Winter storage and light

[don_sanders]

So I was wondering about how dark winter storage should be. I know that with some plants the lack of light seems to be more important or just as important to keep them dormant.

I plan to store my trees in my garage which is somewhat insulated this winter and it has a south facing window right around where the trees would be. Should I cover that up to keep them asleep or would it not matter either way?

[COGardener]

I store my trees in my heated garage that I try to keep as cool as I can that has an east facing window. I keep the blinds closed but there is still light from my garage greenhouse and large tropicals I also over winter in there. One they go dormant, they stay that way until around late March or early April, then starts the pot shuffle.

[newnandawg]

My objective is to keep it as dark as possible for as long as I want to leave
them in the storage, which is also my garage. Before moving them into the
garage I allow them to lose their leaves and go to sleep and I want them to
stay that way until early spring. My garage is unheated and I dont want it
to get to cold (say in the 20's or teens) so I do have a heater that I only
had to use one winter when we were in the single digits.

[Taverna78]

Donny

Think how I store mine in ground. Under many layers of cover. 0 light. 0 water besides rain before freeze. And melt off from snow.

In pot trees if there's light for 5 gal pot I'll use brown leaf bag as cover and give 12 oz water every month. That's all.

[AscPete]

Complete darkness is not needed for winter storage of dormant fig trees, but cold temperatures are required, I've stored dormant trees in an unheated room with south facing windows and closed blinds. Direct sunlight may be a problem due to solar heat gain since the best storage temperatures are at or just above freezing, lower temperatures delay bud break in the spring and warmer temperatures, above ~ 45*F will cause early bud break.

Keep in mind that branches are damaged when temperatures fall below ~ 15*F. If the temperatures are expected to fall below ~ 20*F a source of supplemental heat should be planned and installed and for better Breba production the temperature should be maintained at or just above freezing. Also keeping the potting mix barely damp will insure that the tree survives through winter without drying out, some fig growers often add snow to the tops of the containers for the cold, moisture and delayed watering during melting. Good Luck.

[don_sanders]

Ok, so if I'm understanding everyone correctly, it might not absolutely necessary to cover it but it wouldn't be a bad idea. So I'll go ahead and see if I can get it covered for the winter.

I'm not exactly sure how cold my garage gets during some of the -15F days but I plan to keep a thermometer out there and use a little heater (I think ceramic) if I need to.

I'll try to let my 5 gallon sip buckets drain out and remove the plastic from the tops of them to allow a little air flow.

Check them once a month to make sure they aren't completely dry and add ~12 oz of water every month if needed. Maybe 2-4 oz? for the smaller 1-2 gallon pots?

I'll probably root prune some of the bigger trees in 5 gallon buckets around November when they are completely dormant.

May up pot some of the 1-2 gallon pots into 5 gallon buckets at that time too.

Thanks!

[Taverna78]

Donny

You idea is best

[ross]

I've read that the roots can't get below 26F, correct?

I'm putting my trees in an enclosed sun room. It's basically a room of windows attached to my house. It warms up during the day similar to a greenhouse, so I was thinking I could wrap the pots with insulation to keep in some of the heat in from the day, so that things aren't so bad at night. During the night it's possible to reach 10F outside and the room is about 7 degrees warmer than it is outside with no sun.

Do you think this will work? Should I cover the branches as well? I was only intending to insulate the pots.

[AscPete]

IMO, the daily freeze-thaw cycles can be bad for the limbs and may also cause the trees to break dormancy early. Placing the dormant trees inside an unheated, uninsulated, solar heated storage space may result severe damage to the dormant trees since they need continuous cold temperatures to maintain dormancy. Good Luck.

[sal]

AsePete when do you start bringing in your Trees? We live in similar areas.

[AscPete]

If they have stopped producing figs I let them stay out for first frost then remove all the leaves a few days later and place into storage. If there a few figs that still have time to ripen I will shuffle them to avoid frost to let the figs ripen first. We're close, but I'm a little colder due to higher elevation (Ulster Co.). Good Luck.

[cjmach1973]

The early sprouting problems that I had the last two years seem to be triggered by the temperature getting too warm. Even when one tree was in a dark, unheated room and covered with a blanket, it still sprouted in February when the temps got too warm.