Hello,
I am new on this site and I just figured out how to post on this, 1st want to say sorry for bothering some of you on PM :(.

My question is I planted a Chicago fig last year. this year its doing really good. has a lot of figs hopefully God willing will get some figs by the end of July. 

The tree is about 5 to 6 feet tall, probably three years old has a nice root system, bought it from starks brother I hear that is a very reputable company. I want to prune it by half . in mid august is this a good idea or will it kill my plant come winter. I live in Northern NJ zone 7A.

Thank you,
Stephen

Ps: If I do prune in mid august will have a lot of clippings left over after I plant some for myself. if any would like to buy. not sure how to send without killing cuttings. if anyone can let me know that will be helpful also.

I believe the best way is to prune at the end of season around November, after the tree dropped all the leaves and went dormant, or next spring before it breaks bud, around Feb-March.

I'd let the young tree grow another 2-feet then prune when dormant.
Tree may continue to ripen figs! Starting mid-November, advertise 
cuttings on F4F, confirm availability and price then cut fresh, prepare
for shipping and mail.

there are excellent links about pruning in the  forum  "search".  I would read them before pruning.

Bill,  Md

Thanks for all the advice,
I have one more question I tried looking it up in forum, couldn't find anything on it. I have a very bad weed problem were I want to plant my cuttings after a little pruning, can I mulch the area after I get rid of weeds?  will that do anything to the cuttings growth?
Thank you,
Stephen

I am not sure what your soil looks like, but I would avoid anything that holds in a lot of moisture around new cuttings.  You want the soil to be well aerated, and slightly moist.

The soil is pretty good, my wife and I moved here 2 years ago. There is
a patch of land in the back yard that was untouched by us, the pre ious
owners had a garden there, i have my garden some other spot. didn't
know what to do there. Thanks to these figs Now I have an idea.

I'm new to figs, but experienced in general gardening, so take my advice with that in mind.
You should know what the weeds are that you want to remove before attacking them. Some weeds will spread and become worse if you try to rototill them, and should be dug up instead.
I'd be inclined to start fig cuttings in containers, at least for the first year, which gives you a lot of control, and they won't be competing with the weeds. The potted cuttings can be sunk in the ground in spring, and grown that way to start them..

As for the weedy garden, if the weeds aren't aggressive, or an invasive species, turning it all over and amending the soil in the fall would be a good idea, imho. Depending on how large the garden is, once prepared, you might consider covering it with black plastic, weighted down, and well perforated to let rain through. Remove the plastic in the spring, and go from there.
I hope this helps--good luck!

Thanks for the advice red, I already pulled out the weedd yesterday
the garden is about 5 feet X 7 feet. Took my wife and I about 45 minutes
pull the weeds they didn't have deep roots. They take about 1 month to
grow back. Next week I'm going to put black garbage bags, bought
mulch and dirt to weigh it down, put the tree cutting in, if it doesn't catch
I have plenty more tree cuttings. From my pruning from next year.

And i already have few cuttings in pots. Gave a few of them away didn't
realize that a fig plant can bring such happiness to people :))
Thanks again for all the helpful advice

Also new to figs but have been gardening for a while. 

However, I started some fig cuttings in clay Georgia soil and mulched with wood chips & yard debris compost, 2-3" deep.  75% of the cuttings have emerged from under the mulch.  Some cuttings i buried vertically 2/3 deep.  Also decent success.  These were not planted in full sun.  I have a test bed that is partial to full shade most of the day.  Cuttings seems to thrive in those conditions.

I find that the soil temperate and constant rain in well draining soil (i.e. water not standing over 24 hours) is far more practical than trying to root cuttings indoors.  Assuming your climate is not extremely hot or cold. 

I say this because I have two small children at home and don't have time to be changing water or watering cuttings.



 

Ive been rooting all my cuttings outdoors so far, I tried rooting them in fridge that didn't really work for me.
I have more success putting them straight into the dirt.

I put them in the sun probably about 4-6 hours also its been cloudy almost to the point of darkness, not night
but pretty dark the last few days. my cuttings caught one looks like your bottom plant photo, the other one I planted
two months ago, new branch is about 3 inches. grows very fast.

I planted them in regular dirt, threw and mixed a few  dead leaves in dirt and other stuff, they seem to do ok with that.
rains quit a bit in nj this year. but my figs don't really need a lot of watering, but it dosent hurt them. that's why I got these
Chicago Hardy Trees.
they can go down to -15 degrees  and are draught resistant. among other good qualities. in NJ the coldest its been is 20 degrees.
I didn't even winterize last year when I planted now I have a nice crop coming for the few branches I have.

next year God Willing  my plan is to prune main trunk to about 2 feet off the ground, in late march early April, get trunk to get thicker.
the main trunk now is about an inch and half thick in diameter its almost 6 feet tall, there about ten branches on top will probably have to
prune some. actually that's another good question when should I prune branches?
thank you for advice, and fotos
SJM

One rooting method I read about says to take 5" terminal bud cuttings, and wrap the entire length in damp paper towel with just the terminal bud showing. Seal this in a zip lock baggie, and keep it at moderate temperature, in indirect light. Make sure it doesn't dry out, and you should have small roots started in a month or 2, and can plant the cutting in regular soil, and go from there. I don't think I'd put it in the fridge.
Good luck!
Rick in CT
zone 6b