View Full Version : figs in containers dormancy questions
sandy0225
12-30-2010, 07:26 AM
do figs HAVE TO go dormant to produce fruits? like chill hours like blueberries and other fruits or can they produce anyway?
I have chicago hardy, and brown turkey--they're in the greenhouse at 45 minimum temps at night. up to 80 of a day if the sun is out.
The brown turkey is starting to yellow on the leaves which I imagine is going dormant, but the chicago hardies aren't yellow at all and one still has a few figs on it that are slowly growing.
if I do need to chill them, would my heated but not lighted garage work. It's heated to 35 degrees to keep chemicals from freezing in there.
Thanks for your help!
Sandy
To give a general answer, yes, figs need to be chilled in order to produce dependably.
I'm not familiar with the Chicago Hardies but again, generally speaking, figs rarely need more than 2 weeks of "chilling" to keep them happy, so you can get away with sticking them in your garage for a couple weeks & then return to the greenhouse, where they'll probably start growing again.
Don't let actively growing trees get below 30°f; fully dormant (no leaves on 'em) can handle temps down 12°.
Richard
12-30-2010, 09:14 PM
do figs HAVE TO go dormant to produce fruits? like chill hours like blueberries and other fruits or can they produce anyway?
I have chicago hardy, and brown turkey--they're in the greenhouse at 45 minimum temps at night. up to 80 of a day if the sun is out.
The brown turkey is starting to yellow on the leaves which I imagine is going dormant, but the chicago hardies aren't yellow at all and one still has a few figs on it that are slowly growing.
if I do need to chill them, would my heated but not lighted garage work. It's heated to 35 degrees to keep chemicals from freezing in there.
Thanks for your help!
Sandy
Compute chill hours as follows: Between November 1st and January 1st, the number of hours below 45F MINUS the number of hours above 65F.
Approximate minimum chill hours for Brown Turkey: 100.
Approximate minimum chill hours for Chicago: 150.
I'm sure they're fine in the present location.
The Chicago does drop its foliage later than Brown Turkey. Over-wintered figs on the plant end up tasting like cardboard, so I'd remove them now.
Since you are over-wintering in a greenhouse, I would prune your figs like we do in southern California: Figs for San Diego Climates (http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/column/PTP_2009_09_Figs.htm)
sandy0225
12-30-2010, 09:34 PM
Thanks again for the info. I guess I'll be well off to prune them then. They haven't gotten much chill time between those dates because I just only now turned the greenhouse down to 45 from 50, a couple of weeks ago. It's getting to around 80 in there during the day as long as there's any sun. That wasn't today, though!
palmtree
12-31-2010, 12:08 AM
Im keeping my brown turkey fig in my garage until spring when I will plant it in the ground permanently. Not sure exactly how cold it gets in there, but it hasnt been below freezing in a decade. So far it has remained dormant with no dieback and no problems. This is my first year with figs but a lot of people grow them around here without any protection.
Good luck!
saltydad
12-31-2010, 04:04 PM
A neighbor across the street is growing Brown Turkey outside. It's fairly nice size young tree. If she succeeds this winter, I'm buying one too.
Richard
12-31-2010, 08:33 PM
A neighbor across the street is growing Brown Turkey outside. It's fairly nice size young tree. If she succeeds this winter, I'm buying one too.
If you can find the Chicago, go with it. Then you and your neighbor can argue about which one tastes better!
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