Hello everyone.  I know this is a total newbie question, but should I cut the shoots at the bottom of my young RdB or keep them?  I tried searching the forum, but couldn't find what I was looking for. Thanks

  

RdB likes to grow as a bush, and many people prefer many trunks because it makes more places for fruit, but if you want a single trunk tree, then you can remove the suckers.  You could make yourself some back-up plants with those suckers.

Suzi

Let them grow a little and then air layer them to remove. That is if you are looking for a single trunk. I prefer mine in bush form. It is a matter of your preference, not a health issue. More stems usually do translate to more fruit.

I would go with multiple trunks, I usually want 4 to 6. But like Suzi said, you could keep it as more of a tree form if aesthetics is an issue.

Hi Shawn,
The choice is up to you.
For me, I would fertilize more, and let them all grow. In July, I would try to remove the bigger ones with some roots if they are taking too much space.
If there is enough space for all I would let them be, especially if the tree was in ground...

Now in pot, if you're targeting fruit production and you don't want extra trees  ... Then remove them ASAP to let all the sap go to the main trunk.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I will let the suckers go for now. I dont really have a preference one single truck vs multi trunk.  If I can get more figs all the better. Maybe I'll end up with more cuttings that I can share next year or I can try my hand at air layering them as was suggested by Adelmanto.

Air layering is very easy and has a very high success rate.  You can search youtube for demonstrations.

Suckers are nice and productive. I usually cut them after sometime to propagate and then they grow extra stems along nodes. Gotta love that!