fig tree

[ALEC090]

i bought a fig tree and it just looked like a bare stick in a pot it had no branches or leaves then i read written by an expert that figs only grow on last years groth and i had none anyway i repotted it into a 20 inch pot and put it in the greenhouse it was about 4 foot tall nothing happened for a couple of months then it started to grow leaves and branches out of the top of the tree and there is now loads of leaves and branches all grown out of the top of the tree the bottom 4 foot has not got a leave or a branch then it started to grow figs from the axle part of the leave and branch and i now have over 30 figs great but the tree has now grown to tall for the greenhouse and i dont have anywhere outside to grow it it looks like iam going to have to cut the top of the tree off but will the figs be ok will they still grow and ripen or will they die also how and where do you cut it and will it grow any new leaves and branches from the top next year or will it stop growing alltogether if i cut it as it will need to grow new branches next year so i can get figs and the branches and leaves only grow out of the top of the tree thanks
regards alec090

[WendyS]

Am not much of a fig tree expert Alec although I do have a small one in a patio container. Mine, however, has all the growth around the bottom and has one silly main shoot about 4 feet tall with a few leaves on it. Figs apparently fruit better when their roots are restricted so keep it in the pot but move it out of the greenhouse. Mine has survived two winters quite well without any protection. If you need to prune the top out to make the lower branch stems develop I suggest doing this in the autumn when all the leaves have dropped for the winter. But make sure there are some little nodules lower down the stem where new shoots can start growing in the spring. I think once you prune the top of the plant off any figs on the pruned branches will die but the remainder may survive.

[emuchops]

I have had a "Brown Turkey" variety of fig for about 15 years-always in a pot and potted on to bigger pots every 4 years or so. Its now about 12 foot tall and in a pot with a diameter and depth of about 2 foot. It always does really well and is fully hardy, but i have never pruned it-I just let it be and its a real feature now. Its always been outside and never in a green house. I would not cut the top off -just put it in a biggish pot outside(sheltered from strong winds)-perhaps pinch out growing tips from top of plant to encourage growth further down