Hi all
just wondering is there a way to straighten this fig tree? previous owner didnt take great care of it. Is it best to just prune it slowly over time and pruning out the bent and leaving the straighter branches? or can you stake out the bend over time? or should i just let it grow and over time maybe i wont notice it lol

 

thanks

Holly crap lol. Take a 3/4"-1" wooden dowel (they sell them at Home Depot) then get twist ties from the grocery store and GRADUALLY twist tie it to the dowel. It will straighten it out naturally over time. May take a month or two max depending on how the tree responds to it. Then once it's straight and staying in that position. Gradually take them back off from the top down.

Nic

Prune it to the bend.Ive cut fig trees down to the
ground and they grew back great.

Oh and you can put notches in the stake so the twist tie doesn't slide down and loose pressure. You can also put string above the twist tie about 4"-6" to start to pull the next section in. That depends on how good you are with your knots though. Good luck

Nic

thanks for the tips guys
the picture actually makes it look better then it is LOL

ill try Nic40 idea first and see how i go. If it doesnt work ill try my hand at airlayering part of it :)

But should i do it now or wait till the growing season? Its almost winter now...it should be going dormant but no idea whats going on with it! 2 months ago when i got it i moved it from its water logged pot, which was still full of water, into the ground it lost all its leaves. A month later it started leafing out and putting out couple of new shoots as well! hopefully this isnt going to effect it as it gets colder.

I've left trees tied to stakes over the winter before. I would start the process now and stop where your at as soon as all the leaves drop. It may give you a head start for next growing season so it's half way straight for next year. If you don't mind me asking what type of fig is it?

It's a St Dominique Violette. It must be pretty hardy. The lady said shes had it for like 3yrs The pot was full of water and at the trunk base it had this white fungus. When I got the the tree out of the pot it smelt like rotten eggs but the roots looked good. It's doing really well now
Thanks again

don't do anything. all that curved areas will fill up with new branches.

You're in southern hemisphere? Let it go dormant and before it wakes in spring cut it low where you want it to branch. It will branch, use the cuttings to make more trees if you like. 

Bend it more and train it into a nice circular tree

really dont want to cut it if i can and if i leave it as it is the extra weight from more branches and fruit on one side will bend it right over...all weight at the moment is sitting mostly on one side

yeah maybe i can bend it more then bury it under ground so i can airlayer it and then have 2 bent trees... :)

Then you have two options really. You can try the dowel method above to try and straighten it, or bend the top back basically into a ""S"" shape. They're pretty pliable and giving.

You can stake it. No need to prune at this point while it's greening out. 

Beyond that don't get drastic... Just stake it and be patient. It seems healthy enough. 

And IMHO... It's a tree, not a level..... Why does it need to be straight?

In any event, nature will ultimately step in and it will mostly straighten on it's own

thanks for the advice everyone
ill stake it out to make sure it does not collapse over
it doesnt need to be fully straight just dont need it against the grown when it starts to bear fruit. I dont want to cut it back as well...as it means no figs to eat next season LOL

I think it looks pretty neat.  One of mine grew wonky. I've just let it be.