Pruning Fig Trees | How to Prune for Size and Production 

I have two fig trees from cuttings from grandfather. I was five years old. Im 59 now. The trees have been moved from NY, to West Virginia, to three different homes in Virginia. Ive always pruned them down to stumps when they were moved. Now i can prune them correctly. Thank you

Pruning suggestion for the health of your tree: my botanists friend suggests pruning a branch further away from the trunk or main branch (~2-3 inches/6-8cm). Why? A tree can more easily heal over a smaller area than a larger one. Over 180 fruiting trees!! Magnificent work. You have a wonderfully thorough attention to detail. I'm always happy to see what is happening today on the Edge of Nowhere and taking notes. Peace and health.

The first thing I thought on that first tree was, "Oh, those big ones need to come out!" It was very satisfying to see it happen. Having lived many years with an aggressive growing fig, I know the advantages of giving it a hearty pruning each year. Your saw seemed to not be as happy.

Excellent video for Pruning Fig Trees, Best teachers in all the area of Desert orchard

Excellent video of pruning figs!!!

One fruit tree I've yet to try ... have a spot in mind though so thanks for this. I remember that viewers were telling you that you've been over-pruning/killing the trees ... obviously, you know what you're doing! These look big and healthy!

Oh my, great to see you both looking so well! Your videos just haven't come up for ages!!! Yeah! It is like having had anaesthetic in your mouth when it's really cold, not that we experience such cold where we live.

So good to see you guys again. I hope you got to rest over the silly season. I had to transplant a couple of trees during the heat of the Australian summer, even though it has been a mild summer so far. Not my idea of fun, but had to be done asap. One is a stripped fig that do well this close to the coast. Thank you for the instructions, this is going to come in handy for June/July. Keep up the good work and thank you.

Wow! That amount of pruning is not for the faint hearted! Here’s to a good harvest 🍷!

Love out takes!!!

great job!!

thanks for the fig video !

Thank you

A friend gifted me what I thought was a fig tree only to find out it was a fiddle leaf fig, no fruit :( but it is seven feet tall now. Your fig trees are thick! haha Your watering structures and mulching seems to be amazing for your trees. So cool to see.

I really like your channel, your videos are really interesting, educational, motivated, Please keep doing what you doing

I bought a Figgy Dwarf plant last year , was 1 feet tall . And this year it’s already about 10 feet !!! It’s a big voluptuous tree !!! I bought it to keep it small . It’s suppose to stay shorter then 6 feet and remain bush size !! My tree loves my soil way to much !!! Lol . This video on pruning tips very helpful . Thank you ❤

I really like the XR saw. I could use that tool!

Eline emeğine sağlık bu güzel vlog için kolay gelsin hayırlı işler....👍👍👍👍

Greetings from Siirt, Türkiye, good luck

Thank you for another great video. I was wondering if you pruned your blackberries yet and if not, when?

hello! I have another question haha, I just pruned a thick branch today growing from the trunk, that was rooting into the ground so I sawed it off, and there are two more that are doing the same , can I finish doing the same tomorrow? I knw u explained end of winter is best time when dormant, will i hurt the tree by doing this pruning now? ty for your videos, they are insightful and practical!

Kyle Shanahan knows football and fig pruning. That's my coach!

Hi Duane, thanks for this video; it is very helpful. We have a single fig tree that gives us a large amount of fruit every summer. We don't know exactly which variety it is. But we haven't pruned it ever and so, it has gotten very dense. One question for you .... is there a time of the year when a fig tree should not be pruned. Since it's Feb, I'm assuming its not late for us to do this but I do see buds on the branches so wanted to make sure it's not too late. Thanks!

The video I've been looking for! We have one 4 year old fig tree here in New Mexico near Albuquerque. One mistake we made was we did not prune correctly the last 2 years (or hardly pruned it at all). About 60% done with pruning and need to finish tomorrow. Fortunately, now we know how to remove these little babies/suckers at the base. We'll be propagating some of the clippings. Do you have any suggestions the best way to do it? Any type of soil to use propagating these? Thank you for sharing this video.

You remembered me that I have to go to Sicily to prune my trees 😅. It will be a long weekend (there are 40 trees)!

Got a nice fig down in Tucson. Thanks brother. I needed this.

How do the fig Trees do, Growth wise in Prescott Valley. We live at the base of the Mingus Mountain. We sit at about 5400 ft. Elevation and get a very cold winter, snow 4 to 6 times a winter. I have apple trees and cherry trees that do well.

Hey there! Viewer from New York - Thanks for the informative video! My family has an older fig tree and I was hoping to propagate new ones from the branches . After pruning, are you able to grow new trees from those cutting? And does that differ between soft and hard wood cuttings?

I looked on your Amazon page and did not see Reciprocating Saw anywhere. Is there a particular one you like?

What was your average temperature when you cut the trees?

Hey guys Are you going to root any of your cutting?

👏

On the 3 year old tree could you have taken the big branch you cut off and start a new fig tree in a pot?

Were thinking about moving to the prescott area. Is it possible to grow a decent amount of items in the high dessert. I'm so used to growing whatever I want in California.

Hello there, great and informative videos. Your fig trees are about 8 years old by now Jan 2024 and I am wondering how many kilos or pounds does each tree produces ? I am asking about the fresh weight and not dry weight. Thank you very much and happy New year. Nick from Greece .

i have a fig tree in a pot on my kitchen window sill. there are two long stems and them 10? smaller ones. should I/we trim anything now? with november staring us in the face, in west virginia, i'm wondering what to do.

Is there any reason for why not pruning the tops with figs from the previous year?

what is the best month to trim my fig tree in Florida

Lemme have some 😛

Im up in Cali, Mendocino county, around 1800 ft. 10 miles from the coast and im hoping for some advice. Ive taken my fig tree down to 4-5' but i don't get fruit to finish. It grows 5' or 6' again for a combined 10-12' height And it isnt fruiting like it was before the aggressive pruning. I hose water once a week once the weather heats up for around 20 -30gallons. What's your take on keeping it low but getting fruit to ripen? Thanks for sharing your experience. Wish i could send you a pick.

So I just moved somewhere where we adopted 2 fig trees that have been pruned incorrectly. They cut down & killed the main trunk and its only producing suckers.. how would you go about fixing this problem?

Do you too those trees to encourage outward growth instead of height? Or, do they just grow that way?

Couple of questions. I have a fig, a Turkish fig tree. Live in SC. This year was the first year it gave me a lot of fruit. Delicious as well. I bought this fig about five years ago. It was small. The fourth year was when it started producing fruit. I had left the tree alone because I felt it just needed to grow on its own then it would start producing when it's supposed to. First question. When can a fig tree start producing fruit? (year, age of tree). Is it all about the pruning to get the tree to produce fruit? If I wanted to transplant the fig tree at any age will this be, ok? Best time to transplant a fig? Best time to prune a fig? It can get in the 20's here in SC during winter and may get some light snow for a day or two, but SC is not known to get much snow where I live. In Lexington SC, 15 minutes away from Columbia SC. My last question. How do I keep wildlife from eating my figs? I had around 30 that I was waiting a day or two for the fig stem to curl so I can pick them off. I came out the second day, ready to pick them only to see all my figs were gone. I am assuming the birds came and ate them. I was so upset! I wanted to make fig jam. sorry for the long comment, but I am not so experienced in figs and this year, seeing all the figs got me excited to take care of this tree even more. TY for your input.

What is the distance between the trees?

Before pruning you could first air layer the branches and have some new plants.. b.regards

hello again! , love the videos, I pruned my fig tree ( Black mission fig)about 2 months ago and it has grown back very well but im not seeing any figs growing will I get any this years? by cutting back a few months ago did i sacrifice figs growing now? when is best month in Phoenix area to prune to the fig tree to the size I would like it?

I'm living in the high desert of CA, have similar growing climate with yours. This year, I started hundreds of cuttings in the last 3 months, and having over 100 small fig plants now. I'm impressed with how good your figs growing. My neighborhood is built on a hill and the soil is mostly hard as rock. I'm wondering how you amended your AZ desert soil. Did you dig big holes for each fig tree then filled with good soil, or just regular holes and fertilize on the surface ? I dig big holes, mixed good soil with native soil, poking holes in the holes to help the roots grow, yet I did not have success in the past with other kinds of trees. This year, I'll try again on the figs which can be suitable to desert climate then hope for the best.

why did you remove the suckers? Dont suckers produce fruit?

how can your biggest fan/viewer/supporter/subscriber (me obviously) get some fig cuttings?! 👀🌳

I am new at pruning and i see that you cut off quite a bit of branches. It would be helpful for us newbies to know why certain ones were cut off, how the cut affects the tree, and why others were left on (besides the ones that were facing inward direction). Thank you nonetheless.

First to comment “first”

Is it okay to prune in the beginning of spring?

What do you do with all your figs?

Why so heavy pruning?

if only you had some blue and yellow socks to keep you warm.

Scaffold?! good grief, and all these years, here I have been calling them branches aren't I the fool lol

AWESOME video, was wondering if you guys had an email. My home came with a fig tree (live north of OROVILLE CA). My wife an I have been trying to get our fig tree back up to PAR. Unfortunately the OLD LANDSCAPER butchered the tree and almost killed it. Not real SURE HOW TO PROPERLY maintain it so IT'S been kind of GROWING WILD... BECAUSE i didn't wanna shock or kill it after he'd done all that. Now it's blooming really well but it's gottin really big for where it's at and id love some advice as to maintain this thing for efficient fruit growth.