Bagging propagation is not new to me .
I have created this method for my plumeria propagation since 2007 . It will work for everything. For figs, it will be easier. Cheapest . Cleanest. Simplest. Less time consuming . No fail















Rooting Fig cuttings are easier because they are smaller than plumeria 


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Need to have :
Clear Plastic bag



Rubber band 



Soil





Cuttings 




Rooting hormones (optional), any brand:










Instructions : (to be continued)

Nice technic. I will try this technic. But still waiting for my cutting to arrive 1st. How long usually it will rooted like that?

Could you give some more detail on your method please? Why is there newspaper on some? How moist is the soil? What temperature and humidity? What kind of lighting? Thanks

Get ready ? Let's roll !

Instructions:
1) Put the cuttings into a cup of water at least 6 hours ahead so they can drink to their heart's content in order to be able to endure the next several days without drinking


(these are my Pronte Tresa cuttings)


2) Cut off the plastic bag at the 2 bottom corners



Cut off the zip thing on the top , otherwise you could not tie the bag top





3) Fill the soil without pressing down it




4) Put a cutting down into the bag of soil



Note :
- a) fig can root easily without any rooting hormone , but it does need some long waiting time
- b) for the people who want to race with time ----> make it root faster by dipping the cutting into a rooting hormone of your choice . Anything works . However please dust away the excessive hormone powder. Too much, it will cook the cutting !
- c) for people who is allergic hehehe to chemical, you can leave the cutting in water (bottom down) , but change water every 3 days , until you see some bumps like these


Callus (stage1)



Callus (stage2)



Very first roots (stage 3)


At any stage above, you can put the cutting in the pot of soil and the plant will grow by itself . However, in winter rooting, I prefer to put the cutting in bag . Reason ? so I can go to Greece .... to look for Ponte Tresa heheheh without worrying about my cuttings at home


4)
When the cutting is set in the middle of the filled soil, gently press the soil around it down (not too packed) then fill more soil , leaving space to tie a rubber band around the bag top . Along with the cutting growth, you should loosen the rubber band one round at a time




For easy rubber banding, you should hold the closing end and turn the bag up side down and make rounds . That way you dont hurt the cutting , and make it tight . Pull the rest of the rubber band over the whole bag to keep it in place




The rubber band will close the opening so no mold will be formed during the process.

Why a rubber band, and not a plastic tie ?
Along with time, the cutting will grow and the main trunk will be bigger and bigger. The rubber band will expand accordingly to the size of the new cutting growth, when the plastic tie would kill the growth

Put a name tag




5) To give the bag some heat, I recycle an used packaging envelope to wrap around a number of bags together



6) Without adding any water in the soil in the beginning, the heat created by that envelope will make the soil perspire . Therefore, the soil will be moist all time




If you add water, the cutting will be rotten






(more to come .....I am not finished yet. hehehe)

Keep it rolling Mai Mai (Lolita), very interesting, great details and more to come. Thanks for posting.

Lolita...Thanks, so far very good Instructions!! Take your time but don't leave us hanging... ; )

Very interesting

Looks like a no non-sense approach. Keep the information flowing. Thanks for sharing!

Bag rooting techniques (continued)

7) Light can slow down the rooting process, so we have to block light with newspaper or anything that light cannot go through . Both ends (top and bottom) should be open




Wrap the light shield cover around a group (or individual ) of bags, then tape the whole thing to keep them in place (a)






8) Put (a) in a carton box , then into a zip plastic bag ---> b . Place b at the kitchen window , room temperature






Using a toothpick to pierce 4 tiny holes for air escape when the cuttings are sweating in the plastic zip bag . This evolution creates humidity to keep the cuttings fresh at all time .and forms tiny water drops at the zip bag sides.
Excesssive water will run down the bottom of the zip plastic bag and will be soaked by the carton box . So no standing water . Humidity stays constant to help the cutting get into
budding . 





9) Once in a while, we can open the outside cover to observe the roots development . Here some roots are at the bottom of the bag




Here some of them are on the side of the bag





10) Buds are leafing . Some are fast, some are slow depending on the variety .
Every 2 days you should open the zip bag a few minutes so the cuttings get some fresh air . They need to enjoy the real world too, otherwise they would feel bored and start to drop leaves . Oh no ! should not let them do it , because every leaf coming out is a precious one . Why that dropping leaves ? What is happening ? ----> humidity is more than needed .





11) Let's take some out to look how nice they are , but please do not let them out too long because the leaves would wilt. Don't try to help by spraying some water . At this time of period, they do not need your help . Helas ! they want to go back to their niche .
















The fairy story is not finished . Will come more ....

Very interesting.  Thanks for showing this technique for rooting cuttings. 

I have used ordinary, natural, burlap as a plastic bag substitute. When cuttings eventually grow roots you just have to plant burlap bag into the soil/mix and the roots will grow through the burlap and into the surrounding medium.  Roots are never disturbed.  Plant the rooted cutting on top of a buried egg for added nutrition, as the egg returns to its elemental state.  (No...the egg doesn't stink....). 

Check out: "Burlap Bag Rotting Method,  Plumeria Care" ....for step-by-step directions.  Fig cuttings can be rooted using the same methods that are used for rooting Plumeria.

Have fun.

Frank

Bag rooting techniques (continue)



12) When the cuttings start to have more leaves, you can group 4 of the previous bags into a larger zip plastic bag (3 G size) . I recycle the dry clean laundry bag . Turn it up side down to tape the small opening (used to be for hanger). Observe that I threw out the carton boxes and replace them with plastic ones, so they will be more stable. No more excessive water happen , but they have more air space for growing higher . .
Put a stick of bamboo in the center of the whole thing and pull the laundry plastic bag up to the top of the bamboo stick and tie it with a rubber band .
Do not forget to poke some holes (about 10 holes with a toothpick) around the plastic bag





This way you can go on vacations for 2 weeks up to a month without worrying about watering the young plants, because they will grow happily by themselves being fed by the nutrients in the soil ...



What happens if :
- You take the bag outside of the zip bag too long ----> The young leaves are still very fragile, not ready to adapt new environment yet. The newly rooting cutting needs full protection . So suddenly being exposed to the real world, the leaves are frustrated and would wilt . Bring the rooting cutting back where it belongs . With humidity in the zip bag, leaves might drop but the cutting will bud again .
- You move it in/out too often or change location many times -----> leaves would drop ----> tip of main stem turn gray/black ---> is the plant going to die ?
Observe to see if there is presence of roots in the bag . Yes or No ?

- If Yes ----> the plant wont die . The tip stays still for a while but the plant is still alive . It does take some time to develop new growth (buds) on the different angle of the grey tip
In this picture, you see 3 new buds are forming for 3 future branches





if No -----> something wrong here . Cutting might be rotten in the bottom
Pull the cutting out.
If the stem base is dark/black/wet, cut off that part . Take a new bag of soil, insert that plant to root it again .
Else the problem is due to excessive humidity . Take a fork and poke the zip bag ONE TIME to allow more air escape .

The chopsticks used in the bag is to keep the leaves not touching the zip bag. Otherwise the leaves will be mushy and drop . Mold would start on dead things








In the kitchen, under the light at sink area .
2.5 G size zip back can hold a dozen (or more) of rooting bags . Found 2.5 G zip bag at Albertson's grocery store .
For bigger size bag, Walmart carries Jumbo bag that can hold 100 rooting cuttings during the whole winter .
To save money, simply use any bag available in your home (ie paper towel bag, tissue bag) big enough for the play








To be continued .... soon

We appreciate you taking the time to share this with the fig community. 

Brilliant!  Your knowledge and explanations are wonderful. Thank you.

We have really enjoyed your photos and very descriptive procedures, thanks Mai Mai, please keep them coming.

Great tutorial. I was doing something very similar, but lazier. You've motivated me to adopt some of your improvements.

I'd also add that rooting "hormone" is mostly antifungal powder and if you're careful about preventing mold then you don't need it, at least not with figs.

Bag rooting techniques (continued)

12 bis) 
In bag rooting method you do not need to water the cuttings when they are in the zipped bag . Perspiration creates humidity (more than enough) that is why every other day you should watch to see if there is any excessive water running down the walls of the zip bag. If so, poke a few more holes to the zip bag for evaporation to ... exit (I dont find the right word yet, hehehe)

.
Weening time ?

Be gentle with them . For them to be introduced to the real world, prep time is needed . Cut a small opening to the bag for more air to penetrate .



Leave it for 2 days , then make the hole bigger. Finally leave the bag totally open for 2 days . Mist the leaves with water . Watch if the plants are happy, take them out (Otherwise if you see something abnormal , ie leaves start to wilt, close the bag back for humidity to revive them ...)  

   




When the cuttings show some roots, no matter if they just have a bud or few leaves, you can take them out of the zip bag. From now on, they are no longer cuttings , but young plants 






Wrap each bag with a piece of newspaper so light does not harm the roots , then place the young plants under a neon light (I use T12, 40 watts for a few hundred plants) . If you use 100 watts, the plants cannot handle that heat because the leaves are very fragile at that stage .





Now it is time to water them . Mist them gently every 4 hours . Reduce water mist when leaves become dark green .




Note : In my case, I prefer to leave them in the zip bag longer - until they have 6 leaves , because I do not have time to run forth and back to mist them . If I have to go out of town, I will place them in a larger bag , then adjust the height of the neon light .


For the plants to grow healthy, they need 4 necessary elements : sun, wind, water and nutrients .
Here we have light as sun (!), water, nutrients (in soil) , so we need wind . Without ventilation, leaves will be soon loaded with bugs underneath . So you need to have a small fan nearby as wind

- In case somehow your plants get leggy, adjust the distance between the plants and the neon light . Move the light down , or move the plants up . Distance should be 1 foot , so young plants do not have to stretch out . We do not need the plants to grow tall but grow bold and healthy until they get ready to be potted
- in case their leaves get wilted, no matter what the reason is, hurry them back into the zip bag for humidity . They will strive back . Fig trees are TOUGH. Yes.  

'  
13) When do you take the plants out of the zip bag ?
When you see the roots are fully developed





Gently use a razor blade to cut the rubber band and gently slide the bottom of the bag to open it . You see the soil in the bag is very dry but the roots are healthy







I use the plastic sandwich bag for this one




Pot it up !




Once potted, leave the new tree in a shady area , 60 degree F. Give it a good drink . Spay/mist water TO THE LEAVES ONLY once in a while and when Spring comes, let Mother Nature takes them under her wings .

Feed the tree with Osmocote (grain type) , and water once a month if temperature get is over 60 degree F
Under 60 F , water once every 2 months . If temperature drops down to 20 F, hurry them into garage .
.
Gradually bring it out in the sun when those plants become... trees (not a plant anymore ) .
Let the tree grow to full force to bring you joy and happiness when you to taste their first figs (the fruit of your own labor)



(to be continued) 

Lolita, your rooting technique is brilliant. Thanks so much for sharing in detail, with photos accompanying. This is great help for a newbie as myself,
LJ

14) Ouf ! there is a plant which roots are overgrown but no leaves yet, just a tiny bud .




Remove the plastic bag 



Remove 80% of the soil an 90% of the roots 




Bag it back ! Many people said that if you disturb the roots, the plant would die . Not for figs . They are TOUGH. Just a stick, it can root, how it cannot live when it has roots now ???? 
Here it is in a sandwich bag so the roots can have more room to grow 


 



I am not finished yet. Will come back for more soon . Mailman knocks at the door !

Mai,

Thank you for your time describing the technique.
I do not agree with you on the last step here.
If you are rooting in the spring and have lots of roots and no leaves, that is the ideal time to plant in 1 gal and move outside .
You do not need to wait for the leaves to baby them later, they will appear later.
Why do you put it back in the bag?

Greenfig,
Winter just starts, we have few more months to go before Spring comes . The roots are overgrown in this tiny bag. It cannot stay there any longer . it needs to live ! I trimmed 90% off and put it back into another bigger bag so it keeps continue to grow during winter time . By Spring, it will be a very strong tree, ready to take off FAST and you will get more cuttings from it .... for sale hehehe . With bags, light weight, you can stack 100 of them in a basket and hang them anywhere 
If you pot it now in 1 G size pot, where to store them if you happen to have 2000 or more of them ????

What is the room temperature the cuttings are rooting in?

Dry potting soil ehh? Interesting. I have a bunch of zipocks and disposable fig twigs (abundant cuttings). This ain't my first rodeo but I will try it. Looks easy...

Dennis,
Room temperature ----> 70 F to 75 F

Jennifer,

Soil in the bag (moist ) that you just buy from the store  , not dry not wet
Save the unused soil for next batch by keeping the original bag well tied so the soil inside always moist when needed

Hello,

very nice technique..

 i intent to use transparent plastic storage boxes instead of the plastic bag. i know that each cutting has its own pace but lets simplify a bit as for u to clarify something pls in terms of timing of the project. pls correct me if you disagree in the steps i intent to follow:

i will, in general lines, follow ur steps...

lets say i start today with the baggies without hormones etc...and use the closed box (in a dark room). i shall aerate every 2 days

once i see roots and leaves (lets say in 3-4 weeks) i shall cover the small bags with newspaper and put the whole box closed again under the lights. i shall still aerate every 2 days, till they have 6 leaves and good roots (lets say in another 2 weeks) time at which i should be opening gradually to have them acclimatized. then out they go from the box but still under the lights. only then u mist lets say once per 2-days, until they fill the bag with roots, (lets say in another 3 weeks). then u re-pot, give water monthly and mist weekly and have them again under lights till march? whereby u put them in a shady place with good ventilation. and in april u gradually put them in the sun and water weekly?

thats how it works time-wise?

thanks

andreas