Fig winter protection

[Plantinyum]

I have two inground figs, one of the hardier varieties that are in their second year inground. They are not small plants, i mean not starters or smth and jenerally went thru the last winter okay but heres the deal...
The one closer to the house had an additional prottection ,but  the one in the open yard had some tip die back due to the cold. I want to add some prottection to them so i do not get the frost bite on the tips. I noticed that the branches that did not had the tips die started to vegetate earlier in the spring, had more vigor in the sence that the leaves and fruit are bigger with shorter internodes. The fruit on those branches is also the earliest to ripen.
So what is the way to add some additional prottection to the plants, without wrapping them with hay or smth since they are too big for that...
Frost cloth? Tuying the branches and making some kind of a box to eliminate wind chill as a factor?
Thanks for any ideas !

[pagnr]

Do you prune the trees every winter ? Any chance to prune branches a bit higher to leave an insurance at the branch tips ? Then remove the damage after it warms up ?
I guess that is still a bit like tip damage, but maybe if the cold damage doesn't occur they might grow normally.
Otherwise since you are covering leafless branches, might need to consider a cloth or structure that won't rub the new buds off, or that the shoots won't grow through.
Frost cloths usually have a very closed weave, and are floating ( very light ).
Structures can be easier for removing the cloth. They can be reasonably inexpensive from salvaged materials if they are available.

[Plantinyum]

Do you prune the trees every winter ? Any chance to prune branches a bit higher to leave an insurance at the branch tips ? Then remove the damage after it warms up ?
I guess that is still a bit like tip damage, but maybe if the cold damage doesn't occur they might grow normally.
Otherwise since you are covering leafless branches, might need to consider a cloth or structure that won't rub the new buds off, or that the shoots won't grow through.
Frost cloths usually have a very closed weave, and are floating ( very light ).
Structures can be easier for removing the cloth. They can be reasonably inexpensive from salvaged materials if they are available.

no, i dont prune them whatsoever at this point, they are still quite confined, the one in the open was grownt for several years in a pot and i 5hink is still somewhat in a shok since it was pot bound when i planted it.
I would rather not prune anithing from them atp since my main goal is to presevre the tip buds and via pruning i would just eliminate those. I will have to prune them in the future for sure but now they do not need it.
Yeah i think i dont need much protection for the buds to survive, was thinking of maybe make some kind of a inclosure probably from house insulation sheets ,which i may fill up with fluffy snow when i have it, or just cover the top with a frostcloth or another insulation sheet.
I think to have it open at the top to be able to add snow and just cover it when there isnt any snow ....
I will tie up the branches so to not have them brake from the weight of the snow.
The snow may be an overkill though....

[tedburn]

I think if they are small protection with frost clothes is good.
But also it is much important to have frosthardy selections.
I' m in zone 7 and tested about 5 or 6 varieties and only 2 are immature very frost resistant.

[Plantinyum]

Mine are fairly hrost hardy and survived the past winter with just a little damage, i am still pondering of what i will do as a winter protection, i may go overboard and do a styrofoam caje for them....

[Plantinyum]

Heres what i did, basically a stirofoam cage, thickness is 5 cm . I covered the bottom part with soil to kinda fix the structure and cover the air leakage spots.
Doesnt look stellar but hopefully does the job and prevent the buds from dying.
The other plant that did not had damage last winter i  left uncovered , its near the house so the additional few degrees that it gets are probably what kept it in a good condition.
Ive also cut an ventilation hole on top, with a lid , but i doubt that this was needed..

[Aiptasia904]

I have Chicago hardy and Turkey fig. Both took a little tip damage this past December when we got the week long hard freeze in my area. I pruned off the dead tips a few days ago and they're both doing just fine, growing new nodes and branches lower down on the branch. There are some instances where removing the growing tips on a branch can force them to fruit sooner and just like topping other citrus trees, forces them to branch more into a more bushy pattern. So, losing the tips to a cold snap can have it's silver linings.

[Plantinyum]

As an update, the plant in question will come out from winter with all of its tips intact, dunno about bennefits, ive only experienced drawbacks ,with this plant in particular when i have tip die back. Last year the figs on the 2-3 branches that had retained their tip buds grew significantly bigger, started forming earlier and as a result also ripened alot earlier compared to the rest. Those branches had signifficantly shorter internodes, visibly thicker stems and bigger leaves. It was very interesting to observe the differences between those branches and the rest , which were sprouts from latent buds along the stem, the difference was just night and day. I am fine with the plant not making alot of twiggery at this point, it is awready quite dense in there and i will have to prune some of the weaker branches this spring.

Did i need the styrofoam winter protection? I dont really know, the winter was very mild, i have another fig inground 2 meters from this one and it is totally fine, all buds green and ready for spring, but againg last winter the other one also didnt had any damage, whereas the one in questio,with the winter protection, had almost all of its tips burned.....