How to Prune a Young Fig Tree

Pruning your fig tree properly increases the size of the fruit.

Pruning a fig tree is important when the tree is young--less than 5 years old--because this helps shape the tree. Proper, regular pruning will increase the size of the fruit by thinning the tree's growth. It will also keep your fig tree healthy and strong enough to hold the fruit. Prune white and brown fig trees while the trees are dormant in the winter, because these varieties produce flowers on new growth. Prune black fig trees right after harvest, because these trees grow flowers on last year's growth.

Things You'll Need

• Bypass pruning shears or loppers
• Tree wound compound

Instructions

1. Cut back the young fig tree to about half its height after first planting it. This severe "heading" of the fig tree will help encourage lateral growth..

2. Remove all suckers growing out of the trunk. Remove all water sprouts growing up out of the horizontal branches.

3. Prune back all upward-growing branches to keep them short, about a foot or less in length. Allow the outward-growing branches to grow long.

4. Remove any dead or diseased growth. Cut away branches growing inward, toward the trunk.

5. Cover any pruning cuts more than 1 inch in diameter with tree paint or another tree-wound compound. Apply the compound when you're "heading" the fig tree to reduce its height.

Tips & Warnings

• Prevent tree diseases from spreading. Disinfect your pruning shears or loppers after each cut by dipping them in a solution of 4 parts water and 1 part bleach. You also can use a solution of 3 parts denatured alcohol and 1 part water.

• Don't use anvil pruning tools, which can crush the wood instead of cutting it cleanly.

References

• AgriLife Extension: Home Fruit Production--Figs
• California Rare Fruit Growers Inc.: Fig

Resources

• FVSU Cooperative Extension Program: Pruning Fig Trees