DIY Limb Spreaders

ETXfigs

ETXfigs

Well-known member
I wanted some limb spreaders and decided to make some with materials that I have laying around. Limb spreaders online are not too expensive so it may be easier to just get some from Amazon. If you have a lot of trees this might be cheaper, or if you just want to save a few bucks.

I had some of those paint stir sticks that are free at the big box stores, and some of those sticks that are like pop sickle sticks but larger. You could also just buy a similar sized wood product and use that. I also had a couple of these metal rods that came with fig trees that I purchased. They were stuck into the soil of the pot and the trunk was tied to it, to keep the tree straight. I just cut 45 degree notches in the ends of the sticks. You can also cut them to various lengths. The metal rod, I just bent to the shape I wanted.

The 1st two pics (screenshots) are the spreaders available at Amazon. The 3rd pic is the ones that I made. The 4th pic is the tree after I installed the spreaders on it.

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I did these last season but they did not hold up well and started splitting at the bottom of the V. Worked good until they split too much and fell.
 
FruitBrute said:
I did these last season but they did not hold up well and started splitting at the bottom of the V. Worked good until they split too much and fell.
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I don't mind if they split as long as they don't split super fast, like in a week or two. If they last a few months I'm good with that.
 
Mine might have been a thinner wood piece also, so that likely played a role. They split when it rained and then got super hot afterwards in the following days
ETXfigs said:
If they do start to split, I can make them durable by putting 2 part epoxy on the ends. I have epoxy on hand.
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Mine might have been a thinner wood piece also, so that likely played a role. They split when it rained and then got super hot afterwards in the following days.
 
Looks good.

Only comment is to keep an eye on it to make sure the string or wire used doesn’t bite into the branches. I use a thicker piece of rope tied around the branch and then use wire between the rope and pot to try to minimize biting into the branch.
 
bushdoctor82 said:
Looks good.

Only comment is to keep an eye on it to make sure the string or wire used doesn’t bite into the branches. I use a thicker piece of rope tied around the branch and then use wire between the rope and pot to try to minimize biting into the branch.
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I am going to cut a small piece of rubber from an inner tube and place it on the branch where it's tied.
 
superdave336 said:
Basement Figs does this and has some of the best shaped trees.
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I saw one of his videos on shaping/training fig trees, the trees with the pvc pipes. I don't think I want to keep them growing perfectly straight the way he does. At some point I plan on cutting the ties and have either a goblet shape with an open center or something with horizontal scaffolds and vertical fruiting branches. I like his trees. I'm going to watch more of his videos.
 
bushdoctor82 said:
Looks good.

Only comment is to keep an eye on it to make sure the string or wire used doesn’t bite into the branches. I use a thicker piece of rope tied around the branch and then use wire between the rope and pot to try to minimize biting into the branch.
Click to expand...
Your trees look really good from the few pics I've seen. I wouldn't mind seeing more. It would give "goals" to shoot for. This is my first attempt at shaping/training a tree. I plan on doing it to more of my trees. This is a good tree to practice and learn on. It was cheap and already has a good shape to start with.
 
ETXfigs said:
Your trees look really good from the few pics I've seen. I wouldn't mind seeing more. It would give "goals" to shoot for. This is my first attempt at shaping/training a tree. I plan on doing it to more of my trees. This is a good tree to practice and learn on. It was cheap and already has a good shape to start with.
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As soon as it stops raining I’ll grab a few pictures.
 
ETXfigs said:
Your trees look really good from the few pics I've seen. I wouldn't mind seeing more. It would give "goals" to shoot for. This is my first attempt at shaping/training a tree. I plan on doing it to more of my trees. This is a good tree to practice and learn on. It was cheap and already has a good shape to start with.
Click to expand...
Here’s a few - I’m certainly not the guy to take tree training advice from though. I’m still trying to figure it out myself.

AJH - trying to obtain a large full canopy without many open spaces … trying.
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Figo Preto - still not cooperating after major prune. I’ll attempt training once more lignified.
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Molise Red - I haven’t touched it. Just natural growth pattern.
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Family Unknown - Starting to grow after dieback. I only let a few branches per scaffold to remain.
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Family Unknown - I haven’t touched it. Just natural growth pattern.
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Byadi - Going to prune it back a lot in the fall. Too much going on up top.
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The only tree I am training is the AJH and eventually Figo Preto. All the ingrounds I just prune off dead branches in the Spring and rub out branches I don’t want when they appear or prune in fall to fit under Winter covering.
 
bushdoctor82 said:
Here’s a few - I’m certainly not the guy to take tree training advice from though. I’m still trying to figure it out myself.

AJH - trying to obtain a large full canopy without many open spaces … trying.
View attachment 8813

Figo Preto - still not cooperating after major prune. I’ll attempt training once more lignified.
View attachment 8814

Molise Red - I haven’t touched it. Just natural growth pattern.
View attachment 8815

Family Unknown - Starting to grow after dieback. I only let a few branches per scaffold to remain.
View attachment 8816

Family Unknown - I haven’t touched it. Just natural growth pattern.
View attachment 8817

Byadi - Going to prune it back a lot in the fall. Too much going on up top.
View attachment 8818

The only tree I am training is the AJH and eventually Figo Preto. All the ingrounds I just prune off dead branches in the Spring and rub out branches I don’t want when they appear or prune in fall to fit under Winter covering.
Click to expand...
Beautiful trees! 😍
 
I have noticed that with these limbs tied down to a horizontal position, I have made a perfect perch for those pesky cat birds. They normally don't land in my fig trees very often but I have seen them much more now on this tree since they have this nice perch. I put an arrow on the first pic to show where this fig in the second pic is located. I guess i need some organza bags.

My point is that if you decide to tie your branches down like this, you might attract more birds.

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superdave336 said:
Nice trees. I did a heading cut too high for my liking. I’m going to cut them shorter this winter and sacrifice growth to get the shape I prefer for future.
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I did that on a LSU Gold end of last season. Strangest thing... the tree is very much green and alive, but it's basically a stump now. It wont but out of any of the lower nodes on the trunk. Not sure what the deal is with that. It's literally an old trunk the size of my wrist but it wont grow. It's going to get hot this week. I'm considering hitting it with some ammonium sulfate to see if that gives it a kick in the pants.
 
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