Insulation R value and temperature increase

I've never seen this done and probably would never do it. Is this a thing? Seems unsightly and wouldn't think fibreglass insulation would hold up outside.

I do recall seeing some small trees wrapped with burlap, though.

it's a fig tree, some fig growers in Canada even build a small insulated shed around the trees and set up a heating system inside. I can't go that far, but would like to tree fiberglass insulation plus tarp outside first, maybe even a big garbage bin or drum with fiberglass insulation glued to its inside wall.

i will see it works or not.

turtler wrote: ↑ I've never seen this done and probably would never do it. Is this a thing? Seems unsightly and wouldn't think fibreglass insulation would hold up outside.

I do recall seeing some small trees wrapped with burlap, though.

GreenYou wrote: ↑ Can anyone help with relation between R value and temperature increase? for example, R value of 10 will briefly increase temperature by how many degrees? doesn't have to be precise.

Insulation slows heat loss, it doesn't provide a temperature increase.

All I see happening from this is creating a nice cozy place for a rodent to relax and snack on your tree while being warmer while doing so.

Also, the insulation won't do much without a heat source. In the case of insulating the roots, your heat source is the ground.

However if its just a tree exposed above ground, wrapping it will mean it takes a bit longer to get down to a certain temperature, but it will likely still get there and still experience the winter lows.

Insulation around an outdoor tree will need a heat source. I know a bit about gardening and from what I do know, it's freezing rain and dehydrating wind and all that nasty weather that destroys plants. I have quite a few herbs (sage, oregano, parsley) and I cover them with leaves and in the case of the sage, I used 20L pails. The plants aren't exposed to any sort of weather, except whatever the temperature is, and they come back each year.

I would suggest getting some plywood, weather protecting the outside of it and build a box around the fig tree. If you are really concerned about it, you can cut and glue some rigid foam insulation to it and run an extension cord with a 100w light bulb at the end as a heat source.

Whatever you do, make sure you provide a THICK layer of mulch around the roots of the tree

smitty9999 wrote: ↑ I know a bit about gardening and from what I do know, it's freezing rain and dehydrating wind and all that nasty weather that destroys plants. I have quite a few herbs (sage, oregano, parsley) and I cover them with leaves and in the case of the sage, I used 20L pails. The plants aren't exposed to any sort of weather, except whatever the temperature is, and they come back each year.

To further this point. I use Wilt-Pruf on my boxwoods and other stuff, and wow does it make a difference over the winters.

I guarantee you if you wrap anything that directly touches the bark of the tree you are doing more harm than good.

I always thought the burlap was to keep the snow load from building up and damaging the branches of cedars and other coniferous trees & shrubbery…

GreenYou wrote: ↑ it's a fig tree, some fig growers in Canada even build a small insulated shed around the trees and set up a heating system inside. I can't go that far, but would like to tree fiberglass insulation plus tarp outside first, maybe even a big garbage bin or drum with fiberglass insulation glued to its inside wall.

i will see it works or not.

My brother had a fig tree in his backyard in Montreal for a few years, every fall he would partial dig out the fig tree roots then lay it down and cover it with straw I think.

same idea as this : https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... e-of-italy

Very impressive, would love to see it done in person. The older generation really do impress me with their solutions to some problems, while I wouldn't have thought of it it seems that it really worked and the tree was able to come back the next year.

Imagine most of the smaller roots snapping, but the few large roots enough to bring back life the next year.

Fibreglass will get wet and will do the reverse of what you want to do. Maybe foam around it with vapour barrier on top as a poor man’s greenhouse?

thank you all, for your kind advices. sorry didn't provide enough details.

Currently i have about a dozen of fig trees, different varieties, mainly 2-3 years old. They are all in pots, 10 gallon grow bags. my backyard is a walkout and moving them into my garage for overwintering is really too much work and i will add more varieties to my collection, therefore i would like to experiment with in-ground method.

Two first year Chicago Hardys are in my backyard ground right now, still small. I am training them into a low-branch bush with about 4 to 6 main stems, height would be about 2 feet. My winter protection plan is to wrap the branches with burlap, then fiberglas matts, then with waterproof tarp, and mulch at the base. The idea is to retain the ground heat around the trees and keep the temperature above -5 Celsius, that's the temperature Chicago Hardy can handle. Whether this experiment will be a success or not, i am not sure, but hopefully so.

As for other winter protection methods, such as heated shed, wrapping + electric heating source in the middle, partially burying, ground bagging, and other creative ways are currently not on my mind. I know some fig growers in GTA are doing all these things, and their fig trees are just very healthy and productive.

Words are dry, here are the pictures of the two Chicago Hardys.

i laughed when i saw "poor man's greenhouse" because i do have "a poor man's greenhouse" i bought, simple one and i used this term on ourfigs.com.

btw, i thought fiberglas is water-resistent and will not absorb water. They do?

thank you,

Jerico wrote: ↑ Fibreglass will get wet and will do the reverse of what you want to do. Maybe foam around it with vapour barrier on top as a poor man’s greenhouse?

GreenYou wrote: ↑ i laughed when i saw "poor man's greenhouse" because i do have "a poor man's greenhouse" i bought, simple one and i used this term on ourfigs.com.

btw, i thought fiberglas is water-resistent and will not absorb water. They do?

thank you,

Standard fibreglass you insulate your house with will retain water and then all insulation properties are lost. Think about the difference between an oven mitt and a wet oven mitt. The water would never come out and would transfer the hot/cold outside quicker through the wet insulation.

you can build an insulated cold frame for the small ones and use a string of incandescent Christmas lights or deck lights and it will suffice

i would like to, but my wife definitely disagrees....

smitty9999 wrote: ↑ you can build an insulated cold frame for the small ones and use a string of incandescent Christmas lights or deck lights and it will suffice

Roxul better? or maybe i can wrap the base with plastic to make it waterproof so that insulation won't get wet....

Jerico wrote: ↑ Standard fibreglass you insulate your house with will retain water and then all insulation properties are lost. Think about the difference between an oven mitt and a wet oven mitt. The water would never come out and would transfer the hot/cold outside quicker through the wet insulation.

GreenYou wrote: ↑ Roxul better? or maybe i can wrap the base with plastic to make it waterproof so that insulation won't get wet....

I think Roxul will stay dry quicker, but still the same issue if the water gets in it will provide a path for the cold to get in as well. The light bulb idea above is great… a 60 or 100 watt traditional bulb is used in many DIY shops that aren’t heated in a box to keep specific tools warm so they dont condensate. You could even get away with a 25 or 40 most likely.

@GreenYou - do you have a brick wall that gets sun where you could plant or move them to? The brick wall will act as a heat source at least during the day and will provide better protection from wind than the fence.