Will fig trees survive in upper W. Va.? How big should they be before planting outside? Being from Florida I have heard rumors about something called "snow", is it real?! What other fruit trees will grow here?

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), September 17, 2001

Answers

Response to fig tres in cold country

We moved this spring from Central Texas to Colorado. Imagine our surprise to get snow on June 13, and again the first week of September!!..We had figs in Texas. I believe they are a southern crop, but will be watching to see what others say.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), September 17, 2001.

Response to fig tres in cold country

Many Italian families in the NYC area brought fig trees from Italy before it was illegal to do so. Consequently there are a number of very large trees in Queens,Brooklyn and the Bronx. My family has about 10 trees, the largest being 2 stories high, that have been on the property for 75 years and still produce bumper crops of purple or white figs. They are so big now that they need no special treatment . In fact we have cut several of them down and they just regrow from the stump/root system. However, before they got so massive there was a family fall ritual of covering the fig trees. Once the leaves fell off we tied the branches together, then wrapped the whole thing in tar paper making sure that the top was covered too (garbage cans worked well for large trees). The base of the tree was packed with dead leaves. They survived NY winters this way so should be a breeze in WV. I now live 200 miles further north and just have a small tree which is in a large pot on wheels. It lives indoors in the winter and outside all summer long. I get figs every year. Hope this helps.

-- teresa (teresam@ascent.net), September 17, 2001.

Response to fig tres in cold country

Hi, I am in Rhode Island & have some fig trees (still small). I bring them in after the leaves drop & put them in the cellar and water occasionally until spring, (they will look dead) then go back outside after threat of frost. If they are too big to be moved, I understand that after leaves drop, you bend them over or lay them on their side, put a sheet of plactic over them & cover with mulch until the spring. I'm not certain how accurate this info is, but that is what I have heard. Hope this helps! Pam

-- Pamela Hood (pamandmatt@earthlink.net), September 17, 2001.

Response to fig tres in cold country

Hi Mitch,

I have 2 fig trees I planted a few years ago. I believe they can take temperatures down to about 20 degrees without much protection. Mine are in half-barrels on the south side of my house so are protected from the Arctic Blast. I think if you make sure the roots are protected from freezing they will be fine. We ate figs this year although my family doesn't think much of fresh figs

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), September 17, 2001.

Response to fig tres in cold country

Thomas Jefferson grew figs on his mountaintop at Monticello in Virginia. I don't recall precisely what type they were, a yellow fig I believe. He had them planted at the base of a stone wall with a southern exposure. The occasionally froze back into the ground but they always grew back from the roots again. I don't recall if he covered them with any sort of protection but at that latitude it would seem the prudent thing to do.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), September 17, 2001.

My folks in Michigan used to have an old Armenian neighbor that would bury his fig trees. He would dig a trench next to the base of the tree and bend it down into the trench and cover it up. They were kept small for obvious reasons I reckon.

-- Frank (fhill@absolute-net.com), September 18, 2001.

Check with your county Extension Service, it's what we pay them for. They should be able to help you with this. Also check your Yellow Pages and talk to some Tree Nurseries and get their ideas on which fig trees would have the best chance in your area. I live in Oregon which has simular weather to Virginia and my fig trees do fine with some extra mulch around the base(they are 4 years old and bearing figs). Good luck with this, figs are wonderful eating and beautiful trees. :)

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), September 19, 2001.

I am way too far north to grow them out of doors except for in the summer, however, there are some varieties that may give you better results. One, which I cannot remember the full name of at the moment has 'Chicago' in the name, for where it grows. Chicago has some mighty unpleasant winter weather, so perhaps that one is for you.

If you go onto Google and type in 'Figs' you will find a lot of sites dealing with growing them, including the New York City gardening club's pages dealing with growing them successfully outdoors there.

Best luck!

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), September 20, 2001.

I posted these earlier on some thread, but here are some useful sites anyway --

http://www.nafex.org/fig.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruit/figs/figs.html

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/perennials/14339

http://www.eat-it.com/plants/figs.htm

http://www.raintreenursery.com/how_to/FIGS.html

http://home.earthlink.net/~raygivan/index.html

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), September 20, 2001.