How to prune fig trees. Today we're giving you a comprehensive tutorial on pruning our mature fig trees here on the farm. Buy our Pruning Tools Here! www.amazon.com... #figs #figtree #pruningfigs
Thanks for the video. I tried 1 fresh fig (always thought they were gross because of fig newtons), and man, I'm hooked. I have 3 baby fig trees now and was wondering how to prune them. You sure can prune the crap out of them! I'm also amazed, from your other videos, about how fast they grow.
Glad to hear you're enjoying your figs and welcome to the club! You can really prune them however you'd like. Some varieties will grow more aggressively than others, so just base your pruning on how the tree grows. Just keep in mind they are naturally a bush as opposed to a single trunk tree, so if you're trying to keep them clean towards the ground you'll want to prune them up. Enjoy those figs!!
Hi Dwayne I am writing from down under and want to say that your tutorials are brilliant, you pay attention to detail and your explanations are extremely informative..........well done and a big thankyou! Cheers Jennifer
Hey Jennifer. Thank you for the kind words and I'm glad you're finding the content informative. We have a lot of viewers in Australia that we talk to and it's great to be able to relate to people on the other side of the world. I hope your winter is treating you well. We're looking forward to fall here in Arizona!
I sent your link to my husband. He actually watched it and did everything you suggested. He even invested in a chipper. Thank you for sharing such great information. Blessings to you and your family.
I have been searching for a video just like this. Thanks for getting in and getting your hands dirty. I have seen so many of people just talking about it but not showing any technique while explaining their way through. Thanks for the tips!
Very cool. I'm glad you found this one useful. We just wrapped up pruning for the season and posted another fig pruning video last week with some of our 2 year old trees. Each year it's a new challenge!
We have a few videos on fig trees that we've done over the years. I'll link to our fig playlist for you here, so you can see what we've been growing; ru-vid.com/group/PLnT_wyDSIC9i6SIRE5ZyhW3OL8mvH80AO That should at least give you some ideas on figs. Any other questions, please shoot them over!
Such a valuable and informative video. Thank you. I’ve got my first baby fig tree still in a nursery pot. It already has fruit, which I’m not sure if I should pinch off to promote leaf and trunk growth, but since it’s staying in the pot for a few months, I’ll probably just let it do what it’s going to do. Anyway. Love following your journey
I'm really glad you found this one useful. It's amazing how well fig trees will do in the right environment. These Brown Turkey figs are just about perfect for our hot Arizona climate.
I just spent abhor and half following the directions and visions of your video and things went very well. I think that I did a good job for an amateur.@@EdgeofNowhereFarm
Hey Growing Texas! Amazing what it does to spur production, so we're surprised to see completely unpruned, ragged looking trees around town also. Where are you guys in Texas?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm - We're in East Texas, south of I-20. Zone 8b. Figs will die back here in the winter, but if we keep a good bit of mulch (leaves) around them, they come through just fine.
@@growingtexas1772 Oh, gotcha. We use the same technique with our Moringa trees the first year they're in the ground until the trunk is nice and thick.
I air-layer my figs, it works great. in 30 days, you have beautiful roots, just plant in pot or ground. and following year you have more tasty figs. ;-)
pauliewalnuts2007, we need to try that. We tried air layering with mulberries for the first time this year and had great success. I can see where figs would do well here also. Thanks for the advice!
Air-layering in great especially for figs. They root out like I said in no time, and you can have a nice established branch to air-layer. Get a branch that actually looks great and look like a miniature tree, air-layer it, and you will have literally an instant tree.
love your videos by the way. Love how you explain things. Even for someone who has been gardening for a while, it is nice to hear you explain and show what you are doing.
I watched your mulberry pruning too, and I like the notch/pathway principle you do where you make a nice little cubby house to go in and harvest easily. I think I'll try that. I like to leave a few really super-high branches, though, which I count as sacrificial, but they're for the parrots and finches, so they go for the fruit there first, instead of further below.
Hey fCLEF007. We just posted an update to the mulberry pruning video yesterday and highlighted the harvesting notch in action. The fig tree is growing so strong that it's closing up the notch I created, so I'm going to have to widen that a little. I like the idea of leaving higher branches for the birds. I think we may have to include that on the new property. We're attracting so many birds and it's going to be a bigger issue with more trees and space. Great suggestion!
Hey Clever Kim. Woohoo!!!! Tucson is really very beautiful. We considered a few larger pieces of land down there, but we're really tied to Phoenix. You're going to LOVE IT!
Hello, it's the best video on pruning fig trees that I have seen ( it was not easy for me to follow you cause you speak VERY VERY fast and I apologise for the subtitle ) . It's very pedagogic and well explained . I have some fig trees that I have severely pruned recently for the first time ( I bought the house 3 years ago ) but I see that you are more"severe " than I tought to be . I have two questions if you have a little time to answer : with this severe pruning you say that there are going to be lots of figs this summer, is it true ? After this pruning when would you do the next if you still got this tree, next year, in two years ? Thanks for your answer and best regards from France .
Hi Benoit. I apologize for speaking so quickly. It's good feedback and I need to slow down! As for pruning, most fig trees here in AZ grow VERY quickly so I have pruned heavy the last 2 years and have had very strong fruit sets and growth both years. This variety is also a very strong grower, so it can handle more severe pruning. Our slower growing fig trees (like BlackJack) are not pruned as heavy, but are pruned in the same manner. We prune every year in the winter time when the trees go dormant so they're not draining sap and have less chance of fungal or bacterial disease setting in. Hope this helps and thanks again for the feedback. BTW, last name is Hebert, great grandparents were French Canadian!
En fait, il parle tout à fait normalement, pas du tout "very very fast" mais c'est l'effet que procurent toutes les langues étrangères parlées par des "natives" et écoutées par des étrangers qui n'ont pas encore assimilé la langue suffisamment bien pour "digérer" le flot "normal" (j'insiste!!) d'une langue étrangère. Donc il aurait fallu que tu formules différemment ta difficulté à comprendre et mette l'accent sur "ta" difficulté et non sur "sa" rapidité de parler ... En bon Américain, très poli, il s'excuse mais ce n'était pas du tout à lui de le faire.
This was a great explanation of how, why, when to trim a fig tree. It has made me realize that I am FAR too timid when trimming trees :) I am now looking forward to January to put this into practice!
Thank you for your videos. Incredibly helpful. 😊😊😊 It’s already spring. We did not prune our new fig tree in the winter. Since it’s already spring. Is it too late to prune it ? We are now approaching summer.
If it's broken dormancy it's best to wait for Fall. They can "bleed" quite a bit during the growing season and while it would be rare, it could invite infection.
Hey Martha. Glad you enjoyed this one. The chipper we were using in this episode is the Sun Joe 14 amp chipper. I'll link it for you here on Amazon; amzn.to/3yNUCpN
So they key is open center for better growth and disease prevention !! Im going to use your method on my brown fig tree this winter to save my poor fig tree. lol
Yeah, it's by far the best method for these, especially if you're wanting to reach the fruit in the middle of the tree. The leaves make you very itchy and that's the last thing you want in the middle of summer when these are ripe!
Hey Jeremy. They really are amazing trees. Here in AZ you can pretty much just let them go, but they produce much better if they're pruned back. Thanks for the comment!
Great tutorial. I did some hard pruning on my fig tree last year. It resulted in loads of branches bearing loads of fruit. Unfortunately it shed all the fruit while it was still very small. How do I prevent the shedding this time around
Hey there Joan. There are a few things that can cause that to happen, but it usually narrows down to shock of some sort after the fruit sets. We lost all of our first sets this Spring due to some very late frosts. It can also occur because of inconsistent moisture. Have you had fruit set and ripen from this tree before?
@@joanapril5120 ah ok. It sounds like something stressed out those trees. Depending on the variety and how they fruit you may still see another fruit set. Ours dropped all of their initial set of fruit in early April and then set another round once it warmed back up.
Edge of Nowhere Farm i live in Virginia, my fig is 18 ft high. I must trim it. When do you think is the best time to trim???? it here in Virginia the winter starts in November through March.
@@Sanmiguelforever Virginia is a bit colder than we are here, but the timing is similar. You'll want to wait until the tree has lost all of it's leaves. This signals it's dormant and ready to be pruned.
I’m trying to get a small orchard under control. My late husband planted about 30 vines canes bushes s as and fruit trees. Now he’s gone and I’m aging, it’s a chore to care for it all. Anyway I have one fig that overthrew itself as it’s been 8 years since husband’s death. The fig has probably about 8 two inches diameter trunks. Should I cut all down but one? Or two?
Wow, Mary I can only imagine doing all of this on your own. To lose your sweetheart and carry on this task is inspiring. As for your fig, it's up to you if you'd like to get it down to a single trunk. We prefer that, but you may need to do that reduction over a couple of years so as not to shock the tree too much. Does this tree grow aggressively for you?
Hi Duane & Lori from beautiful Silicon Valley in California! We have a beautiful, old, huge, I mean huge like 20' high by 20' wide, fig tree. The trunk diameter alone is about 3' !!!! Sorry not sure what type but figs are huge, green and flesh is dark pinkish/red. It has not been pruned for a year or two now. This baby produces soooo much fruit that the wildlife just loves because too many for us! We want to cut this baby back because she is too big and too messy. Can you give me any suggestions to cut her back so she doesn't get as high, as wide and produces less fruit? Is it healthy for her if I cut her back to her main, thick branch stubs off the main trunk? And I think I should not cut in winter if I want her smaller and less productive, right? Thank you for your great videos and advice! Lots of great info!
Howdy from AZ! Your tree sounds amazing and I imagine the weather you guys have there is just ideal for it to produce wonderful, juicy figs. As for pruning, you have a lot of options. Pruning will induce new growth which in turn produces more fruit. For most of us that's a good thing, but if you're trying to reduce it's production, I would be lean towards less pruning. However, if you're trying to control for size, you may want to work towards that over a few years as opposed to lopping it all off at once. The general rule of thumb is no more than about 30% of the total branch mass in any season. We usually push that a little with our younger trees, but I wouldn't do more than that with that older tree you have. If size is the main goal it might be worth taking all of the middle branches out in the first year to reduce the overall height and then go back in subsequent years and thin the branches from there. Hopefully this makes sense!!
I just made a bunch of cuttings that I got off my young black Genoa fig tree, keen to see how those go, not sire where I'm gonna put them though I'm running out of room in my yard to plant things. I've also got what I think (not 100% sure) are mulberry cuttings. Also not sure where I'm gonna plant those, I might just keep the strongest one of each. Not sure what I'll do with the rest.
Sounds like you have the same sickness we do when it comes to fruit trees. Just a warning, we went from owning a house in the city (ran out of space for trees) to 1 acre in the country (ran out of space) to 6 acres in the country. We're not out of space here....yet! Here's to a yard full of fruiting goodness!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm yeah my place is in the country and I miss it, I don't actually live at my house, I can only visit every now and then to do this stuff, Kinda sucks, especially cause I only really got into this recently over the last two years or so after moving to the city. I lived in my place for ages and never planted anything then, I wasted so much time lol
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm if I get divorced I'll go straight back lol, but nah not really, maybe some time in the future who knows. Definitely keeping the house though.
Great video. It is the end of March and around 50 F in my area. Wondering if I can still get new growth and figs this year if I cut most of the 10-12 ft tall branches. My tree is 10 years, not too bulky but make incredible figs. Thanks.
Hey Joe! As long as the tree hasn't started to break bud (leaf out) then you should still be ok to prune. As a general rule you don't want to prune more than about 30% of the branching off a tree in 1 season. Pruning more than that can cause stress on the tree that can really cause problems and even kill it. At 10 years old you may need to bring the tree down in stages over a couple of seasons.
Great question and it's really up to you. Fig trees are typically grown from cuttings, so anything that comes from the ground is the same type of tree. With that, you can literally choose any for the "trunk", or even keep all of them and grow it like a bush.
Great question here Loyce. It's hard to say for sure what may be causing your lack of fruit production. Figs are in the ficus family of plants and there are non-fruiting trees in that family. It's possible you have a non-fruiting variety although typically nurseries use cuttings from fruiting trees that will always grow true to type. Pruning, irrigation and fertilization are the keys for fruit production. Fruiting branches sprout from wood that is at least 1 year old, so if you're not seeing any fruit forming from those sprouts there's a problem.
Great question Alex. Under most circumstances (and in most areas) it would be ideal to help with airflow, however our issue here in AZ is the intense sunlight our summers bring to trees. We do keep the center open to an extent, but we still have to keep the inner branches protected during the middle of the summer. Outside of the desert SW you can keep that middle wide open year round.
Hey Mary. The chipper is a Sun Joe chipper. I'll link to it on Amazon for you here; amzn.to/3YIegzN We use wood chips extensively here on our desert farm and have no issues with disease from chipped wood. That being said, if we have any obviously diseased wood we typically either burn or toss those branches in the dumpster.
Hey Vel. Here's a video we shot during the harvest following this pruning session (about 5 months later); ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6cIrkJFf6rE.html
Great Video ! Am now excited to get to prunning, instead of freaking out ! But its March and I am in Texas, am I too late for such prunning ? The branches already have green tips (yet we are getting one “last” cold front this weekend)
Hey Geraldine! You may still have some time if you haven't seen any buds breaking yet. The only real issue with pruning late in the season is if you have a chance for fungal infections from the wounds not healing over due to a lot of moisture in the air. If you're fairly dry you should be ok still.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I ll give it a try tomorrow, luckily we had a longer winter in houston area but the buds are showing their little heads ! off to cleaning my prunning sheers... Thanks for getting back to me,
Have you every planted a branch after pruning it off the tree? I remember as a kid seeing my grandfather planting his branches and watching them take root and grow a new tree.
Hey Anthony! We have done this with fig and mulberry trees. We have had better success in the summer with cuttings then we have in the winter. Probably only 30% success in the winter and about 70% in the summer.
The only thing we've done with trees is Espalier training along fences. We don't have a good example of that on the farm, but we did some of that in our backyard in the city back in the day. It's ok, but not ideal if you have the space away from the wall.
I live in Globe Az. and have a very large fig tree. Thanks for the video. I'll be pruning my tree in like 10 minutes and now have a plan and know what I'm doing unlike the last few years. BTW do you get a lot of wasps when the fruit hits peak ripeness? I find if I don't harvest the fruit quick enough, the birds get into the fruit and that brings the wasps.
Glad we can give you some encouragement to get out there and prune that tree of yours. We do get a lot of bird damage and the bugs are right behind them, but not specifically wasps. We do see them from time to time, but it doesn't see to be a big issue for us. Ants are a different story!
Rita from Down South of Australia - loved your video - I have a tree where the owner has attempted to have a central leader that is quite tall. If I remove the centre, I could create the candelabra effect - do you think that will work? Thanks in advance
Hey Maria! I know there are variations in climate in Australia, but I understand many areas are similar to what we face here. With that in mind, I'm also assuming you have a tree that grows pretty aggressively. If that's the case, you should be ok to begin pruning that central leader trunk down while you're in the dormant season. You may want to do that in steps over a couple of years as the general rule of thumb is to remove no more than about 30% of total mass during any single pruning season. Again, if your trees are aggressive like we have here, you may be able to get away with a bit more than that. If you go the aggressive route you'll want to limit the amount of material you take off in addition to that central leader. This way you'll still have plenty of leaf matter to drive nutrition into the roots during the growing season when it comes out of dormancy. Hopefully this helps!
Yay! Pruning time Dwyane (did I get the spelling right?) and Laurie! Life has come in full swing at The Edge of Nowhere Farm! Spring is exciting at your niche of the desert.👌🌱🌼🌿🐞🍀🐖🐓🐔🦢🐐
Yes, it's definitely that time of year. We just wrapped up our pruning today actually! Oh and it's Duane and Lori, but we answer to just about any version of those! 😉
Good Morning As I was watering my lemon tree, I noticed that a large but skinny off shoot from the main trunk was growing from underneath the soil. It is two feet tall. Is there a way I can remove this off shoot and do what it takes to have it produce roots? When should I remove this off shoot?
Hey Patricia. You're definitely describing a sucker branch that is growing from the root stock. If you're wanting to root out the cutting and have what is probably a sour orange of some sort you may be able to do so. The challenge with that is you're probably dealing with a "green" shoot and they don't do well trying to root out in mid-Summer. As for timing, you need to remove that ASAP as it's literally sucking the life from the lemon tree!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm it’s hard for me to throw plants away. Pruning is difficult. I can feed the goats or chickens the sucker. I can sacrifice for the good of the greater. How far up the trunk should I prune these suckers?
@@patriciarobson8437 Hopefully you'll be able to identify the graft point on the tree and you'll want to prune everything below that graft. If you're not sure where the graft point is you can usually tell by the leaf shape and/or the branch direction what is sucker growth vs lemon tree branching.
Hello I have a fig tree that was not pruned properly. Any suggestions on how I may trim to control it from growing taller but have it growing to the side? Thank you.
Hello Dee Dee. This is a good question and if you follow the tips we show you here it should help you to train the tree to grow wide rather than tall. The challenge for you may be taking your time bringing the size of the canopy down depending on how big the tree is now. The general rule of thumb is to remove no more than about 30% of the tree's branching each pruning season. I would start with the tallest branches in the middle of the tree and start taking those down to begin forming a bowl in the middle of the tree. This will encourage the tree to start sending out lateral branching while it also tries to fill the middle of the tree back in over the summer. When it comes to pruning time next year you'll follow the same process removing the branching from the center/top of the tree to continue to encourage that outward growth. Hopefully this makes sense.
Did you know that white sap wil rid of warts and skin tags? Just don't let it on healthy skin. The leaves are great to wrap and cook food in. fig wood is good for whittling, the driedwood and dried leaves smell and burn real nice in a bon fire. Figs are amazing!
Hey Linda. I've heard of folks using the leaves in cooking, but we haven't tried that yet. I wasn't aware of the sap for skin tags and warts, that's pretty cool!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm 9 was looking for a natural way to remove my husband's skin tag and came across the method online and was blown away that it worked in a week. Here's the method. Dab some sap on skin tag, careful not to get it on healthy skin because it'll burn, then place a small bandaid so it keeps the sap in place. Repeat about 3+ times during a week. It'll fall off i swear. Cooking and tea with the leaves make sure to let the sap bleed from the ends for about an hour.
Hey Shoshana! We did a video last year on our 1 year old trees that I'll link for you here; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-INlJHZEJbkw.html We also filmed pruning the same trees this year (most of them 2 years old) and should have that episode up this weekend. Still editing that one.
Thanks for very informative video. Will buds grow still from the older woods( 2 yrs old and older) or just branching out again from the last year woods?
RC, that is a fantastic question. Yes, you'll find your fig trees can push new growth from pretty much everywhere, similar to a mulberry tree if you're familiar with those. We're constantly clearing low growth on the trunk of our fig trees. They grow both above and just beneath the soil if they get enough moisture around the trunk.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for the quick reply..I have 3 year old Black Mission tree and planned to prune it after the New Year. Just not sure how to, but after watching your video and your response to my question made me confident now to trim down the tree from 7 feet.
I'm about to buy a condo, which has a back yard (yay!) in NJ. In the yard there are two fig trees which were apparently planted almost 50 years ago! The current owners have done little-to-no upkeep of the trees or the rest of the yard, but they told me that every August the trees bear huge amounts of fruit. So, for pruning in this climate, should I do it in late fall, or whenever the leaves have all fallen? Any other tips? (Also, just as a side note, last spring I bought a little leafless twig of a fig tree--not knowing that I'd soon have a yard! I just planted it in a pot and put it in a south-facing window. To my great surprise, it started bearing fruit a few weeks ago. It's still probably only about 1 1/2 feet tall. Is that unusual? I just think it's so cool!)
Hey Nancy, congrats on your new place and with some land, woohoo!! So for your pruning you'll want to get into winter before you prune. I would imagine you have a very traditional spring bud break (usually around last frost) sometime in late March or April. If that's the case, prune anytime from December through probably late February and you'll be just fine. You're just trying to let the tree heal over before the sap starts to run. Be sure not to prune more than about 30% of the total branching so the tree can heal properly. As for your little guy producing fruit, that's not that unusual for a well cared for fig tree. It may not get them all the way to ripe yet, but any tree bearing fruit is a really good sign. Let us know how it goes with your new property!!!
I just watched your pruning video and learned a lot! I had two Brown Turkeys that I grew in large half barrel sized pots because I knew we were moving. We had an atrocious record cold winter in ‘21/‘22 here on the west coast of BC, Canada and I lost both trees, even with having covered them. Heartbroken, I didn’t throw them away and one sprouted back from the bottom in early summer! It now looks like a dead tree and new shoots from the bottom! I will still wait until late winter to prune the old tree away, but do I do anything different to the new shoots that came up? Do I only pick one to be the new plant? I still want to keep it in the large container, but I will do a better job of winterizing it in case we have another record cold. The ‘Mama’ tree was four years old.
Hey there Anita. Sorry to hear those trees took the brunt of that Winter weather, but leave it to a fig tree to fight it's way back from the roots! The shape of the tree is entirely up to you. If you're going to continue to grow it in those pots (sounds like a necessity based on your climate) it may be more beneficial to keep a multi-trunk tree and either cover them entirely, or move them to a warmer spot. The more branching you can achieve, the better your chances for solid fruit production as your fruit appears on wood that is either 1 year old (for the Breba crop) or new growth from this season (main crop). If you're wanting a single trunk you can go ahead and prune back to a single shoot during the dormant season and go from there with shaping the tree over the next couple of years. The good news with all of this is the roots are still alive which is where all of your growth will come from. With that much root mass already in place it should bounce back very quickly.
Do you have a video about planting trees and soil mixtures to use ? I have heard that in clay rich areas it’s good to plant fruit trees on mounds 12” above ground with native soil and some amendments and heavily mulch and then water 1 gallon per tree 2-3x per week. Thanks !
We do have a video of how we plant our fruit trees (and basic irrigation) here on the farm. I'll link it here; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ggvLy_nXJsk.html We do extensive mulching with woodchips around our fruit trees to hold moisture and also create rich soil life. For watering it will vary based on the season and the size of the tree.
sir i am from India (kashmir) i tried many times to grow fig tree but sir it alwas dies back i didn't understand what's the problem, sir your art of work is amazing, ❤
Hey Rizwan. For us here in the Southwestern US it's important to irrigate these really well, especially during the Summer months. You'll also want to include a heavy layer of wood mulch around the tree to maintain moisture. We also fertilizer them 3x/year. In February, May and September. We use composted pig manure as fertilizer.
Thank you for the video. I am from Spain, and fig trees grow almost like weeds there! Yum! I live in CA now, and I end up eating 90% of figs myself, as nobody around likes them (too bad for them). I also liked that I heard the word “breva”, which I had never heard in the U.S.! My fig tree also has brevas and figs, so two crops! I wanted to ask if you have any recommendation for a wood chipper? I only have 3 fruit trees at the moment, but I will be planting more soon (I don’t have a farm, but I have enough room in my front yard for another fruit tree). Thank you!!! 🙏🙏🙏
Glad you enjoyed this one Begona. Figs are one of our favorite fruits to grow and we have been able to find a lot of folks here in Arizona who love them as well, but you're right, most people are not used to the flavor and texture, so they tend to avoid them. Leaves more for us! There is a very good, small wood chipper that we used for several years that would be perfect for you. I'll leave a link to it on Amazon for you here; amzn.to/3ApaYnV And also our review of it here; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6cMaDtW0JI4.html
Hey Joann. We don't have any fig wasps to my knowledge, at least that's what the general assumption is here in AZ. Pruning is always a little tough to swallow, but the resulting production isn't...well, unless you're eating too many figs in a day, that may be tough to swallow. 😉
Hi there, thanks for the great video on pruning! We have a lovely, productive fig tree in southern Oregon. I am wondering if I should fertilize it and if so, what to use. Do you fertilize your trees? Mine seems to do fine and put on an abundance of fruit now and I've not fertilized it in 6 years! Maybe the fruit would be more nutritious if I did fertilize? Thanks!
Hey Jan. I have family in Medford and Grants Pass and used to go up there every summer as a kid to fish and hunt blackberries, so I'm a little jealous!! We do fertilize our trees on a regular schedule. For us here in AZ that's February, May and September. You'll probably need to adjust that just a little bit for your climate. The key is hitting them just before bud break, right before fruit ripening and when(if) they get a fall flush of growth before winter. We use natural fertilizers that are designed to build the soil and enrich the soil bacteria which feed the tree year round. For us that's either chicken or composted pig manure. The tree's ability to take up nutrients from your soil is dependent on that microbial activity, so we firmly believe it has an impact on a fruit's nutritive value. BTW, we just started a fig wine yesterday. If you're a fan of wine and get an abundance of figs it's amazing stuff!
Thanks for the comment and we agree completely. From grafting to pruning you really understand the Word much more deeply when you work with His creation. God Bless!
That long growing season is what does the trick for us here. It has it's disadvantages though. Everything goes into survival mode in Summer and there are many crops that can't survive that dry heat! I suppose that's why so many folks spend their summers in Washington and their Winters here! 😉
Hey Evan. We had a viewer suggest using the larger branches to cook with, but I'm not sure how they would do for smoking meat as we don't have any experience with that. The wood is pretty soft, so it would probably burn pretty quickly unless you soaked it. Hmm...
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for taking the time to reply. When I get my own fig trees I will cut a few branches, let them dry out and test them with my smoker.
Thank you for this very helpful video!! I have a fig tree in a container that I will prune heavily like your tree in this video. My question is: do I need to remove/prune the roots too? If so is it the the same ratio of what I take off in branches as to what I would take off the roots? Would you happen to be able to do a video on pruning container fig trees where you would prune the roots. Thanks!!
Hey there! This is a really good question and I'm not too sure I can answer this one for you. We have 1 tree that we're keeping in a pot (it's an apple tree that we're testing) and will need to do root pruning on, but it will be the first time we've done it! From what I understand you're looking to eliminate any roots that are circling (especially tap roots) and ideally you would move the tree up in pot size. I don't know that this is realistic as most of us (we're in the same boat) have no intentions of moving up in pot size. I do know that fig trees are VERY forgiving and grow aggressively. That includes their roots. So I would imagine it would be hard to do serious damage unless you're pruning them too far back. We're going to shoot for no more than about 30% of total mass, similar to what you would use as a gauge for the branching.
Thank you so much for your quick reply!! You are so kind!! You both are amazing for all the work you put in to have a farm in the hot Phoenix sun!!! Hats off to you both!! Your videos are very informative and to the point!
Great video. I only have one fig 'tree', a Chicago Cold Hardy. When it was three years old, we had a brutal winter and cold winds killed it (I thought) to the ground. In spring, it suckered like crazy. Not knowing what I was doing, I allowed about 10 suckers to mature, so that I don't have a tree anymore, now it's an 8 foot tall bush. It produces very well that way for the past 2 years, but I want to keep it to a reachable height. Is it 'acceptable' to keep this as a bush, or should I try to reshape it back to a single leader? I want to keep it a long time because it produces so well...but I don't want to shorten its life by my ham handed experiments.
Hey David, this is a very good question. I'm glad to hear that tree is producing well for you. Sometimes trees that are knocked back that far never really bounce back completely. With that in mind, I would keep it just as it is in regards to it's shape. In fact, that's what a wild fig tree would look like. They naturally root out from the base and spread from there. You can still cut it back to a manageable height each Winter to make it easier to harvest and also induce new branching. This will help keep that strong harvest!
These trees were spaced about 13' apart which was a little too close. It may be hard to make out, but after only a few years they had completely grown into each other. We now have them on 16' spacing which should allow for additional production without having to climb a tree to get to the fruit!
Hello. We loved your video and learned a lot. My fig is more like a huge bush and it is now planted in a 25 gallon pot. We were really interested in your chipper and checked it out at Amazon. Has it held out well for you? I notice a similar one with 15 amps. Would that be a little better. Thanks for your help. I look forward to more videos from you. We live in Michigan.
Hey Nancy. Yes, that chipper is still working after about 3 years now and a few hundred trees worth of pruning under it's belt. Hope you guys are staying safe and healthy in Michigan. We're getting warm here in AZ, so your spring is just around the corner. That fig tree will be bursting to life soon!
Thank you! That was so kind of you to respond so quickly! We are on the west side of Michigan and things are going pretty well here. Our fig is in the garage still and is just starting to produce leaves. We have had it several years ( 10+ or so ). We repotted it this spring, the roots were a solid mass. It grew outside a couple of years but that didn't work as well as it would die back in winter. So we put it into a pot and that is why it is a bush rather than a tree ( because of growing it outside and it dying back ). Each season we get about 150 figs from it. It is a Chicago fig. You think we should get the 15 amp chipper? Thanks again!
@@nancynowak500 ok, wow what a totally different climate from what we have here! The chipper is a good investment as long as you're going to be using it regularly for dealing with tree trimmings. It can also mulch leaves, but we haven't tried it for that. Oh and 150 figs is a great harvest from a potted tree. Very nice!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Waw, so that does not hurt the tree ! Seeing the relative percentage of what you have pruned, I thought maybe you only do this like once in a a 4 years or so. I am in Tunisia (North Africa) OK it is a semi-aride region and I do'nt think trees has room to grow so aggressively, but I will try this pruning, first this year (I've already done 3 days ago) and I am expecting it to be successful, then do it next year and probably stay finger crossed.
Great question Lucero and it really depends. Where you're growing them and how fast they grow can make a difference, but generally speaking it's best to prune them during the dormant season before they start pushing out new growth.
Dear Sir,thank You on an excellent and very educational video.Btw,I would need your advice in a matter of fig tree spacing.I am small farmer from croatian region of Dalmatia.In a couple of days I ll plant an orchard of our Sušiovka variety( Adriatic variety in USA).My property is in two separate pieces of land.First is 88x23 meters,second is 270x5 meters.Our old literature says 8x8 meters spacing,and the new literature says 6x6 spacing.Now I am confused,because when I see old trees ,they are so big,but to be honest ,their owners were not so keen in pruning them,because tradition says:"fig does not like pruning".I do not agree with that,and I love how You shaped Your fig by pruning.What spacing would You recommend me?I need to know,because I am getting new plants for free,just to know how many pieces I need to take.Thank You ,greetings from Croatia.
Hello in Croatia! Wow, what a different growing region you're in compared to ours. That's very exciting to here you will be getting these for free, that's a great way to begin. As for spacing, we had these 2 trees 13' (about 4 meters) apart and that was still a bit close. Right now we have our tree spacing to 16' (about 5 meters) and we feel that should be enough for this type of tree. Pruning is the key here. As long as you're controlling the size you should be fine with 6x6 spacing and can probably go a little smaller if you're wanting to squeeze in a few extra trees. Good luck on your new adventure!
I leave in Britain and our climate is not very hot I have 6 fig trees in my garden don’t know what kind they are but it’s only the Breba figs the first crop that Ripen the figs that come out of were the leaf is don’t Ripen they fall of in the winter.my question is how do I prune to get more first crop can you reply please.
Hey Nicos, that's a great question. Your best bet is to be much more selective of the branches you are going to prune. Your breba comes mainly on last year's growth, so you don't want to lose all of the 1 year old wood. Either prune intermittently (say every third branch) if you're going for size reduction or you may want to prune after your breba crop is harvested. The only catch with that second option might be an issue with fungal infection. I imagine you see a lot of rain and a fresh wound on a tree might be an issue. Would love to see pics of your trees if you're willing to share. We're on FB, Insta and our email address is in the About tab here on RU-vid.
Edge of Nowhere Farm Thank you very much for your reply I did not think I will hear from you your very kind to reply to my question.i am 70 years old and I’m not very good at computer I would like it very much to send you pictures of my fig trees if I can find out how to get your email address.my email is nicosnicholas@yahoo.com perhaps you can email me your email address and I be very happy to send you pictures.once again thank you very much for answering to my inquiry waiting to hear from you.
Hello like the channel. Ok dwane got on for you. I live on long island. Have two 5 year old trees. They grow incredibly putting out atleast 4 ft of new growth a year. Problem is i get decent amount of friut nothing crazy but 90 percent of my friut never ripens. Every year same thing they all stay green and hard very few ripen. I know there are many variables but do u think this points more towards not watering enough of lack of nutrients.
Hey Brian! Wow, Long Island, what a difference from what we go through here in the desert to produce fruit. Hope you're staying warm! So for your fig trees. First thing I would determine is the variety and the hardiness zone. Usually that's a good indicator of whether or not a fig can fully ripen in a certain area. Figs with lower hardiness zones should ripen more quickly and with less intense heat than those with higher zone tolerance. Our Brown Turkey figs set 2 crops and the fall crop never ripens because it's not hot enough (there are well over a hundred figs on these 2 trees right now that will never ripen). Sun exposure is also key to ripening any fruit. You may not be able to change this, but removing leaves from around ripening fruit may help. Lastly would be pruning and thinning. Both will reduce the number of figs the tree is trying to ripen which may help it out. As to water, that's really hard to say. I'm not familiar with growing fruit in milder climates (where I grew up in Southern CA was still warm and fairly dry), but I would imagine you usually see more consistent rainfall than we have here. As long as the soil moisture is consistent you should be ok. You wouldn't want to over water as this can cause ripening fruit to split. Fertilizing may effect it, but most commercial fruit tree fertilizers are designed to help with this. If you get a chance, send us a pic of your trees on FB or DM on Instagram. I'd like to see what they look like and the surrounding area. Maybe that will give me some other ideas for you. Merry Christmas!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm . Thanks for the reply. I dont think a picture of them now would be of any help the trees are bare. I get great sun exposure they are against a southern wall on my house with atleast 8 hrs of direct light. I prune and maintain them nicely. I do not get a breba on either one of them. It sshouldnt be this difficult to get friut. Both were sold to me at a reputable nursery so im assuming they both hardy to my climate. Do trees sonetimes take years to friut right?. Anyway merry christmas
Great question Aileen. At some point the tree should start to go dormant and you'll see the leaves start to turn yellow or get crispy (if you're getting below freezing this is what usually happens). Once you see that you can definitely help the tree along by removing the leaves. We did that over the last couple of weeks ourselves. This will allow the tree to capitalize on chill hours and also allow you to see what pruning cuts you need to make before it breaks dormancy. Hope this helps!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm awesome, thank you!!!! I’m in mesa, it’s the plants first winter in its spot, it only had about five yellow leaves at the bottom but the rest are still green.
Figs very responsive to air layering.... I have turkish variety it grow roots with in 30 days... So you will have hall new tree with in 30 dsys... I suggest to do it during grow season. 🌱
Hello Saeed, that is a great suggestion. We've tried that with our Panache figs and it does really well also. Choosing the branches you know you're going to prune away and air layering instead is brilliant!
Hey workwillfreeyou. We haven't done that yet, but we're considering that in the future for the larger branches/logs we're taking off the more mature trees. Great suggestion and love the RU-vid name BTW, so true.
Since I live in Northern VA, I wrapped my fig tree over winter. But when do I unwrap it? Do I wait until there's no more frost? Or any time the temps are around 50?
Hey Lotte Nobody. While your winters are much colder than ours we don't cover our fig trees for the winter and we get down into the low 20's at night. I would imagine you would be fine once your regular temps are above 30 degrees. All fig trees need a certain amount of chill hours (temps below 45 degrees) in order to produce a good crop, so keep that in mind. How old is your tree and what variety is it? Also, is it in the ground or in a pot?
@@lottenobody6503 Ok, so it's pretty cold hardy at this point. Fig trees are deciduous and need cold temps to produce fruit. I would check the chill hours and make sure you hit that before wrapping you're tree. You may find that you don't need to cover it at all as there are varieties (such as Chicago Hardy) that really thrive when they get a nice deep chill during the winter.
Hey Tony, great question. The tree was about that tall when we purchased it from Home Depot back in 2015 and we've kept the center cut back on it to push that growth outward each year. So technically yes, we did cut the central leader back that first winter and we've been able to maintain it each winter season.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Great thanks! I pruned my first year fig tree down to a 36 inch single trunk and all my friends said I was crazy. Haha I’m hoping for the same type of open center so fingers crossed!!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm it’s a Korky’s Honey Delight and did phenomenal growth and production wise it’s first year. I’m in Connecticut (zone 6) so we will see.
Hmm, that is odd. I'm not sure what variety you have and where you're located, but I'm guessing it has something to do with that. I know there are also non-fruiting ficus trees that will set very small "fruit" that eventually fall off.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I'm from Paso Robles (San Luis Obispo County) California. The figs come two times a year but fall off the tree before they ripen. I'm at my wits end. Been here 20+ years and have never had a harvest of mature fruit.
@@kkranch2401 SLO should be about perfect for figs. Plenty of chill time and those hot summers that you need to ripen the fruit. I'm really not sure on this one either. It might be worth trying a high production variety like Black Mission or Brown Turkey to see if it might be something in the soil or surrounding area.
I have a large brown turkey fig in Mesa that sets all sorts of beautiful fruit every year, but none of it ever ripens (the birds don't even both with it). I grew up with the same variety on my family's farm in Georgia, and we always got more fruit than we could eat, and we didn't do anything to those figs trees, no pruning, no fertilizer, no irrigation. I'm wondering if my fig here isn't being pollinated, but even the Extension Service hasn't been able to tell me what's going on. Any ideas? Great pruning video, btw.
Hey Schuyler. Boy, I'm not sure what's going on with it either. If it's indeed a Brown Turkey you should see the same ripening timeframes we're seeing out here in Wittmann (July - August and then again in the fall). Figs don't need pollinating to set and ripen fruit (it's only needed to produce viable seeds), so that wouldn't be the issue. The only thing I can think of is that it's a different variety of ficus tree that has "fruit", but not the edible kind??
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks. It has me bumfuzzled, too. The first season after I planted it, it had a nice crop of big, tasty figs for such a relatively small plant, and I had to fight the birds for them. But every season since, it has been covered with large fruit that never ripens--the figs stay green and hard until they finally turn yellow in the fall, eventually shriveling and dropping off the tree in winter. At its ripest, the fruit is flavorless and tough. Maybe, it's a microclimate issue, but I'll keep trying to figure it out. Up until this tree, I always thought figs were about the easiest thing in the world to grow!
@@schuylergrace Take a pic of it and message it to us on our FB page so I can take a look at it. Maybe with another set of eyes on it we can figure this out.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Right now, I have it cut back, so it's just coming back out (I was on the verge of removing it and planting something else). I'll post pics on FB as the season progresses and keep track of how it's being watered and fertilized. Thanks for your help!
I have the same problem . My black mission fig tree is 4 years old and is so huge and 15 foot tall . The tree looks very healthy. BUT all the fruits are falling before ripening. I heard if the soil is too rich then they don't produce fruit. Now i am trying to remove the top soil and cutting the water so the tree can slow down and focus on producing fruit. I also heard too much nitrogen is bad too. I am also trying to dig 6 foot sound the tree to breakup some roots .
