Hello Fig Friends, I tried doing searches to answer my questions on pruning this "all over the place" potted Celeste that I purchased earlier this summer, but I'm just too new at this to trust my own judgement.. I was hoping that a few of you kind folks would give me your personal recommendations. The tree has 4 pretty thick (compared to all my other young fig trees) brown trunks that are all growing out of the soil within a 4 inch radius of one another. There is not 1 stem that is growing straight up and they all have multiple branches coming off of them. It's kind of a "hot mess" lol, at least from my limited experience of fig trees and the way I've gathered that they are suppose to be grown in order to enjoy the fruits one day.

So my question is, do I prune out at least two of "trunks" at the soil line & attempt to try to train the remaining two to grow more upright instead of out to the side? They are already pretty stiff, and definitely lack the flexibility that all my other young fig trees have, but I think I could work with two of them by staking them upright-ish.. Or is it too late in the season to do any of this? Any other ideas for how to train this tree so that I might actually get some figs one day instead of the endless criss crossing branching that I'm getting now? I figure that I could probably make quite a few new trees out of the pruned out cuttings if it is recommended that I prune now. Ahhh decisions decisions!!! Lol!

I would really appreciate any & all advice on this issue. I've been contemplating doing this since I purchased the tree earlier this summer at a local nursery, but I restrained myself because of my uncertainty. I asked them for their advice on pruning but they quickly admitted they had no fig tree expertise as they didn't often get them in to sell. I'm in zone 6A if that makes a difference and this tree will remain potted. It's actually put on quite a bit of side-ways growth in the last 6 weeks, but I'm just lost on what to do with it from here.

Thanks in Advance to all who can offer me some guidance :)

Hey Jamie. All the answers are somewhere in your text. It's really up to you to deside how you want to shape your tree! IMO it's never too early or too late to prune a fig tree but others can chime in.You can use the wooded branches for cuttings if you want to make more Celeste babies or try air layering them which is a safer method. It looks like the big container its potted in can support a large bush type tree also so look at the space you have available and make your decision . By clipping all new root suckers from now on you will help the remaining trees' growth . Staking the two larger limbs will definitely help the pasture of your plant. Best of luck with it ,whatever you deside to do.

Thanks Chris, I actually quickly took your advice earlier today and tried my hand at "air-layering" for the first time on the most horizontal of the 4 trunks that are originating from the soil. I guess I may allow myself to get a little wrapped up in "rules" of "how to grow a fine fig tree" when they are really just guidelines. I would definitely prefer the bushier type growth in this particular specimen and I'm just hoping that the pot I'm using can accommodate it. I guess what worries me is the fact that there are so many side branches shooting off that it will inevitably make winter storage difficult in the future. That in addition to the worry of having a giant fig bush that never produces any delicious figs for me to enjoy.. Alas though, I'm probably getting way ahead of myself since this is my first summer of owning fig trees.

Thank you for the advice! Hopefully my 1st air layer will prove to be successful and I will end up with many more baby Celestes in the future! Lol! Sure wish I could taste my first fresh fig sooner rather than later though! Haha :) Happy fig growing!

Don't worry Jamie, time goes by us quicker than we'd want it to. You will be tasting your first fig before you know it. Figs in pots don't grow as big or as quickly as inground trees and with the right care produce a good amount of fruit for their size. Of course there are exceptions. There is great info throughout the forum so use the search feature and read up. Celeste is a good variety to practice different rooting methods. I just hope you have a real Celeste because with big box stores and nurseries you never know what you are getting until you get fruit. Best of luck and keep us up to date with your first very cool fig bush.

Hi,
IMO, your tree is still small. I wouldn't cut any branch.
If branches growing out of the pot border are a problem for you for storage, then cut them now for the nutrients to go to other better placed branches.
You could as well play with rooting of course. Just remember that you are diverting the energy of the tree to that branch and thus delaying the growth on the others.
If you want your tree to grow more, you should use some fertilizer.
For now the inter-nodal spaces on your tree seem small and short with indicates a tree that is growing slowly.
Celeste is supposed to be a quick grower ... and should have more spaced leaves.
Well, grow the tree and you'll get the answer when she fruits.
Take care !

Local nursery in eastern USA+ branchy tree with multiple trunks and a prostrate growth habit = tissue culture plant. Agristarts sells tens of thousands of these every year so it is a wonder they don't show up more often. 

I don't really know, but if the TC lab used somatic embryogenesis (many embryos are formed from callus tissue) to propagate their plants they can revert to a seedling state. Harvey visited a fig breeder who said that the best way to get a seedling to mature and fruit was to train it as a single growth and remove all suckers and branches. The tree may need to grow to very tall before it fruits and then a cutting is taken from the top and the bottom is discarded because those branches will not fruit. 

Celeste was always dropping figs for me, and also is a "weed"; it is the most common variety in the country and passed off as others frequently. So it may not be the last time Celeste disappoints you unfortunately. 

It might, although you can see it wants to grow weedy like the mother already. Remove all the buds on the trunk before they get big and hope for the best next season.

It would make a very good rootstock for grafting if you can keep the branching and suckering under control. 

Good luck.

Hi,
I prefer using standard fertilizer as it lasts longer - 3 months usually.
If your fertilizer does last 3 months as well, then yes, you can stop fertilizing for this year.

I've bought myself such little bushes and the first one took 3 full years to fruit for me. I'm waiting on two others for next year, and the year after :( ... Patience patience ...
A tree grown from a cutting is a better way to a productive tree ... I just didn't know either when I bought mine ... They were not tagged as tissue cultured trees.
I just thought the cuttings used were on the small side ... Live and learn ...

There is one big advantage though : you can get several trees from the one pot you bought.