Pruning Fig Trees | How to Prune for Size and Production

[@thomasholzknecht1131]

I have two fig trees from cuttings from grandfather. I was five years old. Im 59 now. The trees have been moved from NY, to West Virginia, to three different homes in Virginia. Ive always pruned them down to stumps when they were moved. Now i can prune them correctly. Thank you

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Wow, what a wonderful testimony to the resilience of these trees and a great remembrance of your grandfather for you. I love this!

[@tritrinh7245]

😂​@@EdgeofNowhereFarm

[@Reciprocity_Soils]

Pruning suggestion for the health of your tree: my botanists friend suggests pruning a branch further away from the trunk or main branch (~2-3 inches/6-8cm). Why? A tree can more easily heal over a smaller area than a larger one. Over 180 fruiting trees!! Magnificent work. You have a wonderfully thorough attention to detail. I'm always happy to see what is happening today on the Edge of Nowhere and taking notes. Peace and health.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That definitely makes sense with that smaller area to heal over. I think one of the advantages we have here is the quick growth of the trees and our extremely dry weather. The cuts heal over very quickly when there is not moisture attempting to penetrate it from the outside.

[@Reciprocity_Soils]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Always thankful for the good example you two set.

[@AbidAli-bv2gl]

Excellent video for Pruning Fig Trees, Best teachers in all the area of Desert orchard

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Abid! Glad you enjoyed this one my friend.

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

Wow! That amount of pruning is not for the faint hearted! Here’s to a good harvest 🍷!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yeah, we get that comment quite often. It's why we included footage of the trees on the old farm, so folks can see the effect this type of pruning has on the trees.

[@ruthjimenez3176]

My husband pruned our 10 ft tree what I think is excessively after watching this video. I was so sad when I saw it since I loved how big and full it was. He went on and on about the benefits but I wasn’t having it, we are not a farm or sell them or anything! Now I’m afraid it won’t grow back to be as big and beautiful as it was. Plus, we obviously will not have any fruit this year because he left literally no branches other than the base 4 bare trunks.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@ruthjimenez3176 Hey Ruth. Take a peak at the production we were getting from 4 year old trees pruned this exact same way on our old farm; kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJSso56Ae8tpqKc Also keep in mind, fruit production happens on new growth from wood that is at least a year old, so everywhere it breaks dormancy and puts on new growth has a chance to give you fruit. 😉

[@michaelcamilleri9274]

Op ki​@@ruthjimenez3176

[@jensperl81]

Excellent video. I’ve got it on my calendar to prune my some-what out of control figs this January. Super helpful.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Figs can definitely get a little squirrely if they're not given a little TLC each winter!

[@domesti-city]

The first thing I thought on that first tree was, "Oh, those big ones need to come out!" It was very satisfying to see it happen. Having lived many years with an aggressive growing fig, I know the advantages of giving it a hearty pruning each year. Your saw seemed to not be as happy.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

It's always interesting to see what folks have to say here in the comments with these pruning videos. We've had a few people over the years tell us we're killing our trees by pruning so heavy! It's one of the reasons we refer back to some of our older videos that show more mature trees with heavy production by pruning heavy when they're young. You're right though, that saw blade was at the end of it's life when we were filming this one!

[@ChrisDavis-lv6gf]

Setting up an espalier for a set of fig trees: panache, VDB, I-258, Italian Honey, Imp Brown Turkey and Desert King. This advice is appreciated. I'm in the west Phoenix area. We also have blackberry, mulberry, barbados cherry and elderberry.... we're going to have to learn to make preserves I think.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Wow, it sounds like you have quite the orchard coming along there. Love to see all of us making a go of it here in the valley!

[@kevincharles112]

One fruit tree I've yet to try ... have a spot in mind though so thanks for this. I remember that viewers were telling you that you've been over-pruning/killing the trees ... obviously, you know what you're doing! These look big and healthy!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Kevin. Fig trees are one of our favorites. The trees do really well in our environment and the fruit is just incredible!

[@cynthialouw2970]

Oh my, great to see you both looking so well! Your videos just haven't come up for ages!!! Yeah! It is like having had anaesthetic in your mouth when it's really cold, not that we experience such cold where we live.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Cynthia! We're still here, so I'm glad to see you here in the comment section!

[@tammyholmgren7553]

Thank you for your video! I've got a Miss Figgy along the coast and it looks super healthy but hasn't fruited. Now I know how to prune it to generate fruit.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Just a little TLC can make all the difference. Fingers crossed you great a harvest next Spring!!

[@jesussaves9886]

I bought a Figgy Dwarf plant last year , was 1 feet tall . And this year it’s already about 10 feet !!! It’s a big voluptuous tree !!! I bought it to keep it small . It’s suppose to stay shorter then 6 feet and remain bush size !! My tree loves my soil way to much !!! Lol . This video on pruning tips very helpful . Thank you ❤

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Wow, that's amazing growth in that tree of yours! Glad we could give you some pruning inspiration!

[@GoldenSpur47]

A few years ago I planted two Turkish grafted fig trees at 20 feet apart from each other. Root stock was of local Pakistani fig. One was planted with its root stock-joint buried inside soil and the other was outside the soil. To my surprise, the deeply buried plant became dwarf (hardly 6 feet) while the other grew almost 14 feet in one year. Can you comment on such a difference in growth, please?

[@jesussaves9886]

@@GoldenSpur47 I wanted mine to remain dwarf . Because of little space . I should have did what you did to keep it dwarf . I did not know about that when it was planted . Instead my tree way too big in one year . Now I just have to keep my eyes on it to keep it controlled . Trim the tree the right way so that it doesn’t overtake the area 😅

[@PrestonBurtonHuman]

A friend gifted me what I thought was a fig tree only to find out it was a fiddle leaf fig, no fruit :( but it is seven feet tall now. Your fig trees are thick! haha Your watering structures and mulching seems to be amazing for your trees. So cool to see.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Ahh man, that's a bummer on that fig tree. We've had a few folks reach out to us over the years asking why their trees are not producing and I'm always concerned the same has happened with their trees.

[@gombalex]

I really like your channel, your videos are really interesting, educational, motivated, Please keep doing what you doing

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you're enjoying the content. We'll keep them coming!

[@adnanboke4354]

Greetings from Siirt, Türkiye, good luck

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Adnan!

[@GrowingWhatIEat]

Excellent video of pruning figs!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful!

[@jaxtelford807]

So good to see you guys again. I hope you got to rest over the silly season. I had to transplant a couple of trees during the heat of the Australian summer, even though it has been a mild summer so far. Not my idea of fun, but had to be done asap. One is a stripped fig that do well this close to the coast. Thank you for the instructions, this is going to come in handy for June/July. Keep up the good work and thank you.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Jax! I always think of you guys during our Winter and Summer months, because we always long for the opposite weather around here! You'll have to let me know how that transplant does. Figs are pretty hardy plants, so I imagine it will be just fine.

[@jaxtelford807]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm You were right! I went out this morning to water and new leaves were everywhere. About half the size of my palm, but very green. There was even a fruit bud on one branch. I took that one off for now. The other fig has finished fruiting here and we are due for a storm. The real test will be over our winter I guess.You were right! I went out this morning to water and new leaves were everywhere. About half the size of my palm, but very green. There was even a fruit bud on one branch. I took that one off for now. The other fig has finished fruiting here and we are due for a storm. The real test will be over our winter I guess.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@jaxtelford807 that's great news!

[@felipeiglesias]

You remembered me that I have to go to Sicily to prune my trees 😅. It will be a long weekend (there are 40 trees)!

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

What kind of trees do you have?

[@felipeiglesias]

@@LCamp-cr7fs one big fig for starters, then 7 pomegranates, 3 medlars, 5 mandarins, 1 celementine, 1 mandarin orange, 1 oranges, 1 lemon, 1 olive tree, 1 apple, 1 prune, 2 plums, 4 peaches, 3 apricots, 1 limequat, 1 mexican lime, 1 bergamot, 1 chinotto, 1 calamansi, 1 laurel, a palm, 2 vines and 1 cherry tree. The last one still not productive so if does not produce this year, we are going to move it out to the mountain, otherwise it will die as other 2 (they where a stupid test from my father-in-law). I'm planning to plant an avocado also, but I have to find the right plant and time to do it.

[@LCamp-cr7fs]

@@felipeiglesias That’s impressive. Having been brought up in Germany and living now in a similar climate, I can only be envious. I haven’t even tried some of the fruit you mentioned. And bay leaves are like gold in my house.

[@felipeiglesias]

@@LCamp-cr7fs well, Sicily is a land touched by god in terms of climate, so you have a large range of possibilities. Our house is near the beach but very near to the mountains, in a small valley. If you go up 300 meters you can plant Almonds, Pistachio, Manna, Hazelnut, Walnuts, cherries and wild berries. I would like to buy a small piece of land there just to have those :D

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I would like to go with you on that pruning adventure! As long as there's wine involved at some point. 😉

[@garrybaker6725]

when I remove large branches I make two cuts. The first is about 4-6" out from the trunk, then I can make my final clean cut without the stress of the weight from the entire branch.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a great way to keep from having a branch peel away a part of the trunk!

[@taylorvanbuskirk8040]

I really like the XR saw. I could use that tool!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That little guy is a beast. I like that it's a little shorter than your typical sawzall, but still has all the power you expect.

[@mesutozsen903]

Eline emeğine sağlık bu güzel vlog için kolay gelsin hayırlı işler....👍👍👍👍

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Her zamanki gibi teşekkürler Mesut!

[@ZacchaeusNifong]

Got a nice fig down in Tucson. Thanks brother. I needed this.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful Zacchaeus!

[@bycfr08]

The video I've been looking for! We have one 4 year old fig tree here in New Mexico near Albuquerque. One mistake we made was we did not prune correctly the last 2 years (or hardly pruned it at all). About 60% done with pruning and need to finish tomorrow. Fortunately, now we know how to remove these little babies/suckers at the base. We'll be propagating some of the clippings. Do you have any suggestions the best way to do it? Any type of soil to use propagating these? Thank you for sharing this video.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful. We've had some success with just potting up the cuttings with standard potting soil. The "fig pop" method is successfully for many folks, but propagation is not something we spend much time on, so we're by no means experts on it.

[@BONEKRUSHER408]

Kyle Shanahan knows football and fig pruning. That's my coach!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Figs and Football, sounds like a great name for a Podcast!!

[@barbebrown7753]

Love out takes!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Lori always has to tone me down a bit, so they seem to keep happening!

[@mariosmilos265]

thanks for the fig video !

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful!

[@kqdwills]

I'm living in the high desert of CA, have similar growing climate with yours. This year, I started hundreds of cuttings in the last 3 months, and having over 100 small fig plants now. I'm impressed with how good your figs growing. My neighborhood is built on a hill and the soil is mostly hard as rock. I'm wondering how you amended your AZ desert soil. Did you dig big holes for each fig tree then filled with good soil, or just regular holes and fertilize on the surface ? I dig big holes, mixed good soil with native soil, poking holes in the holes to help the roots grow, yet I did not have success in the past with other kinds of trees. This year, I'll try again on the figs which can be suitable to desert climate then hope for the best.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I (Duane) am from SoCal and had family that lived up in the high desert outside of LA. I remember it being very cold in the Winter and hot in the summer, so much like what we have here. As for soil, I'm going to link to a video we just posted today, so you can see how we plant all of our trees (this one happened to be a Raspberry Latte Fig). We don't have near as much rock as it sounds like you're dealing with, but the hard clay is wonderful for fig trees. I'll post to that video for you here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHPCepafa6t9rqM

[@sz4076]

Hi Duane, thanks for this video; it is very helpful. We have a single fig tree that gives us a large amount of fruit every summer. We don't know exactly which variety it is. But we haven't pruned it ever and so, it has gotten very dense. One question for you .... is there a time of the year when a fig tree should not be pruned. Since it's Feb, I'm assuming its not late for us to do this but I do see buds on the branches so wanted to make sure it's not too late. Thanks!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The best time to prune a fig tree is while they are dormant. For us that's usually late January/February. As long as yours has not started budding out, you're good to go!

[@johanconradie2120]

YOU HAVE THE FASTEST FRUIT TREE GROWTH IN USA 🇺🇸

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I'm not sure about the fastest, but they do grow awfully darn fast around here!

[@tbjtbj4786]

Hey guys Are you going to root any of your cutting?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there! We're not doing any rooting this time around. Just too much on the plate with the rest of the farm business!

[@leodeboca]

great job!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful!

[@ranasammani7745]

Thank you for another great video. I was wondering if you pruned your blackberries yet and if not, when?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Rana! Yes, we have pruned the blackberries just a bit. We didn't get any footage this year, but they are pretty simple. We only remove dead branching for the most part.

[@ranasammani7745]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you!

[@aegeanorganicslemnos8311]

Hello there, great and informative videos. Your fig trees are about 8 years old by now Jan 2024 and I am wondering how many kilos or pounds does each tree produces ? I am asking about the fresh weight and not dry weight. Thank you very much and happy New year. Nick from Greece .

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hello there! The trees we have on this property range from 3-4 years old, but we have not weighed the total mount of production. These are not for commercial production, so we don't keep detailed records on harvests like that. The harvests also occur over several weeks, so it would be time consuming to document that.

[@aegeanorganicslemnos8311]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for your reply. I know wht you mean about time consuming documentation. Thanks again.

[@jesurunblends]

hello! I have another question haha, I just pruned a thick branch today growing from the trunk, that was rooting into the ground so I sawed it off, and there are two more that are doing the same , can I finish doing the same tomorrow? I knw u explained end of winter is best time when dormant, will i hurt the tree by doing this pruning now? ty for your videos, they are insightful and practical!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

As long as the climate is nice and dry and you keep the wound clean you're probably going to be fine to continue. The main reason we hold off for Winter is to minimize the chance for infection into the trunk of the tree.

[@1bakerblue]

How do the fig Trees do, Growth wise in Prescott Valley. We live at the base of the Mingus Mountain. We sit at about 5400 ft. Elevation and get a very cold winter, snow 4 to 6 times a winter. I have apple trees and cherry trees that do well.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Rudy. There are a few fig trees that do better than others with colder temps. The Chicago Hardy fig is a good one to try as well as the Olympian Fig. I'm sure there are others, but those are the only 2 that we have experience with.

[@joonsup]

On the 3 year old tree could you have taken the big branch you cut off and start a new fig tree in a pot?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

You sure could. We donate our cuttings to a local nursery for propagation, so that's pretty much what these become!

[@Mike-qe1ds]

My 10 year old mission fug tree is now out of control 10 feet high 20 feet wide. I want to cut it back in the late upcoming winter. Do you have any tips?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

The general rule of thumb is to remove no more than about 30% of total branch mass in any given pruning season. Now we push that a bit on our younger trees because we get such strong growth here in the desert. It's typical for our fig trees to put on a few feet of growth in a single season, so we can be a bit more aggressive. When it comes to the branching you choose to remove, that's up to you. You can bring the size down first and then work the sides in or a bit of both. You can even remove 30% of the total branching choosing full branches or you can remove about 30% from each one branch. Figs are VERY forgiving, so you have a lot of options here.

[@gregorycooper7962]

i have a fig tree in a pot on my kitchen window sill. there are two long stems and them 10? smaller ones. should I/we trim anything now? with november staring us in the face, in west virginia, i'm wondering what to do.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

As long as the plant has lost it's leaves for the season you should be fine to go ahead and prune it a bit. With a potted tree you won't want to be near as aggressive as we are with our in-ground, fast growing trees. Look to remove no more than about 30% of the total branch mass in any given season.

[@heatherlaw6162]

Thanks

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful!

[@tedr.richardson4655]

Thank you

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one!

[@bionicle37]

So the more branches you cut off the more fruit it will bare?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Generally speaking, yes. Pruning encourages new growth which is where your fruit set occurs on fig trees.

[@jamesneal-z7t]

Im up in Cali, Mendocino county, around 1800 ft. 10 miles from the coast and im hoping for some advice. Ive taken my fig tree down to 4-5' but i don't get fruit to finish. It grows 5' or 6' again for a combined 10-12' height And it isnt fruiting like it was before the aggressive pruning. I hose water once a week once the weather heats up for around 20 -30gallons. What's your take on keeping it low but getting fruit to ripen? Thanks for sharing your experience. Wish i could send you a pick.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hmm, this is a tough one. We have the same issue with our Fall setting fruit. They will set just fine, but they never ripen. The issue for us is the timing. Our Summer fruit set ripens just fine, but the lack of sunlight and heat is the issue for that Fall set. Now, the variety does make a difference. Our varieties with lower chill requirements typically fruit in the Summer and Fall, so that first fruit set is a winner. My guess is you're seeing an issue with the cooler weather with your fruit set. One thing I've seen folks do is remove the leaves around the fruit to allow more light penetration. If it's not too cold that may help. As for fruit setting, not sure there. All fig trees fruit on new growth from wood that is at least a year old, so the amount of pruning wouldn't necessarily effect that other than reducing the amount of wood from which new growth can appear. It sounds like you're still getting plenty of new growth, so that isn't the issue. Has this tree ever given you ripe fruit? Also, what is the variety?

[@jamesneal-z7t]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Good morning, thanks for taking the time for a response! Temperature is a good thing to consider, as temps along with the declining sun do play into the equation. It rarely freezes but does drop into the low 40's. I'm uncertain of the variety but waiting to hear back from my neighbor who gave me the cutting a decade ago. It's a green type of finished fruit. Also his tree, though in a different location, finishes nicely. I'll send another comment when I hear back about variety. Thanks again

[@Pamsgarden213]

I looked on your Amazon page and did not see Reciprocating Saw anywhere. Is there a particular one you like?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Pam. I didn't realize the saw was not in the shop. I added the DeWalt that we use here. Milwaukee makes one as well that is just as good, but I'm just a fan of DeWalt tools. I'll link to the saw with battery for you here; amzn.to/3DD6Kxx Here are the pruning blades for any reciprocating saw; amzn.to/3HYpDxi

[@michellechen494]

Hey there! Viewer from New York - Thanks for the informative video! My family has an older fig tree and I was hoping to propagate new ones from the branches . After pruning, are you able to grow new trees from those cutting? And does that differ between soft and hard wood cuttings?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one and yes, you can definitely root out those cuttings. In fact, hard wood cuttings taken at pruning time usually have a higher success rate than those taken at other times of the year. It's especially true for fig cuttings. The "fig pop" method of propagation would probably work best for you in a cold region like NY. We did a video on our process a few years back, but you'll find several good videos out there on it; kzbin.info/www/bejne/eV7cqGWgq5WGgs0

[@mayaikejim]

Hey - you can take a low small limb near the ground and just rake away a little outer layer in a spot, put it on the ground, cover with enough dirt to keep the limb down on the ground, and next year you have a new bush. Just go to the spot in the ground & cut and dig & there you go! They form naturally all the time in my old fig.

[@mike4769]

Were thinking about moving to the prescott area. Is it possible to grow a decent amount of items in the high dessert. I'm so used to growing whatever I want in California.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Mike. Prescott is a bit cooler than we are here, but you should still be able to grow most of what you see us growing, plus many things we can't. Cherries for example are on the table at that elevation, but we can't grow them here. The main category of fruits that would be off limits is tropicals. Even we have a hard time with most tropical trees.

[@mike4769]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you

[@toniilinca4284]

Is there any reason for why not pruning the tops with figs from the previous year?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

At this point in the season (when they're dormant) you can take of any of the branching. If there are figs left over from the growing season, they won't be able to ripen any further, so there is no need to keep them on there.

[@kenedeejohnson6802]

So I just moved somewhere where we adopted 2 fig trees that have been pruned incorrectly. They cut down & killed the main trunk and its only producing suckers.. how would you go about fixing this problem?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

First off, congrats on the new property and what a great head start to have trees already in the ground. As for suckers, those are not a problem (and technically not "suckers"). Fig trees are either grown from seed (rare) or cuttings, so everything that sprouts from the ground is still the same fig. You can either treat this as a multi-trunk tree, or prune them back to a single truck each year and then prune them like you see us doing here. Hopefully that makes sense.

[@leeglee111]

Couple of questions. I have a fig, a Turkish fig tree. Live in SC. This year was the first year it gave me a lot of fruit. Delicious as well. I bought this fig about five years ago. It was small. The fourth year was when it started producing fruit. I had left the tree alone because I felt it just needed to grow on its own then it would start producing when it's supposed to. First question. When can a fig tree start producing fruit? (year, age of tree). Is it all about the pruning to get the tree to produce fruit? If I wanted to transplant the fig tree at any age will this be, ok? Best time to transplant a fig? Best time to prune a fig? It can get in the 20's here in SC during winter and may get some light snow for a day or two, but SC is not known to get much snow where I live. In Lexington SC, 15 minutes away from Columbia SC. My last question. How do I keep wildlife from eating my figs? I had around 30 that I was waiting a day or two for the fig stem to curl so I can pick them off. I came out the second day, ready to pick them only to see all my figs were gone. I am assuming the birds came and ate them. I was so upset! I wanted to make fig jam. sorry for the long comment, but I am not so experienced in figs and this year, seeing all the figs got me excited to take care of this tree even more. TY for your input.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Ok, let's see if I can help on this. Fig trees can vary on when the first produce fruit, but generally it's within the first few years. Pruning is done during the dormancy period (late Fall/Winter) to both encourage fruit set and also to keep the tree manageable and the fruit closer to the ground. Figs produce fruit on new growth from branching that is at least a year old, so new branching is key and pruning helps induce more branching. Transplanting can be done throughout the dormant season and into the spring. Most figs have no problems with freezing temps as long as it's not prolonged and severe. We get down into the low 20's here as well, but it's not prolonged (usually no more than a few hours very early in the morning on occasion. We use organza bags on our figs to help keep birds from them. I'll link to the size we use for figs for you here; amzn.to/3MpfBay Pretty straight forward with those as you cover them a few days before they're ripe. Hope this helps!

[@leeglee111]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm awww. Thank you! Yes, this helped a lot. I was so disappointed when I saw my figs were gone. The birds did this with my black berries and I netted to keep them off. It was funny how one bird came by and pooped on my windshield only to see berry poop. I cracked up. It was like it was telling me, yup I ate your berries. Thank you for commenting back so quickly. 😉👊

[@leeglee111]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Hi again. The bags, just looked at the link, I need to place each fig carefully into the bag, I suppose. 😉

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@leeglee111 yeah, it's a pain, but the most effective way we've found to keep them protected. You can net whole the tree, but in our experience that causes problems because the tree grows so rapidly when the fruit is setting and ripening that it easily starts to grow through the netting.

[@leeglee111]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm so true. I tried netting my berries, it was more of a pain trying to manipulate through the net to retrieve the fruit. So I just stopped.

[@MarvinMandia]

How many times do you water your figs?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Depends on the time of year. 2x/week during peak of summer, 1x/week in Fall and Spring, Only as needed during the Winter (once or twice a month). I will say, these trees need more water than many of the trees we grow, so you can water more than that, but I wouldn't water them every day.

[@johndalbissr.7678]

what is the best month to trim my fig tree in Florida

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

You didn't mention what part of Florida as that may change the answer based on your growing zone. Assuming the tree does go dormant, you'll want to prune it at that point. If it never loses all of it's leaves you'll want to prune when the tree has at least some partial leaf drop which usually indicates the sap flow has at least slowed down somewhat. This lessens the chance for fungal and/or bacterial infections.

[@LoriSavingWild]

why did you remove the suckers? Dont suckers produce fruit?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yes, they would also produce fruit, but they are much harder to reach and tend to crowd the tree (which can cause disease pressure if that's a concern). We also prefer single trunks, so we are able to wrap the trunk with tree tanglefoot to help deter ants from getting into the fruit. Lastly, we can use these as cuttings to produce additional trees.

[@LoriSavingWild]

Thank you. That all makes sense. I want more of a shorter bush so I will leave a few suckers. Thanks. Lori@@EdgeofNowhereFarm

[@hiddenvalleyfarmstead]

Do you too those trees to encourage outward growth instead of height? Or, do they just grow that way?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Kylan. It really depends on the variety. Brown Turkey and Blackjacks grow outward pretty much on their own with a little training while Panache tries to grow almost completely vertical. For the panache we cut to outward facing branches pretty much every season.

[@hiddenvalleyfarmstead]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm oh, ok! That makes sense!!

[@SonOfAGun1814]

how can your biggest fan/viewer/supporter/subscriber (me obviously) get some fig cuttings?! 👀🌳

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We're kicking around the idea of having a "cutting party" for folks to come out to the farm for, but we didn't have time this year to coordinate that. It's tough to stop this time of year for anything with all of the pruning that needs to get done.

[@jakeeddy7050]

I’m down for a cutting party! 🎉 or if you just need some help. Much love from Glendale Az

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@jakeeddy7050 good to know Jake!

[@dunedainmom]

If you ever decided to ship cuttings, you could do a grab bag of charging a certain fixed amounts for a bag of 7 or 10 etc listed varieties. That way yiu coyld package them up in advance,, keep them in the fridge,, and ship them out. You wouldn't have the headache of figuring out who ordered what particular varieties etc.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@dunedainmom solid suggestion!

[@amirganic5968]

What is the distance between the trees?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

It varies a bit, but most of our trees are semi-dwarf and spaced 16' apart which gives them enough space to grow out completely, at least horizontally. This way we can keep them pruned lower to the ground for easy harvesting, but also maximize the harvest.

[@zigavojska1672]

Before pruning you could first air layer the branches and have some new plants.. b.regards

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Very true. Air layering works wonderfully for figs.

[@frankiemarchese2978]

Is it okay to prune in the beginning of spring?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Frankie. As long as the tree has not broken dormancy yet you should be ok. You'll be able to tell pretty quick if it's too late as they will bleed white sap when you make the cut. It may be hard to pick up on this video, but these had no sap running from any of the cuts we made.

[@frankiemarchese2978]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you! I just tried a few and saw no sap 👍

[@frankiemarchese2978]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Also is it necessary to fertilize fig trees that are pretty old 5+ years old? I heard somewhere local once a month or once every 2 weeks but also heard too much is no good.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@frankiemarchese2978 we always fertilize our fruit trees once they've been in the ground for at least a full growing season. For us, fertilizing takes place in February, May and September. More often and it is possible to apply too much of any given major amendment. That's assuming you're using some type of commercial fertilizer or compost. If you're using a liquid based fertilizer you may need to apply it more often.

[@frankiemarchese2978]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I am using a 20-20-20 fertilizer which I think seems to be high but i dont know. Its a blue powder and says to mix 1 tablespoon with a gallon of water, and fertilize every 7-14 days

[@jesurunblends]

hello again! , love the videos, I pruned my fig tree ( Black mission fig)about 2 months ago and it has grown back very well but im not seeing any figs growing will I get any this years? by cutting back a few months ago did i sacrifice figs growing now? when is best month in Phoenix area to prune to the fig tree to the size I would like it?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you're enjoying the content. This year we had some late frosts that killed almost all of our Spring fruit set and we have very few figs on the trees right now. For example, our Black Mission has a whopping total of 1 piece of fruit right now even though there were over a dozen forming when it broke dormancy. My guess is that's what you're seeing as well. We always prune our fig trees last here on the farm which is typically sometime in early/mid February. As long as they're dormant you're fine to prune.

[@jesurunblends]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm awesome ty for taking time to answer our questions we learn alot from, your experiences I would to one day buy a home with some land fa away from the city and grow alot of food and have a cat sanctuary haha

[@joyfulparadise]

I am new at pruning and i see that you cut off quite a bit of branches. It would be helpful for us newbies to know why certain ones were cut off, how the cut affects the tree, and why others were left on (besides the ones that were facing inward direction). Thank you nonetheless.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We have several videos on pruning figs that may help with this question, but you're right some additional explanation wouldn't hurt.

[@djjuanhoe7491]

First to comment “first”

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Woohoo!!! I would wave a number 1 hand, but I can't seem to find mine!!

[@elliottjames671]

Lemme have some 😛

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

One of these days we'll have to have a cutting party during our fig pruning!

[@agpawpaw5912]

Why so heavy pruning?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

This is done for the sake of size control and to induce heavy fruiting. Given the chance, our fig trees would be very large and the fruit would be difficult to harvest. Pruning like this keeps the tree very wide, but not as tall, so we can reach the harvest.

[@georgegeorgiouza4728]

👏

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful!

[@taylorvanbuskirk8040]

What do you do with all your figs?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We eat most of them fresh and freeze any excess for wine.

[@GHumpty1965]

if only you had some blue and yellow socks to keep you warm.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yeah, Lori stole those from me yesterday and was wearing them all day!

[@GHumpty1965]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Will you sell me some peach's and black berries this spring?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@GHumpty1965 as long as we get a good fruit set we should be able to make that happen. Just let me know when you plan on being out.

[@GHumpty1965]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm May, I'll let you know when we nail down a date.

[@jasoncreed6396]

Scaffold?! good grief, and all these years, here I have been calling them branches aren't I the fool lol

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

To the eventual grandkids climbing these trees it will be a scaffold. 😉

[@robsnizzle79]

AWESOME video, was wondering if you guys had an email. My home came with a fig tree (live north of OROVILLE CA). My wife an I have been trying to get our fig tree back up to PAR. Unfortunately the OLD LANDSCAPER butchered the tree and almost killed it. Not real SURE HOW TO PROPERLY maintain it so IT'S been kind of GROWING WILD... BECAUSE i didn't wanna shock or kill it after he'd done all that. Now it's blooming really well but it's gottin really big for where it's at and id love some advice as to maintain this thing for efficient fruit growth.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one. If you want to share a pic of your tree you can find our email on the About tab here on YT. I'll link to that page for you here; www.youtube.com/@EdgeofNowhereFarm/about