Pruning non dormant tree

[JMS]

Got a pruning question about a non dormant tree. I have a 2 year old tree, Adriatic unknown, that I overwintered in my unheated greenhouse. It was more hardy than anticipated so it never dropped its leaves although it did stop growing. The tree never lignified the top half or so.

Now its fully awake and growing and I would like to induce branching. Can I prune the tree now without causing it to stall? I was thinking cutting off about 3 to 4 nodes down from the tip. Pic below.

[JMS]

[Rewton]

You can definitely prune it now. It will leak some sap but will heal up on its own in a few days. Yes, it will probably stall its growth for a while but there's really no way around that if you want to have a properly shaped and productive tree. I wouldn't worry - on the long run it will be better off. One thing I have done with non-dormant trees that are a bit younger than yours is to pinch off the apical bud. Even this causes the tree to stall it's growth for a little while but is another way to induce branching. ascpete and others have posted quite a bit of information about pruning on the forum.

[AscPete]

As Steve Rewton , mentioned you could prune it now, but my experience is that a larger soil line caliper (~ 3/4 inch or larger) will result in larger and faster branch growth when pruned. To establish those new "scaffold" branches adequate fertilization and consistent watering are required for uninterrupted growth during the growing season . If pruned now the main stem should also be staked to support the new branches.

I'm not an advocate of "Pinching" during the early years in colder zones while establishing the main and scaffold branches. I recommend pinching of fruiting branches to induce fig development at the existing leaf nodes. Pruning and Pinching topic links can be found in the sticky topic at the top of the fig forum's 1st page, https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-h...erenced-topics

Good Luck.

[JMS]

Thanks for the advice guys. I plan on planting this one in ground this spring too. I'm guessing it's best to hold off.

[Taverna78]

I would air layer it about 1/2 way down. Then you have 2 and will help strengthen trunk.