I notice this time of the year that  foot long branches still left on the fig plant after taking cuttings from them in the fall dies to the trunk during winter storage or spring; not all branches with cuttings taken from but some. It damages the branched-out shape of the plant. Has anyone else noticed similar problem. How can one avoid this?

Worse thing happened to my Illinois Ever bearing (IEB) mulberry. I took cuttings from the top of a branch to send someone in the spring of 2011. Now that branch is gradually drying up from the top point where cutting was taken from. As it dries up the side shoots on this branch also dies. So far this drying up has killed two side branches. I am afraid this will continue toward the trunk and this whole good major branch will be dead. I will be afraid to prune this IEB mulberry in the future!

No it is not the first time that is why I thought to check if others have noticed such problem. I susppect it could be due to winter storage in nominally heated garage.

i have cut cuttings off my VdB last fall, and also this spring. no issue. i made sure i sanitize the tools before cutting them. it was winter straged in garage. also cut enough cuttings off Kathleen's Black and Paradiso Gene. i made sure to clean the branch cutter with bleach towel between the trees.

last winter we rarely had below freezing weather, so the garage was rather warm.

pete

I've heard that small branches on plants may die off in winter due to winter burn, that is, the ground freezes and thaws more slowly than the branches, so the branches (even dormant) can't pull enough water to keep from drying out. I would be tempted to paint the cut ends, or put some clay (soil)  mixed with shoe polish on them and see what happens. Sounds like the branches are loosing too much water, or the humidity is too low. In the South, the old timers would borrow from an old (German?) tradition of whitewashing raw wood after pruning to keep insects out. Sounds like it might be a humidity problem, but I know little about mulberry's.

I pruned the ends off my IEB mulberry last winter and have not noticed that phenomenon. Sounds like a virus/bacteria got in. Good luck!

I agree with a pathogen as almost certainly being the cause. Trees tend to quickly wall off/compartmentalize injuries (wounds) very quickly. Dr Alex Shigo, an amazing man, devoted much of his life to gaining an understanding of the more obscure goings on with regard to how trees respond to our ministrations and their environment, and particularly how they respond to injury, like pruning cuts. It's possible that the pruning provided a pathway for the pathogen, but unlikely the pruning had any direct effect on the die back.

Some saprophitic bacterial infections like Pseudomonas produce toxins that can cause dieback of branches and even entire trees. If there happens to be any orange or radish lesions or pustules on the mulberry or any nearby trees, coral spot is another fungal affliction that causes dieback of branches. 

I would prune off any branches that seem affected, especially if they show signs of a leaf spot disease, and hope for the best. Your cooperative extension agent, or perhaps a GOOD nurseryman might be of some aid if you are concerned enough. Suggestion: Clip a branch & put it in a Ziploc bag as a containment mechanism, and take it to any nursery so the nurseryman recognizes your respect for the health of his trees.

Al 

Ottawan good to see you posting.

I have not had dieback to the trunk if i cut a somewhat thick branch i get out Rafeds favorite tree pruning seal and apply to the ends.

It comes in a can with applicator brush built into the lid.
Its petro based and is like a black tar, i apply thin on thick wounds and after several years it has had no ill effects on my trees .
I was teasing about it being Rafeds favorite he thinks its bad for fig tree's but were all different and i respect that and him as well even though he grows white figs and thinks there best thing since slice bread.

Hi Viv

White figs are good figs.

I just prefer ashes to cover fresh cuts on fruit trees.

Lots of info from Dr Alex Shigo about wounds and wound dressings here. http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning/wounddressing/index.html  The consensus among arborists and nurserymen is that wound sealers are actually counterproductive. How you prune (make your pruning cuts) isn't quite as important on containerized trees, but is very important to the future of trees in the landscape

Al