Quickest way to fruiting fig trees from a cutting

W

Woodlot

Well-known member
Will new fig trees, after cuttings are rooted, bear fruit sooner if grown in pots, or will planting the newly rooted vigorous growing fig trees bear fruit sooner if planted in the ground?

It seems to me that my cuttings put on a few figs within 12 months of rooting, but after planting them in ground, I have a two to four year wait to see figs again.

Perhaps I should be leaving some trees in pots so I don't have to wait so long for a few figs. ???
 
Grafting will give you the fastest way to ripening fruit as mentioned by @GoodFriendMike

I don’t grow inground but some of my trees that sink their roots through drainage holes into the ground end up with bigger / thicker growth from what I noticed 😳
 
Fig trees planted in the ground will initially build up a root system because they have space to do so, and will leave fruiting until later. For this reason, some people limit the roots in the ground with, for example, pieces of concrete, bricks or stones. Therefore, a fig tree planted in a pot will often fruit the year it takes root.
 
Woodlot said:
Will new fig trees, after cuttings are rooted, bear fruit sooner if grown in pots, or will planting the newly rooted vigorous growing fig trees bear fruit sooner if planted in the ground?

It seems to me that my cuttings put on a few figs within 12 months of rooting, but after planting them in ground, I have a two to four year wait to see figs again.

Perhaps I should be leaving some trees in pots so I don't have to wait so long for a few figs. ???
Click to expand...
I'm leaving some in pots due to the speedy fig production and because the last few years the in ground trees all froze. Keeping a few trees around in pots is a kinda "Bird in the Hand" to me. I have 41 in the ground but no Breba figs this year from those.
 
It seems those who have responded have unfortunately confirmed my suspicion.

Since I don't have a place to overwinter potted fig trees, and because long term maximization of fruit production is my goal, I will be planting all trees in the ground the year after rooting.

I now have 3 trees that are finally producing fruit.
It took 4 years for each of them to produce more than a handfull of figs each.

By the end of this year I will have planted an additional 8 trees in the ground which will average 5 to 6 feet tall, but next year, the first 3 trees I planted 4 years ago is all the figs I can expect.

I was mislead into thinking it only took a year or two for trees to begin fruiting because I saw so many videos showing potted fig trees less than 5 feet tall with lots of figs. But it seems to me now that, at least for the 5 varieties I'm growing, the trees planted in ground, if left to grow vertically, need to attain a height of eight feet plus to produce a significant crop.

And back to pruning, an older tree, say 8 years old or older, can probably be pruned heavily and increase fruit production. But trimming off even a foot from 4 years old trees can delay fruit production another year.

So if the fig trees are to be grown in ground and upright, even if the goal is to have trees that are not too tall to make harvesting easier, the best approach to getting a significant harvest as early as possible is to let the trees grow as large and tall as they can so fruit production comes early, but then, after the trees are 8 years or so older, then cut them back, and hope fruit production doesn't stop as it does when trimming 4 year old trees planted in ground.

For now, at least, that's how I assess the experience of my 4 and a half year long concentrated effort to create a meaningful amount of food supply from fig trees.
 
Woodlot said:
It seems those who have responded have unfortunately confirmed my suspicion.

Since I don't have a place to overwinter potted fig trees, and because long term maximization of fruit production is my goal, I will be planting all trees in the ground the year after rooting.

I now have 3 trees that are finally producing fruit.
It took 4 years for each of them to produce more than a handfull of figs each.

By the end of this year I will have planted an additional 8 trees in the ground which will average 5 to 6 feet tall, but next year, the first 3 trees I planted 4 years ago is all the figs I can expect.

I was mislead into thinking it only took a year or two for trees to begin fruiting because I saw so many videos showing potted fig trees less than 5 feet tall with lots of figs. But it seems to me now that, at least for the 5 varieties I'm growing, the trees planted in ground, if left to grow vertically, need to attain a height of eight feet plus to produce a significant crop.

And back to pruning, an older tree, say 8 years old or older, can probably be pruned heavily and increase fruit production. But trimming off even a foot from 4 years old trees can delay fruit production another year.

So if the fig trees are to be grown in ground and upright, even if the goal is to have trees that are not too tall to make harvesting easier, the best approach to getting a significant harvest as early as possible is to let the trees grow as large and tall as they can so fruit production comes early, but then, after the trees are 8 years or so older, then cut them back, and hope fruit production doesn't stop as it does when trimming 4 year old trees planted in ground.

For now, at least, that's how I assess the experience of my 4 and a half year long concentrated effort to create a meaningful amount of food supply from fig trees.
Click to expand...
Maybe @Figgin' A has some advice for you, his trees are barely a foot tall and young but they produce a bunch from what I see haha
 
On a serious note though, I don’t let my trees go above 6ft so I prune them at around that height and they seem to be fine with producing. Maybe it’s your sun / fertilizing schedule? Soil life?
 
Woodlot said:
It seems those who have responded have unfortunately confirmed my suspicion.

Since I don't have a place to overwinter potted fig trees, and because long term maximization of fruit production is my goal, I will be planting all trees in the ground the year after rooting.

I now have 3 trees that are finally producing fruit.
It took 4 years for each of them to produce more than a handfull of figs each.

By the end of this year I will have planted an additional 8 trees in the ground which will average 5 to 6 feet tall, but next year, the first 3 trees I planted 4 years ago is all the figs I can expect.

I was mislead into thinking it only took a year or two for trees to begin fruiting because I saw so many videos showing potted fig trees less than 5 feet tall with lots of figs. But it seems to me now that, at least for the 5 varieties I'm growing, the trees planted in ground, if left to grow vertically, need to attain a height of eight feet plus to produce a significant crop.

And back to pruning, an older tree, say 8 years old or older, can probably be pruned heavily and increase fruit production. But trimming off even a foot from 4 years old trees can delay fruit production another year.

So if the fig trees are to be grown in ground and upright, even if the goal is to have trees that are not too tall to make harvesting easier, the best approach to getting a significant harvest as early as possible is to let the trees grow as large and tall as they can so fruit production comes early, but then, after the trees are 8 years or so older, then cut them back, and hope fruit production doesn't stop as it does when trimming 4 year old trees planted in ground.

For now, at least, that's how I assess the experience of my 4 and a half year long concentrated effort to create a meaningful amount of food supply from fig trees.
Click to expand...

My fig trees are all in-ground, and I amend with a lot of composted steer manure. Fully composted, it will not burn. My trees love it and produce a lot of fruit. Some of my little newer trees are more than 50/50 with existing soil and they are really taking off.
 
I too have mine all in-ground and most got figs the first year. Some varieties like CLBC and Galicia Negra are know to take a couple of years before producing figs.

As a previous poster mentioned, figs seem to like their roots constrained a bit for some reason. Most of my in-ground figs were planted in 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut off. But you can only do this is you have fast draining soil. I think without root constraint, in-ground fig trees will be busy growing roots for a while and delaying fruiting. But future production will likely be much better since they will have massive root systems to support it.
 
So let me make sure I understand;

It takes only 3 years (36 months)
from the time the rootless cutting is placed in rooting medium until it is an in ground fig tree producing a lot of fruit, having been grown in a pot only one year?
 
Woodlot said:
So let me make sure I understand;

It takes only 3 years (36 months)
from the time the rootless cutting is placed in rooting medium until it is an in ground fig tree producing a lot of fruit, having been grown in a pot only one year?
Click to expand...
I rooted a few dozen figs last year and planted them in-ground on March 8. Most of them produced a lot of figs their first year . But I think a lot of it depends on your zone, number of GDD, etc.
 
You rooted them last year, so they were in a pot about one year and now, less than 3 months after planting them in ground, they are producing figs? Total time from placing them in cutting rooting medium until in ground fig production is less than 16 months?
 
Woodlot said:
You rooted them last year, so they were in a pot about one year and now, less than 3 months after planting them in ground, they are producing figs? Total time from placing them in cutting rooting medium until in ground fig production is less than 16 months?
Click to expand...
I rooted them in 16oz clear cups and when they had enough roots showing in the cups, I then planted them in-ground, on March 8. So we're talking 7-8 months after rooting most got figs. And many of the trees got sizable in the first year!

I have a lot of heat and sun here. What zone are you in?
 
Or did you plant them in the ground on March 8 of 2025 and harvest figs in 2025, the same year you put the cuttings in rooting medium?

Since I'm in zone 8a, you do have a longer growing sesson, but still, you're experience is entirely different than mine. What is the largest number of figs one of the first year trees produced?
 
I was writing my post while yours was already posted.

BUT WOW!!! That's awesome!!

My trees are more than 3 feet tall the first year too. But no fruit.

How many figs per tree and what variety of fig?
 
I hope you'all bear with me on this. It is very, very important for my situation to get this right!

Because like magic, I got lots of fruit the fourth year, unless I cut off the tops, I do not suspect there is a defect in growing conditions, especially since I am growing what may be the best soil I've seen in more than 60 years of gardening, since the trees are getting sufficient sunlight, and since I've added to the soil and top dressed the plants in accordance with the most widely recommended ammendments by online fig growers, being very careful to error on the side of too little nitrogen, and experiencing continuous growth all growing season.

Do in ground fig trees in zone 8a typically produce a lot of fruit, say more than 20 figs per tree, within 36 months of putting the cutting in rooting medium?
 
Oh gosh, I planted a few dozen varieties last year. Off the top of my head, I got figs first year on:

White Madeira #1
Harive dAgentuil
Cosme Manyo
De la Roca
Ondata
CdD Gegantina
Bourjasotte Grise
Violet Sepor
Sao Miguel Roxo
Cessac
Genovese Nero AF
Italian 258
Nero 600m
CdD Grise
CdD Blanc
Bass' Favorite
Black Tuscan
Gris de St Jean
Bordissot Negra Rimada

There were probably others. But having said that, I did not get figs first year on:

CdD Mutante
Es Torrente
Galicia Negra
5 Terre A
Campaniere
Pasquale
White Adriatic
De la Gloria
Tia Penya
Ponte Tresa

But they're getting figs this year.
 
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