Mine will be allowed to go dormant outside and then I'll do what I did with the one plant I had last year--they will get wrapped in row cover and one of my husband's old work shirts will be tied down over the row cover. Then I'll line them up against the south wall of our unheated shed on top of a few pieces of interlocking foam floor. The Hardy Chicago I did this with last year set almost 40 figs this year.
My father almost lost his trees earlier this year because his unfinished basement's temp went up enough during a late winter warm up that they broke dormancy so he had to get them out into the light. Unfortunately it got cold again and he was not able to get them back into the basement. They made it, but he got no figs this year.
I'd rather keep them soundly asleep until May when it's safe for them to come out of hibernation and stay out. The shed seems to be a good solution.
So far I've had three ripe figs off the Hardy Chicago I bought last year and one off the air layer I took off it this summer. One of dad's (his "Black") has one fig (I pinched off at least 30 others it tried to set late in the season). The Celeste I bought in July has three that might ripen, and I've been pinching at least one figlet a day off it for the last few weeks. I hope they are just as eager to set figs next year!
And, I caved and bought a seventh tree at the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival yesterday. It's going to be very crowded in the shed once the figs and the motorcycles all get tucked in for the winter...
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