Yes, your tree is definitely dying (or might be completely dead at this point). It would have been better to allow your fig tree to remain dormant over the winter rather than try to keep it active and growing indoors.

Here is what I would do now:

Starting from the top of the tree prune all branches that are black. Continue working down the tree pruning all of the branches until you reach an area where the branches are still alive. You can tell if the branch is still alive by scratching the surface skin/bark with a fingernail.....if it is green beneath the scratch...that branch is still alive. Continue to remove all branches that are black/dead (i.e. all of those branches which do not have any green layer under the bark/skin layer). Even if all of the branches above the soil line appear dead and have to be removed, do not give up hope. It is still possible that a portion of the roots are still alive.

After removing all of the dead branches, water your tree well. Take it "outdoors" ASAP and place it in a sunny area on the southern side of your house. Keep it close to a wall if possible. If any portion of your tree is still alive, it likely will send up shoots within a few weeks.

Best of luck to you........

Thank you KingFig. I'm so frightened, I hope the tree isn't dead. I'll go and test the branches now. It's still pretty cold here, the lows have been 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and the highs have been between 48 F and 65 F. Should I still put the tree outside after pruning back the dead branches?

The other trees in your area are budding right now. So it will be safe to put your fig tree near a southern facing (sunny) wall. Once you see any opening bud or a new sprout emerging from below the soil line, move it back inside overnight should they predict a freeze in your area. Put it back outside the next morning when temperature rises.

Put a burlap sack cloth over your tree at night if any frost is predicted. This will prevent the formation of damaging frost on your tree. Frost can only occur when the outside temperature is below 40 degrees and there is no wind. If your tree is close to a wall or your house.....frost is very unlikely to form on it.

Thank you Kingfig - I've scratched each branch a bit and two are dead (two small ones) but the larger branches are green beneath the surface. I'm going to water it now and prune the dead branches.

We have the tree in a plastic pot right now (the small plastic pot it was sold with), but we purchased a very large pot made from some sort of ceramic to transfer the tree to. We didn't yet transfer it, because we were told that if we put the tree in the large ceramic pot permanently, that we will not be able to leave the tree outside - that the tree would freeze over the winter.

So we left the tree in the small plastic pot until we could figure out what to do and brought the tree inside the house for the winter. Is it true that a potted fig tree left outdoors during winter will die or freeze? If we do indeed put the tree into the large ceramic pot with soil during the winter can we leave it outside over the winter?

And if so, what steps should we take to protect the tree from dying while outside in the large ceramic pot over the winter?

I appreciate your help with bringing our tree back to life!

Kingfig, are your in-ground fig trees very large? Can they be controlled by pruning to prevent them from becoming too large? I'd honestly prefer to put it in the ground, the pot changes color after a few rains...

I have in ground fig trees of all sizes ranging from 0 feet and up to about 10 ft tall. The smallest was top killed this past winter and is now sending up two tiny new sprouts from the roots.

Yes, they can easily be pruned to keep them on the small size. The better figs (called main crop figs) will develop on the new annual green growth of a fig tree. Some fig collectors prune their trees each year so that many different varieties can be planted rather close together. You can grow a lot of figs in an acre of ground if you keep them pruned.

If you are in zone 8 you are probably better off with the fig tree in the ground. Of course you can grow it in a large pot, but then you will have to move it in and out, root prune, replace soil, etc. Why bother with that?

Thank you so much KingFig, for your really helpful and quick advice. I've pruned, watered and moved the fig tree outdoors and hopefully my tree will bounce back to its normal, healthy self. I just might put it in the ground, I'm just worried about the roots becoming too widespread and overtaking my space. Does pruning prevent the roots from spreading everywhere? I believe I've heard this before, but it does seem like too much work to move it in and out. If that's the case, we'd prefer to just keep the tree outside in the large pot.

We have 2 6 foot fig trees in out front yard. We live in Central New Jersey and had a fairly mild winter. Out trees are now black. We cut them down to about 3 feet and the bark looks dors not look green, it looks dry. Do we have to cut it down more? We just noticed that 1 of our trees has a new sprout coming up from the ground. After cutting down, how long do we have to water it. Thank you for any help.