Correct me if I'm wrong. It makes my stomach turn when I see larger sized fig trees, 15 gallon pots or more, in shape of a traditional tree. There's one main branch (about three feet high) that has the same width as the handful of upper branches (canopy) and it just doesn't look right. Although above 6 feet in height, they aren't lush and haven't many figs on them.

These trees are being trained incorrectly! Rather than encourage bushy, lateral growth, they are being grown as tall and lankly - nonetheless at a high price tag. They look like neglected trees that should have been air layered and weren't.

Anyone else come across this as well as warmer varieties like Kadota and Black Mission being sold in cooler zones instead of Celeste, Chicago Hardy, and other "appropriate" varieties?

Fig trees can definitely get very lanky if not trained properly but I suppose those who are producing trees solely to turn a profit don't really care
But I wouldn't say warm varieties or cool because it all depends on whether you have the means to take care of them properly, it really doesn't make a difference to those of us who have to overwinter the plants cause they'll all die without it anyway.

I actually prefer a tall thin tree. It fits in the greenhouse and garage easier :)

Johnny's got a point lol. Fig shuffle can be,hard work. Glad i only have to move around 20 or 30 trees ! Some have it worse. Mine are only in 5 gallon

Unacceptable.

Any pictures? And what do these trees cost?

Some people like a bush form, others prefer a tree form.... Neither is right nor wrong. 

[QUOTE=figgi11]Correct me if I'm wrong. It makes my stomach turn when I see larger sized fig trees, 15 gallon pots or more, in shape of a traditional tree. There's one main branch (about three feet high) that has the same width as the handful of upper branches (canopy) and it just doesn't look right. Although above 6 feet in height, they aren't lush and haven't many figs on them. These trees are being trained incorrectly! Rather than encourage bushy, lateral growth, they are being grown as tall and lankly - nonetheless at a high price tag. They look like neglected trees that should have been air layered and weren't. Anyone else come across this as well as warmer varieties like Kadota and Black Mission being sold in cooler zones instead of Celeste, Chicago Hardy, and other "appropriate" varieties? [/QUOTE]~yes i agree i think you are correct,i would cut the top right out of that tree and it would bush out,i laugh when i hear people act like it's incorrect or unhealthy to wack these fig trees up,i really cut mine back and airlayer what ever i can ,and they just grow faster and bushier ,i think they love being prunned back~

[QUOTE=johnnyq627]I actually prefer a tall thin tree. It fits in the greenhouse and garage easier :)[/QUOTE]

I do too, I would much rather grow this way.

I see it as 2 plants for the price of 1.  I got a panache like that and air layered the top off.  The lower stem sprouted along its length and the upper part was an instant bush.

[QUOTE=rcantor]I see it as 2 plants for the price of 1.  I got a panache like that and air layered the top off.  The lower stem sprouted along its length and the upper part was an instant bush.[/QUOTE]

I guess you can. I need to go back and take a picture. They just look so upright and narrow unlike the way they do properly trained. What good is a tall narrow tree that has minimal fruit? The 15 gal pots were like $160. I wouldn't pay $20 for them. They need a ton of work.

Here are a couple of pictures:

I don't see much of a problem with that, if pruned properly wouldn't that turn into this over time potentially? that's how I see UD Davis, and other large orchards doing them. guess it's more of a preference thing.   

I'm not sure I see a problem with the nursery trees pictured. When they are producing hundreds of thousands of trees of all sorts of varieties, we really can't hold them to the same standard as a backyard grower.  Judging by the size of that nursery it looks huge and would require a ton of man hrs to shape each tree, which means a higher cost of operation and lower ROI. I'd rather have them keep their prices down then to charge more for time spent pruning.

I usually look for the healthiest trunk in a nursery and then prune them when they get home to the way I like them.

Where is that BTW?

This is how I like my trees shaped 2 ft or less trunk height and branch out from there I have been following this pruning technique and have been very happy with it

      

You could bury that horizontally and have all the bush you want in just a little while. :)
 

I'm a fan of the fig "tree" looking like a tree.  On the other hand, a fig bush, as I understand from reading because my oldest fig plant is only a year old and hasn't produced a fig yet, bush form will produce more figs.  I love the picture posted by cdeguida4.  If I had ground space I'd definitely copy that.  Since my ground space is non-existent, I'll be doing a version of what Dave is doing. 100% containers for me.  I feel so blessed to have had all the no-name cuttings I was able to get last fall so I can play with different forms.  No right, no wrong, just personal preference.

Great pictures cdequida4!

These look great!  The ones that concern me are the ones with 4+ ft. skinny bare trunks sold in 15 gallon pots that have been poorly trained.  Trunks are fine if the tree has a large overhead canopy.

Here are a few beauties:

[QUOTE=Dave]This is how I like my trees shaped 2 ft or less trunk height and branch out from there I have been following this pruning technique and have been very happy with it

      [/QUOTE]~very nice dave ~

I think the nursery trees look great. I just don't like the bush form, and to say they are improperly trained, well not for me. I would much prefer that form. Looking at the bushes posted in this thread, confirms I would want a tree, not a bush if at all possible. I don't need a ton of figs.
Dave your figs look fantastic! That would be easy to do with those nursery trees.

If a tall skinny 15 gal fig costs $160. Then a tall tree with a big bushy top would cost much more to produce. The nursery has to charge based on the space and effort needed to produce the tree. If they can grow one bushy tree in the same area as 4 skinny trees the bushy tree will cost 4 times as much. That's why both big and small figs from large nurseries are tall and skinny.

Some effort and a yr or two and one can convert the skinny tree to your desired form. If the nursery has to do that for you expect to pay up.

[QUOTE=fignutty]If a tall skinny 15 gal fig costs $160. .......[/QUOTE]


This picture is from figgi11


Recently, Home Depot, Walmart and several other nurseries in Dallas Texas have been selling this size of fig trees (Texas Everbearing , Alma, Brown Turkey, Celeste, Black Italian, LSU Gold) for only $22.50 each

I bought several of them for rootstocks .  

I like bushy fig trees instead of tall ones . Bushy trees are like bonsai if you trim them down at dormant time . They will produce reachable figs that you can enjoy . Oh yes, I do not need a lot of fruits, just 20 figs for each tree so I can eat fresh and make fig jam for my winter time .
Imagine how many figs you will have if you multiply 20 by 200 trees ----> 4,000 figs a year to eat !!!!
A bonsai tree does not occupy a lot of space in your greenhouse

Unless you have 20 acres of land, no problem for tall and large trees .
Yesterday I visited a lady friend who has 4 tall big trees in her backyard ----> 1 fig tree, 1 Asian persimmon, 1 loquat, 1 jujube . All of them are loaded with fruits .
She complained that she never had a chance to eat those fruits in the past because the squirrels ate them all !!! Since the trees are so tall and so large, it is impossible for her to cover them with net . So her trees are just for shade ...

[QUOTE=lolita1234]


This picture is from figgi11


Recently, Home Depot, Walmart and several other nurseries in Dallas Texas have been selling this size of fig trees (Texas Everbearing , Alma, Brown Turkey, Celeste, Black Italian, LSU Gold) for only $22.50 each

I bought several of them for rootstocks .  

I like bushy fig trees instead of tall ones . Bushy trees are like bonsai if you trim them down at dormant time . They will produce reachable figs that you can enjoy . Oh yes, I do not need a lot of fruits, just 20 figs for each tree so I can eat fresh and make fig jam for my winter time .
Imagine how many figs you will have if you multiply 20 by 200 trees ----> 4,000 figs a year to eat !!!!
A bonsai tree does not occupy a lot of space in your greenhouse

Unless you have 20 acres of land, no problem for tall and large trees .
Yesterday I visited a lady friend who has 4 tall big trees in her backyard ----> 1 fig tree, 1 Asian persimmon, 1 loquat, 1 jujube . All of them are loaded with fruits .
She complained that she never had a chance to eat those fruits in the past because the squirrels ate them all !!! Since the trees are so tall and so large, it is impossible for her to cover them with net . So her trees are just for shade ...[/QUOTE]

Wow.  That's what I mean.  The pricing up here is based on pot size.  Why not throw a 1 foot tree in a 15 gal pot and sell it for $150?  ;)

You have people who like me, will gladly shop at the hardware store or discount outlet.  Others wouldn't be caught in one and will pay, the more the better in their thinking. It's a mixed up world.  No doubt, the nursery hopes to cater to the ones who won't go to wal mart and they must or they wouldn't remain in business long enough for a tree to reach the sizes they have.
  

I pinched a lot of my in pot trees this year and they all turned into shrubs. I prefer a shrub in a container. I'm hoping to get more figs this way.
As for in ground, I'm noticing that certain varieties prefer a single trunk and then spread naturally on their own without any interference, while some others prefer a shrub type growth.
Here's an example of a tree that I never touched. In my mind, it is my best looking tree in the yard so far.
I also regretted pinching the Violette de Sollies, that went into ground. It just stopped doing anything and might take several seasons to recover and start spreading out the way I like.

This is a good example of the people who think they are the last instance and the ruler of the ''Truth''.  Everything has its followers and lovers.... Let the diversity prevail !!  You should also understand that the Growers can not fit your only taste ... You buy essentials and then you can shape whaterver shape you like . Be patient and respectful to the Peoples' labor !

[QUOTE=evladi7654]This is a good example of the people who think they are the last instance and the ruler of the ''Truth''.  Everything has its followers and lovers.... Let the diversity prevail !!  You should also understand that the Growers can not fit your only taste ... You buy essentials and then you can shape whaterver shape you like . Be patient and respectful to the Peoples' labor ![/QUOTE]

Well said!

Those nursery trees are trained for some reason, I think that it is easy/cheaper for transportation and storage.
Also it is faster to bear fig in its pot, I bought 5 fig trees like this before leave out, I planted them too earlier in ground, It beared one fig but dropped = none , I checked back to same nursery, all their figs trees are bearing with 5 to 15 breba figs each, Anyway, I am hoping that I can get some main crop fig.

I agree with dcantor, I see tall,leggy trees like these as multiple trees for the price of one. Two falls ago I bought a panache at home depot that was easily 5 feet tall with 4 limbs at the top for about 25 dollars. I cut each limb back 6 inches and refrigerated them for a month. Within 2 weeks multiple buds sprouted on both the limbs and the main truck. I put it in the ground in November and in February I cut an additional 6 inches off each limb. 7 of the eight cuttings rooted and were out in 1 gallon pots by the end of March. I gave some of these away to friends and planted some at our neighborhood center. As far as I know they all had fruit last fall. Very little work involved, but because we really don't have a dormant season here in Yuma, Arizona moving pots etc really isn't an issue. We can root any time of year and go from rooting pots directly to the ground. So bottom line, in this case, 8 bushes for the price of one! Sdpops, yuma, az,zone 10, ibt,Verde green, panache, kadota, peters honey, canadria

One of the things I love about fig trees is that, once established, they are so trainable and hardy.  You can shape em any way you want em.  New shoots on an established tree grow fast, are easy to direct into just about any  direction you like and, if they have a healthy root system, can put on six or seven feet of growth in a single season.   (I have trees with over a foot of new growth on them already this year).

Heck, you can cut your tree to the ground if you don't like the way it looks and start over with a brand new shape of your choice.

I have been at this for only a little over six years now, but I'm amazed at what my older established trees are capable of with regard to  shaping,  production, and their ability to propagate new trees with just a little intervention on my part.

Bought a Brown Turkey that was 3' and bushy and a Chicago that was 4' with two distinct stems. I"ll just cut it back this fall and root the cutting. I also picked up an LSU Purple that was really too bushy but I am going to wait awhile to see how it does.
I do have a green Kadota that is 3 years old and producing in North Carolina, but I am on the coast and so we have a more temperate climate.