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pruning figs

13 years ago

Is it necessary, or even advisable, to cut back my trees every year? I have always done this in the past, just before the new growth starts to appear in early spring. But I still struggle with trying to produce ripe figs (this year I got 2 ripe figs, but as usual most drop off before they are ripe,) and I wonder if the pruning might be the cause. Any ideas on this issue? Thanks.

Pasquale

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Comments (8)

ejp3
13 years ago
What fig cultivar(s) are you talking about? If you have desert king and prune, you will get no figs since its a breba only type in the East. Zone 5 seems to be pretty difficult to ripen figs but there are many on this forum who get ripe figs in Canada. Also are they in ground or in pots?
User
13 years ago
You do not necesary need to prune your tree but you need to thin,it in order to get ripe fruits.
In the Spring no more than 3-5 Trunks well spaced should be left if plant grown as a bush.
If Plant is a one trunk,there should be about 10 inches between branches,before leaves grow.
If denser you need to remove some.
This thinning is a must outside ideal fig climate or else,they will not ripe.
Also If single tree make sure you form it with an open center so sun penetrate between,branches.
Of course,like the former poster asked,what tree do you have.
People in Canada get ripe fruits but only from a handfull of cultivars,as :Paradiso Nero,HaRDY cHICAGO,sAL gENE,mARSEILLES VS BLACK,Gino's,and other few very early ripening cultivars,not from all cultivars.
So if you have a late ripening cultivar,in the north east you are out of luck,because it will not get ripe,in time.
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I wouldn't much disagree with the previous answers. Bit I do think that you may or may not get lateral branches this year, and even if you do they won't likely be as low as you want them. If it were my tree I would cut it down to 2 or 3 feet high, although I would have liked to have done it a year or two earlier. I did this with my Desert King, Latarula and Brown Turkey, but long before they were 7 feet high. Actually, the Latarula was about 5 feet tall. They branched immediately and vigorously at the point I cut them. Those branches in subsequent years were headed back and branched similarly. I have ended up with wide, low bushy trees which is exactly what I was hoping for. Going forward I continue to make heading cuts way down on branches that are getting too high. I sacrifice some fig production in years that I do this, but that's the way it goes. Fig trees are much more forgiving on heading cuts than other fruit trees. I wouldn't dream off lopping an apple branch way back unless I was cutting back to a lower branch or bud. I'd end up with a dead stub most often. Figs, on the other hand, always seem to send out new growth even from an ugly heading cut. At some point I'm sure the wood gets old enough that it can no longer generate new buds, and I'm not sure how to recognize that. I just try to cut into wood that has visible leaf joints from previous years. I also have a Neveralla which is a much slower growing tree and it has branched well without me cutting into it. But it is only 4 feet tall after 4 years in the ground. The problem as I see it is that your tree may decide it wants to branch at 5 feet and go from there. That isn't the sort of tree I would want to encourage. Look down the trunk of your tree and see if you can see horizontal divisions where previous years' leafs grew. Is that wood smooth and healthy-looking. If so, you can cut just above such a joint and expect some vigorous branching to occur. Yes, you are delaying fig production but that may be the price you pay for establishing the form you want. Before doing anything you should examine the trunk all along its length, specifically at the old leaf joints, and see if you can see little "bumps" starting push out. Kinda like little green pimples. Look closely, 360 degrees around the stem. These are new branches just beginning to form. If you see them now, that will tell you where the branching is going to occur this year. If you don't see any then either it's too early, which I doubt, or no branching is happening. Remember I'm just relaying my own experience and I certainly don't consider myself any expert. Whatever you do and whatever results you get are yours alone. Alot of people eschew heading cuts in general on fruit trees but I consider figs a notable exception due to their exception bud-producing abilities. Still, I only head back branches that are getting out of hand and leave me little choice. You may also want to consider posting this in the GardenWeb Fig Forum.
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Comments (1)
Hello, What I have found to work well to lower a large Fig tree is to not cut all the old wood down at one time . I leave up one or two branches untill I see new shoots starting, then I take off the rest. Also I do seal the fresh wonds with a pruning paint. Hopefully you will soon be seeing some new shoots where you cut the tree off!
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Price, There are many good fig forum members that MAY sell trees or fill an order for the right price depending on the variety. If you have done research and want a variety that is very rare or from Belleclares then the price should warrant that. A long time ago I wanted and BC Sals and paid in excess of ~$80-90 for it. I have seen a tree which I wanted badly (a Vasilika Sika) go for sale for $150. There are members here which I would proudly hand over that amount for a tree because you know that you are getting a tree true to variety and is available at no other nursery. In other words diamonds are priced like diamonds and pencils are priced like pencils. To many times people come on the forum after reading for a few days and decide they want to buy a rare tree an offer a very low amount of money for a variety that may have cost them $100+, not to mention the care that the tree took in order to get it to a point where it can be propagated. Buying a larger tree means also that you can enjoy figs anywhere from 1-2 years sooner that trying to propagate yourself. I hate to even talk about this because there is always someone who will come and flame this conversation because they feel that the trees should be practically free for what ever reason with out taking into consideration the care, rarity, potting soil cost, heating of greenhouses in the winter, etc. For instance some members have potting soil and other costs in excess of $50-$100/month. If you have a questions please feel free to email me and after asking some of the members or friend maybe I can refer you to them. Thanks.
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Most of a plant's energy reserves is stored in the form of starch in root pith, but no matter how you slice it, some of the roots are going to come off at some point if your plan is to root prune. I think there is an advantage in repotting after leaves drop ion fall as opposed to doing it in early spring - because the roots can still do a LOT of growing after leaves drop. Fortunately, the energy required to open leaf and flower buds in spring is already present in the form of starch reserves at the base of each bud. You can see evidence of this fact when you cut apple, cherry, pussy willow twigs in the middle of winter and 'force' them to bloom and leaf out in a vase of water. Al
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User
13 years ago
And If it drops,fruits in the hot season(August,September),then those fruits needed polination,and that is normal on Desert King,wich keeps and ripe only Breba without polination,but is not normal if your fig is Common,with a main crop,as main fruitting time.
Your fig might be a cultivar that needs polination,to have main ,crop persist and in that case ,there is no remedy,only discard and replace the tree.
pjb3811
Original Author
13 years ago
ejp3 & Herman 2,
Most of my experience over the last 8-10 years has been with Brown Turkeys but have had very poor results. In the last year or two I've tried Celestes and Kadotas. This year my 2-year old Kadota produced 2 ripe figs which were delicious beyond delicious, even though the nursery where I bought it said it was recommended for zones 7/8. Go figure! All my trees are in containers which I bring into my basement every winter. As far as I know, none of my trees are breba only.
Herman 2, Of the cultivars you mentioned, the only one I have is a baby Paradiso in it's 2nd year (from a cutting). Do you know where I can buy a Hardy Chicago or any of the other cultivars you recommended?
I appreciate all of the suggestions.
Pasquale
User
13 years ago
Best is to grow your own,from cuttings,if you can.
I have cuttings listed on Ebay,and also other people on the Fig forum do,so search for Fig cuttings on E bay,and you will find more than one vendor,most but not all have very good record,and experience growing figs in cold climates.
Best Regards
dieseler
13 years ago
Hi Pasquale,
what Herman says about ebay is very true, look at "both" forums and you can see Hermans, myself, and several others profiles and how long they have been members.
Also important look at the pictures they have posted in past and recently "Pictures" of there trees and fruit.
Most members are honest and know what stock they have and where it came from.
Best Health
Martin
EBay Id. - Dieseler6z92
landscapewitch
13 years ago
Does anybody have advice for pruning in the South? The problem here is that they get huge. How much can you take off at once? Does that sap ever stop running? (ouch) and do you just lose your breba crop that year? Do they sprout like mad and need thinning for years?
Thanks!
rickc_2010
13 years ago
Thanks for the great advice I've received from this Forum over the past couple of years. I've been growing figs for about 4 years here in Northern VA., Brn Turkey, Celeste, Chicago Hardy, Marcelles and LSU Purple. I learned about pruning when my first ( Brn Turkey) was not producing ripe fruit before frost (thanks Herman).
I just winterized with burlap wrap and will pile mulch at base this week. I cut a few branches and would like to know the best way to turn these into new trees for next year. They were cut today and are currently in standing in a bucket of water. I do prune in the spring to rid some of the small or dead shoots. See my 1st fig grows like a bush with about 6-8 older thunks and i let the new shoots go thru the winter as well and cut the bad in the spring. I then have been letting about another 10 shoot up top them when they have 6-8 leaves and then wait on the fruit. Each year i have better production. I would appriciate any other suggestions. I will also be looking to get some more established fig trees, cuttings, varieties, in future. I also did bring one small Celeste in the basement this year, should i let it go dormant as its doing now, water it? or is it advisable to put some sort of grow lite on it?
Thank you,
Rickc_2010

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