Should I Trim Back My Fig Tree Trunk?

Question

I planted a 4 ft Chicago Hardy in March 2019 in a 20gal pot. I live in south west Kentucky. It grew an additional foot + last year (trunk split into 2 branches) with a dozen big leaves and 1 fruit that didnt mature before winter. I was dormant next to house on back deck. There is no new growth anywhere on trunk above 1/2 ft (leaves growing from low trunk “nubs” and from roots). The inside of the 2 branches is brown with a white core. Are the branches dead? EventhoughI didnt cut back in winter, should I cut trunk down by half now to keep it from sapping nutrients from new growth? I can send more photos in email reply since there is a problem sending question.

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Answer 1

It sounds like you have lost the top growth and new growth is coming from the root. You can go ahead and prune it all the way to the ground.