I've got a Desert King that is about 4 years old, and I wish I had pruned it closer to the ground.  Is it too late to cut the main 3 branches lower?    

I am not sure in terms of pruning, but it looks really good to me. 

Well, I may be wrong, winter/spring pruning is for good main crop.

However, Desert king is good for " Breba" 1st crop, It is tricky to prune "Breba" fig tree, It will not have any "Breba", Correct me, If I am wrong.

I wouldn't prune it if it was mine. Looks good and healthy, too.

I would not prune those. The structure looks great.

Ok, so I mostly agree with the folks above, but...

If YOU wanted it lower, and it has not leafed out, then yes, you could prune it lower.

OK, thanks all.  I'll probably just leave it alone then.  :)

Prune it after it's done fruiting (sometimes latter in summer).

Navid.

I agree that it looks good.  But here's one option, if you have the room and really want a lower tree:  Cut (or, better still, air layer) the central leader just above the two branches.  Pull the two remaining branches gradually downward over the course of a few days until they are more or less horizontal.  [The branches still look pliable enough to manage this without breaking the branches or splitting them from the trunk.]  Assuming success, tie them to stakes, fixing them in that horizontal position.  Verticals will grow, bearing main crop figs.  Prune them early so that they are spaced every 6" or so.  In the fall, leave the horizontals but prune the verticals to 2-3 buds.

I wouldn't prune it any more than you have. Since it is a DK, and will only produce a breba crop on last year's growth, you want to keep some old wood there. Or you will not get any breba fruit this year. You will always want older wood to get fruit. If you prune it close to the ground you will have to wait at least two years.

If you want to control the height, then prune one part down low. Then next year prune another section low, and then a final section the year after that. Then start the process over. Cut as much back as you want, but leave 1/2 to 2/3 with wood for breba figs. This is what I would do.

CliffH

Ooops!  I missed or forgot the fact that it was a DK.  So Cliff is right about the need for 1-yr old wood.

There is a version of the technique I described where you use the verticals as fruiting wood for brebas.  Prune to produce verticals every 6" as I described.   At the end of Year 1, prune half of them to 2-3 buds, prune the rest at the tips.  These will produce brebas next year.  Meanwhile next year, grow new verticals from the spurs that you left.  In the fall, cut back the wood that fruited to spurs, prune the new wood at the tips.  So you are alternating annually which spurs fruit on old wood and which spurs grow new wood.

This is just a "low profile" version of what's described in the video above. 

Interesting ideas.  I had thought that I was just forgoing any significant breba production this year in favor of developing the structure.  I already pruned back a lot of the wood that would have given breba fruit.  Why do you prune the tips of the branches that you want to fruit next year?  Does that stop the branch from extending any further and allow it to just put its energy into fruit?  Do you always get more than one branch growing from a spur?  Is there an age limit for when they stop producing spurs?  If I waited to cut any of the bottom branches as CliffH suggests, they would be 5-6 years old I think at the time of pruning.  Not a problem? I don't think I need to keep it super low, I just wanted as much branching as possible while keeping it low enough to not need a ladder.   Thanks so much for the replies!

I was actually trying to emulate the guy in the video, but was having a hard time visualizing how tall he made his first cuts off the main 3 branches.  At first I thought it was a lot lower than I did, but now I'm thinking they're more at thigh level and the branches will thicken into that space well?

Pinching the tips after the desired growth (e.g., 3-4') will promote branching and keep the size manageable. It will probably also result in more leaf nodes, including tightly spaced nodes on the branches, which will mean more brebas next year.

What I'm calling a spur is just a branch cut short. So no time limit. It's not like a fruiting spur on an apple or pear. If you leave a spur with 3 nodes, you may get more than one vertical but you should cut off all but one. That will bear next year's brebas. Going out the horizontal branch with spurs every 6" or so, you alternate pruning so that half of the spurs are producing figs each year. One has 1 yr wood bearing brebas this year, the next is growing new wood that will bear brebas next year. When the brebas are done this year, cut all the bearing verticals to a spur (trimmed branch) 2-3 nodes long. Leave the new verticals.

Whether you want the tree tall or wide or whatever is just a matter of preference, dictated somewhat by space. But if you don't want to use a ladder but do want to maximize your yield from one tree, then you want to get it wide. Hence my suggestion to bend some of the branches to a more horizontal position.

There is also a choice whether to make it wide in 1 or 2 dimensions. Given a short trunk, you can train permanent horizontals in two opposing directions, like a low T. Or you can train horizontals to all 4 points of the compass. If the horizontals are long enough, you can have some permanent branches. The key concept is that the low horizontals are permanent, while the verticals are a mix of one year old wood and new wood.

I think you can "head" the trunk at ~12-24", then train and grow the horizontals to 4-8' each. Verticals, which bear the fruit, could be allowed to grow 3-4' before pinching. That would keep the whole tree under 6' or so in height. You ought to be able to get a few hundred figs each year from one tree. The tree in the video seems a bit tall for easy picking.

That is a whole new way of growing a fig tree that I hadn't thought about...thank you so  much!!  I'm not sure if I'll do it for that tree, but that horizontal procedure might allow me to put one more tree in the yard that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to.  Thank you for the explanation!!

Is it too late to cut back that central leader lower and still have it produce some new branches?  I've started to get leaf and fig buds, but they're still very small, not fully sized leaves yet.  I thought I was going to leave the tree as is, but after thinking about it some more I think I would like to cut it lower.  But not if it's too late to form new branches this season.  Will a thicker trunk really grow new branches?

No, it's not too late.  And yes, a thick trunk will still grow branches.  The tree wants to grow.  It will find a way.

Remember, though, that without the fig wasp, DK will ripen only brebas.  Brebas are born on 1-yr old wood.  If you cut the tree low, you will sacrifice the brebas that would have been born on the pruned wood.  But you'll get lots of new growth to make brebas next year.

You asked about pruning the central leader.  What will you do with the other trunks?  Would you consider just bending / staking the outside "trunks" so that they run more horizontally (or maybe 30-45 degrees)?  That would make a lower tree but wide.  These laterals could provide permanent scaffolds supporting future wood that would be recycled as explained in the video.

Also, rather than just pruning the central leader now, you could air layer it just above your planned cut.  Put on the container and medium, wait 6-8 weeks, then cut off your new tree!  You might even be able to delay the cut until after you've harvested any brebas on the central leader.  In either case, I'd pinch the tip growth / buds from the air-layered leader to encourage branching, both above the air layer (new branches on the new tree) and below it (new branches on the old tree).

Good job! I like it as it is!! The 3-mail branches have different lengths which is good when apical dominance starts.
The only thing I'd do is wait until June, then bud graft a different variety a foot of the ground on each bare trunk.
You'd then be "closer to the ground" and the tree would still be producing cultivars after the DK brebas
have run their course!

Ahh, two good options I hadn't thought of.  If I air layer it I won't lose those branches completely...I air layered a bunch of stuff last year.  I have never grafted before so that hadn't occurred to me.  I'll research that.  I don't think making the branches horizontal would work, because I have pretty tight spacing...only 8 feet between trees.  I like that idea though, so I"m trying to find another place in the yard where I can do it with one of my young plants currently in a container.  Thanks for the suggestions!!

Charles, I was wondering what you've had the best luck growing in our climate, besides Desert King?  

Amanda -- 

I know your question wasn't directed at me, but I'll respond anyway.

The basic idea is that you need figs that ripen very early, so that they can ripen when you have some semblance of summer heat.  That may point to varieties that produce good brebas.

DK does well because it produces good brebas.  I'd think that you'd have a good shot with other "San Pedro" type figs, such as Filacciano Bianco, Grantham's Royal.  You might also do well with breba-producing "common figs" known to perform well without high heat.  The English Brown Turkeys such as Laradek's, Sweet George, Bayernfeige Violetta might work.

Amanda-
I've concluded that Lattarula (Italian Honey Fig) and Neveralla (Osborne Prolific) are very compatible with our climate. 
My best producer these last 3-years has been Green Ischia. It took 10-yrs to produce a single fig, and now starts ripening
very heavily in early October to late Nov. 
I didn't give up on it but was  tempted to do so many times.
My 30" Negronne is off to a fast start this season showing 21 figlets. 

Charles -- I'm just curious (I have Lattarula) -- do you raise it for brebas, main crop, or both?

Both.