Excellent video! Rather than merely telling viewers, "Do this…." or telling viewers, "Do that….", you also give an intelligent explanation of the physiology of the fig trees so that viewers can understand the reasons for why they are doing what you are teaching. I learned a great deal from this video. Thank you.
He just can’t control that drooler around his favorite foods. My boy LOVES figs. Dale and I could sit around all day and eat figs and cheese until we pass out.
I have had a lot of luck rooting suckers or tip cuttings... using a little rooting hormone and moderate humidity.. in two weeks I have a lot of roots only one loss from many cuttings... takes much less time than wood cuttings and for me a higher rate of success... I followed Dan Foster's guide by rooting them in Root Riot plugs and the result is nothing short of miraculous! I will be rooting a lot of these this summer and over wintering them for sale next Spring.. Thank you for your videos... So much good info!!
This video came right on time! I was just outside spraying those base lower leaves with mix hydrogen peroxide, because they had some fungus on them, because when I water the fig the water is sitting on top of container. Tomorrow I will take them off. Know wonder the top wasn’t growing! Thanks for the excellent information!👍🏼
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Growing Fig Trees And Why You Should Prune Early Growth 4:08 Healthy Fig Tree Growth VS Unhealthy Fig Tree Growth 5:20 How To Prune Fig Trees For Maximum Production 8:12 Pruning Fig Trees In Containers 9:57 How To Root Figs From Green Shoots 12:46 Adventures With Dale
It is Autumn to winter now in New Zealand. It is my first year of growing fig and I have a little success. As I was so excited to see my figs has got many branches but it was ended up with a unhealthy fruits, some are fallen. As I learn from your vdo, now I am going to prune my Figs (in a pot) soon and hope I can get some good productive next season. Thanks for giving us a good advise. You are a gem!
Thank you! I had a vacation scheduled to New Zealand in January 2020 that we scheduled many months in advance, but then the entire world shut down. I hope I can make it there one day.
@@TheMillennialGardener Did you get hail damage? It was minor here, but come on, enough hard time for my garden! lol Freeze, frost, drought, and now hail!
@@cadenrolland5250 a small amount. Some of my tomatoes had a few branches broken off, but they were small branches that’ll be replaced quickly. It only hailed for about 20 seconds, thankfully.
hAhA...Dale....GOOD BOY! 2 of my 3 Brown Turkey that were in the ground survived the winter but started having a hard time. I pulled them out and put them in buckets and they are doing much better 2 weeks later. The one still in the ground is "iffy". It is reaching 95 here now in the desert. I need to get my figs in buckets into wooden container boxes so they dont get too hot in the sun.
Where are you located? Figs usually do pretty well in extreme conditions compared to most fruits. They’re one of the few fruit trees that grow well in the Middle East.
@@TheMillennialGardener I am near Kingman Az...Golden Valley.....I am thinking where I planted the two figs the soil wasnt loosened up enuf when I planted in the ground last fall....they wintered ok being dormant but maybe couldnt get roots established? we do have some hard crust just below the surface of sand/dust. I covered with straw but not wood chips as others recommend? Between 8b and 9a
@@desertdanblacksmith1394 believe it not, I’ve been to Kingman. I spent 2 nights at the Hampton Inn in Kingman in January 2019. I did some hiking. It is a stunning area. Figs will perform VERY well in your summers. I do not think your summers will be challenging for figs in terms of sun intensity. Harvey grows his figs in Visalia, CA, and I think he gets over 100 much more than the Kingman area and his figs excel without protection. I think this video will help you a lot with planting since the soil in Kingman is so rocky (I know, I’ve hiked it!) ua-cam.com/video/6_-aLxCOI8U/v-deo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener Love Az....I watched the video...I may have planted too deep....I do have very alkaline soil....will add coffee grounds....I need to use my Ph tester more. I do watch Edge of Nowhere Farms and Duane with his fig trees also. I use our chicken and pig composts. Thx
I'm glad to see that your figs are recovering. We're just up in Duplin co. Ours are recovering also. Thanks for the insights I'll prune mine in the morning. I'll try to root the cuttings to replace my losses.
@@TheMillennialGardener oh yeah, same as you. We're about 50 miles from Wilmington. Several of the figs are resprouting from the roots. How did your container figs do? Did you loose some to the cold?
My container figs were 100% unharmed because I clustered them against the house. It usually takes 26F or colder to frost up to the house, so the radiant heat protected them all.
@@TheMillennialGardener Mine are out in the open. I just pruned mine. And found a sucker that had it's own roots. I've potted them up. I think that I'll leave them in the container. And move them in undercover.
You always produce excellent content and I love your videos. I have heard before that sap flows to the roots in winter and it is a commonly held belief but I have also heard from plant experts that is isn't true. I looked it up and sap actually becomes thicker and stops flowing but does not move to the roots. Still the effect is the same and when you cut the branch in winter sap doesn't come out. Cheers!
I've just started watching your fig videos. Took your advice about adding synthetic fertilizer as well as organic, and will be cleaning up suckered tomorrow. Have a Peter's honey and Mary Lane in containers. Thank you for sharing so much, it's a lot of dedication to the rest of us.
You have a beautiful collection of fig trees my friend. last week I ordered fig trees specific to my Kentucky location and several apple trees also. Once I am able to construct my greenhouse, I plan to delve into one or two citrus trees. I absolutely love figs and I know just how Dale feels about them. Thanks for sharing. I find your videos very compelling and inspiring.
I did not have a successful fig winter rooting this year due to various circumstances. Now I rooted some from softwood cuttings. I use an old aquarium as a green house and it works well if I don't crowd the foliage to prevent leaf diseases. I tend to leave more leaves on the cuttings. Another successful method I use if you don't have something like an aquarium is a two liter soda bottle. I cut off the bottom and place the bottle over the cutting. If it needs less humidity I unscrew the cap. It works pretty well!
I had a rough winter rooting as well. It was so cold and rainy here that my typical methods failed in high numbers. I've found softwood cuttings root very quickly wrapped in damp paper towels in a ziploc bag. I have 3 black madeira softwood cuttings rooting as we speak. One is starting to show some white bumps after 1 week.
I’ve never given my in ground brown turkey fig much attention. Probably because we don’t care that much for the taste. But I replaced it last year with a black mission, being from New Orleans where just about every old home has one, my wife and I both love the taste and nostalgia. Gonna clean it up tomorrow morning.
I am as much of a fig fan as humanly possible, and even I don’t like Brown Turkey. They don’t taste good to me. Black Mission is much better, but believe it or not, there are varieties 10 times more flavorful than that. If you enjoy Black Mission, any of the Col de Dame’s, I-258, or most of the Bordissot’s would blow your mind. I recommend trying to get your hand on something like Col de Dame Blanc, White Madeira #1 and Smith. They do well for me, and we have similar rain and humidity come peak summer. I think they will blow your mind.
@@TheMillennialGardener I may look into that next year. If I do I will seek out some cuttings online so I can graft them on to my Black Mission. I absolutely love Franklin fruit. I have 5 citrus trees with approximately 15 different varieties grafted on to them. I have Satsumas, Tangerines and Oranges from September to May and My Meyer Lemon produces year round. I have heard that fig is even easier to graft.
My fig tree had lots of figs and I put the plastic around it to keep them warm in April. But I left the plastic too long and they burned the new figs. I am going to do what you teach here.
No kidding about snowmadgedon.(East Texas) We were so worried that our fig trees would not survive it but they more than survived it ....so surprised that the extra-large plastic trash containers we turned upside down and put over them with the bottoms cut out and filled/packed with leaves, then wrapped the trash container with a heavy-duty tarp. They are doing great with fruit already. Will definitely check for those suckers to prune off. Thx for the info.
As long as they are dormant, figs can take very low temps. What Dallas and Austin saw is probably too much for dormant wood, but I knew the coastal areas would be fine. Fig wood, when fully dormant, can survive well into the teens with mature wood lasting into the single digits. The trouble with figs is when they wake up. Then, upper 20’s can cause major dieback. Glad to hear your plants made it through.
Great vid mate.....always seem to learn something new from them......never thought to use the old leaves for mulch........we are the opposite at the moment mind......just about heading into winter but i am still picking ripe figs and they are very yummy but i will remember this for spring time in the s/h.
Pretty much anywhere and everywhere in Australia is a better climate for figs than mine, except maybe Cairns where it never seems to stop raining, at least when I was there! I imagine you can get some good figs and even ripen them in winter if you don’t see frost.
@@TheMillennialGardener lowest we get is 6 to 8C in winter but we only have a 2 month winter really june and july....starts warming mid august.....No sign of them going into dormancy yet ...although the leaves are going crinkly a bit.....sunday and monday 27C......most days 22 to 24C........but night still mild.......Thats why my T shirts last so long !.....only wear em for a very short time.
Fantastic! And, a bonus, your voice is so soothing, my four year old ALWAYS falls asleep and doesn't fight bedtime. So thank you for that! 👍🏼👊🏼🖖🏼 Also I have a question on my rooted cutting and was wondering if I could send you a picture.
Really? I can’t stand the sound of my voice. Maybe that’s just a thing we have, where we all don’t like the way we sound on video? That’s really funny and I’m happy to hear it! Thank you for watching.
In 7A, there is a really good chance you have a lot of, if not total dieback, with that cold winter we had. I suggest you perform the scratch test like in this video and remove any wood that is dead: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html If you find green, do not remove the wood.
Green suckers are extremely hard to root. They require high humidity and usually either dry up or rot before they root. I don't bother. I only mess with hardwood cuttings during the dormant season.
I planted fig trees and hoped fir the best. This year the figs are plentiful but I didn’t prune them and know I need to do it because there are suckers. It is august here. Can I prune them now or wait until the sap goes down to prune all those side branches below the 12 inches you recommend.
I've been watching all your videos and just wanted to say thank you. Your content is very easy to follow. I do however have a question. Can basically all the fruit trees be grown in a container until you are in a position to put them in ground?
Thank you. You can grow a fruit tree in a container for its entire life, but you will have to pull it out every couple seasons to root prune and refresh the soil, then prune the tree back to recover. Some of my fruit trees are on their 4th season and they're doing great. I have a video on root-pruning here: ua-cam.com/video/-oOwNiZzGmM/v-deo.html Putting a tree in ground, as long as your climate is compatible with the tree, it will almost certainly do better than in a container, so in-ground is generally best. You can keep it in a container until you're ready to plant it.
@@TheMillennialGardener Awesome. Thank you for the reply. We aren't far from you so climate wise we are the same. I wanted to go ahead and get fruit trees and bushes established in pots till we are in our forever property. Again absolutely love your videos. They are so easy to follow.
I'm fortunate to have a greenhouse with a couple of hydro beds. Fig cutting will almost all root in there. I have to remove the new cutting after a month or two simply because they grow so fast and large. I'll sometimes leave one cutting as a mother plant and simply continuously take cuttings from it and rooting them. I just set out some cuttings I rooted in the fall that were five feet tall already.
We moved into a new house last September. I bought a Ronde De Violette and LSU Purple fig trees that are a year old and planted them in the ground. We have had a crazy cold weather year here in East Texas but I have been watering them every weekend, and every other weekend I use a little tomato food and Alaska fertilizer diluted in the water. They are each about 18" tall and exploding with growth from the ground to the extremities. Is it too early to trim up say the first 6" of growth to promote higher up and out growth?
I have a fig tree that is small now. I would like to keep it at 4-5’. Should I prune it hard every year to keep the tree small since I have a very small garden. Thank you for your advice.
Another great video! I've rooted several fig cuttings using your method (THANK YOU) and am now ready to pot them up. I have 15 gallon nursery pots and wonder should I pot them directly into this large size or start with a smaller pot?
Thanks! Glad to hear you've had success rooting them. I recommend up-potting them into 5 gallon buckets or #7 nursery containers the first year. I think going straight into #15's is a little much. I like to get the caliper to about 1 inch in diameter before I go into a permanent, large container or plant them in-ground.
So I e been watching a few fig growers and they all seem to grow figs like you are here in this video. I’ve been getting a large amount of figs for the past couple years now but I grow it totally different. Not sure my figs are as tasty as yours because I have had nothing to compare them to. I am growing the Chicago Hardy Fig. I have approximately 10-12 branches they grow upwards only. I have not trained them to grow side ways. Have I been totally doing this wrong? What about Middle East countries who have trees?!!! Just looking for advice.
In the middle east and here in the Mediterranean we train the trees to grow into different directions so that it creates as much shade as possible in case of hot summers, we try keeping them low so we can easily get the figs at harvest. If you have all the branches up high how are you getting the fruit off without climbing? You could use a fruit catcher but that takes much more time and effort than hand picking.
I grow figs as a single trunk for two reasons: 1. I like the way fig trees look as a single-trunked tree better than a bush. This is simply a personal preference. 2. I am growing many figs in a small space, so I need to maintain the trees as smaller. 3. Our growing seasons are short in the US, unlike the Middle East, and limiting the tree to a single trunk limits fruit production. Too many figs won't ripen will in our short growing seasons. So, it's simply a combination of my preferred aesthetics, purposefully maintaining my trees for compact size and easy access of the fruit, and trying to prevent the trees from over-bearing. If you live in a place with never-ending growing seasons and you have lots of room, you can let the tree grow however you wish naturally. Also, some growers in cold climates purposefully leave their fig trees as a bush because they're more cold hardy as a large bush than as a single-trunked tree.
So happy to have found your videos. They have become my go to for information. I have a Chicago Hardy (live in South East KY). It was put in the ground last year. It was cut back to about a foot from the ground late last Fall. It has lots of growth now because I did not know how to prune. Is it too late to prune this late in July? Thank you!
You generally don't want to prune during the growing season. It is best to prune after your first few frosts sends the tree into dormancy. I have a TON of videos on pruning figs if you search "prune" on my channel here: ua-cam.com/users/TheMillennialGardenersearch?query=prune
We were hit hard by the February freeze, but fortunately my figs were still dormant. And luckily, I live far enough south that we didn't get anymore freezes. However, with that said, my trees still had some freeze damage. Fortunately, nothing too catastrophic although I didn't see any breba figs this year. Now my trees are busy putting out lots of figlets, and I expect a full crop in July like always. However, I was wondering how to go about pruning to maximize growth. For some reason, my mother tree which has been in ground for about 8 years and is over twelve feet tall is making a ton of suckers this year which it has never done before. I am thinking it is freeze related. I have air rooted a couple, but the others are too small for that. I was thinking of letting them grow big enough to air root. But after watching your video, I will pinch them off and try to root in a pot. I will also dip them in rooting compound which should help, right?
Are you in Florida? Figs can take very cold temps down into the teens and suffer no damage when dormant, depending on the extent of their dormancy. This video may help you with pruning: ua-cam.com/video/ZlFPa6nOGRw/v-deo.html I espalier my trees, so my style is different, though. I have several videos on espalier and pruning them. I’ve used Clonex gel, but never had any luck. I may try DipNGrow next year. Figs will root without hormone.
I had 2 fig trees pruned in January, and get a decent amount of new growths. They grow branches in different sizes. Some branches now start forming figlets. Some don't, especially the thin ones which are smaller than a pencil. To save energy for branches that have figlets, do you advise to remove the small (without figlets) branches? Thank you.
great presentation. Are figs ok to give to dogs? Some fruits are deadly to a dog such as grapes. Our figs at the house are in ground and we're 7a. I observed a few things this spring. I don't cover or wrap my plants for winter. This fall I noticed that my neighbor also has figs. He wraps his. At this point of the season my trees are pushing leaves while his tree is already full of grown leaves. So, this taught me that, yes wrapping my figs is important for earlier growth. I still have a pile of cutting from the winter that never got planted. It's not too late to get them started is it?
If you watch my fig taste testing videos, you'll see Dale is my Official Taste Tester. Yes, they're fine to give to dogs - in moderation. They are very high in fiber, so giving them too much will quickly give them the runs. I give Dale a fig with his breakfast every single morning. He's a 62 lb dog, and I wouldn't give him any more than 1-2 figs a day as a treat. If you have a smaller dog, I would only give them one. Tip: if your dog doesn't like taking medication and you must give them a pill, hiding it inside a dried fig works incredibly well because they're very chewy and gooey and hide the pill so well. In Zone 7a, you will see dieback on your trees almost every single year if you don't protect them. Pruning your tree back in the fall heavily, then wrapping it, will really help your cause. It'll be a big boost to your season, because most years, your tree will die back to the ground and have to restart otherwise. Starting with a 24-36" tall tree will vastly increase your yields. You can start fig cuttings any time of the year, but I only recommend pruning during dormancy.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yeah, I pruned in the late fall (mid December). I've got gallon bags of them. I may prep them and then just put them in the ground around the house start them. I waxed the ends to preserve the moisture. As for the dog, that's good news. I've got a golden, but she can't just eat one as the saying goes. So, I'll stay greedy and keep them for myself and my wife.
Sure, you can transplant a potted fig now. As for pruning, the only pruning you should be doing are things like removing suckers, pinching tips to induce earlier fruiting or controlling unsightly or intrusive growth. Taking cuttings should only be done during dormancy.
Thank you for an informative video; clear and concise. I have a question - My figs tree is in the sunny position and has been in ground for few years now. I prune the tree lightly and have new growth of leaves too. Never get fruits though. What can I do to get it fruiting?
That is very unusual. For the record, "full sun" means 8-10 hours a day. Figs need to bathe in full sunlight most of the day. Usually, figs will begin to set fruit 3-4 months after the cutting itself roots, so a harvest the first summer after rooting is very likely. I suspect 2 things: 1. Figs actually like an aggressive pruning. They fruit on the new year's wood, so cut them back in the winter to encourage new growth at the nodes. 2. It sounds to me like your tree isn't getting the proper nutrients. After giving them an aggressive pruning, fertilize them LIKE CRAZY. Figs are perhaps the heaviest feeders of any plant in existence, sans bananas. They need regular amendments with fertilizer. Follow my guide here: ua-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html I suspect with a proper pruning and fertilizing every 2 weeks, you will have success.
In a previous video about the Chicago hardy fig you had said you don’t think it’s the most cold hardy of the fig trees. So I was wondering what variety you believe to be the most cold tolerant? I live in Massachusetts and from everything I can find the Chicago hardy is the only one for my area which is zone5.
We didn’t have any late freezes but both our fig trees here in North Alabama are 12 - 15 feet tall. We are having trouble with some odd leaf curling but I can’t see any insects or insect activity.
Leaf curl is usually a result of high solar intensity, too much water or not enough water. If your sunshine is getting really strong, some trees naturally curl their leaves in order to "take in less sun." Since leaves are the solar panels of the tree, when the sun gets too strong, the trees curl their leaves to reduce the surface area of the "solar panel" because they're getting too much energy. It's a neat evolutionary thing to regulate energy. Once the leaves curl, they won't un-curl.
I live in texas and had a very old fig tree that usually gives a lot of fruits but it looks dead after the bitter winter we had this year. I am not seeing any growth yet but I have a lot of suckers coming out from the root of the tree. Will these grow into a tree or a shrub and produce?
I suggest watching this video to make sure your old wood is still alive: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html If the wood still shows green, I would leave it alone. Whatever dead wood is there should all be removed. If the whole tree was killed back to the ground, you need to select a new sucker to be the new trunk and remove the others (unless you want more than one trunk - then select as many "trunks" as you want). Being in Texas, it should be a long enough and hot enough season to still fruit this year if you fertilize the tree heavily.
I'm in NC as well, recently got a young fig tree (3 yrs old I believe) in a pot and I moved it to a bigger pot. Can I share a picture and ask for advise? Tnx
@@TheMillennialGardener Please find some pictures here, any advise will be appreciated. it seems we will have some figs this year, just moved it to a bigger pot and fertilizing it every other Friday : mega.nz/folder/cYJjWaQa#GguwCXovHV4bil8NdPjybw
Great channel and advices.👌👍 I did not prune enough in the winter and now it is too leafy and too many sides. If I cut these thicker side branches, Can I Use them as cuttings and root them? They are about 1 or 2 cm thick. An another question how big your buckets are (blue) ? 15 litres?
You can root the side branches if they've turned brown. If they're still green, they will dry out very quickly. I've found the only way to root greenwood cuttings is with high humidity. I've had some success wrapping them in damp paper towels and sticking them in a Ziploc bag for 2-3 weeks. They can root, but then after that, you need to put them in a pot and keep them in a humidity chamber for awhile. They need to acclimate very, very slowly.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks very much, I have checked your other videos as well, and they are great advice. These branches are brown already. Im going to leave some on, and prune them more in the winter, and use those cuttings. Hopefully I can have more homegrown figs next summer. Until then, I go to the shop and buy some figs. 😀
I just discovered your channel when searching for info on fig trees and really like your content. I’ve been trying to grow Chicago Hardy trees in containers in Zone 5 an I have a question. How often should I water the tree next winter during the dormant season?
This is a hard question to answer, because it varies greatly depending on where and how you're storing it. The short answer is this: you cannot let the root mass completely dry out or the tree will die. Despite dormancy, it still has a small water demand. If you make the root mass too wet, you could suffer some root rot. The key is keeping an eye on the root ball and make sure it isn't "pulling away" from the sides of the container significantly. If you start to see the root ball pulling away, it could use a couple cups of water.
Figs grow back quickly, so you can prune the tree as low as you wish. I keep my espalier-grown figs at a low cordon of 16 inches, so that's pretty close to the ground. However, don't prune this late, or you'll set the tree back. Pruning should happen during dormancy. The only thing you should do during the growing season is small cosmetic trimming, like the removal of the base suckers and unwanted side-growth as shown in this video.
We're not here. Pruned my figs per instructions. Sprayed remaining bate branches with pymethrin for any remaining g spider mites. New growth looking healthy, disease free. Late to start rooting from trimmings but was able to root most and have a little green growth on them.
Is the original stick the tree was started from a big limiting factor? 2 of my figs are growing like weeds since I started following your method and 2 are barely growing and they have very skinny base trunks/were started from skinny sticks. Is there anything I can do to overcome this?
For first year trees grown from cuttings this past winter and in a 5 gal container, do you recommend I remove suckers now or let it go for the year to allow the tree to develop its strength?
I would recommend you remove any suckers at the base of the tree immediately. I like growing my trees as a single, dominant trunk. Figs will grow as a bush if you allow them, and this form, I believe, is a poor choice in containers. I recommend selecting the trunk for the fig as early as possible so the trees focuses on directing 100% of its energy into that one trunk and grow caliper size.
Can Fig Trees successfully grow in containers? If so, what size container is best for them? I thought about using a 2x2x6' trough would this work and is it enough space for 2 trees?
These little suckers won't root well. They need constant, controlled humidity to root and stay alive. They will begin deteriorating rapidly as soon as they are removed, because they are not hardwood. I recommend *only* rooting hardwood cuttings.
The suckers do not have roots attached. They come out of the nodes, so they will not have roots. Even if they appear to come from the ground, they won’t have roots. They’ll need to air layer themselves for that to happen.
I love fresh figs but my fig trees don’t produce figs. I live in Oklahoma. My trees don’t leaf on the trunk or branches, they always grow from the root as suckers. What do I do to encourage the leaf growth on branches and to produce fruit?
It sounds like, to me, that your climate is too cold and your fig wood is getting killed every winter, so they have to come back from the roots. If this is the case, your trunks and branches aren't leafing out because the wood is dead. Check out this video, check the wood for life and see if this is the problem: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html If this is the problem, you have two options: 1. Prune the fig tree back in November after your first few frosts, but before it gets really cold, then protect the pruned tree via wrapping, caging and stuffing with straw, etc. Something that'll insulate it. 2. Let it continue to die back to the ground each year, then select the dominant sucker early in the season and remove all the others, and keep an eye on it constantly to remove other suckers so you promote all the energy in the new trunk. Option #1 is a lot better, and you'll get a lot more fruit earlier.
At 4:40 you spoke about the node spacing and exampled a tree with very close nodes. Should that branch be pruned or is it ok to let it continue into next season. Thanks mate.
All fig trees are equal to grow. One is not easier than another. What matters is your growing season length. Some figs take too long to ripen in short summer/cool summer areas. If your summer is sufficiently warm and long enough, anything will grow. Choose based on taste and growing season length. I have many reviews on varieties here: ua-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIEhxT08mPoUWCT91JhJGWzk.html
I just bought my first fig tree but with the long shipment from FL to AZ, it was all dried up when I received it. Do you know how I can revive it back to life?
Excellent video ! Hopefully someone can help me. I planted a new Chicago Hardy Fig tree here in Central Mass about 3 weeks ago and had two nights of 28 degrees F. and lost all the leaves. Tree was shipped to me from a green house I guess. All that remains is a small brownish green trunk about 3/8" diameter and about 18" tall. I'm wondering if it will grow new replacement leaves and if so on the trunk or will the roots send out new shoots ? Thanks in advance..hoping for a second chance.
@@rauljimenez8132 The trunk is green..dont want to scratch it i believe it will bleed. Is it likely that a new leaf will grow near the old one that died ? Thanks.
@@kahvac @kahvac Just scratching the surface will not make it bleed, at least with my experience in Northern NJ and if is alive you probably will get some new growth.
You don't have to worry about scratching the trunk. When you do this, you will only scratch through tbe bark into the cambium, so you won't get into the sap wood. The cambium won't bleed; it'll only bleed if you cut through the cambium. If the tree is alive, it will heal over quickly. If your trunk is alive, it will bud out again. However, it will be set back several weeks.
How do you get your trees to branch? I bought mine as a rooted cutting and it's basically a long branch for a trunk. It fruits along the trunk and isn't branching.
After the first season, the fig tree should be "headed," meaning completely decapitated at the exact height you want it to branch out. For me, that's about 12-16 inches. I show you how to do this here: ua-cam.com/video/EHLfAN5R1Dc/v-deo.html
Help! We got a fig tree last year that has no branches. It developed a few leaves and figs at the top. This year is the same. A few leaves and 3 figs at the top but no branches developing. Its about 5 ft tall. Any tips?
Are you saying it's a 5 foot tall, single trunk that hasn't developed a single branch? If so, you're going to have to decapitate the tree during the dormant season. The fig tree will branch out where you make the cut. I have a video showing how to do this here: ua-cam.com/video/EHLfAN5R1Dc/v-deo.html It's too late in the year to do that now, so you'll want to wait until dormancy to perform this aggressive surgery.
How often are you watering? It sounds like it is drying out. Figs require around a year to establish before they can really support themselves without supplemental watering.
On my espalier trees, because I need a certain number of branches to complete my cordons, I cannot do that for fear something will not grow in the proper direction. I have to let a few branches start. It will get easier once my cordons are complete.
I'm growing 2 single trunk brown turkey and wanting to keep them under 10ft tall. When would be the best time to prune their tops? They're about 4 or 5ft tall right now
I NEED HELP PLEASE!! I'm in the N. Raleigh NC area, my 6 foot tree got frost bite this spring & now all I have is hundred of suckers growing from the ground trunk. WHAT DO I DO???
You are going to have to check if the tree got killed to the ground. This video will show you how to check to see if the wood is still alive: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html If you find living wood with green cambium, you must cut off all the dead wood. If you cannot find any living wood and the whole tree is dead above ground, you’re going to have to cut it down to the base and select the strongest new green sucker coming out of the ground as your new main trunk, then remove all the others you don’t want.
@@TheMillennialGardener THERE'S A TON OF NEW FLUSH GROWTH FROM THE TRUNK ONLY, DO I THIN PRUNE IT TO JUST A COUPLE OF BRANCHS, OR JUST WAIT UNTIL FALL?
New subbie- great information! I have two 6 “ stick figs - one with 1” green leaf at the base! and the other with nothing. Thanks for leaving me something, darn rabbits! Bonus dog drool! Hilarious!
Thanks for the sub! I really appreciate it. You may want to try chicken wire around your new figs until they get strong enough to turn into hardwood for pest protection. Dale is a DROOL MACHINE around figs. I think he loves them more than I do.
My fig tree has stopped growing up, mostly all of my growth from suckers at the base. I’m scared that if u. Prune all the sucks the tree might die… what should I do?
Did the previous year's wood suffer cold damage? If your old wood isn't growing, it was probably killed. You need to check to see if your old wood is still alive as shown here: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html If the wood is dead, you need to remove it all, then select the strongest sucker to be your "new" tree and remove the other inferior suckers.
Thanks. Cutting season for me isn’t until January. Figs are tough in south Florida due to the humidity and rain. The figs that seem to handle my rain the best are Sao Miguel Roxo, Col de Dame Blanc, Carr, Olympian, Smith, Marseilles Black VS and the various Chicago Hardy types because they have closed or very tight eyes. Our rainfall patterns are similar.
Last year, my figs were 100% undamaged and did great. Then, we got a freak hard freeze after our 90% frost date in April. All my figs were leafed out and actively growing, so that caused a bunch of tip damage. Most seasons, figs here will not take damage, but when a once-in-15-years event happens like that, some damage can occur. Fully dying back will almost never happen here, unless we get an event like Texas got last year (which we got in January 2018). That should be a 1-in-50-year occurrence. I documented the event here: ua-cam.com/video/D_ujinIuOeg/v-deo.html
Did they suffer cold damage? You should check out this video and do the "scratch test" to see if your wood is still alive: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html If the wood is still green and alive, you should be patient and just wait. If the wood is dead, you need to cut it off and choose a new sucker to be the main trunk.
Could you tell me what copper spray you use for rust on your figs? And what concentration you mix it at? I can’t find a copper spray that actually lists figs in the directions. I bought 42 figs to plant on my farm and they all have really bad rust already :( Thanks!
The copper I use is the liquid copper fungicide concentrate I have listed in my Amazon Storefront in the video description under "Disease Prevention And Pest Control." The concentration I use is 1.5 Tablespoons per gallon. Another option you may want to try is the wettable sulfur powder in my Amazon Storefront because it's listed for both rust and mite control. However, sulfur cannot be used in conjunction with any oil-based sprays all season, so if you use any oil-based sprays, you'll burn up your tree mixing it with sulfur.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you so much! I’ll order that copper right away. Don’t want to use the sulfur just in case I need to spray with an oil later on. Although I don’t know why else I would need to spray them. I hope rust is the only major issue I have to deal with lol. The only thing I could think of is if I need to use permethrin if I had any bug issues.
@@TheMillennialGardener me again... I wanted to make sure that you meant tablespoons and not teaspoons. All the directions are in teaspoons so I just wanted to double check that. Thanks!
Hi I'll be growing figs for the first time this year zone 6 v still have frost late evenings even May 2nd wk So Im leaning on planting them in containers and bring them indoors 4 winter. Can you please suggest what gallon container I should go for. Would u also know if any containers come with handles for easy movement?
I grow fig trees in zone six.I used five gal. buckets up-potted to 22 inch pot.Much bigger is to heavy to handle.I prune the tree back every year to fit smallest doorway.I use a produce cart with a cinch strap tie down to secure pot to move.Cheaper than lifting straps and cart can be used for other uses.
@@bettybobzimmerman7450 thanks a lot for your info. Do you keep your fig tree indoors for those unripe ones to ripen off and then overwinter in the garage? I think it needs some dormancy time?
@@Hymnstreams I pick off small figlets first part of Sept., they will never mature in time before cold weather. Hard to get figs to stay on or mature once you move them inside.I bring a tree in from garage end of Feb.when I see leave buds swell.In the house they break dormacy.I have a attached patio I bring them in during daytime.Doing that helps lengthen your growing season by a few weeks to ripen fruit in Sept. verses Oct. here in Mi.
I would suggest starting them in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket (with holes drilled in the bottom, of course), or a #7 nursery container, the first season. The reason why is these smaller containers are large enough for the first 1-2 years, but it also rootbinds the tree quickly so they'll fruit very early. After the first 1-2 seasons, I recommend up-potting them into a #15 container like the one shown in this video: ua-cam.com/video/LuBHbBmh3hU/v-deo.html
@@bettybobzimmerman7450 Thanks very helpful. A very tiny fig tree arrived today by mail and am looking forward to the experience..hoping it will survive!
Excellent video! Rather than merely telling viewers, "Do this…." or telling viewers, "Do that….", you also give an intelligent explanation of the physiology of the fig trees so that viewers can understand the reasons for why they are doing what you are teaching. I learned a great deal from this video. Thank you.
This was the push I needed to do some much needed overdue fig pruning that I’ve been dreading. Chop chop ✂️
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching.
Lost all my figs April 3rd too and just now coming back. Oklahoma
That was a really terrible, late cold blast. Looks like we will be having late figs together!
Our as well McAlester
that last clip of Dale is golden! great video as always!
He just can’t control that drooler around his favorite foods. My boy LOVES figs. Dale and I could sit around all day and eat figs and cheese until we pass out.
I have had a lot of luck rooting suckers or tip cuttings... using a little rooting hormone and moderate humidity.. in two weeks I have a lot of roots only one loss from many cuttings... takes much less time than wood cuttings and for me a higher rate of success... I followed Dan Foster's guide by rooting them in Root Riot plugs and the result is nothing short of miraculous! I will be rooting a lot of these this summer and over wintering them for sale next Spring.. Thank you for your videos... So much good info!!
Thank you for your video. I am in eastern NC and just started a couple of fig trees for the first time this year.
Outstanding! So happy to hear we have another local figger! The more the merrier!
Thank you so much for your sharing and hello from Malaysia.
Thanks for watching! I really appreciate it!
Gayle makes my day with his druells
This video came right on time! I was just outside spraying those base lower leaves with mix hydrogen peroxide, because they had some fungus on them, because when I water the fig the water is sitting on top of container. Tomorrow I will take them off. Know wonder the top wasn’t growing! Thanks for the excellent information!👍🏼
Glad to be timely with the info. Thanks for watching!
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Growing Fig Trees And Why You Should Prune Early Growth
4:08 Healthy Fig Tree Growth VS Unhealthy Fig Tree Growth
5:20 How To Prune Fig Trees For Maximum Production
8:12 Pruning Fig Trees In Containers
9:57 How To Root Figs From Green Shoots
12:46 Adventures With Dale
It is Autumn to winter now in New Zealand. It is my first year of growing fig and I have a little success. As I was so excited to see my figs has got many branches but it was ended up with a unhealthy fruits, some are fallen. As I learn from your vdo, now I am going to prune my Figs (in a pot) soon and hope I can get some good productive next season. Thanks for giving us a good advise. You are a gem!
Thank you! I had a vacation scheduled to New Zealand in January 2020 that we scheduled many months in advance, but then the entire world shut down. I hope I can make it there one day.
Really helpful!
All of my fig trees are having too much suckers at the bottom.
Just learnt new things. Thanks a lot❤️
Glad to help. Removing the suckers will help the tree prefer the top growth. Thanks for watching!
Can you give me stems of fig
Thank you for the video. I'm heading outside right now to check for suckers. Keep the information coming.
Thanks for watching!
Yep , you answered my question . And in a superb way too !
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this. Going now to check my tree and so some pruning.
Excellent! Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener Did you get hail damage? It was minor here, but come on, enough hard time for my garden! lol Freeze, frost, drought, and now hail!
@@cadenrolland5250 a small amount. Some of my tomatoes had a few branches broken off, but they were small branches that’ll be replaced quickly. It only hailed for about 20 seconds, thankfully.
hAhA...Dale....GOOD BOY! 2 of my 3 Brown Turkey that were in the ground survived the winter but started having a hard time. I pulled them out and put them in buckets and they are doing much better 2 weeks later. The one still in the ground is "iffy". It is reaching 95 here now in the desert. I need to get my figs in buckets into wooden container boxes so they dont get too hot in the sun.
Where are you located? Figs usually do pretty well in extreme conditions compared to most fruits. They’re one of the few fruit trees that grow well in the Middle East.
@@TheMillennialGardener I am near Kingman Az...Golden Valley.....I am thinking where I planted the two figs the soil wasnt loosened up enuf when I planted in the ground last fall....they wintered ok being dormant but maybe couldnt get roots established? we do have some hard crust just below the surface of sand/dust. I covered with straw but not wood chips as others recommend? Between 8b and 9a
@@desertdanblacksmith1394 believe it not, I’ve been to Kingman. I spent 2 nights at the Hampton Inn in Kingman in January 2019. I did some hiking. It is a stunning area. Figs will perform VERY well in your summers. I do not think your summers will be challenging for figs in terms of sun intensity. Harvey grows his figs in Visalia, CA, and I think he gets over 100 much more than the Kingman area and his figs excel without protection. I think this video will help you a lot with planting since the soil in Kingman is so rocky (I know, I’ve hiked it!) ua-cam.com/video/6_-aLxCOI8U/v-deo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener Love Az....I watched the video...I may have planted too deep....I do have very alkaline soil....will add coffee grounds....I need to use my Ph tester more. I do watch Edge of Nowhere Farms and Duane with his fig trees also. I use our chicken and pig composts. Thx
You are the fig master, great tips, thanks for sharing 👍
Thanks for watching!
I'm glad to see that your figs are recovering. We're just up in Duplin co. Ours are recovering also.
Thanks for the insights I'll prune mine in the morning.
I'll try to root the cuttings to replace my losses.
Did you get whacked on April 3, too? 2021 has not been kind to North Carolina.
@@TheMillennialGardener oh yeah, same as you. We're about 50 miles from Wilmington. Several of the figs are resprouting from the roots. How did your container figs do? Did you loose some to the cold?
My container figs were 100% unharmed because I clustered them against the house. It usually takes 26F or colder to frost up to the house, so the radiant heat protected them all.
@@TheMillennialGardener Mine are out in the open. I just pruned mine. And found a sucker that had it's own roots. I've potted them up. I think that I'll leave them in the container. And move them in undercover.
Mine are covered up in plump fig now. I pinched them a few weeks back and man the difference it made. Keep figging folks 💜
You always produce excellent content and I love your videos.
I have heard before that sap flows to the roots in winter and it is a commonly held belief but I have also heard from plant experts that is isn't true. I looked it up and sap actually becomes thicker and stops flowing but does not move to the roots. Still the effect is the same and when you cut the branch in winter sap doesn't come out. Cheers!
Brilliant botanical information video 👍 Thank you for your help 👏
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
I've just started watching your fig videos. Took your advice about adding synthetic fertilizer as well as organic, and will be cleaning up suckered tomorrow. Have a Peter's honey and Mary Lane in containers. Thank you for sharing so much, it's a lot of dedication to the rest of us.
I'm glad the videos are helpful. I appreciate you watching!
You have a beautiful collection of fig trees my friend. last week I ordered fig trees specific to my Kentucky location and several apple trees also. Once I am able to construct my greenhouse, I plan to delve into one or two citrus trees. I absolutely love figs and I know just how Dale feels about them. Thanks for sharing. I find your videos very compelling and inspiring.
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. I appreciate you watching. Best of luck with your new trees.
EXTREMELY INFORMATIVE. You are really smart
Thanks for watching! I appreciate it.
Hi I live in Stockton,California. I am learning about fig tree right now. This video is so helpful,I would like to know when is dormancy?
Very informative. I have a mature fig tree in my backyard. This is helpful.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
I did not have a successful fig winter rooting this year due to various circumstances. Now I rooted some from softwood cuttings. I use an old aquarium as a green house and it works well if I don't crowd the foliage to prevent leaf diseases. I tend to leave more leaves on the cuttings. Another successful method I use if you don't have something like an aquarium is a two liter soda bottle. I cut off the bottom and place the bottle over the cutting. If it needs less humidity I unscrew the cap. It works pretty well!
I had a rough winter rooting as well. It was so cold and rainy here that my typical methods failed in high numbers. I've found softwood cuttings root very quickly wrapped in damp paper towels in a ziploc bag. I have 3 black madeira softwood cuttings rooting as we speak. One is starting to show some white bumps after 1 week.
I’ve never given my in ground brown turkey fig much attention. Probably because we don’t care that much for the taste. But I replaced it last year with a black mission, being from New Orleans where just about every old home has one, my wife and I both love the taste and nostalgia. Gonna clean it up tomorrow morning.
I am as much of a fig fan as humanly possible, and even I don’t like Brown Turkey. They don’t taste good to me. Black Mission is much better, but believe it or not, there are varieties 10 times more flavorful than that. If you enjoy Black Mission, any of the Col de Dame’s, I-258, or most of the Bordissot’s would blow your mind. I recommend trying to get your hand on something like Col de Dame Blanc, White Madeira #1 and Smith. They do well for me, and we have similar rain and humidity come peak summer. I think they will blow your mind.
@@TheMillennialGardener I may look into that next year. If I do I will seek out some cuttings online so I can graft them on to my Black Mission. I absolutely love Franklin fruit. I have 5 citrus trees with approximately 15 different varieties grafted on to them. I have Satsumas, Tangerines and Oranges from September to May and My Meyer Lemon produces year round. I have heard that fig is even easier to graft.
My fig tree had lots of figs and I put the plastic around it to keep them warm in April. But I left the plastic too long and they burned the new figs. I am going to do what you teach here.
You're content is great!!! Thanks for sharing.
I appreciate that! Thank you for watching!
No kidding about snowmadgedon.(East Texas) We were so worried that our fig trees would not survive it but they more than survived it ....so surprised that the extra-large plastic trash containers we turned upside down and put over them with the bottoms cut out and filled/packed with leaves, then wrapped the trash container with a heavy-duty tarp. They are doing great with fruit already. Will definitely check for those suckers to prune off. Thx for the info.
As long as they are dormant, figs can take very low temps. What Dallas and Austin saw is probably too much for dormant wood, but I knew the coastal areas would be fine. Fig wood, when fully dormant, can survive well into the teens with mature wood lasting into the single digits. The trouble with figs is when they wake up. Then, upper 20’s can cause major dieback. Glad to hear your plants made it through.
@@TheMillennialGardener thx u, good info. I'm such a worry wort Gardner who just loves figs.
Great video !! My 🌿Fig tree is looking on Point now 👍🏼👍🏼
Outstanding! Thank you for watching!
Great vid mate.....always seem to learn something new from them......never thought to use the old leaves for mulch........we are the opposite at the moment mind......just about heading into winter but i am still picking ripe figs and they are very yummy but i will remember this for spring time in the s/h.
Pretty much anywhere and everywhere in Australia is a better climate for figs than mine, except maybe Cairns where it never seems to stop raining, at least when I was there! I imagine you can get some good figs and even ripen them in winter if you don’t see frost.
@@TheMillennialGardener lowest we get is 6 to 8C in winter but we only have a 2 month winter really june and july....starts warming mid august.....No sign of them going into dormancy yet ...although the leaves are going crinkly a bit.....sunday and monday 27C......most days 22 to 24C........but night still mild.......Thats why my T shirts last so long !.....only wear em for a very short time.
Fantastic! And, a bonus, your voice is so soothing, my four year old ALWAYS falls asleep and doesn't fight bedtime. So thank you for that! 👍🏼👊🏼🖖🏼 Also I have a question on my rooted cutting and was wondering if I could send you a picture.
Really? I can’t stand the sound of my voice. Maybe that’s just a thing we have, where we all don’t like the way we sound on video? That’s really funny and I’m happy to hear it! Thank you for watching.
@@TheMillennialGardener oh ya. I hate my voice.
@@GoodTimesHomestead I guess it is a common human condition 😂
@@TheMillennialGardener yep. I sent you a pic on Instagram of my rooted cutting of a mystery fig.
Thanks for the video, if you can make a video how the best way to dry fig fruit will be appreciated
My production isn't high enough yet to dry figs, but I would think an inexpensive food dehydrator on the "fruit" setting should do the trick.
Thank you, excellent information
Thanks for watching!
Iron and calcium supplement in the spring is a must.
Zone 7A Tennessee have growth coming from bottom of trees nothing on top should I cut top down there all in ground
In 7A, there is a really good chance you have a lot of, if not total dieback, with that cold winter we had. I suggest you perform the scratch test like in this video and remove any wood that is dead: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html
If you find green, do not remove the wood.
Thank you! I will be giving my tree a hair cut tonight
Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for giving us your brain! I bought my first fig last year and have learned all I know from you, so thank you!
@@andiDPE07 that’s awesome to hear! I wish you the best of luck. Glad to have another fig grower.
Easy fruit tree to grow and very sweet 🌳🍐
Figs are easily my favorite fruit tree. I just love them. Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener bro great content and like your fig videos ❤👍🌲
GENIUS.
Thanks for watching!
That was some winning drool! 💕
You could fill a transmission with it. It is like 25W-50 😩 Dale loves food!
Great video! I learned a lot
Thanks for watching!
Very good video and shared knowledge ! Question ? Could not a person save some of those suckers for starts ?
Green suckers are extremely hard to root. They require high humidity and usually either dry up or rot before they root. I don't bother. I only mess with hardwood cuttings during the dormant season.
Thanks!
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
I planted fig trees and hoped fir the best. This year the figs are plentiful but I didn’t prune them and know I need to do it because there are suckers. It is august here. Can I prune them now or wait until the sap goes down to prune all those side branches below the 12 inches you recommend.
Outstanding video. Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
I've been watching all your videos and just wanted to say thank you. Your content is very easy to follow. I do however have a question. Can basically all the fruit trees be grown in a container until you are in a position to put them in ground?
Thank you. You can grow a fruit tree in a container for its entire life, but you will have to pull it out every couple seasons to root prune and refresh the soil, then prune the tree back to recover. Some of my fruit trees are on their 4th season and they're doing great. I have a video on root-pruning here: ua-cam.com/video/-oOwNiZzGmM/v-deo.html
Putting a tree in ground, as long as your climate is compatible with the tree, it will almost certainly do better than in a container, so in-ground is generally best. You can keep it in a container until you're ready to plant it.
@@TheMillennialGardener Awesome. Thank you for the reply. We aren't far from you so climate wise we are the same. I wanted to go ahead and get fruit trees and bushes established in pots till we are in our forever property. Again absolutely love your videos. They are so easy to follow.
can you propogate the suckers growing from the roots/base and what are the chances of them fruiting also are the fruits true to mother tree?
I'm fortunate to have a greenhouse with a couple of hydro beds. Fig cutting will almost all root in there. I have to remove the new cutting after a month or two simply because they grow so fast and large. I'll sometimes leave one cutting as a mother plant and simply continuously take cuttings from it and rooting them. I just set out some cuttings I rooted in the fall that were five feet tall already.
What area/zone are you in?
@@TheRainHarvester 8/9 Upper texas coast. Figs normally do very well here but my soil is old pine forest. Acid and lacking pretty much all nutrients.
That sounds like a good deal. Congrats.
We moved into a new house last September. I bought a Ronde De Violette and LSU Purple fig trees that are a year old and planted them in the ground. We have had a crazy cold weather year here in East Texas but I have been watering them every weekend, and every other weekend I use a little tomato food and Alaska fertilizer diluted in the water. They are each about 18" tall and exploding with growth from the ground to the extremities. Is it too early to trim up say the first 6" of growth to promote higher up and out growth?
I have a fig tree that is small now. I would like to keep it at 4-5’. Should I prune it hard every year to keep the tree small since I have a very small garden. Thank you for your advice.
Generally, yes. Probably down to the 12-18” mark. I have a video on the exact subject here: ua-cam.com/video/ZlFPa6nOGRw/v-deo.html
Good presentation!
Thanks for watching!
Another great video! I've rooted several fig cuttings using your method (THANK YOU) and am now ready to pot them up. I have 15 gallon nursery pots and wonder should I pot them directly into this large size or start with a smaller pot?
Thanks! Glad to hear you've had success rooting them. I recommend up-potting them into 5 gallon buckets or #7 nursery containers the first year. I think going straight into #15's is a little much. I like to get the caliper to about 1 inch in diameter before I go into a permanent, large container or plant them in-ground.
So I e been watching a few fig growers and they all seem to grow figs like you are here in this video. I’ve been getting a large amount of figs for the past couple years now but I grow it totally different. Not sure my figs are as tasty as yours because I have had nothing to compare them to. I am growing the Chicago Hardy Fig. I have approximately 10-12 branches they grow upwards only. I have not trained them to grow side ways.
Have I been totally doing this wrong? What about Middle East countries who have trees?!!!
Just looking for advice.
In the middle east and here in the Mediterranean we train the trees to grow into different directions so that it creates as much shade as possible in case of hot summers, we try keeping them low so we can easily get the figs at harvest. If you have all the branches up high how are you getting the fruit off without climbing? You could use a fruit catcher but that takes much more time and effort than hand picking.
I grow figs as a single trunk for two reasons:
1. I like the way fig trees look as a single-trunked tree better than a bush. This is simply a personal preference.
2. I am growing many figs in a small space, so I need to maintain the trees as smaller.
3. Our growing seasons are short in the US, unlike the Middle East, and limiting the tree to a single trunk limits fruit production. Too many figs won't ripen will in our short growing seasons.
So, it's simply a combination of my preferred aesthetics, purposefully maintaining my trees for compact size and easy access of the fruit, and trying to prevent the trees from over-bearing. If you live in a place with never-ending growing seasons and you have lots of room, you can let the tree grow however you wish naturally. Also, some growers in cold climates purposefully leave their fig trees as a bush because they're more cold hardy as a large bush than as a single-trunked tree.
@@Farmynator That totally makes sense! Thank you
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks for all the advice!
So happy to have found your videos. They have become my go to for information. I have a Chicago Hardy (live in South East KY). It was put in the ground last year. It was cut back to about a foot from the ground late last Fall. It has lots of growth now because I did not know how to prune. Is it too late to prune this late in July? Thank you!
You generally don't want to prune during the growing season. It is best to prune after your first few frosts sends the tree into dormancy. I have a TON of videos on pruning figs if you search "prune" on my channel here: ua-cam.com/users/TheMillennialGardenersearch?query=prune
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you!
We were hit hard by the February freeze, but fortunately my figs were still dormant. And luckily, I live far enough south that we didn't get anymore freezes. However, with that said, my trees still had some freeze damage. Fortunately, nothing too catastrophic although I didn't see any breba figs this year. Now my trees are busy putting out lots of figlets, and I expect a full crop in July like always. However, I was wondering how to go about pruning to maximize growth. For some reason, my mother tree which has been in ground for about 8 years and is over twelve feet tall is making a ton of suckers this year which it has never done before. I am thinking it is freeze related. I have air rooted a couple, but the others are too small for that. I was thinking of letting them grow big enough to air root. But after watching your video, I will pinch them off and try to root in a pot. I will also dip them in rooting compound which should help, right?
Are you in Florida? Figs can take very cold temps down into the teens and suffer no damage when dormant, depending on the extent of their dormancy. This video may help you with pruning: ua-cam.com/video/ZlFPa6nOGRw/v-deo.html
I espalier my trees, so my style is different, though. I have several videos on espalier and pruning them. I’ve used Clonex gel, but never had any luck. I may try DipNGrow next year. Figs will root without hormone.
I had 2 fig trees pruned in January, and get a decent amount of new growths. They grow branches in different sizes. Some branches now start forming figlets. Some don't, especially the thin ones which are smaller than a pencil. To save energy for branches that have figlets, do you advise to remove the small (without figlets) branches? Thank you.
After viewing 3 tips in your video ua-cam.com/video/ynorIceeGuM/v-deo.html I guess your ans will be a Yes. Thank you.
great presentation. Are figs ok to give to dogs? Some fruits are deadly to a dog such as grapes.
Our figs at the house are in ground and we're 7a. I observed a few things this spring. I don't cover or wrap my plants for winter. This fall I noticed that my neighbor also has figs. He wraps his.
At this point of the season my trees are pushing leaves while his tree is already full of grown leaves.
So, this taught me that, yes wrapping my figs is important for earlier growth.
I still have a pile of cutting from the winter that never got planted. It's not too late to get them started is it?
If you watch my fig taste testing videos, you'll see Dale is my Official Taste Tester. Yes, they're fine to give to dogs - in moderation. They are very high in fiber, so giving them too much will quickly give them the runs. I give Dale a fig with his breakfast every single morning. He's a 62 lb dog, and I wouldn't give him any more than 1-2 figs a day as a treat. If you have a smaller dog, I would only give them one. Tip: if your dog doesn't like taking medication and you must give them a pill, hiding it inside a dried fig works incredibly well because they're very chewy and gooey and hide the pill so well.
In Zone 7a, you will see dieback on your trees almost every single year if you don't protect them. Pruning your tree back in the fall heavily, then wrapping it, will really help your cause. It'll be a big boost to your season, because most years, your tree will die back to the ground and have to restart otherwise. Starting with a 24-36" tall tree will vastly increase your yields.
You can start fig cuttings any time of the year, but I only recommend pruning during dormancy.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yeah, I pruned in the late fall (mid December). I've got gallon bags of them. I may prep them and then just put them in the ground around the house start them. I waxed the ends to preserve the moisture.
As for the dog, that's good news.
I've got a golden, but she can't just eat one as the saying goes. So, I'll stay greedy and keep them for myself and my wife.
It's June in NJ, is it still ok to transplant or prune my potted Chicago fig?
Sure, you can transplant a potted fig now. As for pruning, the only pruning you should be doing are things like removing suckers, pinching tips to induce earlier fruiting or controlling unsightly or intrusive growth. Taking cuttings should only be done during dormancy.
Thank you for an informative video; clear and concise.
I have a question - My figs tree is in the sunny position and has been in ground for few years now. I prune the tree lightly and have new growth of leaves too. Never get fruits though. What can I do to get it fruiting?
That is very unusual. For the record, "full sun" means 8-10 hours a day. Figs need to bathe in full sunlight most of the day. Usually, figs will begin to set fruit 3-4 months after the cutting itself roots, so a harvest the first summer after rooting is very likely. I suspect 2 things:
1. Figs actually like an aggressive pruning. They fruit on the new year's wood, so cut them back in the winter to encourage new growth at the nodes.
2. It sounds to me like your tree isn't getting the proper nutrients. After giving them an aggressive pruning, fertilize them LIKE CRAZY. Figs are perhaps the heaviest feeders of any plant in existence, sans bananas. They need regular amendments with fertilizer. Follow my guide here: ua-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIFNbJEUdApbh_E57uNBLG2j.html
I suspect with a proper pruning and fertilizing every 2 weeks, you will have success.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you very much and I will try. I will focus on fertilising.
Awesome video
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it.
In a previous video about the Chicago hardy fig you had said you don’t think it’s the most cold hardy of the fig trees. So I was wondering what variety you believe to be the most cold tolerant? I live in Massachusetts and from everything I can find the Chicago hardy is the only one for my area which is zone5.
We didn’t have any late freezes but both our fig trees here in North Alabama are 12 - 15 feet tall. We are having trouble with some odd leaf curling but I can’t see any insects or insect activity.
Leaf curl is usually a result of high solar intensity, too much water or not enough water. If your sunshine is getting really strong, some trees naturally curl their leaves in order to "take in less sun." Since leaves are the solar panels of the tree, when the sun gets too strong, the trees curl their leaves to reduce the surface area of the "solar panel" because they're getting too much energy. It's a neat evolutionary thing to regulate energy. Once the leaves curl, they won't un-curl.
@@TheMillennialGardener That’s really interesting. Thank you!
I live in texas and had a very old fig tree that usually gives a lot of fruits but it looks dead after the bitter winter we had this year. I am not seeing any growth yet but I have a lot of suckers coming out from the root of the tree. Will these grow into a tree or a shrub and produce?
I suggest watching this video to make sure your old wood is still alive: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html
If the wood still shows green, I would leave it alone. Whatever dead wood is there should all be removed. If the whole tree was killed back to the ground, you need to select a new sucker to be the new trunk and remove the others (unless you want more than one trunk - then select as many "trunks" as you want). Being in Texas, it should be a long enough and hot enough season to still fruit this year if you fertilize the tree heavily.
I'm in NC as well, recently got a young fig tree (3 yrs old I believe) in a pot and I moved it to a bigger pot. Can I share a picture and ask for advise? Tnx
Sure. You can upload a picture to an online hosting site like Imgur and share the link in the comments.
@@TheMillennialGardener Please find some pictures here, any advise will be appreciated. it seems we will have some figs this year, just moved it to a bigger pot and fertilizing it every other Friday : mega.nz/folder/cYJjWaQa#GguwCXovHV4bil8NdPjybw
Great channel and advices.👌👍 I did not prune enough in the winter and now it is too leafy and too many sides. If I cut these thicker side branches, Can I Use them as cuttings and root them? They are about 1 or 2 cm thick. An another question how big your buckets are (blue) ? 15 litres?
You can root the side branches if they've turned brown. If they're still green, they will dry out very quickly. I've found the only way to root greenwood cuttings is with high humidity. I've had some success wrapping them in damp paper towels and sticking them in a Ziploc bag for 2-3 weeks. They can root, but then after that, you need to put them in a pot and keep them in a humidity chamber for awhile. They need to acclimate very, very slowly.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks very much, I have checked your other videos as well, and they are great advice. These branches are brown already. Im going to leave some on, and prune them more in the winter, and use those cuttings. Hopefully I can have more homegrown figs next summer. Until then, I go to the shop and buy some figs. 😀
I just discovered your channel when searching for info on fig trees and really like your content. I’ve been trying to grow Chicago Hardy trees in containers in Zone 5 an I have a question. How often should I water the tree next winter during the dormant season?
Maybe once every 4 to 6 weeks or when the top few inches are dry. It only needs to be slightly damp (not soggy) to keep roots from drying out.
This is a hard question to answer, because it varies greatly depending on where and how you're storing it. The short answer is this: you cannot let the root mass completely dry out or the tree will die. Despite dormancy, it still has a small water demand. If you make the root mass too wet, you could suffer some root rot. The key is keeping an eye on the root ball and make sure it isn't "pulling away" from the sides of the container significantly. If you start to see the root ball pulling away, it could use a couple cups of water.
I wish I had seen this year's ago. I have a tall tree with very little production. How far can I prune the tree
Figs grow back quickly, so you can prune the tree as low as you wish. I keep my espalier-grown figs at a low cordon of 16 inches, so that's pretty close to the ground. However, don't prune this late, or you'll set the tree back. Pruning should happen during dormancy. The only thing you should do during the growing season is small cosmetic trimming, like the removal of the base suckers and unwanted side-growth as shown in this video.
In half is all I can say. After that I didn't have to share too much with the birds.
We're not here. Pruned my figs per instructions. Sprayed remaining bate branches with pymethrin for any remaining g spider mites. New growth looking healthy, disease free. Late to start rooting from trimmings but was able to root most and have a little green growth on them.
Sorry, meant here in Vermont
Is the original stick the tree was started from a big limiting factor? 2 of my figs are growing like weeds since I started following your method and 2 are barely growing and they have very skinny base trunks/were started from skinny sticks. Is there anything I can do to overcome this?
Thanks
Thanks for watching!
For first year trees grown from cuttings this past winter and in a 5 gal container, do you recommend I remove suckers now or let it go for the year to allow the tree to develop its strength?
I would recommend you remove any suckers at the base of the tree immediately. I like growing my trees as a single, dominant trunk. Figs will grow as a bush if you allow them, and this form, I believe, is a poor choice in containers. I recommend selecting the trunk for the fig as early as possible so the trees focuses on directing 100% of its energy into that one trunk and grow caliper size.
great video
Thanks for watching!
Can Fig Trees successfully grow in containers? If so, what size container is best for them? I thought about using a 2x2x6' trough would this work and is it enough space for 2 trees?
I just found out you can make tea out of the leaves 😊
Can you root & use that which you have removed to start another tree?
These little suckers won't root well. They need constant, controlled humidity to root and stay alive. They will begin deteriorating rapidly as soon as they are removed, because they are not hardwood. I recommend *only* rooting hardwood cuttings.
If you pull out the suckers with the roots attached you can have another small tree to pot.
The suckers do not have roots attached. They come out of the nodes, so they will not have roots. Even if they appear to come from the ground, they won’t have roots. They’ll need to air layer themselves for that to happen.
good info thanks
Thanks for watching!
I love fresh figs but my fig trees don’t produce figs. I live in Oklahoma. My trees don’t leaf on the trunk or branches, they always grow from the root as suckers. What do I do to encourage the leaf growth on branches and to produce fruit?
It sounds like, to me, that your climate is too cold and your fig wood is getting killed every winter, so they have to come back from the roots. If this is the case, your trunks and branches aren't leafing out because the wood is dead. Check out this video, check the wood for life and see if this is the problem: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html
If this is the problem, you have two options:
1. Prune the fig tree back in November after your first few frosts, but before it gets really cold, then protect the pruned tree via wrapping, caging and stuffing with straw, etc. Something that'll insulate it.
2. Let it continue to die back to the ground each year, then select the dominant sucker early in the season and remove all the others, and keep an eye on it constantly to remove other suckers so you promote all the energy in the new trunk.
Option #1 is a lot better, and you'll get a lot more fruit earlier.
At 4:40 you spoke about the node spacing and exampled a tree with very close nodes. Should that branch be pruned or is it ok to let it continue into next season. Thanks mate.
For a beginner, which fig tree do you suggest to be the best and where do you buy them. TIA
All fig trees are equal to grow. One is not easier than another. What matters is your growing season length. Some figs take too long to ripen in short summer/cool summer areas. If your summer is sufficiently warm and long enough, anything will grow. Choose based on taste and growing season length. I have many reviews on varieties here: ua-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIEhxT08mPoUWCT91JhJGWzk.html
Where do you buy your mulch for your edible garden?
I buy natural hardwood mulch from Lowes. My local Lowes has a contract with a local supplier that makes their mulch onsite, so it is good stuff.
I just bought my first fig tree but with the long shipment from FL to AZ, it was all dried up when I received it. Do you know how I can revive it back to life?
Excellent video ! Hopefully someone can help me. I planted a new Chicago Hardy Fig tree here in Central Mass about 3 weeks ago and had two nights of 28 degrees F. and lost all the leaves. Tree was shipped to me from a green house I guess. All that remains is a small brownish green trunk about 3/8" diameter and about 18" tall. I'm wondering if it will grow new replacement leaves and if so on the trunk or will the roots send out new shoots ? Thanks in advance..hoping for a second chance.
Just scratch the trunk with your fingernail and if you see green, it is still alive.
@@rauljimenez8132 The trunk is green..dont want to scratch it i believe it will bleed. Is it likely that a new leaf will grow near the old one that died ? Thanks.
@@kahvac @kahvac Just scratching the surface will not make it bleed, at least with my experience in Northern NJ and if is alive you probably will get some new growth.
You don't have to worry about scratching the trunk. When you do this, you will only scratch through tbe bark into the cambium, so you won't get into the sap wood. The cambium won't bleed; it'll only bleed if you cut through the cambium. If the tree is alive, it will heal over quickly. If your trunk is alive, it will bud out again. However, it will be set back several weeks.
How do you get your trees to branch? I bought mine as a rooted cutting and it's basically a long branch for a trunk. It fruits along the trunk and isn't branching.
After the first season, the fig tree should be "headed," meaning completely decapitated at the exact height you want it to branch out. For me, that's about 12-16 inches. I show you how to do this here: ua-cam.com/video/EHLfAN5R1Dc/v-deo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you!
Help! We got a fig tree last year that has no branches. It developed a few leaves and figs at the top. This year is the same. A few leaves and 3 figs at the top but no branches developing. Its about 5 ft tall. Any tips?
Are you saying it's a 5 foot tall, single trunk that hasn't developed a single branch? If so, you're going to have to decapitate the tree during the dormant season. The fig tree will branch out where you make the cut. I have a video showing how to do this here: ua-cam.com/video/EHLfAN5R1Dc/v-deo.html
It's too late in the year to do that now, so you'll want to wait until dormancy to perform this aggressive surgery.
Planted the first one in California here, always sunny, and the leaves are dying one by one. Any idea? Is it ok? Thank you.
How often are you watering? It sounds like it is drying out. Figs require around a year to establish before they can really support themselves without supplemental watering.
@@TheMillennialGardener every day. Maybe the soil is crap. Thank you for your answer.
I'm a big believer of rubbing off buds when they're in poor locations. If you get them early in the season, it's pretty easy.
On my espalier trees, because I need a certain number of branches to complete my cordons, I cannot do that for fear something will not grow in the proper direction. I have to let a few branches start. It will get easier once my cordons are complete.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yeah once you get your scaffold branches it should be smooth sailing. :)
Do you ever use root hormone with fig cuttings?
I’ve used Clonex gel, but I am unhappy with it. I don’t think it is appropriate for fig cuttings. Next year, I am going to try DipNGrow.
I'm growing 2 single trunk brown turkey and wanting to keep them under 10ft tall. When would be the best time to prune their tops? They're about 4 or 5ft tall right now
It's always best to prune during the winter when they're dormant. This video should help: ua-cam.com/video/ZlFPa6nOGRw/v-deo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener I appreciate your time and effort in all your videos and sharing your knowledge and experience
I NEED HELP PLEASE!!
I'm in the N. Raleigh NC area, my 6 foot tree got frost bite this spring & now all I have is hundred of suckers growing from the ground trunk. WHAT DO I DO???
You are going to have to check if the tree got killed to the ground. This video will show you how to check to see if the wood is still alive: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html
If you find living wood with green cambium, you must cut off all the dead wood. If you cannot find any living wood and the whole tree is dead above ground, you’re going to have to cut it down to the base and select the strongest new green sucker coming out of the ground as your new main trunk, then remove all the others you don’t want.
@@TheMillennialGardener THERE'S A TON OF NEW FLUSH GROWTH FROM THE TRUNK ONLY, DO I THIN PRUNE IT TO JUST A COUPLE OF BRANCHS, OR JUST WAIT UNTIL FALL?
New subbie- great information! I have two 6 “ stick figs - one with 1” green leaf at the base! and the other with nothing. Thanks for leaving me something, darn rabbits! Bonus dog drool! Hilarious!
Thanks for the sub! I really appreciate it. You may want to try chicken wire around your new figs until they get strong enough to turn into hardwood for pest protection. Dale is a DROOL MACHINE around figs. I think he loves them more than I do.
My fig tree has stopped growing up, mostly all of my growth from suckers at the base. I’m scared that if u. Prune all the sucks the tree might die… what should I do?
Did the previous year's wood suffer cold damage? If your old wood isn't growing, it was probably killed. You need to check to see if your old wood is still alive as shown here: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html
If the wood is dead, you need to remove it all, then select the strongest sucker to be your "new" tree and remove the other inferior suckers.
Love your tips on ants. I live in se Florida, do you have cutting that might work here in pots?
Thanks. Cutting season for me isn’t until January. Figs are tough in south Florida due to the humidity and rain. The figs that seem to handle my rain the best are Sao Miguel Roxo, Col de Dame Blanc, Carr, Olympian, Smith, Marseilles Black VS and the various Chicago Hardy types because they have closed or very tight eyes. Our rainfall patterns are similar.
Loved ur video from india
I need variety fig
Hope some one ill help me
Do your fig varieties die back each winter or do you have some that will re bloom/leaf out on previous years growth?
Last year, my figs were 100% undamaged and did great. Then, we got a freak hard freeze after our 90% frost date in April. All my figs were leafed out and actively growing, so that caused a bunch of tip damage. Most seasons, figs here will not take damage, but when a once-in-15-years event happens like that, some damage can occur. Fully dying back will almost never happen here, unless we get an event like Texas got last year (which we got in January 2018). That should be a 1-in-50-year occurrence. I documented the event here: ua-cam.com/video/D_ujinIuOeg/v-deo.html
My 2 year in ground figs are not growing leaves from the main tree, but I'm getting shoots or suckers . Should I remove all the suckers.?
Did they suffer cold damage? You should check out this video and do the "scratch test" to see if your wood is still alive: ua-cam.com/video/TSKH-LXg7TY/v-deo.html
If the wood is still green and alive, you should be patient and just wait. If the wood is dead, you need to cut it off and choose a new sucker to be the main trunk.
@@TheMillennialGardener
Thanks I do the test.
Could you tell me what copper spray you use for rust on your figs? And what concentration you mix it at? I can’t find a copper spray that actually lists figs in the directions. I bought 42 figs to plant on my farm and they all have really bad rust already :( Thanks!
The copper I use is the liquid copper fungicide concentrate I have listed in my Amazon Storefront in the video description under "Disease Prevention And Pest Control." The concentration I use is 1.5 Tablespoons per gallon. Another option you may want to try is the wettable sulfur powder in my Amazon Storefront because it's listed for both rust and mite control. However, sulfur cannot be used in conjunction with any oil-based sprays all season, so if you use any oil-based sprays, you'll burn up your tree mixing it with sulfur.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you so much! I’ll order that copper right away. Don’t want to use the sulfur just in case I need to spray with an oil later on. Although I don’t know why else I would need to spray them. I hope rust is the only major issue I have to deal with lol. The only thing I could think of is if I need to use permethrin if I had any bug issues.
@@TheMillennialGardener me again... I wanted to make sure that you meant tablespoons and not teaspoons. All the directions are in teaspoons so I just wanted to double check that. Thanks!
Hi I'll be growing figs for the first time this year zone 6 v still have frost late evenings even May 2nd wk So Im leaning on planting them in containers and bring them indoors 4 winter. Can you please suggest what gallon container I should go for. Would u also know if any containers come with handles for easy movement?
I grow fig trees in zone six.I used five gal. buckets up-potted to 22 inch pot.Much bigger is to heavy to handle.I prune the tree back every year to fit smallest doorway.I use a produce cart with a cinch strap tie down to secure pot to move.Cheaper than lifting straps and cart can be used for other uses.
@@bettybobzimmerman7450 thanks a lot for your info. Do you keep your fig tree indoors for those unripe ones to ripen off and then overwinter in the garage? I think it needs some dormancy time?
@@Hymnstreams I pick off small figlets
first part of Sept., they will never mature in time before cold weather.
Hard to get figs to stay on or mature
once you move them inside.I bring a tree in from garage end of Feb.when I see leave buds swell.In the house they break dormacy.I have a attached patio I bring them in during daytime.Doing that helps lengthen your growing season by a few weeks to ripen fruit in Sept. verses Oct. here in Mi.
I would suggest starting them in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket (with holes drilled in the bottom, of course), or a #7 nursery container, the first season. The reason why is these smaller containers are large enough for the first 1-2 years, but it also rootbinds the tree quickly so they'll fruit very early. After the first 1-2 seasons, I recommend up-potting them into a #15 container like the one shown in this video: ua-cam.com/video/LuBHbBmh3hU/v-deo.html
@@bettybobzimmerman7450 Thanks very helpful. A very tiny fig tree arrived today by mail and am looking forward to the experience..hoping it will survive!