last year and this year, i have taken cuttings from my young trees. mainly i want to share since others have shared with me. but thinking back, that is putting the tree to produce less figs.

since i'm cutting the branches from that yr's growth, there won't be any breba (not that i care too much about it) and there will be less branches.

this will limit the shape of the tree and fig production. i really didn't think too much about in last couple of years since i didn't know better. but i'm taking less cuttings this year. i do want to share, so i'm cutting anyway, but less than before.

what and which branches do you cut for sharing/trading? after 2 yrs or 3 yrs of growth? or as soon as you see something you like and want to trade with others?

my three oldest trees will be more or less left alone this fall and coming spring other than the suckers that has grown very tall. but the new trees i started this year, i'm thinking will wait till they are 2 or 3 yrs old before i'm going to start cutting to shape the tree.

Thanks for your post Pete since I am new at this. I had been thinking the same things.
I am going to wait also unless some one wants Celeste which I doubt. LOL

Main crop figs are produced on the new growth, so it doesn't matter how much you prune. However, when taking cuttings, leave 2-3 nodes of each branch from which to generate new growth the following season, to maintain branching and tree structure.

I was wondering this because I have many new trees, and would like to pay it forward.  These were either gifted or purchased from members here, and I'm happy to prune, but now I know to leave at least 2-3 nodes per branch.

Thanks Jon!

Suzi

I don't know about figs, but some fruiting trees benefit from strong pruning every year since their fruits are produced on the newest wood so you want to encourage new growth - which pruning can do. Hence, if you don't prune, you will get fewer fruits and your tree can decline drastically in production. Brebas not considered, this is my impression with figs too.

To answer your questions about "when," I'll offer a few general thoughts.    Cuttings can be taken and rooted at almost anytime of year.  

   Cuttings taken during the growing season, preferably late spring through mid-summer can be easily rooted by removing the leaves, maintaining humidity and planting in an appropriate growing medium out of direct sunlight.  (rooting anything after mid-summer, in my opinion, is getting too close to the time that the figs would be heading into natural dormancy, shortening the amount of time for them to develop before dormancy)

   Cuttings are also commonly taken anytime after fall dormancy, stored under refrigeration, shared with others, etc.   Usually the dormant cut sticks are kept under refrigeration for a month or so before attempting to root them.   The unintentional risk here is that depending on storage conditions, cuttings might dry out or become a fungus host before being mailed and then the attempt at rooting them might not work.

   I have found that the most vigorously rooting cuttings are ones that are cut just before dormancy has broken in early or mid-spring.    These sorts of fresh cuttings are ones that are naturally about to wake up and tend to explode with growth.

Ingevald

I 'wood'n't recomment decmating a 1 yr old tree or anything that hasn't outgrown a 1-3 gal pot.  If you're fertilizing it you should have a few cuttings after its second summer.  If you want a few breba leave 1 or 2 branches alone and cut the rest, or leave several with just a few nodes.  You wont want to take whole branches off until the tree has at least 2 years behind it and probably more.

it's hard to explain what i'm thinking.. let me try.

tree has a trunk and main branches or what i call main branches. what i call main branches are the branches growing from the trunk. i'm sure that's not the proper scientific name. anyway.. if i leave the main branches on the trunk, next year, new branches will grow from the main branches and that will bare figs.

if i prune hard and take off the main branches.. all the new main crop figs will come from the new branches off the trunk. each main branches will have few side branches and that will multiply the number of figs that the tree will bare.

this is what i did last year. i pruned most of the branches off the trunk thinking.. well not really thinking. this year, i'm leaving main branches on the trunk and will be letting the smaller branches grow on the main branches. come next fall or spring of 2014, i'll be cutting off those side branches and will be sharing/trading them.

hope it makes sense and it's a good idea.

I USE to prune my trees in December.  Last year I cut my trees back too much and lost a lot of cuttings.  This year I've decied to cut my trees every 2 years depening on growth.  I let my trees reach 8 feet before I trim them in ground and in pots.  This will be the first year that I won't be pruning my trees.  Why?  Because some did not get that tall and some did.  Those that did will be pruned come February.  I have somes air layers on still and trying to decide whether to cut the air layers or wait till Spring.  Time to make a decision!  So, those expecting an air layer from me will still get them, but it might be Spring when I send it.  I want to see a lot of roots before I cut the airlayers!

Pete,
Like Jon said, a good idea to leave 2 or three nodes on the branches (don't prune all the way back to the trunk).  If it's a tree that you want a breba crop from, then leave more branches unpruned.  As for the secondary/tertiary branches, I'd suggest be guided by the shape and size you're trying to achieve.  (And size of the top depends on what you can do for the roots... as Al Tapla and others have pointed out, this potted fruit tree business is a lot like bonsai).

I couldn't tell if you're also asking a related question:  what time of year makes sense to prune a tree if you're interested primarily in the health of the mother tree for the coming season (versus interested in the ability to propagate the cuttings).  I like Ingevald's advice from this perspective too... he said early spring just before waking up seems optimal.  I like that because it also is the time that leaves the least risk to the part of the branch remaining on the tree.  I still do fall pruning too because of practical reasons  (i.e. the practical aspects of protecting a tree through the cold cold winters here... it's easier to "store and protect" a pruned tree than one that has a big top.  Also the reason that it's convenient for trading cuttings with people, to have fall cuttings taken just after dormancy, though for me that is a newer reason than the other one :-).   So although I still do fall pruning, that puts the remaining part of the branch still on the tree at an increased risk of winter die-back... as you've probably seen that sometimes a pruned branch will die back to where it branched off.

So what's the best time to prune?  It depends... if my only concern were health of the pruned mother tree, I'd choose early spring.  But other practical considerations make fall (just after dormancy) also attractive, and in this cold clime where I live, I do that a lot, to prepare for wintering over.  The cuttings taken at either time seem able to be rooted.

[[Edit at 3:20PM 11/1/2012 --   Just in case anyone else from a cold climate references this thread some time:  let me add that if health of the mother tree branches is a consideration, I'd also consider pruning earlier in the fall, to give the cut end a chance to harden off before the harsh winter hits.  The main reason I don't do that so much is because at that point in the year I've still got figs on the tree that are trying to ripen, and pruning too early would interfere with that. ]] 

Mike   central NY state, zone 5

i should re-word the title of this thread.. :) i take my cuttings basically any time of the year. doesn't seem to bother my trees.

I do miss upstate NY, and Korea. Winter camping is something I miss. Something about sleeping on top of snow and freezing my bottom off... tho, we still have good number of beautiful national forests for hiking, camping and backpack.

Strangely enough, I never ski before.

Pete!  Are you kidding?  You don't ski?  Jeeze!  I learned to ski on ice and slush in our Southern California mountains.  Broke a shoulder... have a badge!!  If you can ski through icy snow and slush, you are really good!!  It's a breeze and a delight to ski through powder!  But bring it here!  Let's see how you do!!

On another topic, figs grow well here!

Suzi

I cut anything growth that is crowding other branches, cut anything to make the tree a nicer shape, open.
I don't like the long gangly look with a tuft of leaves at the end of 3 or 4 foot branches. Better to start shape pruning when the tree is young than to wait and as others have said, leave a few nodes for future branching.
If sharing, I cut just before sending if possible.
Being in Canada, I like to send before weather turns too cold... don't think the cuttings would like sitting in the back of a transport or a mailbox in subfreezing weather.
If rooting them myself I prefer to cut just before rooting in late winter early spring, just because they 'store' better on the tree than off.

didn't know all that. the new trees are being trained early. my old trees.. well. i just got rid of all the branches past spring. i just went crazy. sharing is fun.

Pete - Good choice to never ski. In NC your choices are spend a fortune to go out west.... or be very brave and ice skate on skis in the NC mountains.

There has been a lot of good info in this thread.

I would like to add that you should also strategically take your cuttings from locations on branches or main trunk where you want to stimulate branching. New branches usually form within 12 inches of the pruning cut.