First, plants can't usually just be taped back together like a child's toy. I would completely forget about trying to "mend" the plant. If you had removed the top and taken it inside, you might have gotten it to root. As it is, probably all dried out, I'd just throw that part away now.

There is a very good chance that the root system will send up new shoots. Just clean up what's left using good clean, above-ground cuts. And let nature take its course. Within a year or maybe two, you will probably not even know it happened.

Thanks Brandon - I'd suspected that may be the case *sigh*.

Should I clean up so that the break is at an angle (i.e. to allow water run off) or flat?

(Edit) - the break is such that there is a strip of bark missing from the trunk about two inches long - would it be better for me to cut below this, so that the bark is whole for the remaining bit of the tree?

And is there anything that I should put onto it to stop infections or mould/fungi?

This post was edited by studentjo on Sat, Dec 7, 13 at 17:48

hard without a pic...

but most likely.. make a clean cut at an angle... just below the break ..

with no insult to the root mass.. there is no reason it should not rebud and grow like the dickens ....

unless fig is some foo foo tree that doesnt have dormant buds ...

after it sprouts like mad.. remove excess leader to one or two ... and by a year from now.. down to one ...

in fall.. a pic or two.. would allow us to help you decide.. which is the strongest for pruning out the rest ...

this is really.. no big deal.. in the life of a tree ... ALL can re-leader .... its usually part of the definition of a tree ... and this gives you the opportunity to learn about pruning ... of which.. had you such knowledge.. you may have foreseen this problem ... as in.. the canopy was outgrowing the triunk ...

regardless.. the hardest thing to conceptualize.. is that trees work on their own schedule ... there is not instant gratification ... and if you can not deal/cope with it for say.. 3 years.. this renovation project.. just get rid of it ...

one thing i do NOT know on fig.. is there any chance it was grafted above teh break.. if so... you may not have a quality plant below ...

if no one here knows.. a fruit person in the fruit forum may know ....

ken

Thanks, Ken, I'll do that :-)

I don't believe it was grafted above the break - the break point now is pretty much just above the height of the sapling when I first bought it. Time will tell on that, I think...

It'll definitely give me a lesson on pruning - I thought with only two major and one minor branches (and none of those with offshoots - it was essentially a forked sapling with one new branch coming through the middle, which has only grown in the last couple of months this spring (NB - I'm in NZ, so just coming into summer now :) )), that I needed to wait at least till this autumn for any pruning!

I don't think it helped that I'd recently had to have a nearby tree removed, which got rid of some of the shelter, and the winds yesterday were stronger than they've been in a while.

And I'll definitely come back in the autumn to ask for pruning tips, both for my fig, and also for some of my other trees :)

If we are talking a regular "common fig" (Ficus carica), it would be very unusual for it to be grafted, especially with a small seedling-sized plant. Grafted plants of that size would serve little purpose and have the disadvantages of profuse suckering and a higher likelihood of loosing the chosen cultivar (scion).

As Ken advised, cut at a slight angle. A picture would help, but I'd probably cut it about an inch or two above ground level.