While trying to upright and tie to its stake a young brown turkey fig tree, I snapped off the top of the main branch growing vertically and now have a piece 6 inches long with 4 unripened figs on it. Will add some pics as soon as i figure out how to resize them for this forum.
 

   

I'm new to figs, and to this forum, but have been lurking for a while. Long enough to suspect that this isn't really a fig tragedy but rather an opportunity to create a new fig tree. I just don't know what to do next with the piece that broke off or with the mother tree.


 

I am a little concerned about the future growth of the tree. I had wanted this tree to grow somewhat tall to provide delicious fruit as well as dense privacy hedging in that part of the yard. Now I'm not sure if it will get any taller now that the main branch has broken.


Opinions, instructions, and any assistance received from the forum members will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for replying Sorry to say, grafting, is way above my current pay grade. I'm a total newbie! :(

What I did was remove all the leaves and the figs from the broken off piece, wrapped it in damp paper towel and put it into a zip lock bag. Maybe it will grow roots this way?

 

 

New shoots will most likely sprout from the two nodes just below where the piece was broken off and will continue to grow the tree taller. 

There are multiple options for rooting the cutting.  Rooting in a bag like you are doing seems to be a pretty popular one.  You can also use containers of perlite or peat, water, direct potting in potting mix, or even just sticking it in the ground.  You should be able to do a search for details on any of the methods.

Good luck.

You may have done yourself a favor. Now it will branch lower and be easier to pick-- and for me, that is the whole reason to grow figs. I am not a "fig collector", I am a "fig eater" with a big appetite ;-)

Welcome aboard Sam! I agree with others the tree will sprout new buds and continue to grow taller. I have been pinching a lot of my trees this year and they continue to "reach for the sky". Also, I noticed your cutting is a tip cutting. I have had a lot more success with those putting it directly in a mix. If inside a humidity bin I have used soil-less mixes with good results. I tried a few presently in potting mix directly outside and they seem to be doing well. Putting them in bags with the green tips frequently got me mold, or leaf growth and no roots. Happy figging to you and yours:)

My advice to root that cutting is just to stick it in the ground wherever you want it to grow.  Just leave an inch or so of the top sticking out.  If you would rather do it in a pot, that is fine, just put it in anything 1 gallon or smaller, an inch or so sticking out the top.  Use regular potting mix, whatever you have lying around.  Keep it moist and in the shade.  In a couple months you'll have a baby tree.

As far as that tree, I agree with others in that I don't see the point in letting it get much taller.  Over time the new shoots will tend to grow upwards and you might end up with a nicely shaped tree with how it is.  And you can step on those stones to get the fruits that are higher up.  Who wants to use a ladder? 

You can always selectively prune off anything that is growing in a manner that is not consistent with how you want the tree to look or grow.  Fall is a good time to do this. 

don_sanders, GeneDaniels, bigmike, and Rob:

Thank you all for replying and trying to help me. I’m learning a lot from your responses!

I’ll never need to step on those stones to reach a fig!
Being 6’5 and blessed with very bad knees, having a taller tree is actually better for me. I can easily easily reach up to pick figs but can’t bend down for low hanging fruit!

I originally had a Violette de Bourdeaux  planted in that spot, and when I learned it would not grow tall and help provide some privacy screening from the neighbors, I went to Home Depot and bought a Brown Turkey fig and placed it there instead as I know this tree will grow to 15-20 feet if allowed. Also I don’t know how long i will continue to stay at this property and would really not have wanted to leave my VdB, a less common fig, behind. The brown turkey, can be found anywhere and is a good basic fig but nothing special. The VdB is now in a container and will go with me wherever i end up moving to.

Before looking at all these replies, I purchased some Sphagnum peat moss, wetted it down and put it in a plastic storage box. I placed the fig cutting covered between layers of the moss.

After reading all of your replies I decided Io remove the cutting from the moss and plant it into soil in a small container and lets see what happens. Temperatures will be approaching 110 degrees here by early next week. I hope the little fella can take it!

Looks like you ended up with a nice healthy cutting and you are on your way to having another fig tree!
The only other thing I would suggest is to remove the little figlet from the cutting it will just take energy from the cutting that would otherwise go to growing roots.

Your tree is lost apical dominance and will probably form new shoots on the branches that will fight for dominance, or the tallest branch is in a good position to take the role, you could help it by staking it straighter upwards, the wood is not too old to bend a little bit. Either with a tall stake in the ground or a shorter one affixed to the opposite side of the trunk as an anchor, bend it in stages about a week apart and loosen all the ties on the main trunk weekly to prevent girdling... Or wait and select a new shoot that forms at the top of the trunk or on the top branch near the trunk, rub out all the others except maybe a few at the tips of the branches and that shoot will have apical dominance and grow as tall as you want.

Sam, when I advised to put the cutting in a pot outdoors I did not realize your temperatures were so high.  I have never tried rooting cuttings in that kind of weather.  So maybe it is OK, or maybe it will cook or dry the cutting out.  I root cuttings outdoors when it's in the 80s and 90s here with no problem, but it's also quite humid.  Just a thought.  If it's just a BT cutting it doesn't seem like a tragedy if it dies.  Actually be a good experiment.

As suggested, I stuck the cutting in some 5-1-1 soil mix, set it in the shade to let it grow roots. Unfortunately the cutting died.  Brown Turkey, not a loss, but was looking forward to getting experience growing new plants from cuttings.

The temperatures here have been 115 degrees for the past week and most everything in my garden is taking a beating.

Hi,
It is my believe that actively growing stems should be rooted via the water method and by leaving the last leaf on .