Overwintering In-Ground Fig Trees with a Heat Tube

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Will Pananes grows large fig trees in the ground in south-central Pennsylvania—USDA Zone 6b, where unprotected fig trees can freeze back to the ground.

His solution is a homemade heat tube: an incandescent light bulb enclosed in metal pipe and placed inside the tree’s winter wrapping. The small amount of supplemental heat protects the trunk and branches during the coldest weather, giving the tree a head start the following spring and enough growing season to ripen a substantial crop.

In this conversation, Will talks about:

• Why he decided to grow figs in the ground 
• How his heat-tube idea developed 
• The burnt burlap that led him to enclose the bulb in metal 
• Pruning and gathering the branches before wrapping 
• Protecting trees of different sizes 
• Monitoring the bulb during the winter 
• The advantages of preserving mature wood in a cold climate 

This interview originally aired on The Food Garden Life Show in 2020. Will and I have corresponded for many years, and pictures of his trees and winter-protection system appear in the updoming revised edition of my book, Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t: Growing Figs in Cold Climates and Pots.

See pictures and a detailed explanation of Will’s system:
 PA Fig Grower Uses Heat Tubes to Overwinter Figs