Yes I’ve been pinching them off but I need to pinch them again. Thanks
I’m not a big fan of pinching myself. I prefer dormant pruning. Some figs need a couple years to produce…
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I don’t pinch either. I’ve never found that I needed to.
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Ray,
I usually pinch newly grafted branches like the one in the first photo. If i don’t do it, in vigorous varieties the chances of breaking by strong winds are much greater. Pinching stops them growing.
Like this branch of Sbayi grafted in March and that’s growing like crazy.
So i pinch them. The added bonus is early branching and sometimes figs!
A few photos of the grafted tree and the pinched branches.
Sbayi - photo in April (grafted in March)
Sbayi - photo in May
Sbay and others grafts in June - i pinched most of them
The grafts in July
Edit-
I forgot to mention that when i do my Chip Bud grafts in growth of the year, i always prune or pinch the apical buds of that branch. That stops the growth of the branch and eliminates the apical dominance that could be responsible for the dormancy (and sometimes failure) of the budded graft. When i see the bud swelling and beginning to grow i will reduce the leafs and other top buds gradually (i remove all the lower one’s when i graft).
One has to be careful tough, as the fig tree is very quick to remove sap from a branch that doesn’t have any viable buds. That would lead very quickly to the failure of the graft.
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Another situation when pinching is useful is with varieties in pots that have lots of vertical growth. I had some fig trees that grew from cuttings, 8 feet in one year.
If i had pinched them in the summer they would have branched and avoid me to do some drastic pruning in the winter ( i cut them back to 4 feet and some took for ever to break dormancy - the only upside of this is more cuttings to send friends).
For me, pinching is much less drastic as allows the trees to adapt gradually. With other fruit trees i usually do most of the correction pruning in the summer. That leaves less pruning to do in the winter and avoids that the tree spends its energy in branches and growth that will be cut anyway.
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Jaimie,
Figs are one of the few fruits I’ve never grafted, and maybe I should try one
day, so I have to defer to your experiences. I only do bark and clefts and never have mastered the art of budding. I’m not that talented with a knife and I can’t afford to cut myself, because I’m on blood thinning medication for the rest of my life.
I had a similar experience with a Negronne cutting last year. But I’ve since cut it back and its branching out into a bush form, which is the way I grow all of my figs. None of my trees are big enough to require serious pruning yet, so I guess I’ll cross that bridge, when I get to it.
As an aside, I’m rooting several Portuguese figs that I know nothing about and am having a hard time finding any info about them. If you’d be so kind, I’d like to PM you, and maybe you could give me your opinions. Thanks
Ray
I budded about 12 plants this morning, all T buds. Tried a few patch buds a few days ago. T budding is easier but patch might help when scion is bigger caliper than stock.
What I’ve noticed is that fig buds are much slower to start growing when forced than most fruits. The bud swells but sets there for weeks before taking off.
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My first experiences in grafting figs where a disaster. They all failed.
The “secret” is protecting the grafts against dehydration. I saw a video of a guy in Palestine grafting some fig trees. He was opening the scions with pruning shears! and doing some cleft grafts. Some of the worst job in grafting i ever saw. He tied the grafts with plastic strips from plastic bags. But then, he placed a plastic bag over the graft and tied it with the most care. And placed another paper bag over the plastic one and tied it. So that make me think about protecting my fig grafts much better.
Axier, that was one of the guys that i read most in the ancient forums was grafting figs at the time, but used mainly Chip Bud grafting. He even recommended not using Cleft or Whip and Tongue because, according to professional grafters he had spoken to, it had a very low percentage of success. Sometimes even 0%!
Next year i tried a few Chip Bud grafts and more than 60% were successful. But i also tried 6 whip and tongue in March, April and even June. I protected them well for at least a month with paper envelopes - the kind that has a plastic bubbly interior. They all!! where successful. So, now, when i receive a hard to get variety, I always graft one of the cuttings to be on the safe side. I am very confident in fig grafting now.
Before making the first cut toward the base, i remove a chip with the last bud in that area and i do a Chip Budding graft with it. Then i proceed with the cut and do the Whip and Tongue. That way, even a very small cutting gives me 2 grafts. They are my best backup and it is working like a charm. I have many occasions where i failed to root the other cuttings (like with some rare Turkish one) and the 2 grafts were successful so i didn’t loose the variety.
Whip and Tongue graft - Done in mid May, photographed in the end of June - notice the protection removed when i saw the first leafs appearing.
I cut one of the corners of the bag 3-4 weeks after grafting to see inside. If i see leaves i begin opening the bag.
Like in this graft of Panaché - whip and tongue done in 17 of June photographed today:
So if you usually do cleft grafts you can do them with fig trees perfectly. Best chances are in March when they begin moving sap. Wrap all the cutting with parafilm and at least a paper bag over it for at least a month, and you will be successful.
Regarding your Portuguese figs you are rooting, PM me and i will be more than happy to help you, if i can.
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So far figs seem like pears, very easy to bud/graft.
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You are so right, fruitnut.
I am beginning to reach the same conclusion. They are easy if done right and well protected the first 4-5 weeks.
But you are also right - they can be slow. Fig buds can be infuriatingly slow to start growing. I have some chip buds that i grafted in April in very similar conditions. Some took off in May-June and are already 1 or 2 feet long. Others are still swelling and taking their time to start growing.
All these Chip buds where done at the same time (early May) and they are all behaving differently (one is even now just swelling). The last one was done in March! and is just now beginning to grow.
Sari Keten (3 Chip buddings grafted in May - photo in June - one of the 3 chips may have failed or will only wake up next year - i have several that have done this, so i never loose hope if the chip took)
3 num Prato (Chip budding grafted in May - photo in June)
De la Plata (Pons) - (Chip budding grafted in May - photo in June - still swelling)
And the record holder of taking is time - Black Bursa - (Chip budding grafted in March - photo in June). If i compare it to the whip and tongue graft of the same variety done in mid May (previous message) it’s clear to see that Chip bud grafting in figs can be much slower…
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Muddy,
Are you sure of that? I remembered bite into one long time ago… It was crunchy but spicy, not sweet! 
Tom
Hahaha! Ants must be like figs! Different kinds could have different tastes. Maybe what I ate was full of honey dew from aphids and yours may have been full of something with more zing. 
Its a great year for figs here in RI. I will have hundreds of figs this year as some trees have over 100 figs on them.!
Here’s VDB
Marseille Black VS
Breba!
Sal’s Gene
JH Adriatic
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Flatbush Dark
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Whoa baby!
Are all yours in pots?
Matt,
Yes, all in pots ranging from 30 Gallon to 1 gallon. The 30 gallon pots are outside and the rest are in the greenhouse / hoop house.
I’m still on the fence on putting some in the ground, but pretty sure I’m doing it next year as moving the 30 gallon pots is a chore and I’m running out of room on where to over winter them.
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Great going Mike! Just fantastic. Enjoy those violettes d B!
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