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motdaugrnds

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Hello from zone 7 (south side of Virginia).

I have some Kadota, Celeste and Brown Turkey fig trees that are 3+ years old. Each year they die from winter weather here no matter how I protect them (mulch/burlap...even tried large cardboard box with newspaper in amongst the limbs and box covered with plastic).  Each spring they come back!  I never get two crops from them!

I'm trying to prune them this year and am not sure how to do this. I know to cut out all the dead/diseased wood (no diseases) and all limbs laying on the ground. I, also, think I'm suppose to get rid of all the "suckers" and "thin" NEW limbs.  (Aren't all NEW limbs thin?)  I believe my research has told me the fruit will grow on last year's wood.  Then I read fruit only grows on this year's wood.  Now which is it and how do I prune for maximum fruit yield?
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FiggyFrank

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
Welcome to the forum!
Breba figs grow on last year's growth.  Main crop figs grow on fresh new growth.  Breba = 1st crop, Main = 2nd crop in optimal environment.
If you have the option of growing fig trees in pots, this is your best bet for getting the breba crop.  I keep my dormant fig trees in my attached garage over the winter so there's no die-back.
I have 9 trees in the ground and don't bother with winter protection, as it's no guarantee it will work, as you've seen.  They still come back from the roots every year and manage to exceed 6' of growth by the end of the season providing a good amount of figs.  We may get lucky this year with little to no die-back, as the winter has been better than the previous few.
I would prune the thin branches and suckers.  If the branches are long whips, you may prune those to whatever height you wish.
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Frank
zone 7a - VA
rcantor

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
I mulch mine heavily and cut off everything above the mulch.  I do this in late fall and give away the cuttings.  This year the cuttings are going local, though   :)  If the branches are still alive you can still sell or give away the cuttings.  If you're not sure it's best to give them away.  :)
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Smyfigs

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Welcome to the forum!
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motdaugrnds

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
FiggyFrank, so far all my fig trees show "live" last year's growth. It is the older limbs that were dead. So what I'm understanding you to say is to prune off all new (this year) growth so as to assure a "breba" (1st crop) by the end of summer. Is this correct?

Rcanter, you cut your figs off just above the mulch EVERY fall leaving only brand new growth to produce fruit?  How much fruit do you get this way?

Smyfigs, thank you. I'm glad to be here.

All these fig trees have NEVER developed a TRUNK of any height due to winter kill. :(  I don't have the option of growing these in pots and storing them in a covered building thru the winter. Thus, I'm pretty stuck with their being in the ground.

I'm confused about the die back....Why would winter weather kill "old" limbs and not kill "last year's growth"? (I'm wondering if the winter before this one killed those limbs and, since this winter has only had a few hard freezes, the growth during 2015 was not killed. Does this sound right? Seems this year's hard freezes would have killed last year's growth; but it hasn't.)

I did go out and take off the tiny suckers and all limbs laying on the ground. Found one good sized one on the ground (about 1" diameter) that had great amount of roots on it and 3 shoots coming up from those roots. Wondering if this would be one to cut off mother plant, dig up and transplant. It is a Brown Turkey. If so, when is the best time to do this?

Found where something had been chewing on the low branches of the Brown Turkey. I have hardware cloth/wire circling this tree that is about 3" higher than ground level. However, it apparently has not helped much. Any ideas as to what I can do to stop this creature from eating on these limbs? (I'm thinking it is probably field mice/rats though haven't seen it. I do have ground hogs around here; however, this particular fig tree is in a fenced area I don't think a ground hog can get into and I didn't see any signs of digging.)

After trimming these as stated above, I dug a trench around it about 1-1/2 ft from the trunk part of the tree, put some 10-10-10 in trench all around and then covered it back up. The tree is about 4' tall and just as wide; and I put about 1 lb of this fertilizer around in this trench.  Is this enough?

As you can all tell, dealing with figs is quite new to me. When I planted them a few years back and fenced them in to protect them, my health failed and I pretty much had to neglect them until this year; so I'm playing catch-up with the learning process. I'm grateful for any help you all give me in here.
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FiggyFrank

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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
For breba crop, you do not want to prune any of last year's growth.  This is where they would appear.  I would simply prune the weak limbs and the suckers.
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Frank
zone 7a - VA
motdaugrnds

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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Thank you FiggyFrank. You've made pruning very clear and I appreciate your generocity.
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