Hello... I have a 5 ft tall mission fig that was from last year and it's been really cold here in Texas and one of the branches at the top is splitting open where it attaches to the tree stem.  is this normal and can i fill it with anything without hurting the tree??

I saw a huge fig orchard, where the owner puts a bamboo next to the split and secure it together as a splinter bandage, sort like a doctor fixing a broken bone, casting to secure it in place. sometimes, they heal up and you would be able to remove the big splinter. 

You could make a huge airlayer on the area, and secure it in place with a post/bamboo.

You could trim the branch and root several cuttings or share with others.

I wish you the best and share with us what you did.

How thick and long is that branch? Is it splitting due to weight? Our more of a bulging out split due to freezing? For the former, follow Grasa's suggestions for sure. As for the latter, I'm not sure. Pictures would help the gurus give you the proper advice.

get another branch, a stick, a piece of wood and wrap with it, to give some support, use old socks, they make great ties for emergencies such as this.

Vic, you need to wrap the splitting branch with something elastic and breathable... do you have access to medical supply store? there are types of bandaid wraps that look like white 1-3 inch wide and long , so they come in a roll form in a pack. one side is elastic fabric the other side sticky so it adders. you can wrap the entire branch where the crack is and leave it like that for a long time, by the mid spring you'll have a brand new branch all healed and fresh.

I'll post some really close up pictures in the morning about 11:00 a.m. today..

noticed my I-258 has split where the new branch came off the old wood where it rooted from. i'll just put mine in bigger container and bury it under the soil. i'm sure it will root around there in few months and it will be fine. if not, i'll be looking for I-258 cuttings agian. 

Figster, I hope I'm not hijacking your thread but I had something similar happen to my in-ground Kathleen's Black in November when I was wrapping it for winter.  I bent one of the low branches upward to tie it close to the main trunk and it snapped at the base of the trunk, only a couple inches off the ground.  In my case, there wasn't very much holding it on so I cut it off the rest of the way.  My concern is that it left a large opening in the trunk close to the soil surface.  Like you, I was also wondering whether I should fill this with something to keep it from being an entry-way for diseases, just pile mulch over the area, or leave it to the open air.  I made the snap decision to cover it with mulch in order to protect the base of the tree from cold weather.  My guess is that filling the hole with a foreign substance might cause more problems than it solves.  Figs seem pretty resiliant and I would guess it will heal over in time.  Has anyone had experience with this?

Tractor Supply carries Vet Wrap in their horse supply area.  Its a stretchy self adhesive gauze wrap for legs. Used it on a potted fig the cat decided to sleep on and broke the main trunk. Wrapped the trunk, it healed and is doing fine now. Since it stretches, it can be left in place for quite a while. Comes in colors from the unobtrusive to patterns that make a fashion statement.  If you have small kids that play around the tree, a  bright pattern might be a good choice to remind them that this tree needs some extra TLC while it heals.

The split is most likely cold damage due to fluctuating temps. I see these splits every winter at crouches and along the limbs. The damage from contraction and expansion is more significant when it separates the layers of wood. This acts as a girdle which disrupts any flow of moisture/nutrients above it. The best I can offer is the tree will grow new branches from healthy wood or from the roots if the damage goes low enough.

Thanks for the suggestion, Aaron.  I'll give this a try when I unwrap my tree in early March or so.  Maybe at that time I'll show a photo of what I am talking about - it as actually a small cavity that goes into the trunk a bit.  So it does seem concievable that insects or fungus could be a problem.  You read about cases where a homeowner wants to remove a fig tree, and cuts it down at the base, but it keeps sending up new shoots.  So I don't think its a question losing the tree but just keeping it as healthy as possible.

Cut it off. If possible root it. Figs grow so fast I'd just snip. What are the chances if you wrap it up that you'll seal in a pathogen that can cause further damage. Even it it seems to heal will you be creating a weak point that could causes worse problems in the future?
Sealing injuries with things like that tar like "wound sealer" are actually worse for the tree, so I'm not sure sealing the injury is the right thing to do.
Any pics?

if left alone, shouldn't it grow around it or heal itself? i had few that were chewed up by my puppies and they seems to have healed very nicely without any help from me. 

good article. 

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/barksplitting.pdf