I was just reading another website about figs, and that person says to ALWAYS remove all the young developing figs the first year a tree is in the ground, no matter the size of the tree.

Does anyone else do that?

I'll remove figs on small/1year plants so if say yeah go for it.

I think it all depends.......on small trees or those that are struggling sure I would remove them.  If you are in a long growing season area the trees can get quite large the first year and still produce fruit and in that case I would not.   

well, i'm sure not gonna do that.

yesterday the temp was supposed to drop into the 30s. i'd put a 3 month old rooted cutting in ground as an experiment, but
it wasn't handling cold like the older trees i planted, so i dug it out. i was amazed to see that the roots had more than doubled
in 10 days. if the same thing is happening to the big trees, they can certainly support a crop.

Hi Genedaniels,
You're talking about cuttings, I suppose . So on cuttings, yes remove the figs.
On a rooted tree, let the figs grow ... Fig Leaves are not really edible :) after all.
Of course, if your rooted tree is having a bad time ( bad winter; bad dog; bad rodent ... ) and struggles than yes remove the figs.
Another application I would see, is if one was willing to get/sell lots of cuttings from a tree.
Removing the figs as they appear would trick the tree into more stem growth ...

On my trees,  I remove all odd looking brebas.This season, I already removed 10+ figs - brebas + old overwintered figs - on the Dalmatie tree1.
When a fig is looking odd, it will look like that into ripeness and thus produce an inferior fig, so why let the tree exhaust resources on those figs ... Just MHO .
Like I see it, Dalmatie tree1 is on her way to produce blue fleshed figs ... Will take photo this time if that occurs ...

I probably read the same thing you did and I was questioning leaving a couple on mine as well. He said to remove all figs no matter if it's in a pot or ground the first year. Said the first year is all about roots and establishment plus first year figs are inferior in taste so it's not really worth it. To each his own I guess? I kinda lean towards what Wills said though. Long growing seasons can make up for a lot especially if the plant is happy and growing well.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. The threes in question are at least 2 years old, maybe 3, and had 4-5gal of roots when I put them in the ground last week. So I am thinking I will let them produce at least some fruit. I might pinch off any that come on after Aug 1st, since that is 90 days from normal first frost here.

Any fruit my new trees grow Im keeping just so I can try least one or two from my new plants.

JDFrance,

    Not to steal away the thread, but you commented that fig leaves are not really edible. I have eaten some. They were tiny, immature leaves and their flavor was very pleasant. I am not sure that a large serving would be as agreeable. I am sure that mature leaves would not be as agreeable.

    I cannot disagree with the above comments regarding the removal of first-year figs.

fig leaves make great tea. fresh or dried, i addsome to my regular tea n it's very nice.

two things. 1st yr fig usually doesn't taste all that good. 2nd, leaving on the fig will take energy away from vegitative growth. 

so... ideal situation is to take figs off on 1st yr cutting. more growth this yr will support better tasting figs next yr, and more of them. 

i left some figs last yr in 1st yr cuttings. i was lucky, some of them were great. but the trees didn't grow as well as ones that didn't have the figs on. the trees with figs on were thinner and isn't fatting up as quickly as others.

Just to clarify, I am not talking about cuttings. I am talking about three small trees. Two which I bought at a nursery in 5 gal pots, and one that I dug out of a yard with probably 4 or 5 gal. of rootball. It is these trees that I am trying to decide whether or not to leave figs on for this season.

if the tree is at least 1 yr old or older, leave it on.

gene, i really think those figs ripening won't slow plants that old.

 i'm sure pete's right about cuttings, but he's not talking about older trees just put in the ground. had i left my trees in containers i'd eat all the figs.

being inground just means lots more root developement, so more energy to support figs.

i bet your figs will be bigger n better from trees just put inground than in pots.