Sounds like the plants have apical dominance where as plants as such tend to grow in a whip like fashion.
Once part of plant is severed off it should eventually send out lateral branches just not overnight.
Martin

Thanks, Martin. Should I just start over, with a new plant? I am assuming that the Walmart supplier pruned them too severely. Or, should I plant it in the ground, and be patient?

Thanks. Right now it has some healthy looking leaves at the top, about 3 branches right at the crown. But the "trunk" or stem, is about 4ft tall, and skinny. Should I cut the stem back, and lose all the leaves and branches on top?

Once you plant it in the ground and it grows a lot of roots, it will probably send up more growth from below. You could just pinch the high growth you have, or you could prune it back.

You could even prune it back drastically, yes, because that's what the winter often does to mine :) It certainly makes the fig bushy later. But I'd probably prune everything back some but not too drastically as to height.

Prune after you start seeing new growth just starting to push out and you might even see growth starting where you want anyway. If so, maybe just pinch what you have.

Thanks, Meredith. Sounds like good advice!

A lot you could do. You could pinch the terminal bud, You could prune any amount of the top. What you could really try is to bend and tie the top in a shepherd's hook fashion. Fig wood is fairly limber. Do it slowly and go down the stem far enough so not to break it. This way you get to keep the main tip and alter the auxins to other buds and they will begin to grow. This does work.

Wow! Thanks! I'll see how limber it is.

Jeremie, where are you located? I'm in Charlotte, NC. I will be greatly surprised if your tree is truly a Black Jack. Walmart usually just sells Brown Turkey and Celeste. But honestly it's too early to tell what's wrong with your tree. Most nurseries cut off side branches leaving you with just a whip in a pot. I know for a fact that Monrovia does that.

Most nurseries cut off side branches leaving you with just a whip in a pot. I know for a fact that Monrovia does that.

Out here the nurseries do not cut the side branches on fig trees nor regular street trees but i could see why some places may as like a grocery store space can be a premium.

About 4 years back i posted on another forum a picture of a Black Mission i bought right off a semi that was unloading at a nursery they were all tagged Monrovia and they were all wonderful looking trees .

Plant was eventually discarded for taste.

Martin

I can understand why they cut the side branches, to conserve space. I suppose most trees recover, but these two figs are struggling. But thanks for reminding me. I now look back at "bare root" fruit trees I bought, and I think they were mostly whips. All grew into nice trees.

Dennis, I am in Southern Arizona. I have never seen Black Jack Figs at Walmart, except that one time. They had 5 of them, and I bought 2. Hopefully they are!