Angelito - holy smokes!

[TorontoJoe]

Something like this. I know... I like to experiment. There might be an issue with light penetrating deeply enough... But I'm curious to see how it does if I can maintain the shape in a container

Precisely. One caveat is that the secondary and/or tertiary pruning may not be required, as, depending on when/how the tree was pruned last, the length of the growing season, and/or the variety's growth habit, it may branch out naturally, and all that will be required after that is thinning and shape maintenance.

Here is one of my trees after only primary pruning (apical bud pinching, rather, to let the scaffolds develop in early spring), and no secondary pruning was needed. You can see, though, that one scaffold's top, at the very back, was pruned off, but that was done to take a cutting for a fellow grower. The rest of the scaffolds were left untouched.

They branched out at the tips naturally.

Another example, this is one of my trees after primary and secondary pruning.

No tertiary pruning was done as the fruiting branches tip-branched out naturally and looked like this:

From there, I would thin out the canopy by removing unwanted branches to keep the tree at the shape (and to a degree, height) I want.

Of course, you can just let the tree do its thing and end up with something like this (the pictures below are not mine, I saved them some time ago on my computer, can't recall where I saved these from... if someone knows the owner, let me know and I will credit them):

Which looks absolutely gorgeous, but will require special care/requirements when it comes to winter storage, and giving it even a short headstart.

I’d like to know where that tree came from as well. Beautiful!

With the pruning you outlined, I think the part I’m still dialling in is creating new scaffolds with the correct timing. As they age they send out fruiting growth later and later. That or have them set in a way that I can alternate new budding branches from year to year.

Your node spacing still blows my mind. I get it now. I just need to figure out a way to set it up within the spaces I have to work with. I may need to have a garage sale!

 

[Figgin' A]

That sure is a gorgeous and well taken care of tree.

Fair point on scaffolding. With my AJH I pinched it first year, pruned back at beginning of second year and pruned back only some branches at beginning of third year. I’m probably going to remove lower most scaffold this off season and possibly thin out some branches as they appear in Spring. I got over 250 figs off this tree this season.

View attachment 15538

Very visually appealing shape and a multitude of fruiting branches. Perfection!

 

[Figgin' A]

Something like this. I know... I like to experiment. There might be an issue with light penetrating deeply enough... But I'm curious to see how it does if I can maintain the shape in a container


I’d like to know where that tree came from as well. Beautiful!

With the pruning you outlined, I think the part I’m still dialling in is creating new scaffolds with the correct timing. As they age they send out fruiting growth later and later. That or have them set in a way that I can alternate new budding branches from year to year.

Your node spacing still blows my mind. I get it now. I just need to figure out a way to set it up within the spaces I have to work with. I may need to have a garage sale!

Yeah, a garage sale will help. A huge chunk of my garage is dedicated to figs and other plants. I could use a garage sale myself.

Timing for pruning is key. There are many ways to do it, too. Before, after, and during the season. A lot of advice that I got on pruning fig trees in the NE when I started growing figs is out of the window for me by now, for the most part. As I experiment, I am finding better and more effective ways to prune my trees. Or, rather, not prune... or prune very minimally.

The common argument against not pruning has been the size, shape, and productivity. Well, I find that argument to be true only under some conditions, maybe... but not always. There are fairly easy ways to keep a fig tree small enough and very productive without heavy pruning, as suggested by the Japanese pruning method that most everyone in the NE follows religiously.

I am also finding that what Harvey noticed many years ago to be very true - that unpruned fruiting branches produce earlier, larger, and better quality fruit.

There are many downsides to the Japanese pruning method under some conditions, and I don't see anyone discussing those much, if at all. Vegetative growth after heavy pruning can be unmanageable with some varieties in a grow tent. Not a big deal if you grow in Japan outside, but in a grow tent, it's a different story. Fruit set, and hence ripening, can span months with Japanese pruning. Not a big problem in Japan with their longer growing seasons, but a big problem in the NE with our short seasons. Growth habits differ from variety to variety, which, if heavily pruned, causes issues in a grow tent due to uneven canopy advancement. Etc, etc, etc... I could name a dozen more...

 

[TorontoJoe]

Yeah, a garage sale will help. A huge chunk of my garage is dedicated to figs and other plants. I could use a garage sale myself.

Timing for pruning is key. There are many ways to do it, too. Before, after, and during the season. A lot of advice that I got on pruning fig trees in the NE when I started growing figs is out of the window for me by now, for the most part. As I experiment, I am finding better and more effective ways to prune my trees. Or, rather, not prune... or prune very minimally.

The common argument against not pruning has been the size, shape, and productivity. Well, I find that argument to be true only under some conditions, maybe... but not always. There are fairly easy ways to keep a fig tree small enough and very productive without heavy pruning, as suggested by the Japanese pruning method that most everyone in the NE follows religiously.

I am also finding that what Harvey noticed many years ago to be very true - that unpruned fruiting branches produce earlier, larger, and better quality fruit.

There are many downsides to the Japanese pruning method under some conditions, and I don't see anyone discussing those much, if at all. Vegetative growth after heavy pruning can be unmanageable with some varieties in a grow tent. Not a big deal if you grow in Japan outside, but in a grow tent, it's a different story. Fruit set, and hence ripening, can span months with Japanese pruning. Not a big problem in Japan with their longer growing seasons, but a big problem in the NE with our short seasons. Growth habits differ from variety to variety, which, if heavily pruned, causes issues in a grow tent due to uneven canopy advancement. Etc, etc, etc... I could name a dozen more...

An excellent overview of what I really want to continue to refine. To keep the tree small with as little pruning as possible. I let many of my trees get way to big because I love the majesty of a big, beautiful tree. Especially those in the ground. This almost certainly comes from all my exposure to figs in the south of Italy.... I've been hard-wired to accept this as what a fig tree should look like. But it's not generally as practical here. One can often find a work-around for this sort of thing.... but there's always a cost-benefit that you have to accept

 

[Figgin' A]

An excellent overview of what I really want to continue to refine. To keep the tree small with as little pruning as possible. I let many of my trees get way to big because I love the majesty of a big, beautiful tree. Especially those in the ground. This almost certainly comes from all my exposure to figs in the south of Italy.... I've been hard-wired to accept this as what a fig tree should look like. But it's not generally as practical here. One can often find a work-around for this sort of thing.... but there's always a cost-benefit that you have to accept

Well, it depends a little on what you mean by 'big'. You can have a big tree that looks like this:

What is it, about 5.5 - 6 feet tall? Looks big, but small enough to manage and easily pick fruit from.

Then you have big like this:

About 8 feet from the ground. I know a fig grower here near where I live; most of his trees look like this.

The key is to start shaping from a very early age.

 

[bushdoctor82]

Yeah, a garage sale will help. A huge chunk of my garage is dedicated to figs and other plants. I could use a garage sale myself.

Timing for pruning is key. There are many ways to do it, too. Before, after, and during the season. A lot of advice that I got on pruning fig trees in the NE when I started growing figs is out of the window for me by now, for the most part. As I experiment, I am finding better and more effective ways to prune my trees. Or, rather, not prune... or prune very minimally.

The common argument against not pruning has been the size, shape, and productivity. Well, I find that argument to be true only under some conditions, maybe... but not always. There are fairly easy ways to keep a fig tree small enough and very productive without heavy pruning, as suggested by the Japanese pruning method that most everyone in the NE follows religiously.

I am also finding that what Harvey noticed many years ago to be very true - that unpruned fruiting branches produce earlier, larger, and better quality fruit.

There are many downsides to the Japanese pruning method under some conditions, and I don't see anyone discussing those much, if at all. Vegetative growth after heavy pruning can be unmanageable with some varieties in a grow tent. Not a big deal if you grow in Japan outside, but in a grow tent, it's a different story. Fruit set, and hence ripening, can span months with Japanese pruning. Not a big problem in Japan with their longer growing seasons, but a big problem in the NE with our short seasons. Growth habits differ from variety to variety, which, if heavily pruned, causes issues in a grow tent due to uneven canopy advancement. Etc, etc, etc... I could name a dozen more...

The only major benefits of hard pruning yearly is size management for Winter storage/headstart, if you elect to have figs ripening more or less one at a time throughout the season vs in clusters over shorter duration or to sell cuttings.

Starting next season, I’ll be pruning my ingrounds I leave unprotected every other Spring (unless Winter does it for me) so I can harvest in both scenarios. I’ve been only pruning out dead, diseased or damaged wood off inground trees in the Spring. The tree in attached picture is due for a slight haircut.

 

[bushdoctor82]

Well, it depends a little on what you mean by 'big'. You can have a big tree that looks like this:

What is it, about 5.5 - 6 feet tall? Looks big, but small enough to manage and easily pick fruit from.

Then you have big like this:

About 8 feet from the ground. I know a fig grower here near where I live; most of his trees look like this.

The key is to start shaping from a very early age.

If not for the extremely acute branch angles in second picture you could make it look like the first tree with pruning in time - just with a few extra feet of trunk length. But, like you said, planning and execution starts in the first season for optimum success.

 

[Figgin' A]

The only major benefits of hard pruning yearly is size management for Winter storage/headstart, if you elect to have figs ripening more or less one at a time throughout the season vs in clusters over shorter duration or to sell cuttings.

Starting next season, I’ll be pruning my ingrounds I leave unprotected every other Spring (unless Winter does it for me) so I can harvest in both scenarios. I’ve been only pruning out dead, diseased or damaged wood off inground trees in the Spring. The tree in attached picture is due for a slight haircut.

View attachment 15546

That's a good-looking tree. Very good height. I have a couple of second-year trees that looked similar at the end of this season, although not as thick and with a bit fewer fruiting branches. I only removed a couple of branches from each that were sticking out too much. The rest was left as is. You are correct, winter storage and head-starting of such trees could be a hassle. But not always. I tied the branches together on mine to make them more compact/less wide. Height-wise, at about 4.5 feet, they are just fine. Mine will be headstarted, but not for months like some of my other trees. These will be headstarted by only about 1.5-2 months. Part indoors, part outdoors, if need be, in a makeshift grow tent, or some other method. I am still working out the details. Needless to say, for NE, it's important to pick the right varieties for this - the ones that wake up and set fruit fast, and ripen well into cold weather. I think Angelito is a very good candidate.

 

[julie]

Be

The only major benefits of hard pruning yearly is size management for Winter storage/headstart, if you elect to have figs ripening more or less one at a time throughout the season vs in clusters over shorter duration or to sell cuttings.

Starting next season, I’ll be pruning my ingrounds I leave unprotected every other Spring (unless Winter does it for me) so I can harvest in both scenarios. I’ve been only pruning out dead, diseased or damaged wood off inground trees in the Spring. The tree in attached picture is due for a slight haircut.

View attachment 15546

Beautiful tree! How many figs do you get off it every year?

 

[bushdoctor82]

Be

Beautiful tree! How many figs do you get off it every year?

Thanks, but I have no idea - never counted.

 

[TorontoJoe]

The only major benefits of hard pruning yearly is size management for Winter storage/headstart, if you elect to have figs ripening more or less one at a time throughout the season vs in clusters over shorter duration or to sell cuttings.

Starting next season, I’ll be pruning my ingrounds I leave unprotected every other Spring (unless Winter does it for me) so I can harvest in both scenarios. I’ve been only pruning out dead, diseased or damaged wood off inground trees in the Spring. The tree in attached picture is due for a slight haircut.

View attachment 15546

I’m not going to prune My massive Etna this winter. Should be interesting. I think the trunk will be fine. If that’s the case it’s basically the same with less work because I need to prune back so much now to protect it

 

[TorontoJoe]

An excellent overview of what I really want to continue to refine. To keep the tree small with as little pruning as possible. I let many of my trees get way to big because I love the majesty of a big, beautiful tree. Especially those in the ground. This almost certainly comes from all my exposure to figs in the south of Italy.... I've been hard-wired to accept this as what a fig tree should look like. But it's not generally as practical here. One can often find a work-around for this sort of thing.... but there's always a cost-benefit that you have to accept

I don’t think I worded that well…I mean keep the tree more compact…. But maintain younger wood. I have some pics that’s I’ll post a bit later that I think will illustrate

 

[superdave336]

Yeah I definitely need help pruning. I’ve been letting them grow a single whip first year then pruning to 30” and this year on my second year trees I could see they were way too high for my liking. So basically I wasted a year.

 

[Figgin' A]

I’m not going to prune My massive Etna this winter. Should be interesting. I think the trunk will be fine. If that’s the case it’s basically the same with less work because I need to prune back so much now to protect it

I think it's a great idea. If I ever grow figs in the ground here, that's how I'd do it. I don't know how much you get from your tree here, but I imagine that if it's unpruned, it will set a lot more fruit faster, and your harvest will be much bigger and better.

 

[superdave336]

I think it's a great idea. If I ever grow figs in the ground here, that's how I'd do it. I don't know how much you get from your tree here, but I imagine that if it's unpruned, it will set a lot more fruit faster, and your harvest will be much bigger and better.

Anything I plant out in the field I’m not planning on pruning just let grow wild

 

[Trustyfarms]

Definitely one of my favorites this year that ripens extremely well in cooler weather!

 

[TorontoJoe]

There's so much good pruning discussion here I wonder if this should be its own thread.

OK, this tree didn't ripen nearly as many figs as it normally does. Last year I harvested so many...



Brace yourself for this next image. It's not pretty. Many that were so close, but now just going to the compost heap.



Now, understand that this was an unusual year. It was nasty cold until well into June. The tree woke up super late. But just the few extra weeks of cold weather... despite having a record hot summer ended with them just not having enough time to ripen.

I know many of you already know exactly what I'm talking about but for those who don't.... I've been protecting the trees aggressively every winter. Unfortunately the tree has become so big that I needed to begin pruning back to very large, older scaffolds. The problem is that the older the wood gets, the longer it takes to shoot out branches. Last year I pruned harder than ever so I could cover it. I ended up pruning it back to this.



All the new growth had a fig at just about every node. But that few extra weeks meant it took too long.

So, the plan for this one this winter is to keep about 50% of that new growth so new wood hopefully appears from the newer growth long before it would from the trunk.

So the challenge for me then (I'm thinking) is to always have enough growth from the previous year for speedy new wood, but keep the whole thing small enough that I can protect it.

Another way to achieve this may be to let it grow from the ground as a bush to say maybe, 3-5 whips. First year or two those do little to nothing... but the following year I allow another 3-5 suckers grow and again on the third. Every year after that I could remove the oldest to the ground and allow a new, 3-5 suckers to come up. Any thoughts on this idea? I'm thinking kind of how bananas are done.... with several stages of plant growing at all times.

 

[superdave336]

I’m thinking I’ve seen a video from Ross and he does them like this. Says it also helps keep the fig tree’s hormones in balance vs. lots of pruning.

With that many hard green figs I think I’d have to try making the green fig jam.

 

[Figgin' A]

There's so much good pruning discussion here I wonder if this should be its own thread.

OK, this tree didn't ripen nearly as many figs as it normally does. Last year I harvested so many...

View attachment 15555

Brace yourself for this next image. It's not pretty. Many that were so close, but now just going to the compost heap.

View attachment 15556

Now, understand that this was an unusual year. It was nasty cold until well into June. The tree woke up super late. But just the few extra weeks of cold weather... despite having a record hot summer ended with them just not having enough time to ripen.

I know many of you already know exactly what I'm talking about but for those who don't.... I've been protecting the trees aggressively every winter. Unfortunately the tree has become so big that I needed to begin pruning back to very large, older scaffolds. The problem is that the older the wood gets, the longer it takes to shoot out branches. Last year I pruned harder than ever so I could cover it. I ended up pruning it back to this.

View attachment 15558

All the new growth had a fig at just about every node. But that few extra weeks meant it took too long.

So, the plan for this one this winter is to keep about 50% of that new growth so new wood hopefully appears from the newer growth long before it would from the trunk.

So the challenge for me then (I'm thinking) is to always have enough growth from the previous year for speedy new wood, but keep the whole thing small enough that I can protect it.

Another way to achieve this may be to let it grow from the ground as a bush to say maybe, 3-5 whips. First year or two those do little to nothing... but the following year I allow another 3-5 suckers grow and again on the third. Every year after that I could remove the oldest to the ground and allow a new, 3-5 suckers to come up. Any thoughts on this idea? I'm thinking kind of how bananas are done.... with several stages of plant growing at all times.

Those fruiting branches are impressively long. I counted 24 nodes on one. The problem is that there could be a several-week, sometimes over a month, difference between fruit set (and hence ripening) on node 1 and node 24. That's on top of other issues, like wake-up time, older wood taking longer time to push out new growth, delays due to unusually cold weather in spring, etc.

The bottom line is, it doesn't matter if you grow it as a tree or as a bush, but you will greatly benefit from preserving apical buds. I wouldn't do it on this tree the way it is, though; those tips are way too high. I'd reshape it first.