Severe Frost Damage to a Ficus Tree

Growing Zones

• A majority of tropical fig trees may be grown outdoors successfully in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 and warmer. While winter low temperatures in zone 9 -- as low as 20 degrees F -- kill back plants to their roots, they sprout new stems and leaves from the ground in spring. While the plants may mature to large, treelike stature in regions with regular winter frosts and freezes, tropical figs rejuvenate and become large shrubs with lots of long, slender stems covered in leaves.

After the Freeze

• After a night of subfreezing temperatures, or several nights of temperatures that drop into the 20- to 30-degree range, tropical figs will display blackened foliage or drop their leaves to reveal naked branches. Although startling to see, the tree is not quickly killed by cold. Above-ground tissues will desiccate and die from subfreezing cold, but the roots remain alive because of the insulating warmth and protection from the soil. Do not prune cold-killed fig trees until mid- to late spring. Only then will the plant reveal new leaves that show which root or branch tissues are still alive with sap.

Mitigate Further Damage

• Withholding the removal of cold-killed branches from the fig tree will help prevent any further loss of tissues from additional subfreezing temperatures. Leaving the plant intact the rest of winter protects lower, living branches and roots from direct exposure to cold. Any subsequent frost and freeze will be absorbed and buffeted by the upper dead branches. Pruning prematurely will expose the lower living branches directly to cold air. Keep the soil evenly moist around the plant, but do not fertilize until spring once new green growth appears. Place a coarse, dry, 3- to 6-inch layer of mulch over the soil to further insulate the soil to prevent it and tree roots from freezing.

Container Plants

• Fig trees growing in above-ground containers or planters will sustain more cold damage from subfreezing temperatures compared to trees in the ground. While a low of 25 degrees may defoliate the fig tree, the soil protects the ground-growing tree's roots from harm, but the above-ground container's soil may cool down to as low as the air temperature. Container-growing fig trees will survive freezes as long as the cold doesn't penetrate into the soil and freeze and kill the roots. Desiccation is a higher danger on containerized fig trees. Mulching or moving plants indoors is needed for mitigation. However, prune, water and fertilize them on the same recuperative schedule as those cold-damaged trees growing in the ground.

Final Evaluation

• Wait until early summer to make a final decision if the tropical fig is dead after a cold winter. As long as the soil is warm, evenly moist and fertile, sections of the root system may still have enough stored energy to sprout new growth. This should appear by late spring. Only waiting until the definite heat of early summer can you be absolutely sure there's no hope left and the roots are dry and dead.