This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Ficus elastica pruning

Paolo Mottola wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I'm looking for info on how and when to prune a huge Ficus carica.
> This plant have grown too much (it's located in a corner of a
> courtyard) and have to be reduced and shaped. This garden is in a mild
> climate and frost-free zone (I live in south Italy), near the sea.
> 
> I've heard that it's better to burn cuts after pruning to prevent
> latex losses. Anyone knows something about that?

Paolo

There seems to be a bit of confusion in your message. The subject comes
over as "Pruning Ficus elastica", but in your text you talk of F.carica.
In your mild climate ornamental figs can be pruned at any time of year.

All figs  both ornamental and fruiting are very accomodating and will
stand any amout of pruning - even back to bare trunks, but  F carica, if
it is grown for fruit, one should prune mainly in winter and of course
not as drastically as that, just cutting back branches as necessary to
limit spread or height..

I  have never sealed cuts on these trees and  nor does my pruning book
mention the idea. The bleeding of latex is fairly minimal and doesn't
seem to hurt the tree.

Cutting the tree back hard will result in a lot of new shoots growing
and you will need to thin these out to achieve a good new shape. A lot
of excessive new growth can be avoided by not leaving stumps where
unwanted branches are removed, but cutting back almost flush with the
parent stem, leaving only a collar of about 2cm. For the same reason
branches which are shortened should, wherever possible, be cut off flush
with a side branch.

I hoe this is all clear, but if you want more advice just mail me back.

Moira

Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata (pop 18K), suburb of Lower Hutt City (pop 140K),
satellite of Wellington City (pop 500K), New Zealand (pop 3.5M)
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index