Main trunk of fig tree broke at the root

[genie49]

Last night, the main trunk of our beautiful fig tree crashed down. It split right above the roots. It wasn't even that windy. Any suggestions about possibilities to save it would be highly appreciated.
I was thinking of cutting the main branches off, and then trying to put it back with some heavy braces to keep it in place for a few months or till next year. They sell this product Tree Wound Pruning Sealer and Grafting Compound, not sure if anyone has any experience with that? Especially not sure if it would work with such a large trunk.
But still baffled to how it could have happened. Has been doing beautifully, no signs of pests or anything. It was growing lots and lots of figs, so perhaps the load just got too heavy?
So any ideas what might have caused it will also be highly appreciated.
We had lots of rains recently, so perhaps too much moisture? (We're in Southern California, so normally we're in drought, but had unusual amounts of rain the past three months or so.)

[applestar]

Wow that WAS tall before it crashed. How were you harvesting the uppermost fruits?

First of all, I don’t think there is any need to try to repair the broken trunk — the process is not really likely to succeed, with great danger of introducing disease or other issues from the gaping wound.

Moreover, figs are resilient and there should be any number of new growths — already or soon to appear — that can replace the original trunk.

Looking at the photos — am I seeing dark hollows or discolored parts in the break in the trunk? If so maybe the trunk had hollowed out due to disease or pests. Have you tried cutting up the trunk — probably not if you were hoping to repair/recover … but if you decide to go ahead and eliminate the broken trunk, maybe further exploration of the defunct trunk is warranted.

I think if there are no signs of disease or pests, you can just go ahead and concentrate on raising a replacement single or maybe multi-trunk tree, and styling scaffold branches by pruning into a more practical lower hanging and height shape than it had been.

[imafan26]

Yes, the trunk looks like it may have heart rot. The sign of that is the tree falling over for no reason. You should be able to save cuttings from the tree to star a new one. Figs will fruit within a year even in a pot especially in a tropical climate.

[genie49]

Yes, after investigating further, it seems that it had some heart rot.
I will definitely not try to repair, and will see tomorrow when cutting up the stem what it reveals.

I just hope it is not some pest that would also affect the rest of the tree, as I'm hoping that some of the side branches will take over.

[applestar]

If you liked this fig, I second taking cuttings and propagating backups. Figs do root easily. You can root thicker branch cuttings 1~1.5 inches in diameter, with 2 or 3 leafnodes for rooting and 4~6 leafnodes for upper growth. Try to obtain the cuttings before the leaves from the fallen trunk wilts… but fig cuttings are resilient and remain viable.

There’s an excellent website — I can dig up the link tomorrow.

[imafan26]

When you cut the branches you will be able to tell if the pith is damaged. Most of the time heart rot starts from a wound on the tree that allows the fungus to gain entry. It takes years to kill a tree this way. The tree still had leaves so the phloem and xylem were still intact so the branches may still have been getting nutrients.

[genie49]

So, with a bleeding heart, I cut it up. The good news: No heart rot! Indeed, it is perfectly healthy to the core. What looked like it was a dark core with rot was in fact a root from the second main stem. So apparently what happened was that early on the second stem had simply grown around what at the time was just a tiny root from its sister stem, fully enclosing it. And then over the years/decades that root just grew in diameter, to the point, two days ago, of taking down the other stem. So, following applestar's suggestion, I'm going to try to save as many of the branches and put them back into the ground with some rooting hormone – have high hopes that at least some of them take. Has anybody experience with rooting even bigger branches?

[applestar]

Good!

There are few things to remember — you want to remove the big leaves because they just transpire all the moisture out of the cuttings. You are looking for roots to grow and new buds to grow into one or more leader trunk and branches.

I don’t think rooting hormone is needed as long as you provide preventative care against fungal contamination.

Normally, figs are propagated during the cold season, but they reliably root during the warmer season as well as long as they are not dried out. I’ve even tried the wrap with moistened paper and put in loose plastic bag then put in shaded moderate temperature location (I left it in unused room in the house then under some bushes outside — about 4 out of 10 rooted and would have been successful if I took care of them and not ended up neglecting them.

Remember, you want to assume about 4~6 leafnodes for root growths and minimum 3 or 4 to 6 leafnodes for above ground growths. Some techniques include shallow cuts in the bark to encourage additional root growth points.

It’s possible to stick them in the ground — I actually have two growing right now that were started that way, but for backup, you may want to start some in sterile well-draining potting mix… or just get the roots growing (moistened paper, vermiculite, etc.) then plant the ones that start growing roots.

Note also that airlayering of existing growing branches to obtain rooted branches to plant is another option.

At the moment I can’t find the good website in English that I was thinking of — but here is a JAPANESE fig nursery that has really terrific youtube video instructions and technique guides I’ve been watching for a while :

【イチジクを挿し木で増やす】園芸農家が穂木づくりの実演&解説


But since he was only showing typical smaller branch cuttings used for mass propagation, here’s one that briefly mentions the big branch cuttings starting around 18:35
【イチジク】挿し木の成功率を限りなく100%に近づける方法【前編】


Sometimes you can get a decent auto translated cc with these, but I haven’t verified.

[imafan26]

I have seen larger trees transplanted, but I don't know of anyone who has rooted a large cutting. Figs have an aggressive root system and they can strangle other trees and undermine foundations. Most people actually try to contain the fig rather than try to get it bigger.