Sorry if this has been asked before, but there wasn't a way for me to search the right keywords. We live in north San Diego county, about a mile from the coast. My mission fig tree is possibly 32 years old. It was mature when we bought the house 15 years ago and that's how old the house is. Every year like clockwork it has produced the usual two crops - an early, smaller one and the main one around September. Last year I noticed that we got a smaller than usual fruit crop in about June, I think, but forgot about it until I realized that there was no fruit-set in August or September. No fruit at all. Later in the year it also didn't seem to have many leaves when I thought that it was too early to have shed them all. I know we had a very hot, humid summer, plus drought last year, and now unusually cold temps in winter (for us), but surely it has survived worse.

Now, in January, it has no leaf buds and there are no saplings appearing from the roots. Previously, we've always had to cut lots of shoots back. I am very worried that it has died. I would hate to lose this tree. Anyone have any thoughts on the likelihood of it having died, or better yet a way to rejuvenate it?

Deborah, can you take a few pics of the tree both full view and some close up views of the trunk, limbs, and growing tips?

Edit:  Oh....Welcome to the forum. 

Hi bluestone,
welcome.
Before August it is not too late for the tree to bud out.
Just let it be .
If you are really concerned then take cuttings and store some in the fridge and root some .
Check the base of your tree for rodent activity.

Welcome to the forum Deborah. You may want to contact an Ag Extension Office, there is one in San Diego County, and ask for an Advisor for information and advise, could be an area specific problem. Good luck.

Thanks for all the fast responses. Here are some photos. It's hard to take anything from a distance because the tree is on the side of the house right up against the fence. A full grown tree, but sort of espaliered.   

You should be able to cut a branch and see if there is juice (sap) present. That would be a good sign........Also of you can dig a few feet away from the trunk looking at the roots then you may see RKN or Root Knot Nematode, it is present here and there here in California and it attacks the roots.....the damaged roots look like they have orange rosary beads.

Oh, that was very big. Here is one of the trunk, hopefully smaller:

 

I would cut two or three cutting from different branchs about 12 inchs down and take a pic of the cut ends and post it. Welcome. Richie from louisiana

Welcome to the forum, Bluestone.
Sounds like the tree's gone through some stress recently.
I would also take some cuttings and save them for rooting just in case.
Additionally, I may take a couple of handfuls of dolomitic lime, a handful of balanced fertilizer, dust the whole area under its canopy, then cover that whole area with 3-4" of mulch.

Thank you for all the help and the welcomes. I will do as you suggested and come back with more photos. 

Thanks, Aaron. The top of the tree is about 25 feet high. I'm not sure if I can get up there! But I will scrape somewhere and see what happens. I don't want to hurt it if it's still alive. I've grown very attached to this tree. 

Deborah, do you really want your fig tree that high?

I am planning to have all my trees (in ground) to be not taller than me and in a bushy style , so I can harvest with minimal effort. But that's just me...:)

hi I would take a few cutting and see if there is sap flow ..that will help you determine it the tree is still alive and you can use the cuttings to start new trees.

Tree looks fine. You can scratch a little bark to see if it is green underneath. Last year was a VERY weird year for figs in So Cal . . . . . . so don't panic.

It's green underneath bark! I scraped on the trunk about 4 ft from ground and then two other spots I could along branches (about 6 ft) and all was green. Is that definitive? Anything else recommended? 

It's alive ;)
MUAHAHAHAH...

Hi Deborah,

I've had similar experiences with my 20+ year old trees. I'm in Oceanside, so we have comparable climates. One 27 year old tree of mine was very sluggish last year; the fruit was very bland, no main crop at all, the leaves all dropped by October, and it grew only about 1 inch. It also has not broken bud yet; however, neither have my 5 year old in ground trees.

In summary, I think it's too early to tell. In the unfortunate case that it has in fact passed on to fig heaven, I'd be glad to give you a new tree.

Aaron, haha, yes, I hope so! As for height, it never occurred to me to do anything with it since it was fully grown when we moved in. The only thing we've done is trim back where it was touching the roof. In previous years I've happily shared the fruit with three visiting raccoon, because we have huge crops and I've had more than enough to keep us in figs to eat and jam to freeze. 

Donpaid, I'm in Carlsbad, so yes, same climate. That is a very kind offer. I'll keep you posted on progress. It sounds like you had an identical experience with your tree last season.

Such a helpful forum - thank you!

Welcome Deborah! You have an awesome looking tree there and by the looks of it ,seams to be doing fine! Taking a winter nap:).Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Hi Deborah,
Here's an example of fig trimming. Fig harvest shouldn't be a struggle :)
Here's my cousin's Uncle'n Law. He's a great fig grower since he was a young boy in Lebanon.
This tree is in Los Angeles, he had them for 20+ years.

 

Hi, Deborah,
It looks a lot like a tree on a nearby vacant lot from which I took a few cuttings back in October.  It's a big, old tree, no idea how old or what kind of tree it is.  But the cuttings just sat and sat in cups all this time doing nothing at all.  I thought they were all dead, too.  Then, about a week ago, these sticks that I thought were dead now have roots and leaf buds.  I'm not sure I'd be ready to give up on it just yet.  It might just surprise you!

That biggest little fig tree i have every seen lol