Well put man, I’ve got a grafted tree I’ll be doing this kind of pruning technique to. Cutting off the top branch and letting the ones below it grow, hopefully get some nice growth on the grafts on those branches.
Hi Ross I pruned fig trees in their first year, all branches from the bottom, and this is to regulate the shape of the tree, and this is when the winter star comes out, but the summer heat is still there. Is this good?
I live in Oregon, have a few figs that have a second fig crop that never ripens! Do I leave them thru the winter, or harvest them this winter because they will never ripen?
They can grow in FL, but getting high fruit quality consistently is difficult: www.figboss.com/post/steps-towards-successfully-growing-quality-figs-in-florida
2 years ago I got a smith fig tree, for some reason the main trunk seemingly randomly died back all the way to the base. Last year I planted it into the ground and it grew 3 new trunks from the base of the tree. So this year the 3 main stems grew about 6 feet tall, they’re a lot thicker now, and they’re all 3 branching out at the top. I would rather have 1 main trunk, would you recommend cutting off the other 2 from the base? Or are they too far grown in that it would possibly kill the tree? If I did cut them off, that would be 2/3 of the tree going all at once. Or should I cut one off now, and then at the end of winter cut the other off? Or am I worrying about it too much? lol
its not clear why pruning in the summer would start a second flush of fruit for long season growers but pruning everything 25%-50%(which would even out apical dominance) would put you into a cycle of not getting fruit and then pruning the main lead all the way back wouldnt do that. im subbed and i watch all of your videos but am often left more confused 😅
1. Let's say you hard pruned your fig tree during the summer and each branch was cut back 50%. This will encourage a new flush of growth. Even if you just remove the tips during the summer, new growth will form to try and achieve dominance. In fact, if I prune my trees now, they'll try to grow. This would be foolish because I don't have enough heat units left in my season for those new branches to fruit and lignify. Additionally, trees in the area (fig trees included) know winter is coming and are on their way to going to sleep. That's why this only works in really warm areas. 2. When you prune can cause a very different shift in the hormones of all fruit trees, not just figs. 3. Hard pruning in the summer maintains the hormones in balance and may potentially shift the balance toward flowering and fruiting. 4. Hard pruning in the winter shifts the hormonal balance toward growth the following growing season. 5. Instead, if I prune a leader back by 100% and the rest of the shoots are untouched, the hormones within the remaining branches stay in balance. 6. What if I told you that every bud on a fig tree has a different hormonal component, carbohydrates stored within, and even varying levels of fig mosaic virus? The hormonal component can be seen quite clearly. Suckers from the base or watershoots have a very hard time fruiting because their hormones are out of balance. These shoots love to grow and even in one season, they can reach 10-15 ft from the soil level. The new growth from the apical buds acts oppositely. They grow much slower, fruit heavily and the fruit on that new growth forms easier and earlier. This is a pretty good read: www.figboss.com/post/two-methods-for-achieving-the-right-form-on-your-fig-tree-why-i-summer-prune-for-form I purposely didn't include this information in this video. It's too long to explain and it confuses people. Instead, a short and sweet example of what to do and what not to do is what the average fig grower wants. If you want even more information, check out the video I published this past spring. It explains everything with a lot more detail: ruclips.net/video/msTB_cfJJqo/видео.htmlsi=c2-tbKq12KdrNiYv
@@RossRaddi will watch and thanks for the reply and links. side issue. my Chicago Hardy looked healthy but had no growth for a couple months when brought home from nursery. I repotted end of July and it grew like crazy. there's like 2ft of green, unlignified growth on the scaffolds. I was told to slow watering and pinch the scaffold tips to try and get them to stop growing and lignify in time for winter. I did pinch the tips but I can't slow watering in this 85f temps in air prune pot. 5b/a zone. will this trigger branching vs lignify, or both?
@@derekfarealzyou should leave the tree as it is by not pruning it and keep watering then when it becomes dormant in the winter you can prun the tree and get some cuttings while doing that But just leave the tree as it is this season
@@derekfarealz just leave it alone for this season and keep it in the garage,next season it will get more growth and fruit, and don’t forget that Chicago hardy only can get 2 feet tall per year
Ross this really answered lots of questions for me. Thank you David
You’re the best Ross
Useful information for the perplexed figtree grower.🌳🤷🏽♂🤦🏽♂
Well put man, I’ve got a grafted tree I’ll be doing this kind of pruning technique to. Cutting off the top branch and letting the ones below it grow, hopefully get some nice growth on the grafts on those branches.
Thank you.
Interesting guidelines
Thanks! Great information as usual 👊
If your fig tree is huge. How do you take the fruit without beating up the fruit? Great video, and thank you for the information!
Pull the branch down then harvest!
Thanks 🙏 for 👌 explained 🎉.
Hi Ross I pruned fig trees in their first year, all branches from the bottom, and this is to regulate the shape of the tree, and this is when the winter star comes out, but the summer heat is still there. Is this good?
Good video!
I live in Oregon, have a few figs that have a second fig crop that never ripens! Do I leave them thru the winter, or harvest them this winter because they will never ripen?
You can leave them. They should naturally fall off.
Sounds like you need an early main crop fig: www.figboss.com/post/my-favorite-early-fig-varieties
I live in the state of Florida and Central Florida and I would like to know if I can grow a fig tree here and if I can buy one from you
They can grow in FL, but getting high fruit quality consistently is difficult: www.figboss.com/post/steps-towards-successfully-growing-quality-figs-in-florida
2 years ago I got a smith fig tree, for some reason the main trunk seemingly randomly died back all the way to the base. Last year I planted it into the ground and it grew 3 new trunks from the base of the tree. So this year the 3 main stems grew about 6 feet tall, they’re a lot thicker now, and they’re all 3 branching out at the top.
I would rather have 1 main trunk, would you recommend cutting off the other 2 from the base? Or are they too far grown in that it would possibly kill the tree? If I did cut them off, that would be 2/3 of the tree going all at once.
Or should I cut one off now, and then at the end of winter cut the other off?
Or am I worrying about it too much? lol
How many different variety type of figs do you have??
Somewhere in the 100s right now.
@@RossRaddi 100? I didn't know there was that many different variety
is mulberry tree pruning formula similar to fig tree?
I summer prune mulberries.
What variety is that really tall tree?
Moro de Caneva.
its not clear why pruning in the summer would start a second flush of fruit for long season growers but pruning everything 25%-50%(which would even out apical dominance) would put you into a cycle of not getting fruit and then pruning the main lead all the way back wouldnt do that. im subbed and i watch all of your videos but am often left more confused 😅
1. Let's say you hard pruned your fig tree during the summer and each branch was cut back 50%. This will encourage a new flush of growth. Even if you just remove the tips during the summer, new growth will form to try and achieve dominance. In fact, if I prune my trees now, they'll try to grow. This would be foolish because I don't have enough heat units left in my season for those new branches to fruit and lignify. Additionally, trees in the area (fig trees included) know winter is coming and are on their way to going to sleep. That's why this only works in really warm areas.
2. When you prune can cause a very different shift in the hormones of all fruit trees, not just figs.
3. Hard pruning in the summer maintains the hormones in balance and may potentially shift the balance toward flowering and fruiting.
4. Hard pruning in the winter shifts the hormonal balance toward growth the following growing season.
5. Instead, if I prune a leader back by 100% and the rest of the shoots are untouched, the hormones within the remaining branches stay in balance.
6. What if I told you that every bud on a fig tree has a different hormonal component, carbohydrates stored within, and even varying levels of fig mosaic virus? The hormonal component can be seen quite clearly. Suckers from the base or watershoots have a very hard time fruiting because their hormones are out of balance. These shoots love to grow and even in one season, they can reach 10-15 ft from the soil level. The new growth from the apical buds acts oppositely. They grow much slower, fruit heavily and the fruit on that new growth forms easier and earlier. This is a pretty good read: www.figboss.com/post/two-methods-for-achieving-the-right-form-on-your-fig-tree-why-i-summer-prune-for-form
I purposely didn't include this information in this video. It's too long to explain and it confuses people. Instead, a short and sweet example of what to do and what not to do is what the average fig grower wants. If you want even more information, check out the video I published this past spring. It explains everything with a lot more detail: ruclips.net/video/msTB_cfJJqo/видео.htmlsi=c2-tbKq12KdrNiYv
@@RossRaddi will watch and thanks for the reply and links.
side issue. my Chicago Hardy looked healthy but had no growth for a couple months when brought home from nursery. I repotted end of July and it grew like crazy. there's like 2ft of green, unlignified growth on the scaffolds. I was told to slow watering and pinch the scaffold tips to try and get them to stop growing and lignify in time for winter. I did pinch the tips but I can't slow watering in this 85f temps in air prune pot. 5b/a zone. will this trigger branching vs lignify, or both?
@@derekfarealzyou should leave the tree as it is by not pruning it and keep watering then when it becomes dormant in the winter you can prun the tree and get some cuttings while doing that
But just leave the tree as it is this season
@@ai-pq4yq that was the plan but if it goes dormant with unlignified wood it will lose lose that anyways no?
@@derekfarealz just leave it alone for this season and keep it in the garage,next season it will get more growth and fruit, and don’t forget that Chicago hardy only can get 2 feet tall per year