Hey guys, I have couple of problems with my trees and I need some help trying to figure out what is the best course of action for them. I live in Las Vegas - 9a or 9b growing zone
Tree#1
Too close to the wall, branches are brushing off the wall. Should I transplant the tree to a better location? When is the best time to do that?
I don't know which fig variety the tree is, can you please identify?
Tree puts up a lot of fruit (200-250), but it only gets to a about large grape size, dries up and all the fruit falls off before ripening. It happened three years in a row. What could the problem be?
Any suggestions of how to proceed with this tree are welcome!
   
Tree#2
About 4-5 years old, never pruned, puts up very few fruit (3-4). Need help with pruning - when and how much should I prune?
   

Am I ever going to get nice ripe fruit from those two trees, please help
I would like to have the trees to grow more like a bush - horizontally. I think they are getting too tall.
Are there any other members that live in Las Vegas? Is someone willing/available to show me and help with pruning?
Thank you so much for all of your replies!

If the fruit has fallen off three yrs running I'd get rid of it or graft to something else. It may be a caprifig or variety that needs pollination to set fruit.

Shoot I'd get rid of the other as well. That few fruit indicates issues there as well.

Your trees look fine to me. Pruning isn't the issue that's causing lack of fruit. You need some productive varieties like Strawberry Verte, Mission, Figo Preto, or any one of hundreds of others that produce heavily. In your climate figs should produce for months.

No, I wouldn't get rid of established tree's ,but yes I would definitely recommend grafting onto them and turning them into something productive. You might want to see what members there are in Las Vegas, I know there are some, but forgot their screen names. I'm sure you could get some good advice. One grows in buckets and is quite knowledgeable. Good luck. 

You don't have any problems with a foundation so I would leave the trees as they are.

Here are some general guidelines that might help.
"A general fertilizer recommendation is 1 pound of 8-8- 8 per year of age of the tree up to 10 years old. This maximum of 10 pounds should be continued for trees 10 or more years old. Apply fertilizer in late winter or early spring. A good indication of the need for fertilizer is the amount of shoot growth obtained. A satisfactory amount of shoot growth is 1 to 1 1/2 feet per year. One common cause of fruit not maturing on fig trees is overfertilization using nitrogen fertilizer. Four to 6 inches of mulch and regular watering will often produce adequate growth of trees without sacrificing yield and quality. Do not fertilize trees in late summer, since succulent growth is more susceptible to cold injury. Vigorous late-season growth is not desirable.
Figs are shallow-rooted and often come under stress during dry periods. The Celeste variety, in particular, drops early fruit after spring droughts. Late summer droughts may cause early defoliation and induce dormancy. Regular irrigation is critical in producing quality fruit. Extremely late irrigation promotes succulent growth going into the winter and can cause the tree to be more susceptible to cold weather injury. It should be avoided."

You could see the full document here: http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/C8C23BD3-6905-4850-A776-D2589863A34A/38103/pub1529Figs.pdf

Thank you all for the replies.
another question i have is: is it worth transplanting the tree #1 since it so close to the wall and the branches are growing towards the wall?
What variety is my first tree? Can anyone identify it by those pictures?

Uprooting the tree could set it back dramatically. It could be done, but you run a high risk of killing it, especially if the tree is not dormant. I agree with Francisco, on how to prune it. The roots have probably adjusted and took the path of least resistance.
Putting those trees on regular drip irrigation will make sure that they don't get stressed, give them the right amount of fertilization and see what happens. It might take a couple of seasons to see the results.Good Luck.

I must tell you that heavy pruning could set production back on certain varieties that same year. Still trying to find out why, but I suspect that the tree ends up spending most of its energy on growing new branches instead of setting fruit.

I wouldn't do a thing until you identify what you have.

I've got some new pictures for you guys to try to identify my problem
  
A lot of my fruit is getting these spots. What is that? Is the tree putting up too much fruit and just not being able to keep up with the fruit demand for nutrients? Any ideas?
 
Also a lot of the fruit starts growing in this elongated/disturbed shaped, while the rest of it pretty much remains nice and symmetrical. Once again - fruit gets up to this size and starts turning yellow and dries up and falls off the tree.
 
Will the shape of the leaves help identify the variety of the fig?
I'll try to get some fruit to get i little bit bigger and put a cutaway of the fruit. In the rare cases where i've had some bigger fruit i seems that the fig tries to turn yellow, not the dark purple figs i've seen everywhere.
Once again thank you all for your replies!

Hi lvman,
Welcome to the forum !
How long are you willing to wait to get figs ? Or, could you afford to buy a tree of significant size ?
I mean, could you buy a 3'/4' tree ? No cuttings .
If you go through grafting, you may have to wait one or two years - That is if your grafts are successful at first shot ... If not, add more years ...
You'll do as you want, but this is my way :
Choose a tree known to be productive. What is such a tree ? :
A. A tree from your neighborhood that you know produces fruits as desired.
B. A tree from a nursery with a name on the tag . Some may say, pray for the tag to be correct ... But that's another topic.
Dig your current trees out. I see lots of nice strong leaves on them, and this for me means that someone (you,wife,gardener) is giving good cares to those trees.
In 3 years, a figtree should show production, or something is wrong ... more than likely a bad strain.
Now as for the choice ... You have a lot, and it all depends on your taste-buds.
In your zone, you could grow BlackMission, mount etna types (Hardy chicago...), Adriatic types (Dalmatie ... ) , Honey types (Italian Honey, Pingo de Mel ... ), Brownturkey ... .
I would make sure to get a strain of the common type. Don't risk a smyrna type if you're not sure that you have the fig-wasp.
Buy a decent sized tree (price around 20 or 30 bucks normally), and you'll get fruits quickly . Plant them in the right place !
Good luck !

Thank for your reply! These both trees were purchased from star nursery in Las Vegas and had tags on them, but the kids ripped them off. I was told that they are perfect for las vegas and produce a lot of fruit. I'm going to bud graft the one close to the wall this coming february and see how it goes. I'm going to give them the right amount/type of fertilizer this spring and see if I get better results. Even though I'm not getting any edible fruit, I put these trees when they were really small and have some emotional attachment to them :). So it would be heartbreaking for me to have them taken out. I'm also going to purchase 2 new trees that are 3-4 years old and plant them. Thank you for your suggestions

I have a couple of Smyrna type fig trees and their fruit displays those characteristics. But this can happen if your trees are water stressed. If you miss watering for even one day while they're developping their fruit, your season is done.
Here's what I suggest. When you setup your drip irrigation on a timer, try to water every day or every other day in the evening or early morning. It's hard to suggest how many gallons per session, but the frequency is just as important as the quantity per watering. Since it hardly rains in Vegas, perhaps some experts or other successful gardeners would be able to guide you on exactly how much to water. Over watering could be just as bad as under watering, but based on trees in my yard, I'd rather give a young tree more water than it might need especially during drought conditions.

Just found the bag of fertilizer used on the trees and it is 13-7-7. Could this be a big factor in the trees not fruiting properly?
Thank you for your reply Sas, Early spring I will setup the dripping system to provide more water to the trees. This past summer the trees were watered 2 times a day, the soil appeared to be moist every time I checked it. A Syrian friend with gorgeous fig trees in his backyard said that, probably I am overwatering the trees and thats why the poor results. I will give the trees one more year, and if the results remain the same I'll probably take them out. In the mean time this coming february I'll buy and plant 3-4 more. 1 black mission, 1 Hardy Chicago and 1 leticia, if I could find it in Las Vegas

I'm not an expert, but I would try something with less Nitirogen.

I quote Baud "
FERTILIZING
The fig tree mostly requires potassium but does not need much nitrogen fertilizer, which tends to cause over-development of the vegetation and under-development of the fruit. In well-balanced soil one should use a fertilizer such as 4-8-12 (100g/150/an/m2) or 10-20-25 (50/70g/an/m²) which means (N-Nitrogen/P-Phosphorus/K-potassium such as 1-2-3 or 1-2-2.5). In poor soil, compost with pure potassium added in the form of potassium sulfate (20/25g/an/m2) or patentkali (30/35g/an/m2) is preferred. Fertilized must be added at the end of winter and be placed under the branches of the tree rather than around the foot of the tree."

Thank you again Sir! I will follow this advice this winter/early spring
Does "an" mean annually per square meter?
In a previous reply of your you mention 1pound 8-8-8 per year of age of the tree.

My understanding is that It should be the amount per year of age of the tree, but in this case it is per year spread over an area.

So it is the amount per year age of the tree per squared meter.

Hi,
A tree should be fertilized regularly. Manure you should/could give that once a year in Fall, for it to break down.
Fertilizer in bullets/pellets, should be applied every month of the growing season.
The reason is easy to understand: If you get lots of rains, the fertilizer is washed out ...So you need to reapply.
IMO, too much fertilizer can only cause too much growth, but not less fruit.