First, I want to thank some Canadian forum members for sending me some cuttings, particularly big thanks to Ottawanz5, Northfig and Tylerj.  I really appreciate your generosities.  

I don't post much and but have been reading past and present messages everyday to acquire as much knowledge as I could on figs, particularly on rooting fig cuttings.   I had quickly gone through several rooting methods and I am sorry to say I have failed miserably until recently.  Now I have several cuttings putting out roots and also budding out as well with leaves.  Now I have couple of questions:

1) Some of cuttings have leaves growing quite big (about 1 1/2" wide) in my rooting chamber (a plastic shoe box with perlite).  Should I leave those leave alone until the roots are healthy enough for potting or should I pinch those leaves off? 

I also noticed that the edges of couple of leaves are graying out.  Too much humility?

2) Couple of cuttings have amazing roots now but not yet budded out.  Should I pot them now and cover the bud with a plastic cup to keep the humility high or wait till the buds come out first?

Sorry if I sound like a first time mother.  I had lost quite cuttings and I am quite nervous about ruining any more.

Thanks,

Bill

Hey Bill,

When did you begin rooting these cuttings?

To answer your questions:

1. Don't pinch the leaves. Budding fruit is an issue but leaves are good. (The appearance of baby fruit isn't a problem but if your fruit growth outpaces your roots and leaves, slice all budding fruit with a razor blade and wait for the fruit to wither and drop. In general, try not to pull on any part of the cutting. Moving it too much could damage the fragile roots. Again, I wouldn't even really pay too much attention to the baby fruit until it started actually growing larger. Most cuttings will just abort the fruit on their own.)

       1 a. Yes. Add a bit more ventilation by widening the lid opening. Check regularly for moisture in the form of condensation. Water with the mist setting on a spritz bottle every few days, trying to avoid the leaves if possible. It's no big deal if the leaves get wet but the medium and the roots are the focuses here.


2. This one's hard to advise without photos. Either way, your cutting will probably not become root-bound by the time leaves appear, unless your rooting container is very, very small and you let it go too long.

Thanks Levar for the quick response.  I started rooting this batch around February 11.  They are left in a plastic shoe box with perlite and placed near a heat vent (from the furnace).  The temperature should be around 21C  (around 70F).  

I'll follow your advice and monitor their progress.

Thanks again,

Bill