Figs do not require chill hours, they are still productive in Hawaii an other areas that do not have winter.

If you wake your tree up inside there will not be enough sunlight for strong growth, the branches will stretch out and the leaves will burn when you take them outside.

Search for the "fig shuffle" and read about how Martin manages to ripen some amazing figs in zone 5 by moving them outside on warm days and inside on cold nights early in the spring.

Interesting. I saw somewhere that fig trees require 100 to 200 cold hours, which isn't very much but I didn't know they didn't actually require it.

I searched fig shuffle but I wasn't sure which topic you were referring to. If you mean just moving them in and out, it sounds like a nightmare with my escape happy cats :) However, I currently have it on my deck where it doesn't get as much sun but IS safe from the stupid deer who ate it twice already this year. It wouldn't be too hard to move it right up against the sliding glass door at night. I wonder if that would be enough, or if it would actually need to come in.

Ideally the plan was to eventually, after letting it grow for a few years, plant it in my sister's back yard. Chicago hardy figs are *supposedly* hardy to zone 5. I've been questioning whether we should move ahead with that plan one day or not.

They are the rage in Thailand and Malaysia right now!

Martin's inground HC: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1895376/hardy-chicago

No variety has branches that will survive temperatures near zero without protection, serious protection. What works best for me is to pin low branches and flexible suckers to the ground and cover with mulch, the low was 4 last winter and it worked well.

Thanks for the link. What I'm getting is that as long as it has strong roots it should die back in ground but live or I can leave in the container. Based on that the only thing stopping me from planting is my concern about them being eaten by deer and bears before I get any!

I would just make another plant from a cutting or an airlayer and plant that one in June. They get big fast in ground so you can plant a little one and it will outpace the older one in a container in a year or 2. Even when they lose all of their top growth they usually come back stronger each year because the root system is much larger than a container plant.

That's a really good idea. Thanks!