I guess some would say that nature does that and all you have to do is sit back and for some varieties I'm sure that works but for others you might as well be growing fishing poles.

My question is basic.

You have a young tree and it has a single straight trunk about three foot tall. You desire a symetrical magnificient branched fig speciman. So how do you achieve this? Let's assume that this variety grows fairly fast as the slowgrowers (IMHO) tend to branch fairly well. If you disagree with this please say so. I also realize that the climate you live in will effect what you do but I think the basics are the same. Please include where you live AND your climate. The Coastal Pacifc Northwest is influenced by their maritime geography and although the latitude may be the same what works there won't work in say Michigan.

Do you wait for a particular trunk diameter?
A particular height?
Combination of both?
What height do you cut it at?
When do you cut it?
Does it matter when you cut it?
How many banches do you want?
How long do you let the first set of branches grow before you cut them?

OK I think you get the idea. There are many more aspects of this to discuss. We've had many discussions on shaping larger trees but this is shaping/forming one from the begining. I hope we get some great ideas and discussion from this.

I like to cut them before dormancy breaks and they begin their 2nd year. I make the cut at somewhere around 18-22" and I like to cut about 6 inches off so add that to the height, if I were taller maybe I would cut them higher up.

This may have absolutely nothing to do with it, but last year I top cut one late in the summer and all the branches were still green going into dormancy. It was the only tree that looks to have not made it through the winter. I had plenty of other trees that still had some green on them, but this one they were a little different.

pinch the terminal bud when the tree is at the height you want. 

although I have only 4, 3 foot in the ground and 1, 6 footer in the ground, I read DD's (Suzi) post about pinching... so I went out and pinched all their center growth , the sharp closet tip, broke 'em off. They should develop crowns...

That's exactly what I did a week ago Aaron and I am already seeing branching.

You need to choose how tall you want your tree and pinch or cut it at that height, if you have to cut I personally would wait for dormancy but some wouldn't.

Five leaf rule is fantastic. Five leaves and pinch the terminal bud.

I wouldn't cut mines because they all had 3 branches that were developing really dense crowns already, so i just removed the tips the tiny green closed part. so if each develop 3 more branches , that's 9 branches for a 3-4 foot tree, that sounds good to me.
     

Hi Darkman,
For shaping, I always prune after the winter - so now.
This is to accommodate for winter die-back.
It is my belief that one shouldn't prune just before winter as that makes entries for rain and cold.
My dalmatie-tree2 grew last year from 15 cm (after die-back from 60 cm ) to 1,70 meter of height in one season.
Beginning of this month I cut the 3 stems at 90 cm or 1 meter - I chose a zone with node spacing was smaller. I see now buds forming at the remaining nodes - some 5 buds per stem.
This is my way of doing.
I don't pinch by cutting only a terminal bud as I'm always afraid that the stem would start die-backwards to the ground. So I always cut through a stem .

OK This sounds like something I can do. I'll just take my snips and cut the head off a perfectly good fig.

I think I'll need a few shots of Bourbon to dull the senses first. Then maybe it won't hurt so bad!!!

Maybe you should give the tree a shot of Bourbon too ;)

Do you have pics? Are you doing it to multiple trees?
Are they in ground?

If they aren't in ground, but will be, the height of the pot should be taken into consideration, or the tree will be some 14"-18" shorter than envisioned.
My summers in Connecticut (borderline 6B-7A) allow me only three full months of guaranteed warmth. Temps stay mostly in the 80's throughout June, rise to the 90's for a big portion of July, and towards the end of August the heat is already disappearing.
I've tried pinching and pruning, and right now, I feel like I prefer pruning for shaping figs. Pinching has unpredictable results when it comes to the direction of the new growth that's stimulated, since nodes are so close together at the tips. If you prune, you can pretty accurately predict that the node or two (maybe three) below the cut will form a branch.
If you're looking for fullness, repeated pinching definitely works.
A well-aimed snip just above a node that faces down or to the side will open up the tree.

On an older trunk the nodes are harder to spot, so that's a crapshoot.

You can always do a little chip, or bud graft along the trunk to give more side branches to a "fishing pole".

It's been discussed on the forum, one technique used to force branching is to bend the plant to a horizontal position or lay it on its side.

5 leaves might be good measure on slow-to-moderate growth trees, but on a quick growing/vigorous tree, nodes can eventually space out to 10-12 inches. So might need to use some judgment with regard to culture and cultivar so you don't wind up with mature node spacing altering the shape you wish to achieve. 

Working this weekend so bourbon will have to wait till tuesday Wednesday.

Here is my concern. After I tremove it's head how sure is it that I will get Multiple branching. Won't help if I cut the head off and only one bud pops!

no guarantee. but it will and should push multiple branches as long as you have nodes. i took off all the branches off my Paradiso Gene, and Kathleen's Black around christmas. now they are both pushing branches from almost every node they have, and some of those nodes have been there for 4 yrs.

here is pix of my Paradiso Gene. 

 

Many thanks Pete,

That sealed the deal!

Off with her head!

I guess I'll try to root the removed head. We'll see.

Charles,
As Pete has recommended, pruning the tree to get your desired height and shape, and to develop the scaffold branches in the first 2 years...

The steps of a Japanese fig Pruning diagram were documented here, http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6388743 .

In answer to your questions...
Pruning and training.
3/4" to 1" diameter (caliper) trunk.
4' to 6' in height.
Or both...
Pruned (cut) when dormant, but can be done sooner in a warmer zone (longer growing season).
Yes it matters, usually when lignified.
3 to 4 main scaffold branches with enough vertical spacing in between them.
Depends on your desired final tree height, but usually 2' to 3' long.
Good Luck

Thanks Pete,

Tomorrow is beheading day!

It went well and I do have pictures but it may be Thursday before I can down load them and post. I was able to select a spot that had four buds within about two inches or so and beheaded it there. I took the top part and made three cuttings. One totally green with no expectations it will do anything! One with a green top and semi-hard wood. It might make it and the third one was all hardwood. I hope that it makes it.

this yr and on, hopefully, i'll plan ahead and use pinching to shape the tree. chopping off works, but it's little ugly. few trees have very nice straight trunks. if i shape them right, they'll look great in few yrs... but that might be boring...

OMG...guys... pinching does NOT mean you have to remove the entire crown of a branch...LOL c'mon... have a heart.
 Just remove the center part of the growing tip, it's like ...not even 1/4 inch sharp part.

it takes awhile for the plant to get to the stage of pinching and if i were new i would ask all the questions before i pinched the plant. the last thing i would wont to do is mess it up now. good thing is that it is hard to mess up. i think pinching is the nicer looking method. every stag is important so ask away and try to filter out the background noise from the helpful advice. have a good day.

there was a great tutorial thread on pinching.. but can't find it. the idea is once your branch has 5-6 leaves or at the length you want, you remove the terminal bud with your thumb and index finger like you are pinching someone. you don't need pruner or anything. they come off easy and you just literally "pinch" the terminal bud off. it will leak latex, so if you are allergic to it, wear some protection. to shape the tree, you need general idea of what your tree will look like once it's mature. then you first pinch at the height you want, and the branches at the length you want. then you either remove new branches coming out at wrong angle/direction or prune them off later. it makes better looking tree if you noticed the direction the new branch is going and just pinch that off as soon as possible.. but that new branch will put on more figs... so it's up to you. 

In my opinion, what Charles did is correct.  Let the tree grow the first year, then cut back to where you want branches the beginning of the second year.  I see pinching mid-first year as having minimal benefits and some potentially serious pitfalls.  Yes, you may get a slight head start on branching, but the young trees energy will be divided between the branches and preparing to go dormant.  They will not be so strong or cold hardy as the main branch.  Waiting for the beginning of the second year allows the tree to utilize all of it's energy into producing more robust scaffold branches with a long season ahead to continue to fuel it's growth.

I can't help it, every time I read this thread title I think of the fairy godmother in Cinderella waiving her magic wand and singing "Bipitty-bopitty-boo". That's how you create a fig tree. Must be because we have a little girl running around here.

Hollier fig
Sentenced to beheading April 22, 2014

Prisoner is ready!


The head is examined.


The top view.


Mature leaf detail.


Group of young and older leaves.


Neck examination for nodes.


Lower neck examination.


Decision made the cut was made above the tag.


Due to the graphic nature and I only having two hands the actually beheading will not be shown but here is the cleaned up removed head!


And the leaves removed from the head


And finally the naked head!


The head was then separated into three pieces and each piece was partially buried at least two nodes deep leaving nodes above soil level for inspection to determine if this is a ZOMBIE fig that will rise from the dead.

I have no idea what happenned to the last picture and after repeated trys I guess the naked head pic will not appear. Maybe it's a ghost and it won't appear in photos. I guess the Zombie is out then!!!!

i thought you were going to stick that "head" directly into the garbage bag and show it growing like a champ.. lol