I have never seen Fig Leaf Flushing discussed before on either forum.....time to talk about it.........
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A few years ago, I attended a citrus seminar given by several professors of Horticulture at LSU. One PhD professor used to own a citrus orchard and knew first hand how to run a citrus business. He really knew his stuff.

What I learned about citrus trees (esp. oranges and satsumas)  is that the leaves will FLUSH three times a year in my area. In early spring they will flush sending forth new growth and flowers. The roots will grow following this flush. Then they will flush again in early July and then grow new roots. Then they will do that flush again in the fall......again with some more root growth following that third flush. Soooooooo, root growth follows flushing....keep that in mind as you continue to read.

For optimum "fertilization" of citrus in La orchards, the farmer fertilizes his tree according the the citrus leaf flush schedule. In early February (which is just before the first citrus flush), you apply some ALL PURPOSE fertilizer to your trees. Then just before the second citrus flush in July, you again apply some fertilizer but you use a HIGH NITROGEN content fertilizer this time. This is to stimulate new wood to grow on your citrus tree. ANY wood that is added to your tree AFTER its first flushing will have flower CLUSTERS on those branches next year. Any wood that was on the tree PRIOR to that second flush will have only SINGLE flowers.....and not CLUSTERS.  Sooooooo, to make your citrus tree produce more fruit next year......try to get more wood growth during the second flush........You want clusters of flowers next year and not single flowers. Clusters produce more fruit than single flowers.......

Now what does that have to do with figs???????

Since I have heard about this citrus leaf Flushing, I have been observing my in ground fig trees for a few years. And yes indeed they too will leaf flush. IMO, this has meaning and consequence for two areas.

Huh, that was quite interesting reading Dan!!

Very interesting.  I took a few summer cuttings today to try rooting. It's my first attempt.

Dan, I am a little confused. Wouldn't cuttings taken before the first leaf flush still be considered dormant? But you also say "before a fig flush" so i was not sure. I totally agree that spring cuttings with swollen buds are very easy to root, so I can imagine a pipeline pumping them up.

Hi Dan.  This makes a lot of sense.

Thank you for sharing this.

It will be very helpful.

Best wishes.

John

Brent......

You are right about cuttings with buds that are swelling and just beginning to open up as being very easy to root. However, I am talking about small branches with those "inactive" (i.e. closed) terminal buds that you will find in a fig tree AFTER the first leaf flush. The lateral buds will have leafed out....but not the terminal bud itself. You can find these branches if you look for them.......many weeks after the fig tree has come out of dormancy. Those summer cuttings are "excellent" candidates for rooting. Only cut off the "leaves" themselves (not the stems ) from these cuttings and leave the leaf stems on the cuttings until they fall off by themselves. The cutting will draw upon the energy reserves that are contained in those leaf stems.  AND, when the leaf stems do fall off on their own, they will have formed a scab where it once attached to the branch. AND, IMO.....leaving the stems on cutting helps align and send chemical signals to latent root cells that are within the cutting.....to get rooting ASAP. In other words....THERE ARE BENEFITS to leaving the leaf stems on those summer cuttings until they fall off on their own. AND, rooting them whlle the "internal pipeline" that is within the cutting is still acive....is yet another bonus.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Thanks for the explanation and the extra info Dan. I will pay closer attention to the flushes next year and root lots of cuttings.

So if I have a fig tree I want to take dormant cuttings from,  I should wait  until the tree is about to bud out to take cuttings?  Would this be better than taking cuttings say in January and storing them in the refrigerator?

Yes, you sure can take cuttings just before the buds begin to swell in the spring. And they do not need to be chilled/stored in the refrigerator at all.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus