Hi everybody.
my young fig trees are rooting up and everything is fine-so this side of the story is ok untill now.
problem is i want to design my trees uniformly as possible or at least have some say in their final design and make them more "espeliered"

i saw some posts about pinching but still i feel like i have no idea what to do....
to sum thinges up i am sending a picture of an fairly adult 3-4 years tree that has very nice side shoots and i like the design of it.
the second pic show a young 1 year old tree that has no side shoots at...

what do i do tho make the young tree grow with side shoots that start low?  if i pinch upper bud will it grow side shoots at lower level or just split to few branches at that level.

i'm so bad at pruning my trees it's not even funny. however, i always leave the tree to grow during the growing season. it's much easier to see the trees shape in winter when all the leaves are gone from the tree.

some use pinching to promote branching in right direction. what they do is pinch the terminal bud on a branch. what this does is, it will force the trees to put on figs, but it will also put on new brach a node or two below the terminal bud you pinched. if the new branch is not in the direction you want, just pinch it that off too, new branch will come out again.

i'll have to air layer few of my old trees since they are so ugly.

Eli,
Hope this helps.. The diagram below and a link to another topic with more info of the  Japanese Espalier tree forms.

So if i pinch the top it will develope side shoots from the trunk ?
i am intrested in stopping apical growth to about 40 inches which will be the final tree height-easy for fruning etc..

it should if it's actively growing tip. it usually put new braches out about a node or two below.

Eli,
Try to train it in a single trunk until its at least 12 inches higher that you need and the main trunk is at least 1/2 inch diameter. When you cut the top off, it should start branching below the cut, I usually cut a few inches above the node. It is not recommended but I always seal the cut end, and have had branches form at the node below the sealed cut.

so pinch lets say at the 1 arrow and i should grow side shoots at the 2nd and 3rd ?
ascepte that tree is growing at a rate of 8 inches a week. i dont know if i can wait till it thick enough .

sorry my pictures are big my program (irfanview) only resizes in KB and not in size . also sorry for the question- i dont want to end up with a freak of nature. :) i like to design my own freaks...

Yes...
It will form branches at very leaf node if the apical tip is removed completely, the additional 12 inches is to insure that all the growth inhibiting hormones are removed other wise you will get branching only at the top of the trunk (like a palm tree). Think of it as pruning not pinching, you prune larger pieces.

If you have already calculated your final height, count nodes and distance from the soil line. from your 40 inch dimension it seems as if you are trying to prune to a bush form. You would decrease the 16 inch height in the diagram Step1, count up from the soil line then cut, leaving at least 2 extra nodes (just in case).

This plant is approximately 9 inches above soil line. It can be left in this form for a low bush or low tree, or the lower branches can be removed and the top most branch trained as the main trunk.

thanks...
it seems that the japanese espelier give shoots at the  horizontal branches  mostly. maybe they prune the tree in the vertical trunk also so it would selectively bring shoots only at horizontal ones.

Eli,
I actually misunderstood your opening question. As I understand it, You are looking to get a tree 40 inches high, with many lower horizontal or near horizontal branches.

The procedure would be similar except that
You would pinch the apical tip starting low. It will branch and grow a new dominant tip which will be trained as the main trunk.
You would perform the pinching routine at every 6  to 12 inches or wherever you need to form branches until you were at 40 inches.
At which point you would prune the apical tip and keep it pruned..
To maintain the shape, the apical tips of branches will have to be pruned continuously. If it is an aggressive grower, a lot of pruning will have to be done to maintain the small size. It will be a  "large Bonsai" fig tree and can be maintained with aggressive root pruning. Most healthy fig trees if grown in a warmer zone in a container will need a lot of root and limb pruning to maintain that small size, IMO.

In this picture the main stem (leader) was pinched, the top 1 inch was remove, notice the branching (5 new) below the pinch. The top most branch can be trained as the main stem (leader) if I was looking to grow a taller tree...The branches below the top most one would have to be trained horizontal or at least at 45 degrees to allow the topmost to become the dominant apical tip (become the highest point or leader). The plant in the white bucket in the background is an example of pinching resulting in a "palm tree" growth. These plants will have their tops air layered...The remaining main stems will be Step#1 in the Espalier training process.




The Fig Espalier method actually uses the genetic traits as a guideline to prune the tree.
1. Breba are produced on 1 year old wood (at the tips of last seasons growth).
2. Limbs older than 1 year are non productive.
2. Main crop is produced on new growth wood.
3. Apical dominance is always maintained by one main limb or trunk (each branch has an apical tip).

The pruning method discards the breba crop in favor of an earlier and more productive main crop.
Prune away last years growth and leave 1 or 2 buds (last seasons nodes) to form the fruiting limbs for the new season.
Pinch the apical tips of vertical branched after a fixed number (5 or 6) of leaves to induce figs.

The only reason that shoots form at the horizontal is that the apical dominant tip has been removed (and with it the hormone that inhibits branching). The tree then puts energy into forming a new apical tip, by producing multiple branches, one of which will eventually become dominant (if its not pruned).

<edit>
The leaves in the picture are not FMD, they are newly emerged after 4 days of rain.

doing this routinly is hard so maybe better to go easy route and let them grow as wild bushes or wild trees "governed by nature"?

maybe ill try asceptes methos over few an the japanese too on some wires...

got to think this through caue of it being time consuming for more tha n 50 trees.

Yes, maintaining the tree in a very small form "Large Bonsai" would require more work.

Maintaining in the Japanese Espalier Tree form would require much less work after the main scaffold (tree form) is made. The main scaffold can be made / formed within the 2 year... After that all pruning and pinching is done at the fruiting branches.

I have been able to get to Step#2 with a newly rooted cutting in one (1) short growing season.

Good Luck.

which design is best for windy locations? maybe a thick stem or cordon like the japan eseplier and small side shoots which can be prunned ?
i wonder how do nurseries do it and design their 2000-3000 trees?

maybe itss all about trial and error-at least fig trees are forgiving...

Ascpete thanks for the links :)
this one is amazing showing how they use the fruit box for containers...  http://www.hawaiifruit.net/figstation/index.html

http://www.colonialsense.com/how-to_guides/outdoors/espalier_trees.php

If you go about half way down the page you will see sketches of different designs of espalier trees.  

I like the idea of what Pete is mentioning, easy to prune and supposedly very productive, I haven't tried it myself so I don't know how it preforms for me, but should know in a year or 2 but really won't show for a couple more years.

Eli, ... Windy locations, Chivas's link, look at the picture"espalier free standing fruit trees"...   Similar but with a container not in ground trees. Simple installatioin of fence posts with either a wire fence or wire connected to the posts, like the picture below.



Most nurseriers prune for a single long stem or continually remove the apical leader to maintain a small plant. Not many prune their stock into fruiting trees. Belleclaire nursery did because they demanded a higher price for their fruiting trees.


Chivas, ... I live in "apple country" among many large apple orchards, and I have a few dozen dwarf fruit trees. I've been exposed to the "Open Vase" method of pruning for years, that is what the Japanese Espalier tree form is known as when applied to fruit trees. The horizontal trunk is called StepOver Espalier.
If you look at forum member Dieseler's posts (pictures), most of his tree are pruned in a similar shape. Yes, It is much easier to maintain, if it is planned from an early stage. If started early, you will possibly lose only one (1) seasons harvest, but the trees should not be allowed to fruit in the first year anyway.

Hi got more examples here:
same like you presented Pete. easy for picking....

also saw that they have the small plants in sand which is wierd.... maybe less root rot?

If it looks like sand its sand ? i dont know for sure...

Thanks for the links ...
I think that low center of gravity is the best when dealing with winds and fear of pot tip over.
this is a great method bending the branches from 10 inches high to an horizontal position and will try in a pot with two cordons..

its just that the verticals will grow different hights for each variety..

Eli,
Like the pictures. I'm also curious to know if the pictured cuttings are planted in sand.
The verticals of different varieties (cultivars) may grow at different rates, but you will be pruning and pinching to maintain your desired height (40 inches). If that is too high or too low, you can adjust that with pruning or pinching.

<edit>
Thanks for the link. There isn't an actual mix ratio, but I have used a 50/50 mix of coarse sand and peat moss to root hybrid willow cuttings with success. I will try a few fig cuttings in that mix.

Pete
google translate this: http://www.agaclar.net/forum/subtropikal-iklim-meyveleri/1181-3.htm
the guy is somtimes in the forum here we can ask him a bout success rate of rooting in sand with humus.