PRUNING FIG TREES
Fig are best pruned in very late winter or early spring when you can see what damage you have had from freezes. At times you will after a heavy freeze need to prune out damaged wood and restructure the tree.
Figs trees are best pruned to a low three to four scaffold limb system. Do not allow excessive suckers to arise beyond this system as the result will be lack of fruit and excessive growth. Take the first three years of the trees life to train it. Often training takes place during the summer months and is at the cost of getting fruit, but if done correctly you will have a low easy to pick tree for years to come.
AT PLANTING OR FIRST DORMANT SEASON Cut young fig trees off at 30 inches above the ground. During the first
growing season, the shoots that arise where the tree was topped form the scaffold limbs. Select 3-4 scaffold branches spaced equally around the trunk and remove other branches flush with the trunk. During the summer remove tips of the scaffold limbs when they reach 2 foot of height to encourage secondary branching.
Continue to train your fig trees during the next two years. Pruning should be designed to train the tree upward and outward by thinning out crossing branches. Top out shoots during the summer that have grown over 2 foot to encourage more scaffold branches. This training will encourage a short dense canopy that will make harvesting easier.
On the fourth year you are ready to start harvesting crops of figs. Depending on where you are in the country you will use differant techines to maintain your fig tree during it’s fruiting years.
-On year 4 after you have developed a good frame work you are ready to start managing the fruiting wood. Choose to leave all short one year shoots that are fat and healthy. Make sure they are well spaced on the tree where they can get good sunlight. Remove all weak and hanging down branches
.
-Year 5 and beyond. Trim all shoots that fruited last year back to a 2 bud stub, this will renew the crop wood for next year. Go through remaining shoots and choosing healthy shoot for sun and spacing. Remove all weak and hanging down branches
*Also note that some varieties when young or if the tree is over watered and fertilized, will produce excessively long shoots through out the summer, if not kept in check, these shoots can easily get out of control and cause a tree to be too large to pick. When pruning head back shoots over 3 foot in length to 1 1/2 foot.