Hello All,

I just joined today and I am excited because I just purchased my first Celeste Fig Tree. 

I was wondering if I should separate these plants?  As you can notice in the picture it has two stems.  In edition can I take cuttings of the lower branches now or should I wait tell next year?  I do understand it should be a dormant period is that correct?


Thanks,
Dean

Don't do any cuttings just yet.  In my opinion very carefully try and separate the plants

Okay, I'll use water to wash the soil away and then separate them.  Thanks!

it's your call whether you wait for dormancy, but ....

first thing i would do is unearth to see if it truly is one tree, or if it's definitely two different trees.

i would also look to see how much root material each tree has.  if they both have great roots available, i'd personally do it during dormancy.

if you do it now, you will need to keep the plants in a shaded place for a few weeks to recover from the damage done to the roots in the process.  if they really start wilting hard, you should probably tent it with a baggie to hold humidity inside to reduce water loss due to the damage done.

Thanks Jason!  I guess I can pop it out of the pot and check it out before attempting anything.  If it's a tangled mess I may just plant it that way or wait tell a dormant period as you suggest.

Ps - welcome to the forum ;)

Thanks! 

If you remove the soil, be prepared to put the plants in a high-humidity space for a couple weeks till they recover from the shock, since they are fully leafed out.

Second, if you want to grow it more as a bush, than as a tree, for ease of picking, storage, etc. then even if it is plants, it is really just about like having a low-branching tree, and you might as well leave it alone.

Welcome Dean, that's a nice looking tree/trees you have. Another option would be to air layer one of the shoots to make a second tree, and doing it that way shouldn't endanger the other. Before the end of summer you will have two nice trees.
"gene"

You have a third option......you can air layer your twin RIGHT NOW. That procedure is very simple to do and will not affect your existing tree at all. Personally that is what I would do if that nice looking fig tree were mine and I wanted a second plant.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus. 

What a nice looking plant you have.

If it were my plant in Texas and my intentions were to grow it inground.
 I would leave it as is and perhaps take some scion wood next winter to duplicate and have fun doing so during the offseason.

Grown in Container

If my intentions were to keep it always container grown i would get a bigger pot now seems like it may need that soon either way.
I would uplift plant to see if it holds in 1 piece (it will if many roots are there) and if so
 with a bigger pot and some soil in new pot and semi ready to receive plant i would slip plant out of current pot and put into new pot and backfill the voids.
Come summer i would enjoy some fruit it may produce.
Ive done that so many times without the need to put plant in shade coming out of pot  long as it slides out of old pot easily and fully intact.
Then
Come dormant season i would slip plant out of pot and inspect.
If indeed those two thickest branches are not growing off each other i would simply slice right down between the two and repot into 2 containers.
It won't hurt them if fully dormant.

Dean its basically what you want
Grown in tree form
Grown as bushy type plant
Grown inground
Grown in container

Hi Dean, you've been given some very good advise. It's nice to see another Texan join the forums---welcome.  You'll discover there are several Texans here. Congratulations on your first tree---I'm sure it won't be your last.

Hey Dean

Whatever you decide to do with your new tree, I suggest before you plant your new tree in the ground you might want to examine those roots for the presence of root knot nematodes (RKN). If you live in a RKN nematode free area, you sure do not want to contaminate your garden soil with those critters. You should be able to find threads/posts with pictures......on this forum and the Garden Web fig forum.

Rule #! for growing in ground figs:

......always always always check the roots of ANY fig tree that you buy from ANY source (no matter where it came from) BEFORE you plant it in the ground. If you find nematodes in those roots, an air layer can be performed and that air layered plant will not have nematodes.


Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Here are some pictures of what an RKN-infected tree looks like.  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=36917981&postcount=1

You'd be surprised, you can even get RKN-infected plants from major name-brand nurseries, fellow fig-lovers, they don't pick and choose who or what they infect. 

Anybody wanting to see  a real, real nasty pic. of an RKN  infected fig I once bought, 'here I go again'

and again. No it is  NOT, not OK to distribute this big beast...

BTW,

Welcome Dean  to this very-good F4F/FF

(but sorry for some other ugly things that does sometimes happen).

OK to say/sing 'Mamma Mia - my, my;  how can I resit you... does it show again'

 and/or scratch your back-neck-raised-hairs (b/c rkn) )...

Thanks for all the replies.  I do plan on planting this one in the ground.  It may take a few weeks though.  I have some Bambusa I have to dig out of the way first. 

I went ahead and bought this one because I thought it was a good deal for $16.  Everywhere else I checked they wanted $22-36 for the same size pot.

Oh, and thanks for the information on nematodes.  I didn't know they were such a problem w/ figs.

Dean

Dean,

I was thinking of putting it in to a bigger container.  Any suggestions on potting mix?

Dean,

Your welcome Dean