This video walks through the complete process of training and pruning container-grown fig trees from their early stages to a productive, well-shaped final form. It begins with repotting a healthy, three-month-old fig cutting and explains why most early fruit should be removed to direct energy into growth. The method focuses on removing the apical bud to trigger scaffold formation, then staking and pinching these scaffolds to encourage lateral or fruiting branches. Once the basic structure is established, the tree is maintained by shortening fruiting branches by about 50% each winter and selectively removing any congested growth. This approach is presented as a fast and effective way to shape a fig tree for long-term productivity in a container.
Repotted young tree (00:26): A three-month-old fig grown from a cutting is now fully rooted and healthy. Large leaves signal it’s ready for repotting.
Early fruit stage (00:48): Small pea-sized figs are forming and will ripen in about 90 days. Most are removed so the tree can focus on growth.
Bud removal and scaffolds (01:30): Pinching the apical bud changes hormones and sparks scaffold growth from the trunk. This sets the framework for future branches.
Staking and second pinch (02:25): Scaffolds are staked apart for shape, then their buds are removed to encourage lateral and fruiting branch growth. Can be done in season or winter.
Annual pruning (03:35): Fruiting branches are shortened by about 50% each winter to keep the tree productive. Congested branches are removed to maintain a strong, open structure.
All
right, fig lovers. Boy, do I have a
great video for you guys today because
today I'm going to bring you guys
through the entire step of the way of
training and pruning container fig
trees. We're going to show you guys
examples of trees that are small like
these from the very beginning and how to
get them the quickest way possible to
their final form. So, let's start from
the beginning. This is a newly repotted
fig tree that was rooted just about 3
months ago. We took a cutting, placed it
into a onegoniz pot, fully rooted it out
into that size, got the tree nice and
healthy, strong growth, larger leaves.
Once we fulfill those requirements, we
then can repot it. It takes about from
this point here to get to this, maybe
about 4 weeks. Uh you can see on this
tree we actually have fruit development.
These are small pe-sized figs and they
probably will ripen in about 90 days
from the time you see them at that stage
of development. The problem is we want
our young fig trees to grow. I would
recommend removing all of them but just
a couple just to appropriately ID your
fig variety. So once we see leaves on
our fig trees that are about the size of
my hand or larger, I'm then going to
remove the apical bud. And you can see
I've already done that here on this
tree. I'll show you how to remove that
in just a moment. So now we're looking
at the third tree. And the third tree
actually is a result four weeks later
after pinching. So we went from this
little guy here to now something like
this. And the idea is once we remove
this apical bud is that we then have new
scaffolds form. Just some tree
terminology for you, you have a main
trunk and then from that trunk forms
what are called scaffolds.
Then from these scaffolds you then get
something called laterals or fruing
branches. So once we remove the tip
we're then changing the hormones. We are
removing the oxen which is suppressing
any of the scaffolds from forming. We'll
follow this all the way up until the
point in which I pinched it. And now we
have one, two, and three
new scaffolds.
So the next step after your scaffolds
are long enough is to stake them away
from each other. We then can remove
their apical buds. This can either
happen during the first growing season
if you have a tree like this one or you
can do this during the winter. And so we
can during the active growing season
instead of using pruning shears we can
just pinch off the apical bud like so.
So as promised that's how the technique
is performed. All right. So now we've
reached our final form. We have a main
trunk that starts down there at the
soil. You can have multiple trunks.
That's that's up to you. You can still
do the same process. So from this main
trunk, we then formed scaffolds.
And you can see from these scaffolds, we
then are forming the new growth of the
growing season, which are the fruing
branches and laterals. From here, it's
just about maintaining your fruing
branches. The base structure of your
tree is sound. We have a wide canopy.
The scaffolds are on an angle. The only
thing left to do to continue great
annual production of your fig tree is to
shorten the fruing branches by about 50%
every year. So, this lateral or fruing
branch is quite long in length. This
winter time, I'm going to bring this
back
to about here, which is about 50% of the
growth from this season will be removed.
So, the reason we bring back the fruing
branches every year is to rejuvenate
your fig tree. I have found over the
years that actually by doing lots of
heading cuts, shortening the branches by
50 to 75%, we can keep our fig trees
productive in containers for a long
time. And in actuality, a lot of times
that we think we might need root
pruning, you're actually better off just
shortening these branches on an annual
basis or I can come in here, relieve
some congestion in the canopy if there
is some by removing fruing branches
entirely with our pruning shears. Now,
everyone has their own little way of
pruning and straining fig trees, but I
have really found that this is the
absolute fastest way to get your fig
tree to this final form. Thanks for
watching here, guys. Please do me a
favor. Hit the like button for me and
hit the subscribe button for me. Catch
you for the next video. Take care.
