Good afternoon, growers. It’s Sunday, July 5th, and we’re at that point in summer right now where any figs that will have a prayer of ripening within warm temperatures had to have already set on our trees. So, right now, we are just playing the waiting game, waiting for our precious figs to ripen. And today I wanted to discuss with you three tips that will help speed up the ripening processes of your figs so you will have the best chance in having good quality fruit that ripen while ideal temperatures are still here with us. A conservative estimate for the amount of time a fig takes to ripen from its initial figlet formation is about 90 days. Here you can see a little tiny figlet has formed on this tree. So this figlet is probably anywhere from 80 to 90 days from ripening. Figs come from a climate with very warm summers and ideally they ripen when temperatures are still in the 80° range. So with today being July 5th, if I add 90 days to this figlet, I’m going to wind up right around October 5th. And for most areas of the northern hemisphere, we’re starting to cool down around mid to late September. So any baby fig that forms at this point in the year probably won’t be able to ripen for us and it’ll just be a waste of energy for your tree to have to carry those figs to maturity. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to show you some ways that your trees can dedicate as much energy as possible so you can still get your figs to ripen when temperatures are still warm and you get a great quality fig. It’s the goal of any life form in nature to reproduce. And the way that fruit trees reproduce is to form fruit because that fruit contains the seeds that can then spread along the earth and make more baby seedlings and more new trees. And figs are no different than any other fruit tree. They want to send and mature fruit in order to perpetuate the species. However, trees have a very limited source of energy and that energy gets siphoned into all different directions. And a tree cannot spend all of its energy simply ripening fruit. Trees have a very finite source of energy. They are limited to the amount of energy that they can draw up from the roots and the amount of energy they can absorb from the sun via photosynthesis. But they have to split that limited amount of energy between all different life processes. So they have to grow roots. They have to grow new trunks and new leaves and new stems because they want to get taller and larger. And they also have to set fruits and ripen those fruits. So all of that energy gets siphoned into various directions. And since they have a finite source of energy, you’ll notice that trees that grow more vigorously, that put on more leaves, that want to grow taller and bigger and put on more stems, they are going to have less energy that they can put into their fruits to ripen. So the more they’re trying to grow out and get large and grow vigor and grow green wood, the less energy they’re going to have to put into their fruits and ripen them. So what we need to do is we need to force our trees to focus more of the limited energy into fruing and ripening those fruits than into growing into all different directions. Most of my fig trees are over 6 ft tall and I have no need for any figs to be this tall. I want them to ripen fruit lower and that is where most of the fruit is forming on these trees. So anything that’s happening up here I don’t really need. So, the first tip I’m going to give you is to pinch off the growth tips of all of the leading stems and branches of your fig tree. Trees grow through a hormonal process called apical dominance. And what that means is the hormones that are concentrated in the trunks of the trees, they move from the ground and they move up to the tallest growth points of the tree because they are always trying to get taller. They are always trying to grow up. So having these tips on the trees is forcing the hormones of the trees to go higher and higher and higher because that is where their growth points are. Well, the problem is most of the fruit on my tree that has a chance of ripening this season is quite low to the ground. So as the growth hormones go higher and higher into the tree, they’re actually being forced away from the lower parts of the trees that house the fruit that I want to actually eat. So, what we’re going to do is we are going to go around and on all of our fig trees, we are going to pinch off the top tips of all of the leading branches that we don’t want to grow into a certain form. And what do I mean by that? If I want my if I want my tree growing as one single trunk and I want it to end right here, I want the the main trunk to end right here, but it’s only this tall. Well, I’m not going to pinch that one yet because I want it to grow up to be a certain point in my own mind. However, for these trees, these are way too tall. I have no need for any of these trees to be quite this tall. So, I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to pinch off all of the leading branches of those trees because I don’t want the hormones to keep growing up to infinity. I want the hormones to come up the tree, say, “Hey, this uh this tree has been headed. We’re just going to we’re going to send those hormones right back down to the lower parts of the trees where the branches are. So, I’m going to go ahead and show you how to do that. I’m also going to link above a video that is indepth on pinching because pinching can be advantageous for forcing early fruitruing and also shaping your tree while they grow. And that’s something you can do throughout the season. I won’t bore you with the details on that, but please check out that video if you want to find out more information on fig pinching. But before I start to pinch my trees, I want to show you an example of a tree that I’m not going to pinch first. This tree is only about 2 feet tall. It’s one single stem and it set fruit so incredibly heavily that it just hasn’t put on a lot of growth into the stem. So, this is an example of a tree that I’m not going to pinch at the top because I need it to get a little bit taller and I need that trunk to thicken up some. So, this is a rare example of a tree at this point in the year where I wanted to put energy into the vigor of the tree. That being said, the fruit set on this little tree is actually really heavy and the figs are pretty far along. They were some of the first to set. So, because the tree is so small, the growth hormones are focused all in this one little tiny area. So, there’s no need to pinch a tree of this size. I’m going to focus my energy on pinching the trees that are much larger and sending far too much energy into all of the growth stems than they should be sending energy into ripening the figs. Now, before we get too far into this video, let’s discuss safety. Figs contain a very costic sap that is latex based, and it’s very irritating to the skin. If you get too much of the costic sap on your skin, it will create red patches and burn your skin. And if you’re particularly sensitive to it, it can create all kinds of welts. So, please wear hand protection. I’m wearing uh latex disposable gloves. So, I’m going to wear these throughout the uh the entire video. And normally, when it comes to fig pinching, I just go ahead and I pinch the tips off. But because I’ll be doing so much of this today, I’m actually using a pair of pruners that I already washed and sanitized because it’s just too much to pinch and we want the cuts to be nice and clean. And while you’re at it, put on some eye protection just in case. A simple pair of sunglasses just because of all the cutting and all the sap flying around. The last thing you want any fig sap in is in your eye. We don’t want to turn this into a trip to the emergency room. So, now that we got our safety moment out of the way, uh in front of me is a rende bordeaux fig tree. And this thing has just grown out of control. There’s just growth tips everywhere. And there’s figs as high as right here, which is just about 6 ft tall. So any of the tree growth up this high I have no use for. So I’m just going to go ahead and I’m going to pinch that off. And if you can see that uh what is dripping there is the costic white sap of the fig. So I’m going to toss this in a bucket. And I’m just going to simply go ahead and I’m going to prune off all of the tips of this tree because I have absolutely no need for this tree to grow any more vigorously. It’s it’s already given me tons of growth. It will give me tons of cutings to sell or trade to whoever wants them for the next season. And all this energy is just taking away from the fig ripening. So, I’m just going to go through here with my shears and I’m going to cut off every single growth tip and make really darn sure that I do not get any of the dripping sap on my skin. So, you probably shouldn’t wear a tank top when you do this like I did. If you can wear uh something with more arm protection, please do so. But, it is 94° and deathly humid out today and I’m just taking the risk. So now I’ve gone through and I’ve simply pruned off all of the tips of my fig tree. And that is the number one tip I’m going to give you. Stop the growth points. Because if you stop these growth points, the fig tree is not going to grow out anymore and it’s going to have more energy to place into fig fruit ripening instead of vigor. Now I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to give you the second tip for improving the ripening time of your figs. And the second tip that I’m going to give you is to prune off all of this unnecessary side growth that may be coming out of the nodes in different shoots. So here you can see examples of branches that are growing out between the leaf nodes at 45° angles with this main stem. All of these growth points that are suckering out, they’re all useless wastes of energy at this point in the year. And if you were trying to achieve a certain form out of your fig, if you wanted some kind of chalice form where it it shoots out exactly here for some reason, maybe you’d want to save these side growth uh pieces. But I have no need for this. So, I’m going to pinch off all of these 45° angle suckers that are shooting off because I just don’t need that. I want my fig trees to grow figs, not more side growth. So, simply doing that, uh, those little suckers are diverting all sorts of energy away from my fig trees that would be better spent, uh, growing fruit. So, I’m taking off all of these little uh, these little 45° angle side shoots. And we’re going to go ahead and we’re going to do that from all of our trees as well. And when I say side growth suckers, I also mean any suckers that are growing out of the bottom of the tree as well. This sucker right here is actually growing out of the base of the tree. So, I’m going to have to get my shears down there and prune that off the base because again, it’s trying to divert energy away from my tree and I just don’t want that. And we’ll take that one off as well. These suckers were far enough along that they were starting to ligignify. So, we definitely want to get them out of there because they are siphoning off way too much energy. And the third and final tip that I want to give you is to ensure that your fig trees are growing in as weedfree of an environment as possible. So, here you’ll see right here I have a few I have a few weeds that have sprouted up in my containers. I want to make sure that I pull these nasty weeds out because these weeds are essentially competing with my trees for nutrients. And while you may be thinking to yourself, uh, well, that’s not a big deal. They’re just a they’re just a few little weeds. Every little bit adds up. And having your figs ripen one or two days earlier, every few days really does help. You also run the risk of having your fig trees stuck in a rainstorm and a lot of climates get rainier in the fall across the United States. So, uh, having them ripen in a dry hot period is ideally what you want because those are the conditions that they grow in in the Mediterranean. So, having any weeds or any kind of grasses growing in your pot is going to compete with your fig tree for nutrients. It is going to draw energy away from that tree and that is not what you want. This is especially important in containers because when you’re growing in containers, you already have such a finite supply of nutrients. So, you want to make darn sure that there is as little competition for your trees as possible. And these three tips that I just told you are not just relevant to potted fig trees, they’re also relevant to inground fig trees. So, right here you’ll see one of my inground fig trees. You definitely want to make sure that you’re growing them in as weed-free of an environment as possible. I have a heavy layer of mulch applied around my fig trees to keep some weeds down. I also have a few weeds that are starting to sprout up in the back there. So, I’m going to rip them out and take care of them while they’re still small and easy to manage. Uh, and my fig trees here that are in ground, I’m espaling. And if you’re curious about what that is, uh I will link to a video above which will explain how to train your fig trees uh by espalier form. These fig trees are a little bit different because I want them to grow along uh this metal wire here. So, for example, uh I’m not going to prune the tip off of this tree because I need it to keep growing up to here. So, I’m going to wait until this branch gets long enough that it reaches this upost before I pinch the tip off. However, a branch like this that I am not training, that is not structural, that can be removed right now because this is just what you would consider side growth. There’s no point in me having that branch any longer. It’s already loaded up with figs and I’m not training that at all. All this fig tree branch right here is going to be is a source of additional fruit. And then come the winter, I’m going to cut it right off at the main trunk. And then I will have cutings available to propagate this uh this fig tree and make more copies of the tree as well as hopefully have some cutings for some people that are interested in having this variety. Using those three simple tips that I outlined, you can redirect your fig trees energy into the fruing process as much as possible so you can have more ripe fruit earlier in the season. Everybody, thank you so much for watching today’s video. If you found it helpful, please hit that like button. And if you haven’t already subscribed to the channel, please subscribe for future updates and more videos like these. If you’re curious about anything that I use in my garden, everything that I use is linked in my Amazon storefront in the video description. Thank you so much for watching and I hope to see all of you again on the next