marcantonio, My guess is the cap (clear blue plastic bag) created a high humidity situation which created the rot. All other factors being equal, if you found success with a non-transparent material (black plastic bag) and had a problem with a transparent bag, that light change alone may have been enough to create the current problem. Either way conventional wisdom is if you cap your wrapped tree it needs to be vented. I am still learning but I don't cap my wrapped figs and I stick with natural materials (leaves) to insulate my plants. I have wrapped my trees for 3 winters and haven't had any die back, mold or field mice issues. As Vasile indicated a little die back on the tips can be beneficial so I think you are in good shape. Good Luck! Vinnie

As a bonsai judge, I know a little about what to do to bring out the potential in the tree's shape. Technically, the bifurcations (forks) appear too high on the trunk for the tree to be an ideal multi-trunk specimen, which means you would need to reduce the tree to a single trunkline to get the best from the tree. No big deal if that's not something you want to do because you're not looking for a prize, just a more presentable tree. You might have made an error if you pruned out the center of the tree, which it looks like you did in the picture. The stem closest to the center, determined by an imaginary vertical line upward from where the trunk enters the soil, would be the logical leader. At this point, you should decide if you want it to be a single trunk (you'd need to remove 3 trunks) or a multi-trunked plant. As an option, you could fairly easily air layer off the top of the tree just below where the trunks all split. If you're going to leave it all tied up until the trunks are set in place, you need to reduce the ht of all the trunks to different hts. Generally, trees look better with 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7 trunks. 4 is not usually used, so I would remove 1 trunk, then shorten the other 3 so the thickest trunk is tallest, the thinnest trunk is 1/2 the ht of the tallest, and the trunk with medium thickness is 2/3 the ht of the tallest. What do you think? Al

How fast your plant's trunk thickens is directly related to the amount of photosynthesizing (leaf) surface the plant has, which determines the number of files of cells laid down in the cambium, which in turn is what determines the rate at which branches and trunks thicken. From this, we can see that pruning is actually a counterproductive act when thickening is desired. If you only tip-prune (remove the stems apex), however, the impact on thickening is insignificant. Ideally, you would wait to terminate the main stem until the plant is about 2/3 the ht (measured from the top of the soil) at which you'd like to maintain the plant. This allows for a bare trunk that is 2/3 of the tree's ht and then 1/3 of the tree's ht in foliage. You'll get the most enthusiastic response from healthy trees grown outdoors for at least a month before you terminate the main stem, and later from terminated branches. Also, if branches occur on the lower part of the tree, allow them to grow for a year or two - they provide additional additive growth (thickening) the plant would otherwise not have put on, absent the additional source of food (photosynthate) they contribute. Al

Your trees were pruned to be trees, not bushes. They appear to be at least 3 years old. Really hard to tell age because some trees are more vigorous than others. For instance, I had a Fig in a pot for two years, then planted it in ground. Suddenly that little thing trippled in size and it's trunk(s) became thick. Now it's huge, and I think nobody would guess it's only 4 years old. It's got about 15 figs per branch and there are a lot of branches. Every year, as your trees grow older, they will put out more figs. Really hard to know what a potted fig can produce. A lot depends on variety too. I don't have LSU Purple, but my Celeste is very productive. At 2 years old, it has about 20 figs, but it's still in it's pot and has worked it's way into the ground. This year when it's dormant, it will be planted in ground. You'll just have to be patient and wait. The figs will come. We get mild snow fluries here in winter maybe for a day or two, so planting in containers isn't important, but many who live where it snows have to bring their containers in for protection from freeze. I know you rent so want to take them with you. Good plan! :-)