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| I have a Black Mission Fig since October 2010. It's doing well and leafing out beautifully. My question is this, there is an extra "branch" growing from the bottom, should I cut it off or let it continue to grow?
I'm very new at growing figs and I'm sure someone will suggest I try to salvage the cutting, but honestly I don't feel confident attempting to do so. November '10
March '12
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| It all depends on what you want to do. The way it is growing, that little guy is getting plenty of sun, so you can just leave it there and it will just act like another branch. On the other hand, if you want another tree, you certainly could do an airlayer or something similar. You can search this forum on instructions, but here's a quick summary. Slice a water bottle lengthwise, place this around the base of the little guy, stuff with moist sphagnum moss or potting soil. Tape or otherwise wrap it up so it's fairly well closed up (If it is exposed to the air at all, you will need to add moisture periodically). Then wrap in aluminum foil or similar to shade out the sun (because UV will damage roots, also too much heat would be bad). In a couple months, there should be a ton of roots in there, and then you can cut it off just below the bottle and plant it. Rob |
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- Posted by az_pamperedchef 9 (My Page) on Sat, Mar 31, 12 at 1:09
| Thanks Rob23b, I don't want another tree. I would love another fig tree, just not another Mission. I think I'll leave it the way it is. |
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| If you want the tree in tree-form and not a clump, you should dig down below the soil line & remove it cleanly from the main trunk. If you just cut it off, you'll have even more basal sprouts occur. Your tree also appears to be planted too deeply, which also will contribute to a profusion of basal sprouts. Ideally, you would dig down below the surface yearly and remove the sprouts as they occur, then treat the wounds and surrounding tissue with 'Sucker Stopper RTU'. This is a treatment that contains auxin (NAA/napthaleneacetate), which causes the below-ground basal tissues to form roots instead of shoots. Al |
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