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Can I prune heavy ??

20 years ago

Right now my fig plant is in a pot in a bush form...the leaves are all at the ends of the branches. It almost looks like each branch is a palm tree. Or is this normal!

My question and concern is this..once the leaves all drop (come fall) and it's getting ready for the winter can I cut the branches down to half sizes and hope come spring that the leaves will pop out all along the shorten branches and there by making a fuller plant and hopefully a better production plant. Or will this hurt the fig and shock it too much in the spring and not produce figs for me?

Thank you

Big Al

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Comments (2)

nanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
20 years ago
Same question only in the ground with most leaves at the end of a 8 foot tree (Desert King).
gene_washdc
20 years ago
When I've severely pruned an in-ground fig (that had been producing figs in past years), I noticed that I had no breba crop (of course), and that the second crop is later than normal, putting it at risk of not having time to ripen.

Big Al, how big and old is your potted fig? Is it already producing figs? A delay in fruiting isn't quite as bad for potted figs as they tend to leaf out earlier, and you can bring them inside to finish ripening in the fall if need be. You might also want to consider nipping buds here and there during the active growing season to help shape the fig, rather than do radical pruning during dormancy.
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