Quote:
Originally Posted by drew51
You can't prune off new growth, new growth is new growth is new growth. What is stated above certainly is not how figs grow.
Father's Daughter got it 100% correct, no more needs to be said.
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Now you know more needs to be said!
I'm glad we're having this discussion, there's much to be learned. I'm even gonna do some of that fancy pruning which I never prune unless a branch is hanging on the ground or a branch is growing across the others to avoid damage. Why would I want to cut off productive branches?
After I read your post I had to go look at my trees and do a little more research. My terminology isn't correct according to the fig gurus. What you call new wood I would call sprouts. The sprouts/new growth grows from new wood and these make main crop figs. What I call new wood is this years new growth after they hardened off from green tender shoots in Spring to actual wood in Fall.
I took some pics to show what I'm talking about. This is a two year old tree that hasn't found it's fruiting cycle yet and is putting on figs now.
You can see the figs growing from the green sprouts/new growth, I wouldn't call that wood compared to lower on the branch that's a dark brown from this years growth. The growing tip is also green and has figs.
Here's a growing tip of a branch and you can still see the figs are on the new green sprouts.
Here's a pic of an old tree that's going dormant. You can see the new wood from this years sprouts/new growth are darker than last years growth.
If you prune those off you're losing all those figs.
Here's another one, those dark growing tips is what I call new wood and next Spring they will grow sprouts/new growth and produce figs.
With all that being said, you can call it and prune it any way you like. The tree will make figs.
There's some crazy pruning techniques out there that work but I'm satisfied with production and don't see the need to babysit a tree all year pruning at different times. Mother Nature can do it for me.
Drew, what type of figs are you growing?
This is an interesting technique.
https://stevec.smugmug.com/Other/Kad...Tree/i-g3pT93C