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Fig tree training questions for my new trees

17 years ago

Hi folks.

Well, on the advice of some of you, I purchased a few fig trees from a friend, they are 18" high cuttings that are almost years old, nice set of leaves and look healthy. They didn't know what kind they are, but I got three, and their two varieties are Celeste and Brown Turkey, judging from how he described the fruit. I bought these here in the Friendswood/Pearland area where figs were a traditional crop, so I hope that helps me not screw up. They are about 12 to 15" tall from soil to top and look healthy.

So I am reading up on figs now and want to know how to train a tree? I'd like a single trunk on these like the tall 15' beauty I saw today. Being completely new to most kinds of gardening and trees, I don't know what to do to train a tree. ANy help appreciated.

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bjs496
17 years ago
Hi Scott,

Most in here will tell you not to let your tree get over X feet to make harvest easier. For me, 10 feet seems to be about the magic number (that is about the limit of my reach on a step stool). Last year, at a Master Gardeners lecture, the presenter said that a five foot fruit zone is ideal. Meaning from the lowest fruiting limb to the highest, should be about a five feet distance. I do not remember why they indicated it was ideal, but it does seem to work for me. Whatever height seems most comfortable to you, subtract 6 feet from that and that is about where you want to snip the leading bud (assuming your trees are already as single trunk). Below your cut, you should have 3 or 4 branches going in different directions. These will be the scaffold branches for the crown of your tree.

You want to make sure you remove any limbs below your scaffold branches. This will limit the amount of fruit you have early on. After your scaffold branches have a years worth of growth. Prune them to about 9-18 inches (whatever looks good to you). In subsequent years, pinching the new growth after the sixth leaf, as Herman has discussed, is a good method to control growth

~james
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