! It's been such a cold spring. Crazy. But it's really nice to see some figlets growing again.

 

[TorontoJoe]

@Figgin' A

Makes me wonder as well...

My garage is a bit tough to heat because it has a loft above. It was a flat roof when I bought the house but I built it up with a sloped roof. It's no problem for winter storage because it's attached but getting it "warm" in spring is a bit tough. It's been much easier to have a few greenhouses with basic space heaters.... the downside is the humidity. It's never been so bad that it caused problems, but I vent as much as I can... and I don't need to water much.

In the greenhouses... on sunny days here recently the daytime temps are generally 28-30C. A few times jumped to 34-35C but nothing the trees can't handle. At night the heaters take over

I know Ross drapes multiple tarps over his GH for insulation. I imagine a concrete curing blanket would likely take you through the winter if you could retain some of the ground heat.

Speaking of ground heat.... I have a Peretta which is known to be cold tolerant. I decided to experiment. You know how cold this winter was. I have a concrete walk up from my basement. The Peretta sat at the bottom of the stairs completely unprotected on the north side of my house all winter in a 5 gal pot. It hasn't been protected this year. It's breaking bud now on my driveway.

 

[Figgin' A]

@Figgin' A

Makes me wonder as well...

My garage is a bit tough to heat because it has a loft above. It was a flat roof when I bought the house but I built it up with a sloped roof. It's no problem for winter storage because it's attached but getting it "warm" in spring is a bit tough. It's been much easier to have a few greenhouses with basic space heaters.... the downside is the humidity. It's never been so bad that it caused problems, but I vent as much as I can... and I don't need to water much.

In the greenhouses... on sunny days here recently the daytime temps are generally 28-30C. A few times jumped to 34-35C but nothing the trees can't handle. At night the heaters take over

I know Ross drapes multiple tarps over his GH for insulation. I imagine a concrete curing blanket would likely take you through the winter if you could retain some of the ground heat.

Speaking of ground heat.... I have a Peretta which is known to be cold tolerant. I decided to experiment. You know how cold this winter was. I have a concrete walk up from my basement. The Peretta sat at the bottom of the stairs completely unprotected on the north side of my house all winter in a 5 gal pot. It hasn't been protected this year. It's breaking bud now on my driveway.

It may have to do with the fact that at any development stage there is minimum GDD required for optimal growth. More GDD than needed won’t yield better results. I guess the tricky part is figuring out what it is…. is letting the trees be exposed to cold nights and hot days in a greenhouse in spring enough for optimal growth? Will there be a delay? I’ll see how my RDB performs. So far it seems unfazed. Will other varieties respond similarly? We need to do more testing. I’ll test more varieties next spring.