Rewton
1291943117
Herman2
1189809424
Posted 1400513372
Reply with quote #2
On Sicilian Red,That has live trunks,make sure,the trunks wood are alive all around not just half of the said trunk,like the south side can be dead and the north side of trunks is alive.
Rewton
1291943117
Posted 1400516469
Reply with quote #3
I hadn't considered the half-dead/half-live part of the trunks but you are probably correct that some of the remaining trunks have some dead wood on one side but not the other. I'll remove green buds from the outer parts of the trunk that are dead on one side. Anyway, my understanding of what you recommend Herman is to remove the suckers in the center and let the tree focus its growth at the four trunks. The buds on the trunks that project toward the inside direction should be removed and the buds that project toward the outside should be kept. If I misunderstood, let me know.
BronxFigs
1333154764
Posted 1400527042
Reply with quote #4
Open forum questions: (mainly for short-season growers)...
MichaelTucson
1333340598
Posted 1400527404
Reply with quote #5
@BronxFigs: I guess it depends on how much they died back, Frank. I use that strategy for "new trees" that are still small. So if the die-back was severe enough that the tree resembles a small new tree, then I would say yes, let the tree put its energy into root and top development. But if the die-back is less severe, then there's no need to knock off this year's figs. So, where is the threshold? You decide.
Pauca sed matura.
Rewton
1291943117
Posted 1400527598
Reply with quote #6
Frank - good question. I would probably take a middle of the road approach i.e. let some figs mature if there is time but remove some of the crop if the crop seems particularly heavy. It's a little bit like the question of whether to let young container figs ripen figs (or not) except that in this case the in-ground trees should generally have well developed root systems.
ascpete
1336096379
Posted 1400527955
Reply with quote #7
Steve,
MichaelTucson
1333340598
Posted 1400528140
Reply with quote #8
@Rewton: Herman raises a good point (about one side dead, one side alive). It's very good advice (and always a good idea to listen to Herman, with all that he knows. :-). The only exception to that that I have practiced, is when there's a tree where the only trunk (or all of the trunks, as the case may be) is half dead and half alive. In that case, if I've got a trunk that is half dead and half alive, I don't cut it back to the ground and wait for a new shoot. Instead if I'm getting any green activity, I let it grow. And then later in the year, I either air-layer it or take a cutting. The mother tree will never be really healthy, but it provides a way to keep that variety around long enough to get a new tree. With the trunk of the mother tree (the trunk that's half dead and half alive), then after I've taken whatever cuttings I'm going to take, if it has a growing tip down low enough, I cut it off above that low green shoot (that's coming out of the half-live side), and I repot the mother tree deeper, burying all of the half-dead trunk (plus a little of the new shoot).
Pauca sed matura.
