leaf reduction experiment on fig

[Joe Dupre']

Mostly for kicks, I have been growing a Celeste fig as a bonsai for the last couple of years. I wanted to see how much I could reduce the leaves and, just maybe, get a full sized fig to grow. Well, the leaf reduction is going great, but no figs yet. I'm not sure if a fig can form on foliage that's pruned so extensively. Here is the tree beside a leaf from a 5 ft tall in-ground tree. Both trees were taken as airlayers from the mother tree 2-3 years ago.

 

[akhater]

Fig reduce leafs size very well. There is a lot of details about that in a French bonsai forum but, the short version, is that you cut the leafs as they grow and the next one will be much smaller.

 

[Joe Dupre']

That's what I've been doing. When a leaf darkens up and get a bit too big, I prune it off and smaller ones come in. I don't think that's conducive to fig growth, though.