Any Fig Fanatics?

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Whenever there is a really cold winter our figs die back to the ground. Come spring though the roots start making new shoots and the cycle starts over again.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

That's good to know, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to have done anything specific to "over-winter" them ...

Should I cut back the dead looking stuff when I'm home in a week an half?

 

[rumwrks]

That's good to know, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to have done anything specific to "over-winter" them ...

Should I cut back the dead looking stuff when I'm home in a week an half?

I have straw packed some of the more delicate ones when I lived in a colder climate. Basically wrapped them in straw and a tarp and tied it off. You have to be SUPER careful with that because if it gets too wet they'll rot out though and then you can loose the roots.

I'd give the "dead" bits a scratch test and see if they still have green bark or not.. If not then yeah cut them off.

If there is green.. sometimes it takes a bit for the top growth to come back if it was just a late frost that knocked them back a little. so I'd give them a chance. Odds are that the tops froze but it's worth checking.

My one rescue fig I've seen the mother plant freeze back many years and come back stronger in the spring so I wouldn't be to worried although it's a bit of a bummer because it does hit this years fruit production a bit.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

That's good to know, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to have done anything specific to "over-winter" them ...

Should I cut back the dead looking stuff when I'm home in a week an half?

I wouldn't hurry to do anything. Not gonna hurt anything to let them recover on their own if they will. Once you determine they won't come back on their own just prune them ground level or below any dead part. That's all there is to it. usually they will magically recreate their limbs and in the past I got a bumper crop afterward.