Figgin' A
Well-known member
When I ventured off into the exciting world of growing figs, one thing that kept me constantly wondering was whether to prune my figs. I saw what looked like great results from both pruned and unpruned potted fig trees. Eventually, I posted a thread on theirfigs - https://www.theirfigs.com/forum/figs-home/1338985-pruning-vs-no-pruning-findings-and-observations - to see what experienced fig growers thought about this. I got responses from both camps. I did not get any more clarity on the topic. If anything, I became more confused.
So, I've been experimenting a lot lately, and here are some thoughts and observations I've made that some of you may find helpful, especially those who grow figs in a climate similar to mine. These points are not meant to be exhaustive or in any particular order. Just a quick-and-dirty list off the top of my head... feel free to share your thoughts and observations here as well.
Keep in mind that we all grow figs differently, often very much so, so your perspective/experience may be different, and that's totally cool with me.
1 - As @bushdoctor82 mentioned in the thread I linked to above, many people follow the 'Japanese Pruning Method' religiously. Based on what I observed over time, it was advocated by a few very vocal old timers, which sort of steered many newbies into using it, which in turn, made it as popular as it is. But is it good for ME? Nope. Over time, I realized that I could get much better results by not following it.
If you have ever lived in Japan, you know it has a very warm climate, for the most part. Their March is my May, and their December is like the last week or two of October in my climate. I can't prune the crap out of my trees and expect the whips to grow full length, set figs bottom to top, and ripen all those figs before my season's end. The more I prune, the more of a head start I need to give my trees.
The Japanese pruning method, in its entirety, is BAD and very ineffective for me. I use some elements of it to begin shaping it, sans establishing ridiculously long main scaffolds, which also doesn't work for me, but that's about it.
2 - Proponents of hard pruning state that trees pruned back to "single one year old nodes off the permanent scaffolds" would be more productive relative to unpuned trees. But is that true? I have several trees that I hard-pruned one year and minimally pruned the following, and the minimally pruned trees sprouted dozens of young fruiting branches that bore more figs compared to the few long whips that would come out from the "single one year old nodes."
3 - Elaborating on the point #2 - long whips take longer to sprout, grow, and set fruit. I can take 2-3 months or more between bud break and the formation of the figlets at the very top of the whip, which means much later ripening. Unpruned trees, or rather, carefully and very minimally pruned trees, shoot dozens of fruiting branches that each set fewer figlets, 4-8 vs 18-20, but do it in a much shorter time frame, which means quicker complete ripening. This is extremely beneficial for my climate.
For example, my hard-pruned Unk Prosciutto took 15 days to wake up last year, set the first figlet 31 days later, 33 figlets 45 days later, 118 figlets 75 days later, and 186 figlets 105 days later. This year, this same UP, unpruned, was brought into the grow tent two months later than last year, took 12 days to wake up, and began to set figlets 30 days later. That was on April 12. Today, this tree has 51 fruiting branches, with an average of 5 figs per branch.
Here is another example, Smith.
Pruned the crap out of it last year. Brought into the grow tent on March 1. Bud break - March 14th.
First pea-sized figlets - June 8th.
This year, it woke up naturally in the garage on March 29th. Unpruned. Sat in the garage until April 8th, at which time it went into my makeshift greenhouse, where it stayed permanently, except on cold nights, when it was back in the garage.
43 fruiting branches, with 5-8 figlets per branch. Last year, this tree only had something like 165 figs on it, IIRC.
Another example, my VDB, which is in the foreground, Unk Prosciutto behind it, placed in the grow tent at the same time as UP, very minimally pruned, pic taken 2 days ago, IIRC. 47 fruiting branches, 5-8 main crop figlets per fruting branch, and 21 breba in total.
This tree is 3.5 years old, rooted in late November of 2022, in its 4th leaf. I did not prune it last year either, and it's about 4.5 feet tall right now.
This is a closeup of the fruting branches, pic taken on May 16.
4 - Some proponents of hard pruning state that unpruned trees get too big, which makes it hard to reach the fruit. To that, I want to say - ever heard of a step stool or a ladder?
Seriously, is that a real problem?
In reality, I find that heavily pruned trees grow very vigorously, very tall, which is a problem for me because I start mine in a grow tent. Minimally pruned, or unpriuned trees, grow very minimally from their current height. My hard-pruned WM#1 outgrew my 6' grow tent by the end of April last year, but I left it completely unpruned this season; it's barely reaching the lights, and it's almost the end of May now.
5 - Proponents of hard pruning cite the ease of storing such figs in winter. I fully get that. There are always pros and cons. This one is valid, IMO. But where there's a will, there's a way.
6 - Breba delays budding and fruit set. Likely, has the same effect on ripening time, but I have no data to support that. My VDB, under the same conditions as UP, took 21 days to wake up and had the first pea-size filget 32 days later. Not an apples-to-apples, but I noticed a similar pattern on a couple of my second-leaf trees. One had a hard time leafing out, so I removed the breba, and the buds opened up 1-2 days later. Last year, my VDB took 14 days to break bud, no breba.
7 - I've seen several growers in my and similar climates hard-prune their in-ground figs to easier winterize their trees and avoid dieback of new, gentle growth. While it makes sense, it's BAD for the harvest. Finding a way to protect that growth is especially critical and rewarding for in-ground trees, which tend to wake up and set fruit later than their potted brethren.
8 - Harvey of Figaholics, a while ago, mentioned in one of his posts that he noticed how figs from unpruned trees tended to be bigger and of better quality. I need to do more testing to confirm this for myself, but last year my unpruned Chicago Hardy produced bigger and, subjectively, better-tasting figs than in prior years when it was hard-pruned. I did not have a hard-pruned ripening next to it to compare, though.
TL;DR read the whole damn thing
or not.
So, I've been experimenting a lot lately, and here are some thoughts and observations I've made that some of you may find helpful, especially those who grow figs in a climate similar to mine. These points are not meant to be exhaustive or in any particular order. Just a quick-and-dirty list off the top of my head... feel free to share your thoughts and observations here as well.
Keep in mind that we all grow figs differently, often very much so, so your perspective/experience may be different, and that's totally cool with me.
1 - As @bushdoctor82 mentioned in the thread I linked to above, many people follow the 'Japanese Pruning Method' religiously. Based on what I observed over time, it was advocated by a few very vocal old timers, which sort of steered many newbies into using it, which in turn, made it as popular as it is. But is it good for ME? Nope. Over time, I realized that I could get much better results by not following it.
If you have ever lived in Japan, you know it has a very warm climate, for the most part. Their March is my May, and their December is like the last week or two of October in my climate. I can't prune the crap out of my trees and expect the whips to grow full length, set figs bottom to top, and ripen all those figs before my season's end. The more I prune, the more of a head start I need to give my trees.
The Japanese pruning method, in its entirety, is BAD and very ineffective for me. I use some elements of it to begin shaping it, sans establishing ridiculously long main scaffolds, which also doesn't work for me, but that's about it.
2 - Proponents of hard pruning state that trees pruned back to "single one year old nodes off the permanent scaffolds" would be more productive relative to unpuned trees. But is that true? I have several trees that I hard-pruned one year and minimally pruned the following, and the minimally pruned trees sprouted dozens of young fruiting branches that bore more figs compared to the few long whips that would come out from the "single one year old nodes."
3 - Elaborating on the point #2 - long whips take longer to sprout, grow, and set fruit. I can take 2-3 months or more between bud break and the formation of the figlets at the very top of the whip, which means much later ripening. Unpruned trees, or rather, carefully and very minimally pruned trees, shoot dozens of fruiting branches that each set fewer figlets, 4-8 vs 18-20, but do it in a much shorter time frame, which means quicker complete ripening. This is extremely beneficial for my climate.
For example, my hard-pruned Unk Prosciutto took 15 days to wake up last year, set the first figlet 31 days later, 33 figlets 45 days later, 118 figlets 75 days later, and 186 figlets 105 days later. This year, this same UP, unpruned, was brought into the grow tent two months later than last year, took 12 days to wake up, and began to set figlets 30 days later. That was on April 12. Today, this tree has 51 fruiting branches, with an average of 5 figs per branch.
Here is another example, Smith.
Pruned the crap out of it last year. Brought into the grow tent on March 1. Bud break - March 14th.
First pea-sized figlets - June 8th.
This year, it woke up naturally in the garage on March 29th. Unpruned. Sat in the garage until April 8th, at which time it went into my makeshift greenhouse, where it stayed permanently, except on cold nights, when it was back in the garage.
43 fruiting branches, with 5-8 figlets per branch. Last year, this tree only had something like 165 figs on it, IIRC.
Another example, my VDB, which is in the foreground, Unk Prosciutto behind it, placed in the grow tent at the same time as UP, very minimally pruned, pic taken 2 days ago, IIRC. 47 fruiting branches, 5-8 main crop figlets per fruting branch, and 21 breba in total.
This tree is 3.5 years old, rooted in late November of 2022, in its 4th leaf. I did not prune it last year either, and it's about 4.5 feet tall right now.
This is a closeup of the fruting branches, pic taken on May 16.
4 - Some proponents of hard pruning state that unpruned trees get too big, which makes it hard to reach the fruit. To that, I want to say - ever heard of a step stool or a ladder?
Seriously, is that a real problem?In reality, I find that heavily pruned trees grow very vigorously, very tall, which is a problem for me because I start mine in a grow tent. Minimally pruned, or unpriuned trees, grow very minimally from their current height. My hard-pruned WM#1 outgrew my 6' grow tent by the end of April last year, but I left it completely unpruned this season; it's barely reaching the lights, and it's almost the end of May now.
5 - Proponents of hard pruning cite the ease of storing such figs in winter. I fully get that. There are always pros and cons. This one is valid, IMO. But where there's a will, there's a way.
6 - Breba delays budding and fruit set. Likely, has the same effect on ripening time, but I have no data to support that. My VDB, under the same conditions as UP, took 21 days to wake up and had the first pea-size filget 32 days later. Not an apples-to-apples, but I noticed a similar pattern on a couple of my second-leaf trees. One had a hard time leafing out, so I removed the breba, and the buds opened up 1-2 days later. Last year, my VDB took 14 days to break bud, no breba.
7 - I've seen several growers in my and similar climates hard-prune their in-ground figs to easier winterize their trees and avoid dieback of new, gentle growth. While it makes sense, it's BAD for the harvest. Finding a way to protect that growth is especially critical and rewarding for in-ground trees, which tend to wake up and set fruit later than their potted brethren.
8 - Harvey of Figaholics, a while ago, mentioned in one of his posts that he noticed how figs from unpruned trees tended to be bigger and of better quality. I need to do more testing to confirm this for myself, but last year my unpruned Chicago Hardy produced bigger and, subjectively, better-tasting figs than in prior years when it was hard-pruned. I did not have a hard-pruned ripening next to it to compare, though.
TL;DR read the whole damn thing
or not.