VdB in pot woke up about a month ago here in the bay area, whereas in-ground one woke up just a week ago with few green shoots (no breba), both little over 1-year-old. Plan to keep in-ground in the tree form (single trunk) with no more than 8’-9’ total height.
Does anyone know how badly the annual pruning of VdB impacts the amount of fruit production?
Here in SoCal with our long growing season, I would say a severe pruning does not affect fruit production too much as my in-ground, 5 year-ish old VdB tree produces more than we can eat. I prune it pretty hard, this winter taking it down from 12’ to 4’. I did lose virtually all the breba production, but I’m not too worried about that.
The primary benefit to me for cutting it severely is to keep the fruit production closer to the ground where I can get it without a ladder.
My potted VdBs woke up before the in-ground tree, but the in-ground tree has surpassed them in growth already.
So it was cool here in late December. My Violette de Bordeaux Fig leaves dropped. Then it warmed up again, got quite hot actually. The tree sprouted new leaves and set fruit!! Now it is winter again cold and raining. Normally I would prune the tree back in January. But what do I do with this? Poor tree is as confused as I am.
Today’s haul from the lower half of the tree, a little over a gallon in that 3 gallon bucket. Saturday I’ll try for the upper half.
This year I’m embellishing on last year’s approach. I waited until a majority are spot-on ripe, with some having fallen off and others another week or so to go. Then I remove branches, keeping the ripe figs and putting everything else in a greenery barrel. Later on this Fall I’ll do the same thing with the nearby Osborne Prolific/ Archipel.
Oh, why cut the greenery? Are you trying to promote more new growth?
Just simplified harvest, pruning, and maintenance.
Does greenery barrel mean compost or mulch?
These must be main crop figs.
The refuse service here dumps our greenery barrels into a green-waste truck on Wednesdays, which in turn goes to a greenery recycling center a few miles away. There they cure it in rows of a few thousand cubic yards each, turning it, watering it, etc. From that they produce 4 grades of product. 3 of them are free to the public for a few 33 gallon containers, self load. Any more than that is $10 / 5 yds - which they drop in your vehicle with a front end loader.
In your climate, wouldn’t it leaf out and put on at least 1-2 feet before going dormant?
Yes it will, plus some mamme figs.
And do you cut back to these scaffolds again in winter?
I will let the majority of uprights stay, and remove all horizontals and also branches starting on the underneath side of the scaffolds.
Violette de Bordeaux is the only fig out of 9 that I rooted a year ago that appears mostly dead above ground after the winter, at least based on the bud appearance (haven’t scratch tested, the main stems could be fine):
I’m guessing maybe it is not the hardiest? All my other same-size figs seem to have at least a bud or two (or all) still green, like this Niagara Black:
I have one that appears to have survived our -5F on Dec. 23-24th. In a 2 gallon pot outdoors unprotected. I brought most figs indoors and put them back outside in Feb. (And back inside on Monday as it got to 20 last night).
From what I’ve read and seen, here in 7B Maryland VdB is less winter hardy than its cousin Ronde de Bordeaux.
This is the last fig for me to leaf out, still only has small buds.
