Kitchen Garden Forum

I have acquired a fairly big fig tree in a very
large urn pot. It unfortunately has only one
single stem which is bare for about 3 feet with
limited growth on the top. There is one small
branch at the bottom that looks like it may have
broken off at some point and this has some growth.

Would I be able to completely chop off the single
branch quite low to encourage more branches and
when is the best time to do this? It has no fruit
and I think it is a brown turkey.

Westi

You can prune it right down to the ground and it will break from the base to give a bushier plant. But I wouldn't do it at this time of the year, I would do it at the end of winter next year once the worst of the weather has passed.

Westi wrote:I think it is a brown turkey.

They nearly always are. It is a reliably hardy variety, but there are others, with better flavour and heavier cropping. I'm seeking a Black Ischia for next year. It's that little bit tender but I have a sheltered spot and can protect it in winter.

I'd also wait until it is dormant before pruning it, but I would also put a few of the prunings in a pot as they root very easily and then if the parent plant dies you have lots of spares. It amazes me how they have the cheek to charge so much for something which is so easy to propagate.

I did a similar prune to a fig tree which I wanted to grow as a cordon. I pruned in April - (later than I wanted but it was a job I never got round to) and it is now growing happily from new shoots.