I was walking my garden this morning before work and saw my first brebas!



They're on my dessert king which is a pretty big tree, I'd guess maybe 6' tall. The root system had been pretty harshly pruned for shipping (I'm guessing anyway).  We put it in the ground in January or February (mild winter).

Our whole garden is new with lots of other new fruit trees in the ground. With my other fruit trees I plan on pulling any fruit they happen to give so they can work on their root system. Should I treat my DK similarly and pull any brebas so it can focus on its roots? Or are figs different and will only grow what they can handle?

The tree will drop the fruit if it needs to.

That is good to hear. I was hoping I could leave them on!

Maybe half and half. See how much fruit develops, and if it looks to be a heavy crop, maybe thin half for this season.

Not disagreeing with James, but the tree might be able to carry more fruit (without dropping it) than would be good this season, by diverting resources from growth to fruit. 

I'll update in a couple of weeks after I get a better idea of the total fruit load and see if you think lightening the load would be good. While I would love to see some brebas, I also want a healthy tree. Thanks again.

I have a Desert King in it's 3rd year. It is a super vigorous tree, even with pinching it grows about 2 feet per season, somewhat upright. I doubt leaving the breba on would negatively affect the tree (it may slow it down which in my opinion is a good thing)

Word of caution: if you want you tree to branch out low I would prune it severely at planting (more experienced members may confirm). I cut mine at about 2-3 feet, and now I regret I didn't prune it 10 in off the ground.

Pylot, I prune mine about 12-18", sop i get more of a bush than a tree.

Interesting thoughts on pruning. My yard is a fresh landscape project - started last fall and this is our first spring with the "new" yard so pretty much everything in the ground is young and immature. I chose to buy a more mature fig because I was told they grow so fast, and this fig was going to be one of my "main" bigger trees. It's pretty tall like I said above, 5.5-6' tall, about 1.5" in diameter. It has one main stalk and it was pruned to maybe 4 branches for shipping.

Now you have me thinking I wasted my money on this bigger tree, since it grows fast and maybe it's pruning style isn't the best since it's going to be more tree like and less bush like. Hmm. Live and learn. I'll see how it branches out after this season, see what growing it manages to do and what it looks like. I'm not going to prune it now as it has started to wake up. Maybe next yr I will tweak it a bit.

Desert King is suppsed to be THE fig of choice for NW, lots of brebas in July/August. If I were you, I would make an airlayer on the tallest branch of the tree. This way you not only have an extra one, you also reduce its total height :) Plus, if in a few of years you want to do some major pruning on the big one, the air-layer will have started producing by then so you don't have a season with almost no DK. Just my thoughts.

Can I air layer the main trunk and essentially lop the thing in half or does it have to be a branch?

Annoying typo.

I would do branches. I don't think you can get enough root mass from an air layer to support a big tree above. Of course, it depends on how big the tree is. I have a suspicion that some nurseries airlayer / root a big straight branch and sell it as a 2ft tree next year.

A member of another forum I'm on posted this picture of their fig (reposted with their permission). I love the shape of this tree - I think I'd have to cut my tree down to a foot off the ground and that makes me hyperventilate a little.

Just an update. The fruit did get bigger but I noticed they stopped thriving and the tree ended up aborting them. No other brebas formed. The tree looks healthy though! Maybe next year after it is more established.

Nichole, I too bought a tree with a single trunk about 4 1/2ft tall with about about 6 branches in the middle 1/4 of the tree then a few closer to the top. 

About 2 weeks ago I noticed some branches near the bottom of the tree starting to grow!  I am delighted since it will give me options for how i want to shape it.  Not sure if I will prune anything this year, but I am glad I have a choice.

So, you never know what the little tree will do for you - you may be surprised like me.

By the way - I love LOVE LOVE the picture you posted of that tree!!!  Do you know how old it is?  LOVE IT!!!!

Here are a few pictures.

I don't know how old that tree is but I also adore it. I don't know if I'll be able to achieve that shape with any of my trees but that will be my goal.

My DK is giving me some leaves down low, too. I assumed it would as there were some promising buds when I planted it. I'm not expecting massive growth this year as the roots were pruned pretty harshly when I planted it. I plan on pruning it back next April to encourage more of a bush shape (like that picture... I can dream anyway). The big debate will be exactly WHERE to make that cut.

Picture of the tree taken 5 minutes ago.

Nichole....you live in Zone-7b.  I'd ask forum members if brebas in 7b would delay the setting and ripening of your main-crop figs?  Growers in California and similar climates have a longer growing season than growers in 7b and cooler.

I know nothing about Desert King fig trees.  Other growers of this variety will, I'm sure, help with this question.  By the way....beautiful tree with plenty of potential for pruning/training into different styles.

Happy growing.

Frank

In Seattle we have no prayer of ever seeing a main crop. We rely on brebas only. Makes me super jealous to hear of everyones super yummy main crops because I know they're always better than the breba crops. Even if we had the heat for a main crop, we do not have the wasp required to get the main crop for DK. Sigh. So sad for me.

Yo!  DK only gives you a breba crop.  The main crop needs a wasp to ripen.  Knock off any main crop figs that form.  That also means that DK is unique in that the time to prune it is right after harvest.  If there are no fuit then prune it ASAP.  The only fruit you'll get next year is on this year's new growth.  Prune it now and root the cuttings or start air layers now so that you have a lot of new growth this year to produce fruit next year.

oh.  but you already knew that.  :)

Interesting. I was told to prune around tax time.

The roots were pretty harshly pruned when I got it. Should I just leave it alone and do all this next yr? or is now ok?