# Fig Pruning



## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Time to prune fig trees if you have them. These figs were growing when my grandfather came here in 1922. Severe freezes have killed them back to the ground several times but it hasn’t happened since the 1950’s.

These were in bad need of cutting back. First pick - two summers ago, most of the figs were so high they couldn’t be picked from a ladder. I did a test pruning on one tree (pic 2) that winter. As you can see it came back like gang busters.

Today I pruned with a chainsaw on two trees (clumps), cutting them way back. (Pics 3 & 4) Even if it’s a bad year for figs the tree in pic 2 should bear plenty for canning.

Dad had bought a pole saw and pruned some of the upper limbs in December. I’d told him what I had planned and asked him to wait but he couldn’t resist playing with his new toy.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

We most likely need to prune ours but have not in several years. For some reason they just keep producing. Actually they become an after thought since they are not in the garden area.


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

I have one small one. What kind of fertilize do you use? Any other treatments, or just let them go?


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

bacpacker said:


> I have one small one. What kind of fertilize do you use? Any other treatments, or just let them go?


As you can see one tree (or clump of trees) is actually in the garden (2nd pic). The other two are at the end of the garden so their roots get plenty of garden fertilizer. Other than that they have been let go.

That's about to change. I've a years worth of rabbit pellets built up. The two trees I trimmed today are going to get a big dose of rabbit pellets and crushed volcanic rock. There are a lot of young saplings and small trees growing in the circles of larger trunks. That's the generation I wish to cultivate, get them growing good over the next few years and take out the rest of the old trunks.

I want to move the trees that are in the garden to a different location. I'll do that over the next 5 years once the other younger trees are well established


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

Thanks. I have some year old chicken manure that should work just fine. It's going on the grapes and blueberries as well


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## HomegrownGal (Feb 11, 2013)

Did you start lots of new trees with the cuttings?? Figs are easy to propagate and can be sold or planted once rooted. I would love to get some cuttings from someone. I don't have any figs on my homestead yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Survival Forum


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

These trees for lack of a better term… grew wild here. This is the first time I’ve interfered with the growth of these trees (beginning 2 years ago). So no, no cuttings etc. I’ve not researched it either. I will be transplanting some next winter.

I do recommend figs to everyone, they are a wonderful fruit. The fig leaves are also medicinal. They help in controlling type 2 diabetes and the latex sap will remove warts.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

The job continues… I put 50 gallons of horse/donkey manure on the fig trees today. The whitish powder on the manure piles is crushed volcanic rock. The trees got about twenty pounds of the rock. They also need lime, been years. I thought I had a bag of lime in the barn but no such luck. Must have used it up, have to get some next trip to town.

Sort of funny… Donkeys have a natural habit of pooping in piles. They’ll use the same pile a week of so then start another one. This isn’t a natural habit of horses. The horse and donkey I have now have been together since they were foals. The horse learned this behavior from the donkey.

Sort of handy when I need manure… It’s all in neat piles ready to shovel up! :2thumb:


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## DM1791 (Oct 6, 2014)

There are two fig trees on my grandparents' property that haven't produced in several years. I wonder if they need a good pruning to get them going again? The trees still grow and have huge leaves, but no fruit. They used to produce about 2-3 five gallon buckets full a year.

Do blueberry bushes require pruning also? The fig trees I mentioned are next to a run of blueberry bushes that are massive. They are nearly as big as the fig trees you posted in the original post. The blueberry bushes still produce, but not nearly what they did 5-10 years ago. Part of that problem is due to the evacuation of a long-term native honeybee hive, I know. The departure of the bees severely impacted our grape production (and hence our wine production) as well, but it seems the blueberries have dropped off more than they should have.

Thanks for the info.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

I recommend anyone to first have the soil tested if you’re not sure of a problem or what to do about it. This is always the first step! Without the baseline you have no idea what the plant needs. Back in the day it was cheap and easy, now it costs a few bucks. You need to ask the county extension office for recommendations.

Reminds me of a lady I knew a few years ago at the farmers market. Every year she’d name off 2 or 3 fertilizers she’d put on her tomatoes and wonder why they didn’t produce. I’d tell her to have the soil tested. The next year, same story, same result and I’d tell her to have the soil tested which she didn’t do! She was cooking the plants with too much fertilizer, fried green tomato stalks anyone? 

One year I told her to crush up a couple of viagra’s and mix in the soil. Heck, she didn’t listen to anything else I said! 

With old trees you can bet the soil conditions are nothing like when the trees were younger and still producing.

Blueberries are extremely picky about soil conditions, they require a very specific ph. The only way to obtain that ph is to test the soil so you know what needs to be added.

Afterwards you can decide what, if any pruning needs to be done.


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## DM1791 (Oct 6, 2014)

Got it. 

I wasn't sure if these were like grape vines that need annual pruning to make sure the new growth produces on a yearly basis. I had never thought of getting the soil tested for PH. I guess I assumed that since other stuff grows in the same field (corn, soy beans, turnips, etc.) that it would be good for the blue berries and figs.

I know that there is a light copper deficiency in that soil and it's probably a little low on iron judging from the wildflowers that tend to grow as carpet cover when the field isn't planted.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

My dad had soil tests done every 12 to 15 years. He’s really good a judging year to year what he’s added and what a specific field may need for what he wants to grow there. After all, he’s been working these same fields for more than 70 years, I defer to his judgment.  

Some plants and trees will grow in a broad range of soil conditions and will still produce well. Other plants are a lot pickier!

Some plants you never want to grow together, like melons and corn. Corn is a nitrogen hog, needs a lot of it. Very much nitrogen and you’ll taste it in the melons… So, these are two plants I never grow together or side by side. The only time I might break that general rule would be on a hillside, with the melons on the high side and the corn lower.


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