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There's A Hole In My Fig Tree...

I just received a RaspBerry Latte tree.


I Likey.

It's nearly three feet high, big enough for me not to worry about babying it.

It's about to go dormant, with two leaves on it.

In a couple of days I will re-pot it.

Here's the thing though, It has a hole coming out of the side of the trunk.

It's pretty deep, it looks like it go down to the main trunk.

And it's wide enough to stick a pencil into it.

Not sure if I should plug it up, seal it up with something?

I'm afraid If I leave it open, something might get in. ( bugs, debris )

It's too close to the truck for me to cut off.

And if I bury it under the soil line, what about lime, Perlite, or other soil amendments getting into it?  Would that cause problems?

Any advice?
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it's nothing to worry about. I would plug it up with wax just to keep insects out if you are going to keep it above the soil line. Good luck!
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Elmer's Glue.
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I would leave it alone. If it bothers you too much, next season set an air layer on it then after you remove the air layer cut the main trunk couple of inches below that hole or an inch above the soil line. Doing so you'll end up with two trees, one will grow as a bush and the other as a tree.
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Read post #4

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Normal. Branches are hollow inside, filled with a soft pith. When you breach a node the pith goes away and ... You have a hole. I agree with Martin ;)

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When I root cuttings, even if it is a tip I slice just above the top bud.  I want to encourage early branching and by doing so I run into a lot of situations like you are describing.  I usually let it be but over the years I have traded with various members and received something similar that has been plugged with what looks like wax or otherwise so apparantly the people I have traded with felt a need to plug it up.  
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Thanks everyone for your suggestions.


Since this is my first year over-wintering my figs, I just wanted to make sure that
hole was something that wouldn't cause any issues for the tree now or down the road.

I am going to be storing some of my figgies in my cellar, and believe it or not, I have no idea what type of critters might be down there.. 

I very rarely have been down there in the winter, and haven't really noticed any evidence of bugs or rodents, but I wanted to be extra careful about nothing getting
into that hole ( termites, spiders, roaches or other creepy crawlers)  

To be on the super-safe side, I placed a bunch of traps, poison and bait down there.

Until I up pot it and send it down for it's winter sleep, I have been having a bit of fun seeing what I can use to temporally cover the hole.

Since it's a Raspberry Latte, I thought a Starbucks straw would be apropos.

Any niece thinks a Holiday look would be better..
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Having lost an in ground tree because of such a hole, next time I would tend to it early. It did last a couple of seasons and I'm just glad that I did a couple of air layers before it was too late. I know you won't put yours in the ground but the hole does present the possibility of either insects or rot to hurt your tree. The hole was caused by the cutting being cut too far above the node, thus the part above the sprout died back to the last node and the pith rotted out. I think it needs tending but I'm not sure exactly how. I think I would see if I could drill a small hole out the side of the hole at the bottom to make sure any water that gets in will drain out. I think I would next cut a slot from the top to the drilled hole at the bottom. This would air it out and not allow wet pocket to form. Next year during the growing season I would start removing any dead tissue and stop when I hit green wood so as not to damage the growing sprout. Over time If the dead material is removed the tree should heal itself by growing over the spot. If you leave it as it is you will sooner of later develop rot in the hole. If it would be on an outer branch it would not be a problem and could be pruned off, but here at the base of the trunk, it will sooner of later cause a big problem. As for a plugging the hole, no mater what you put in it, sooner or later the tree will grow and loosen the plug. Then water will get in a the problem has returned.

As a precaution, as soon as the tree has grown some and has a branch that can be air layered, I would not delay in getting one started for a back up. If your trees heals nicely then great, you'll have a tree to share, if your tree doesn't make it then you have the back up.
 Good luck.
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