I'm so glad I watched your video Linda as I've unknowingly been pruning mine as a conformed single tree and in doing so it has not done well so far. Thanks for sharing........... Victoria B.C., Canada
Excellent teaching in that video, I completely changed my pruning concept and it made a lot of sense to me. The custom is to prune forming a tree, that is what we normally do when we ignore the growth, thinking and putting logic to it is the most sensible thing, everything made sense to me, I will start doing it in my plantation here in Salinas Victoria and Galeana NL México. .. Thank you infinitely for the contribution from the Seattle team and especially Mrs. Linda
Hey! This was great to see and learn. Iam in port orchard wa. And I have this huge dessert king and have been doing it all wrong! Thanks for sharing this!
I have a 3 yr old desert king in a container, it only has one single breba fig :(. We over wintered it n poly tunnel, and used lots of mulch to protect the sides on container and the top. i think the new shoots that sprouted early spring got frost bittern. Im new to fig growing and need to know how to prune a container desert king and what size pot and how to over winter.I would appreciate any info. It seems that different varieties require different pruning methods.
I pruned the tree down, scaffold branches and trunk are all at same height now. Also pruned the roots and up potted into a 15 gallon pot. We put this on our south west facing deck, in full sun... When it gets super hot, I usually wrap something around the pot just so root area stays cooler. Cheers, all the best with your tree.@@spankytag
Are the breba fig buds visible in the winter months or do they only show up in the spring? I.e., do the breba figs start forming in the late fall or only in the spring? Thanks!
I enjoyed your tips for pruning. I live in Poulsbo Washington and just getting started in the fig world. I am curious as to what is your soil ingredients for your raised beds. Is it a blend of bark and compost with osmocote sprinkled on top? I am starting out with verdino del nord, celeste, smith, verdone, and Italian honey.
Question (Hopefully there will be a reply) You prune as a bush, but allow it to grow to 10 + feet. How are you suppose to harvest at that height. Almost all other pruners recommend topping the tree to keep harvest within reach????
You mentioned that you started your fig tree from a cutting. Most of us have a grafted Dessert King fig including myself. That being said, I don’t think we should keep any growth coming up from the roots (suckers) because those will be a totally different and most likely non productive variety for our area since root stock is typically different than the plant that was grafted into it. I’m still wondering what the proper way to Prune a grafted fig would be like and still have a large crop of figs on the tree. How should we aim to help a 4 year old tree form more branches from the main branches in order to get more figs?
Figs are so easy to propagate from cuttings, why would you graft? I either push a branch into the ground to get it to form roots, or I put buckets with soil around some suckers and I get a new tree.
I just (3 June 2019) planted a Desert King here at my place on Saltspring Island in British Columbia, they're said to be very productive here too. The plant that I bought has a single stem about six feet high, with small branches at the top of about a foot long. There's a single fig on the tree. My question is, how should I prune it to get multiple stems coming up from the base like the tree in the video? Will they just appear by themselves, or do I need to prune to make it happen. Very helpful video - thanks!
Shorter growing season there so they focus on the breba crop. Other places have longer hotter summers and may want the main crop more tham breba so they may not want a ton of old wood, instead focusing on fewer old branches dividing the energy so they get more new season growth and bigger main crop.
I wonder. if you have the space- if it’s best to just let the tree grow. Old trees in Tacoma have hundreds of lbs of fruit. If you don’t mind climbing that is:)
Thanks Ben, you have a great channel BTW. Most fig growers make a 10 min video to pick and eat one fig. Your videos are the most concise of any I've found.
If I have pruned nearly all of my 1 year old to help shape an overgrown desert King fig tree will I get almost no figs this year? Living in Portland...
You need a better blade on that saw(they are disposable and vary quite a lot by brand), I can hand saw faster than that. Try a larger tooth the gullets may be getting packed full of wood bits.
Does anyone have experience growing Desert King for breba crop in Zone 6 or 7? I'm debating putting one in the ground in zone 6B. I've heard they're extremely cold resistant
Nice instruction. Love how Linda was 'sawing' with the reciprocating saw. Let the tool do the work. 😁
I'm so glad I watched your video Linda as I've unknowingly been pruning mine as a conformed single tree and in doing so it has not done well so far. Thanks for sharing........... Victoria B.C., Canada
Excellent teaching in that video, I completely changed my pruning concept and it made a lot of sense to me. The custom is to prune forming a tree, that is what we normally do when we ignore the growth, thinking and putting logic to it is the most sensible thing, everything made sense to me, I will start doing it in my plantation here in Salinas Victoria and Galeana NL México. .. Thank you infinitely for the contribution from the Seattle team and especially Mrs. Linda
Hey! This was great to see and learn. Iam in port orchard wa. And I have this huge dessert king and have been doing it all wrong! Thanks for sharing this!
I really like your technique. can you post some video on how's this tree did this year? Thanks!
I have a 3 yr old desert king in a container, it only has one single breba fig :(. We over wintered it n poly tunnel, and used lots of mulch to protect the sides on container and the top. i think the new shoots that sprouted early spring got frost bittern. Im new to fig growing and need to know how to prune a container desert king and what size pot and how to over winter.I would appreciate any info. It seems that different varieties require different pruning methods.
Same here. I'm keeping my Desert King fig plant in a container in the shade. I've had it for two years and so far I've only gotten one fig from it.
I pruned the tree down, scaffold branches and trunk are all at same height now. Also pruned the roots and up potted into a 15 gallon pot. We put this on our south west facing deck, in full sun... When it gets super hot, I usually wrap something around the pot just so root area stays cooler. Cheers, all the best with your tree.@@spankytag
Excellent video!! I appreciate the time you take to bring us such educational videos.
and just for the information. Porte cable saw is the best for our purpose. It can change an angle, light, the battery is perfect! Try it .
thank you this is very helpful information. Do think this pruning technique would work well for other breba only types?
2 Angels Mushroom Farm yes absolutely
Are the breba fig buds visible in the winter months or do they only show up in the spring? I.e., do the breba figs start forming in the late fall or only in the spring? Thanks!
Do you think DK el do well in panhandle of Florida, zone 9?
I enjoyed your tips for pruning. I live in Poulsbo Washington and just getting started in the fig world. I am curious as to what is your soil ingredients for your raised beds. Is it a blend of bark and compost with osmocote sprinkled on top? I am starting out with verdino del nord, celeste, smith, verdone, and Italian honey.
So: would the advice here be any different in Eastern Wa., over the Cascades?
What month do you prune here in the Seattle area?
Question (Hopefully there will be a reply) You prune as a bush, but allow it to grow to 10 + feet. How are you suppose to harvest at that height. Almost all other pruners recommend topping the tree to keep harvest within reach????
the branches can be pulled down easily to pick the figs. I have branches up at 15-ft and higher that I harvested this year by pulling them down.
You mentioned that you started your fig tree from a cutting. Most of us have a grafted Dessert King fig including myself. That being said, I don’t think we should keep any growth coming up from the roots (suckers) because those will be a totally different and most likely non productive variety for our area since root stock is typically different than the plant that was grafted into it. I’m still wondering what the proper way to Prune a grafted fig would be like and still have a large crop of figs on the tree. How should we aim to help a 4 year old tree form more branches from the main branches in order to get more figs?
I am wondering sort of the same thing (wouldn't the suckers be from the root stock?).
Maybe take a cutting from the desert King and root it
Figs are so easy to propagate from cuttings, why would you graft? I either push a branch into the ground to get it to form roots, or I put buckets with soil around some suckers and I get a new tree.
I just (3 June 2019) planted a Desert King here at my place on Saltspring Island in British Columbia, they're said to be very productive here too. The plant that I bought has a single stem about six feet high, with small branches at the top of about a foot long. There's a single fig on the tree. My question is, how should I prune it to get multiple stems coming up from the base like the tree in the video? Will they just appear by themselves, or do I need to prune to make it happen.
Very helpful video - thanks!
Cut it down to 2ft tall
So how exactly will this help the tree make more Breba, compared to other pruning tactics?
Shorter growing season there so they focus on the breba crop. Other places have longer hotter summers and may want the main crop more tham breba so they may not want a ton of old wood, instead focusing on fewer old branches dividing the energy so they get more new season growth and bigger main crop.
This helped a lot
Very helpful video. Love it
I wonder. if you have the space- if it’s best to just let the tree grow. Old trees in Tacoma have hundreds of lbs of fruit. If you don’t mind climbing that is:)
Are you selling your desert king cuttings?
Excellent video, thanks
What time of the year to prune? Early spring Feb or March?
Willsters yes, you want to do it before they show signs of waking up.
how can i contact linda
merci pour cette video thank you
Why do you keep the 3 year old wood on the tree?
Scott Allen because it also has 1yr old wood
Thanks Ben, you have a great channel BTW. Most fig growers make a 10 min video to pick and eat one fig. Your videos are the most concise of any I've found.
If I have pruned nearly all of my 1 year old to help shape an overgrown desert King fig tree will I get almost no figs this year? Living in Portland...
Correct, likely not many fig this year - but lots next year.
So it won't grow any breba on the 2 and 3 year growth, only on last year growth. Correct?
Yes correct. 2yr old wood
Yes last yrs growth
You need a better blade on that saw(they are disposable and vary quite a lot by brand), I can hand saw faster than that. Try a larger tooth the gullets may be getting packed full of wood bits.
So the answer is, to promote more breba, you just allow more suckers? so you prune this like a lilac.
Does anyone have experience growing Desert King for breba crop in Zone 6 or 7? I'm debating putting one in the ground in zone 6B. I've heard they're extremely cold resistant
I live at 600' in Zone 6 & have an abundance of Desert Kings this year.
they should root every single cutting and have about 500 new fig trees!
Yeah I'm not sure what happened to all those beautiful limbs
Change the blade. There are wood blades available ....
There are pruning blades available. They chew through wood like butter.
also noticed the metal or general purpose blade lol
oh maaan why is she moving the wood saw thats sooo.....
Desert King Fig can't fruit in Indonesia, perhaps..
do you have a DK tree?
Use pro-grade loppers and orr a pro-grade manual saw. Come on now…. those are small branches easy to cut.
i´m even faster with my silky handsaw XD
It's still too tall
wrong pruning
SumerianTurk this type of pruning is more specific to the seattle area or similar climates
That blade for metal not wood people. Wake up. Should take 5 seconds not 10 min