How can I determine if my weeping fig is still alive?

Kathy
by Kathy

How can I determine if my Weeping Fig is still alive? The bottom sprouts are from the base of the tree but there is no green on the upper limbs. It was planted Fall 2018.

  5 answers
  • Zard Pocleeb Zard Pocleeb on Jun 16, 2019

    One way is to try snapping off a branch from several places . If it snaps off easily it’s dead. If it springs back it is alive.

  • Terri Terri on Jun 16, 2019

    You can crack one of the tips and see if there is any green inside. A dead branch will be brown all the way through.


  • Little Sprouts Learning Little Sprouts Learning on Jun 16, 2019

    Cut a branch off at the place where it meets the tree, is there any green inside?

  • Robyn Garner Robyn Garner on Jun 16, 2019

    Yes, start by breaking off at the tips. Continue moving up the branch until (hopefully!) you find a spot that does not break. That means that area is still alive. To help your guy along, prune off all the tips that broke.


    Are those suckers growing up from the base? Cut ALL of them off at the trunk of the fig and do not allow them to grow. They are pulling all the nutrients from the tree. Your tree is a grafted tree so suckers are very common.

  • Jan Clark Jan Clark on Jun 16, 2019

    Your tree is alive. Absolutely prune those suckers off - and any more that sprout around the base. If you find that many of the upper branches are dry and/or dead, prune them all the way back until you find live tissue. If branches start to grow from around that upper pruning - leave them alone, that is now your living tree. If, for some reason, you find that the trunk itself has died, allow one of those suckers at the bottom to take over as the trunk. However, if the tree was grafted, you might not get any fruit. Cool boulder in the background, by the way!