For container trees: When you are wanting to make a branch produce more branches, do you always need to cut the apical tip off?  For both the main and secondary scaffold branches?  Do you do it at the beginning of the growing season?  I"m planning to notch above the nodes I want to grow branches also.  

Amanda,

On this forum that is typically referred to as "pinching" and it works very good on fig trees. Normally I pinch mine every 5 or 6 leaves. This kills the apex dominance which encourages branching and earlier fruiting.

Do a content search on the topic of pinching and you will find a wealth of knowledge about the practice. Herman has taught all of us a great deal about this practice.

Do you just pinch leaves or the end of branches.

Pinch the whole tip off.

If you notch above the nodes you don't have to pinch the apical bud unless you want that branch to stop getting longer.

Thanks all, that is helpful.  I have been reading the forums, and couldn't figure out the difference between pinching and pruning.

Although...oops, I did not wait for 5-6 leaves to come out first.  On lots of my trees last week I pinched the tip, which was the only thing that was budding/leafing.  Will other leaves/branches still grow, or did I kill it by doing it too early?  This continues my consistent pattern of doing the wrong thing when I didn't fully understand the proper technique yet.  :(

Don't worry too much, figs are very forgiving trees. It will probably just send out side shoots from other nodes further down the trunk. Or it might form a knot of branches right there at where you pinched. Either way, you will have more branches for more fruit

I get good results from pruning  the top back before new growth starts in the Spring.  When the new growth starts I have several new buds pushing out along the trunk.