Hardy Chicago. 2nd year in the ground. In Missouri. Got down super low. I cut the fig to 36 inches and put a wire cage around it and stuffed it with leaf mulch. Checked it out a day ago . dead at the top 1/2 inch where it was sticking out of the mulch. One inch below the mulch, it was green under the bark when scratched with my fingernail.
I start reading your Blog last Summer and followed your advice with my 2 year old CH and 2 year old RDB both in ground for the first Winter. I did not cut back but wrapped and mulched them with leaves and stuffed pine needles in black yard bags around the root system . Checked both of them today and only the top inch is dead. We had -8 for about 5 days with -15 windchill. It pays off following a Pro's Advice ...thanks !
I am zone 6a and I have persimmons that went through that little cold spell. I wrapped em and covered them with a trash can. Hoping they made it through. I bought some apricots for this spring because of your video. I hope they come out as good as yours when they fruit.
I'm in zone 6b in Michigan with a Chicago Hardy and it has survived two winters now without taking any significant damage. Still waiting on fruit, but it seems to be handling the temps just fine.
In West Texas the regular cold weather really isn't the main threat. It is the mild winter temperatures we can get for long periods, the trees start to break dormancy, then here comes another freeze and it is game over. I need to find a variety that is much slower at coming out of dormancy. Someone said Ronde de Bordeaux was a good choice. My Texas Blue Giant will die back from freeze, but sends out new growth fast and still produces lots of figs.
@@RossRaddi Thanks. I am going to try a few different varieties and compare. I'm going to start with Desert King, RDB, Genovese Niro, Pastilliere, and maybe Olympian.
I had a 1st year fig tree in central Louisiana with multiple 3 ft branches in a spider pattern so I wrapped a thick plastic barrel with a thermal blanket and garbage bags and stuffed the branches inside it and piled pine straw up around the sides and then put a blanket over it. The tips of the branches were damaged but the tree lived and is huge this year...about 10 feet across already with fruits. My 1st year Celeste trees created from tissue culture were so oddly tiny when I planted them but they`re fruiting too and really growing well. I`ll cover them with tarps and put tiny 200w heaters under them if I have to. It keeps getting colder and colder each winter and it has been unusually cool this summer. Very odd. We had snow three times one year and we`ve had some ice and snow nearly every winter for 8 years straight. There have been record snow events into the summer in America this year too so we may be in for another bad winter.
I can attest 1st hand that 20f can cause damage in Z9 Louisiana. We had that two weeks ago and I do see some damage but only on the ones that kept growing even past our first frost, Smith, I258, CDDB and Becnel’s Italian Black to name a few. I’m unsure of the severity because I’m new to figs but I guess I will know for sure in about a month.
Temperature here does not g beyond 1degrees Celsius only recently Heavy rain fell snow falls on the near mountain s .fros t fell heavily my 7 fig trees stayed on the roof top .leaves dried & most the night s wer 3r4degrees.,trim the trees in October.The weather stayed warmer between 16 degrees in the day rain fell only from 28 th January 2024.your video were very helpful 🎉 Thanks.I found some 6 th months old tree trees bears fruits (fig ) with green leaves but not ripening.
In Detroit 6a, I have a hardy Chicago that reliably survives winters with a tarp over top but the fruit is very boring. According to Big Bill, Makedonia Dark fruits well after dieback so I’m taking a stab at that variety. Also, if my Randino ends up being an early fig, I may try that in ground as well.
Ross, let me start by thanking you for sharing your knowledge! So, zone 6b here in Metrowest Boston, Ma. Have been growing some apples, peaches, grapes and plums in my backyard for about 5 yrs. and becoming deeply enamored of the idea of growing figs. I gather from what you said is that, if you don’t want the branches to grow through fall only to perish in frigid temps, aside from insulating it and covering the tree, u want to do a little summer pruning? No less than a third?? Is that the approach? To allow it to lignify and still maintain the hormonal balance and fruit?? Do general pruning principles apply or are there specific techniques to apply in colder climates?? I thank you in advance!!
I only recommend summer pruning fig trees like that for really experienced commercial growers. Winter pruning if it has to be completed, must be done properly to avoid throwing the hormones into the wrong state.
Thanks. Can anyone recommend some relatively small, cold-hardy fig trees with good fruit? I only have space for about 4 feet tall and wide. And do I need more than one tree for pollination?
Other than perhaps coastal California and southern Florida, where Mediterranean fig wasps have been imported and can survive the winters, figs grown in the US are never pollinated.
