Oh Boy! A whole new learning curve. Apples and oranges, so to speak. The orchard has been a disappointment, we get a late frost almost every year that wipes out all the bloom. It's a big attraction of figs that they'll try again later.

Since I'll keep backups in pots I'll keep them pruned down to where I can protect them. Pinch and rub, right! I figured out notching on apples. Rubbing figs should be easy. I'm not sure how to pinch with a loader but I'm not such an old dog that I can't come up with a new trick now and then.

I did some pruning of my figs while they were dormant about 6 weeks ago according to the general approach outlined in this thread.  Now some of them are leaking sap from the pruning cuts.  Yesterday I put some parafilm over the wounds but there is still some leaking.  I'm thinking I should take the parafilm off.  I read somewhere about digging up some heavy clay soil, making a paste and rubbing this on the wound.  Have anyone heard of this?

Steve, They're still leaking sap six weeks after pruning?  Is it that milky/white latex, or something else?

The just started seeping clear sap in the last couple days.  The warm weather really came in on Friday and they are all breaking bud.  So the sap is really flowing now.  Before that I didn't notice and sap leaking.  My grapes did this for a couple days last spring when the sap really got going.  Then it stopped without me interfering and they were fine.

I just found this thread which addresses the seeping of clear sap after pruning:

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5763300

Some suggestions from that thread are:

1. rub ashes on the wound

2.  apply pruning seal to the wound

3. do nothing and eventually it should stop

I think I might try the ashes (since I have some on hand) on one tree and see what happens.  Anyone have any additional advice?

Hi Rewton,
I usually use simple dirt I take from the ground to rub it on the wound - My dirt is clay.
How big was the branch you cut ?
Normally they don't bleed forever. After an hour or max a day they should stop bleeding.

jdsfrance, I was following the step by step pruning procedure in the first post of this thread where you start with a whip and cut at 16 inches or so to get side branching.  I started with one year old trees about 20-30 inches high so it was a substantial cut.  There are about 6-8 trees doing this.  I noticed it yesterday.  At least some seem to be slowing down.  Tomorrow I'll try some clay on some and ash on others.  I probably should have done the pruning in December instead of late February - lesson learned.

Rewton,
I don't usually have a problem with continuous weeping sap, but I've tried Diatomaceous Earth and pulverized limestone dust as a "clotting agent", they both seemed to work. I personally would just leave it alone.

The Educated Scholarly consensus is that pruning sealers are not necessary and may be detrimental on figs and fruit trees, but I have used sealers from the start on fig cuttings and on pruned lignified wood with good results. When I prune in the fall or in late winter, the cut ends have very little sap and I usually paint with an asphalt based sealer a day or two after the cuts are made. I also leave 1 - 2 nodes above the desired cut for node dieback and perform final trimming later in the following season.

BTW, when you "pinch" green stems, you are actually also crushing the cells which help to "seal" the cut ends.

Good Luck

Update 6/20/2014

Many of the documented trees in the OP were winter killed, due to storage in an unheated space, I'll be replacing most of those cultivars, if possible. Two trees, a bush form and a tree form that were stored in an heated space are currently flourishing in the 70 - 80 deg daytime temperatures.

IMO, the Tree form is the best shape for a containerized fig tree, the Bush form produces a larger diameter tree that is also more difficult to maintain in a container, its more suited to in ground plantings.
    

Pete, could you please elaborate on what you mean by "seal"; is that a good thing or bad? I read your "seal" post right after I just pinched most of my plants last night :/. When I pinched off the tips the white latex dripped 1-2 drops the just formed a small white bubble droplet up top and stopped. Today it looks dry.

Savage270,
I usually seal pruned ends after they stop leaking sap, it helps to prevent tip desiccation (die back).
I don't pinch because I prune instead for the final shape and remove unwanted new shoots and branches. The desired branches are pruned back while dormant to 1 - 2 nodes for the next seasons fruiting branches, this procedure forms larger and healthier fruiting branches.

Sealing for pinched branch tips is absolutely unnecessary. In a healthy growing plant the wound will be compartmentalized (sealed off) quickly, as noted by your observation. I use pinching to slow or stop vegetative growth of fruiting branches, the new buds that are produced are also pinched.

<edit> You're welcome.

Thanks Pete for the information :)

Excellent thread Pete.

JD,
Thanks.


Update 8/8/2014
Pictures of the O'Rourke and Champagne trees. I should be harvesting figs in a few weeks from both of these trees.
  .

Close up under the canopy of the O'Rourke tree showing the scaffold branches and fruiting branches.
  .

I know Pete no longer posts on this forum, but this is a good topic to bring back up and I wanted to ask some of you with more experience for your ideas about pruning for a small bush form.

These are cuttings started last year, planning to be in 5g bucket SIPs indefinitely. I want to prune to a bush form, as Pete describes above, need to keep these to a size that I can move up and down my basement stairs.

First example - I have a number of plants that grew a pretty straight trunk like this one:

 

Ignoring the sucker for now, the main trunk is 18 inches tall, with buds emerging at the top for the past week. This one has already been placed into the SIP. In another place, Pete had given directions for bush pruning and said that you should cut it at 6 inches when the trunk is an inch thick, but I think that is going to be a fairly long wait for the trunk to make that diameter. Should I prune it now at about 6 inches or wait till later in the season? I would think that it would be better to prune now rather than let it put a lot of energy into a trunk that is going to be pruned shorter. I think I should prune at the third node above the plastic band near the base?

Secondary question on this example - if you would prune this one shorter now, how small a plant would you do this on? I have a number that were smaller - only 8-15 inches with a single straight trunk.

Tertiary question on this example - I will be removing the sucker at the base. It still has green wood at
the tip (these plants were stored and never got below 33 degrees, so the green wood was not damaged). How would you best root this kind of cutting, same way as any other?
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Second example - I have a few that grew in a sort of V shape like this one:

   



These two trunks are about 8 inches long. Would you, as above, wait for thicker trunks before pruning? Would you eliminate one trunk and prune the other to 6 inches, then train it more upright (or plant it at an angle when moved to the SIP this weekend)? Or tip each of the two trunks and select 2 scaffold branches on each?

I have a large number of others that I think I can figure out what to do with given some helpful advice on these 2 examples.

Thanks for any and all suggestions. There may be, I realize, a number of ways that will eventually work out OK.

Ed,

I just potted up a Jack's Black that was V shaped like  your second one. I took one branch off and planted so the remaining one was vertical.

Also, last year I pinched the tops out of all my cuttings as soon as they hit 8-10 inches. Most responded very nicely and have good branch structure developing. The only trees I did not do this with are two large figs I bought at a nursery. They were 6 ft tall to begin with. I let them go last season then cut them back to about 3ft over the winter in hopes of getting them to branch more. 

Hi eboone,
IMO, it is be too soon for those trees to be shaped, but if you don't fear loosing or setting back the tree than see here after.
First, on the first tree, those buds look like brebas to me - if you cut, you'll loose them .
But ok, if you are looking at shaping, I would target a main trunk of 50cm/2' of height.
On your tree1 I would simply pinch the two last nodes and let the others grow. Monitor the tree, as those buds look like brebas to me and not like leaf buds - but I could be wrong.
For the root sucker, you have two options :
Option1: gently remove the dirt around that stem and find roots on that stem and cut just underneath some roots - I would do that once that stem has 2 leaves - not before.
Option2: let it grow and airlayer later in July .- I did that on a "goutte d'or" sucker and it continued growing almost as nothing had happened .
Opton3: let it grow and in July check where roots are and remove it at that time.

For your tree2, I like that V shape, so I would simply pinch the last two nodes on each stem.

If you are looking at propagating those trees, I wouldn't pinch but airlayer in July .
The choice is yours. Remember that sometimes when pinching, you'll only get one new growing bud, and you'll have to keep on pinching .
Each fig tree has her own plan ...
I myself have some trees with a size in between 10cm/3'' and 30cm/1' and I won't shape before they reach 60++ cm/2++' .
When looking for shaping, fertilizing those trees is important for shaping sooner - because one wants to shape asap to reach fruiting size - at least that is my case.

One thing is true, I often get free pinching ... because of winter damage ... So you could pinch them all terminal buds, considering that "this is some damn winter damage" :p .
For your tree1, I would really attempt to get those brebas...

I like the air layer idea for tree #2!
Why wait for July to do, can you do the air layer now?

Thanks for the suggestions.
Poking into the soil, I found that the 'sucker' on plant 1 and a couple similar ones actually arose from the trunk just a half inch under the surface, with no separate roots.  I might try air layers on the larger ones.
Shouldn't I wait for leaves and more growth before starting an air layer, on either #1 or #2?

For the V shaped plants (I have 5), I might try a couple methods - removal of one arm and planting the other upright or pinching tips to make secondary branches