I find that if the root ball is not disturbed there is less chance of transplant shock. Water well. Usually a cloudy day is a good day to transplant..or later in the day when its cooler...but since you have already done the work providing shade is a good idea. Good luck with your new fig garden!

Hello terry-upstate-ny,

I live near Tarpon Springs, FL, and have an unlimited supply of free fig tree cuttings from my many generous Greek customers. So I figured: "Why Not! Let's push the boundary of fig tree transplanting decorum a bit."

Should they die, well, boo hoo. I'll just have to drive a fewe miles away and get some new cuttings. But if they thrive, then it is a free education to the forum folk.

These are added to my orchard's 6 other fig trees. Once they all get bigger, I will offer free fig cuttings to any and all in this forum. I have black, big purple, white and yellowish figs on these trees. No idea which varieties they are. But free cuttings from productive trees is always a good thing.

Hey, Bud, interesting posts about your little orchard. Thx for posting. What are you gonna do if your little trees become mega-trees like the 30-yr-old ones pictured? You will have an impenetrable fig forest! I must say you have EOT sickness(every other tree), a little-known problem.

Hello kumquat1,

EOT, eh? Dear me, you are so right. There is room for only three megatrees in the whole back yard! Gotta think fast...

Got it!

I can live like the Japanese, lost in a sacred forest of eternally youthful fig trees...
{{gwi:783900}}

...or I can live like the other Japanese who prune fig trees in a most curious fashion...

I just cannot decide.

Holy moley! That is an unbelievable picture! Pruned to within an inch of their lives! Hot? Not in here in the Air conditioning.

The Japanese do not mess around. I adore what they can do with a fig tree. This, I am told, is a common technique for commercial fig cultivation in Japan.

Bud!!!

Is that picture of the baby fig forest for real, or computer enhanced? If it's real, where was that taken?

Also--This has nothing to do with anything, but every time I see your picture you have at the top, my brain sees a giant wooden spoon lying on top of those upended buckets, even though rationally, I know it isn't. :)

noss

Hi noss,

For the Japanese pictures galore, CLICK HERE

When I planted the little fig trees in June, I had to find a way to keep the sun off of them, so I used buckets and a small piece of plywood I had at hand. The pice of plywood, not being long enough, I used a GARBAGE CAN LID to cover the second tree. I just showed your message to my wife, and we agree: it DOES look like a giant wooden spoon. Woo Hoo!

I only left them covered until that Tropical Storm Debbie roared in, bringing us 6 straight days of total cloud cover and about 18 inches of rain overall. The trees are uncovered and thriving.

On another note, whenever a tree was too spindly or not giving much fruit, we would prune the tree way back. A recent thread about pinching has me pondering this approach for bushing out the branches and increasing the yield. I've done that with blackberries to good effect, so it seems like a viable alternative to mega-pruning. What do you do?

Other folks never prune or pinch, and they often get gobs of fruit. I'm sorta torn on this.

I have 7 fig branches air layered since 5 weeks. The root bag is full with roots I am planning to split the branches from the mother tree in 2-3 weeks depending on my time and I am planning to pot them in 10 inches pots and as usual drill holes in the pots and plant the pots in a raised bed I already prepared. Depending on the weather if it stays boiling hot and dry like we have now I am going to put a tent cover on the top of the raised bed to protect them from the heat and sun. If the weather gets mild I am going to leave them to deal with nature. In winter I will hang Xmas lights on all my fig trees to protect them from the frost bite did that last year with good success. I used to take them inside the house but that when I had 2 or three trees now with 18 trees it is becoming too much back breaking for an old man.
Abe

Christmas lights! OMG, that's so smart. Now you see why I'm on the Fig Forum. I'm here to learn tips and tricks, and this is certainly one of the better tricks.

Do you cover the trees to stop the wind from dissipating the heat, or just go with the bulbs?

Way cool.

Bud,

I took a closer look at that one picture with all what looked like baby fig trees and it looks like they are attached to the large trunks that run parallell to the ground in the other photo.

A lot of the photos wouldn't open and wanted to install a language program it looked like, but I'm a reverse computer wiz, so who knows, but a few opened all right.

noss

Bud, when you put your fig cuttings in water for one month, did you actually see roots developing? I put some prunings in water last Autumn and just got little white "spots" on the cuttings. I was wondering if you planted them with just white spots showing, or if you had actual roots.

No I don't cover the trees you don't need much heat around the trees in dormant time. The Xmas lights just to prevent the temp from going below zero. I had a thermometer hanging on trees too. Occasionally I checked the thermometer reading it was any where from 25 to 35. I am so glad with 7 trees I did not lose any branch to frost.

Hello kumquat1,

When I see bumps, I pot them. Sometimes it takes only a week, often up to a month. This year, I've taken a few and just cut and potted them directly, and to good effect. I've intentionally overwatered some and underwatered others. Somehow, no matter what I do, half of them survive and half of them just dom't even try. Strange.

I must try to contact Herman2 for a definitive systematic approach to cutting, rooting, potting and maintaining these darned fig trees. As the first Japanese picture above shows, it is possible to get perfect, consistent success. Herman2 is really good in these matters. Must consult 'The Fig Oracle'.