Hi,

I think I may have asked this before and I'm not sure how to search for it in a different thread. I garden and select seeds for the characteristics I want to show up in future plantings. The earliest tomato, say. Does the same apply to figs or fruit trees in general?

As context, I have a 4 year old tree that has never fruited. Maybe it will this year. I'm 99% sure I can blame it on my own poor management - I probably did something wrong in trying to grow this poor tree, whether that be being root bound, incorrect fertilizer, whatever.

Regardless of if the issue could be blamed on me - maybe the tree itself just does not fruit - would that/should that dissuade me from taking cuttings or air-layering? Is the propensity to fruit (or not) passed on to different generations of the mother tree through cuttings?

A tree grown from a cutting is a genetic clone of the mother tree.
Every once and awhile a tree can have a mutation at the bud of a branch, where that branch is different than the rest of the tree. That is called a sport. It is however a rare event.

Therefore, they are the same tree. 

This is the reason that an apple cultivar, say Fuji, will not pollinate another Fuji, they are the same tree. They are individual trees through the grafting process, yet they are genetically the same tree from the same original source.  This is the only way to stay true to the cultivar, a tree grown from a Fuji seed would not be a Fuji, it would be it's own new cultivar with characteristics of cross pollination with another apple cultivar. 

So I'd be wasting my time trying to propagate this tree?

Hi ako1974,
Some questions for you :
Did you ever see a figlet on that tree? Did figs show up and shrivel ?
What is the source of that tree ? A random cutting? A well known variety ? a well known tree ?
Another option is building a greenhouse to remove the climatic issues - for instance if your season is too short, too cold with say late frosts.
Have you been trimming the tree ? ... if so, stop trimming .

In Zone6, you should be targeting the breba crop on fig trees and choose in the short season cultivars. Not every fig tree fits in .

In my Zone7 it takes up to 3 full years to get some trees to fruit and without any trimming .
I have a 3 years old tree that is showing breba buds/bumps since last November, and those would be the first figlets I ever see on that tree ... Patience patience ...
I don't know what train it belongs to. All I know is "that's a bloody good one" ... Nice description, ain't it ?
Needless to say that I might toast it this year ... Unless the description is bloody right :) .

Ed - let's put it this way, I think I'm the cause of the tree's dismay. I think I didn't pot up quickly enough, even though the tree is in (not sure of the size, I was given a nice big pot by my mom) at least a 10 gallon pot. But the tree just grew like a flagpole - not much branching. Last year, I trimmed the roots and pinched. It helped a little, so I'm willing to see what happens with it this year. No FMV that I can tell - I have a BT with FMV to compare it against and if it does have the virus, it's nowhere near as significant as in the BT.

jdsfrance - It's a Lattarulla, which I think is suitable for here in the zone 6. And I've never seen a figlet, fig, mammal, bird, mineral, vegetable, or otherwise in, on, or around that tree :) I should probably hang a white flag of surrender from the pinnacle! Again, though, I'm willing to take blame for poor management. The tree is from a reliable source. I bought it as a 1 or 2 gallon plant. I've bought other trees from this source and they've turned out wonderfully.

At the end of the day, I've trimmed it a lot and have given away cuttings, rooted cuttings, or potted-up plants, with the full disclaimer that I've never seen fruit, let alone tasted it. I really hacked it back end of last year, so I'm curious to see how she grows. I gave a couple friends 2-gallon trees last year, so I can check if they have better luck.

Arne
Your lattarula doesn't behave like mine.  I can't stop mine from producing figs. 

Are you growing it in a greenhouse and keeping temp below 35C?
What is your watering schedule like in the middle of summer do you let it dry out for extended periods? 

Pino - a tale of two figs! I grow it outside when the temps reach about 50F consistently. It doesn't dry out for very long - it's watered every day, if necessary. I wonder if I let it get root bound for too long? I wonder if that dramatically affect the tree? To the point where it doesn't send out any branches, but just stays a trunk.

A started a bunch of cuttings from this tree, wondering if it'd be worth it. A bunch of the cuttings are now growing small fruit - I've never seen the mother tree nor any cuttings from past years fruit. Strange, intriguing tree. I wonder if the cuttings will like me any better :)