Well its official now. 100% of the cuttings I tried to start indoor over the winter have now failed. Some molded in bags, others died in cups of perilite, a few made it to 1 gal pots -- only to die there. Complete failure. I will not try that again.

The only bright spot is that I held a few of the cuttings sent me in the fridge. I waited until about 3 weeks ago and buried each one, sideways 1 in deep, in a pot of plain potting soil. Out of that group, 2 are showing signs of life, 1 Negronne and 1 Black Jack. Will wait and see about the rest.

In the future, no more complicated winter rooting stuff for me. Just bag 'em in the fridge until early spring then bury them straight into pots.

I never used the bag method, I use clear shoeboxes with damp moss, put the cuttings in, leave them alone, 75-80% success.  Put cuttings in potting soil, in 1 gal pots, put pots in deep plastic tub with lid, 75-80%.   Stick cuttings in pot of potting soil, put in full shade, water, 75-80% (this is almost 100% when done when the cuttings are dormant).  Luck, methodology, voodoo, cuttings, who knows.

try putting some in a vase of rainwater. Let the roots grow a few months. Transplant to pint clear plastic cups with no holes. Keep soil fairly wet until new roots show. Put drainage holes in cup. Works for me every year!  

That had to be very disappointing Gene.  

Yeah, I put a lot of time and "love" into cuttings over the winter. Oh well, they are just plants. No, no, they are figs! But nothing else I can do. But I do have lots of hope for the potted cuttings.

gene, i know it doesn't help, but take what you did this time as learning point and don't make the same mistake again next winter. my first winter rooting was hideous. lost some more interesting cuttings, and didn't know what to do. then i ran into more problem in the spring. but i kept a mental note on things i did wrong. learned to feel how much to wet the soil. using different things so the roots are not disturbed while moving to 1 gal. small things. cutting with roots are put in the put after i poke a good size hold in the soil mix so the roots get damaged less. keep cuttings and humidity bin so they will get extra warmth and moisture in the air.. 

spring rooting is much easier, but some of the good cuttings come out in the fall/winter.. i guess you can store them, but same issue to a lesser degree will come up. during the spring, things are moving faster so we don't stop to get the cutting in a trouble. 
 
gool luck on your spring rooting. 

I'm really sorry to hear that Gene. That sucks! But, Pete's right, keep a note of it and you won't make the same mistakes twice.

well, you're not alone. so far i've lost 90% of every cutting i've tried. looks like that includes those you were kind enow to send me.

i guess i'll have to just buy trees.

Hang in there.
Experience is the best medicine.
Keep trying, give it less water. (that where its easy to kill em)
Just have fun at learning.



Doug

Yeah....starting cuttings in Winter is fight!  There are too many things that just cause failure beyond one's control.  Someone mentioned the water method and I have to agree with them.  Starting cutting in water works quite well.  I've switched to a progation water method.  Once potted up just give the cuttings a sterile mix like Pro-Mix and some weak liquid fertilizer and B1 vitamins.  It works pretty well.  I'll post a pic of my setup later.

I admit to being a newbie, but I also agree with Pete (Bullet08). You have already learned so much, i.e.: You have learned that it's wise to not start all the cuttings at the same time. Much of what you have learned can transmit to other plants besides figs, not to mention to a next generation. I suspect that if most of us here had been taught from knee-high we wouldn't have to be here! 

Happens to everyone at some point. Last year, I also had 100% failure. This year, had about 20% failure. The good news is, it can only get better! When it comes to propagation experience, it's quantity over quality (i.e. try to root a variety that is abundant and easy to find in your area, Celeste or BT or LSU "Blank", and try to root like 100 sticks) it's all about practice

Thanks for sharing! Best of luck!

Gene...sorry to hear about your winter disaster...I gave up winter rooting about 2 seasons ago because of serious gnat infestation...now I don't even look at a cutting until April. 

I feel your pain Gene, I lost most all of my cuttings I started in Feb. Only 4 of 30 something cuttings made it and are actively growing now. My second round of cuttings are doing better. Only lost about half of them so far. Just keep on keeping on!

Sorry about your troubles, Gene.

A very generous member gave me a bunch of Celeste cuttings, I have extras if you want them, PM me.

Phil

Sorry Gene about those winter failures. I hope you will have better luck next time.

Norhayati

Hi Genedaniels,
When did you start rooting them ?

I no longer start before January because of lack of daylight .
Are the cuttings still so so or did you already toss them ?
Mine were starting to look so so, so they are now at the garden - I don't expect frost bites anymore for this year.
So they are still looking like alive and there is still hope.
As I mentioned, outside, the dirt does dry faster which is good for the cuttings and everyday temp drop keep the gnats and mold in control.
Just throw a plate with a bit of water under the pot and let it be.
You just need to monitor the rain - in rainy days empty and remove the plate .

I had a cutting put lots of growth to suddenly collapse . Gnats are around. But I still don't get the reason for that sudden collapse ...
I put the pot at the garden. If she wants to bounce back, I'll welcome her .
The only trees that are still at home are my seedlings as those look truly like weeds - transparent "trunks" - So I'll have to keep them a month or two more inside .
Just a remark : Gnats are not interested in the pots with the seedlings ...

There are two that are still in cups, they look like maybe, just maybe they will live. The rest I have gotten rid of because they were starting to rot.

I did salvage one Negronne cutting before it rotted and buried it in a pot. It gets half-day sun. It is showing signs of life again so maybe??

But next year I will not even attempt the indoor thing. Just wait until May and then bury them in pots, sideways, under 1-2 inches of good potting soil. All the cuttings I took locally seem to love this method, and it fits my style since I travel some and can't baby the cuttings over long periods of time.

   


Had always mixed results (poor!) following certain methods said to be modern and efficient.

Still do most in water and latelly,  also wrapping the sticks in moist newspaper and to keep them for 3 or 4 weeks inside a plastic bag hanging on a nail in side the laundry room, with occasional checks

For me both systems are OK, the moist newspaper being the one which generates more and stronger roots, sometimes so much that I am obliged to pot a bushy cutting together with its newspaper envelope for sake of not damaging any root... it works fine ! I would say close to  100% sucess.

On a couple of occasions dry sticks, treated with this system have practically resuscitated.
On both systems it is paramount to keep an acceptable level of moisture around the cutting

Have a look on the pics showing my last two cuttings from new edible seedlings, having created some roots being in water from the last days of March until today.

Francisco

Those look great! I will check the remaining cuttings I have to see if any of them are candidates for water rooting. It can't hurt.