I have several of my young fig trees that were started from cutting this winter, producing figs.

Is it common? Should I leave the figs alone or remove? The plants are looking great and the figs are not hampering them putting out new growth in any means.

most of my young celeste and BT are putting on figs this first year.  I will leave them on but some folks (like the famous, or infamous Dan) say to remove all first year figs and focus on growth. He knows more about figs than I do, but some other experienced growers leave them on as well.

Yep it's common....most people remove first year figs so that all the energy is focused on growing out the tree....but you can leave 1 to taste......if the tree looks strong ,I usually do.

Do you want a big tree or fruit? I prefer fruit and on a fast growing tree leaving fruit won't hurt a thing. Now figs on fast growing trees may not have the best figs. That's especially so for large fruited varieties that tend to be watery under most conditions. For a smallish fig like Strawberry Verte that shrivels as it ripens, the fruit is great any way and time I've ripened them. And yes I've got figs now on cuttings started in March. I'm leaving them because they are too vigorous anyhow.

From what I've seen, a young cutting will put on figs. However, from my experience, they are not worth eating even if they do ripen and they only slow down the growth of the young tree. IMO fruit should only be left on the tree if the tree is healthy and has a fully developed root system. Jon's instructions on propagation on the figs4fun website explains all of this very well. For me, I prefer taking off the figs for the first two years of the cuttings' lives and waiting for third year. In my area, the third year is usually when the cutting-grown tree is able to support itself enough to produce figs that are representative of the quality of fruit one should expect from a fully matured tree.

Hi sbmohan,
A fig tree is always pumping its stem, and then releasing that energy for fruits and stem growth and starting to pump again to sustain the growths (fruits and stems).
Stress during those "pumping" phases lead to fruit drop, fruit quality loss, less stem growth and other problems ...
If the cutting was taken fully pumped, then it will try to develop fruits. It generally happens on bigger material or cuttings.
In Zone7, I'm still waiting to see a young (less than 2 years) tree bare fruits - except for one particular strain and no that one is not BT; it was the "unknown green longue d'aout".
Now, fruits that appear now, still have time to ripen, even in Zone7 . So if you can keep the cuttings well fed and cared and for you, they have put enough growth already, I would let the fruits stay on. I'm trying to harvest fig fruits; not fig leaves or stems ( are you willing to propagate those trees further more ?).
Now, if you have a super rare or precious to you, variety, in the first year, I would remove the fruits.
My "Madeleine des deux saisons" is two years old (from a small bush that might have been what some here call "tissue culture" - no mention of that, obviously, on the pot), and I still can't see any figlet on the stems , But wait: ... Patience patience ...
I have a breba on one stick that I started in ground 3 months ago, and the plan for me is to let it develop as the stick is already long enough ( 2'/60cm above dirt with T-shaped 1'/30cm length in the dirt / "talon" or heel propagating method )

The trees are yours, and so is the last word on what to really do :) .
Good luck !

Thanks for all your kind responses. Appreciate it very much!!

I had several cuttings put on figs last year. Most of them I removed to focus on growth, but on a few varieties I left them. It was a waste. First year figs on a small cutting don't taste worth spit. They were bland to the extreme. I know a handful of cuttings a trend does not make, but when added to everything I've read, I would just pull off any figlets this  year and focus on growth. Next year you shall eat the fruit of  your labors and be glad.

Last year I left figs on several of my 1st year cuttings, one tasted great, two of them were decent, others were bland.  Only left one fig on each as a trial, for the fun of it.  Those plants grew fine this year, I don't believe I hurt them.

I'm wondering if Zones with longer growing seasons would make a significant difference, with regards to the taste of first year figs.   For example I started  some vdb and rdb cuttings last January and potted them in March.  I pulled off  the figs on the old wood but the figlets on the new growth are just too pretty to pull.

Time will tell

Tim zone 10a Santa Barbara