How to prune fig trees in winter? Detailed explanation of pruning methods

According to the characteristics of figs, which have fewer shoots and strong growth vigor, during the formative pruning period of young trees, in order to rapidly increase the number of branches, expand the canopy, promote flower formation, and bear fruit early, the pruning amount should be appropriately light; later, as the tree age increases, the number of twigs gradually increases, and the growth vigor gradually weakens. If light pruning is continued, it will easily affect light exposure and be detrimental to the growth and development of fruiting mother branches, reducing fruiting positions and affecting yield. After shaping is completed, the main task of winter pruning is to maintain the tree shape.

Moderately shorten the extension branches of the main and lateral branches; in order to maintain balanced growth among the main and lateral branches, weak branches should be appropriately pruned lightly and often retained; large branches within the canopy that cross or are parallel to each other should be appropriately thinned out so that they do not affect each other. Water sprouts sprouting from the root crown, the base of large branches, or near wounds can be trained into fruiting mother branches or used for renewal when branches are lacking or there is relatively large space; those that cannot be used should be thinned out early. Except for water sprouts, almost all 1-year-old fig branches can become fruiting mother branches bearing fruiting branches. If all fruiting mother branches are retained, they may affect each other due to being too dense, so superior ones should be selected and inferior ones removed, and overly dense branches and thin, weak branches should be appropriately thinned. In some varieties, after the terminal bud extends, the several buds below it can also produce relatively vigorous new shoots. From these, 1-2 new shoots with suitable orientation and robust growth can be selected and retained, while excess ones are thinned out; however, for varieties with weak sprouting ability, it is not necessary to thin them out. Instead, short pruning can be used to promote new branch growth and fruiting from the middle and lower parts, preventing the fruiting positions from moving outward too quickly. For varieties mainly producing autumn figs, their water-sprout-type fruiting branches bear fruit relatively late and have a higher rate of fruit drop. When there are sufficient fruiting branches, these water-sprout-type fruiting branches can be thinned out, but if the number of fruiting branches is insufficient, they can also be used for fruiting. For early-maturing varieties, the fruit on new shoots produced from terminal buds also ripens early and the fruit is larger, so such fruiting branches generally should not be shortened. For other varieties, however, there is no need to pay special attention to retaining them; even if shortened, yield will not be affected. This is because the new shoots of such figs, except that the 1-2 buds at the base are less likely to produce branches and flowers and fruit, most other twigs can form flowers and bear fruit.

The fruiting positions on the main and lateral branches of figs will gradually move outward as the tree age increases, resulting in hollowness at the base. To stabilize the fruiting area and slow the outward movement of fruiting positions, weak lateral branches and auxiliary branches can be thinned out from the base to promote the sprouting of latent buds into new shoots and replenish the base. These new shoots sprouted from latent buds can also form flowers and bear fruit in the same year, but the quality of the fruit produced is relatively poor. New shoots of figs very easily form flowers and bear fruit, so the purpose of thinning weak branches is mainly for rejuvenation and renewal, not merely to promote new shoot growth and fruiting.