So far it's only been a few cuttings out of many, but I'm not sure what's going on or what I can do when this happens. I have had a few cuttings grow fine in the bins. When they have decent top growth and I see a lot of good roots and feeder roots I take then out of the bin and leave them in a bright room, but not right in the sun. If they do ok there for a a few days I cover the cups and put them in a sunny window. I only water initially in the bin and when they come out I water as needed and sparingly. What's happened if a few cuttings where fine for days out of the bin. Then they wilt. This last one I had watered a title yesterday and it was fine. Today I noticed it wilted a bit. I misted it and put it back in the bin. I don't know what's causing it. It was a small twing cutting. It had good roots. I wondering now as I type if by watering sparingly if I'm not getting water down to the roots. Any feed back would be helpful.

If i am understanding the problem correctly it sounds like when you cover them up (and I am assuming you are using a cup or bag of some sort) and put them in the direct sun you are cooking them.

I'd try leaving them in the bright room (then step after your bin) but not on the window sill in direct sunlight for a month before hitting them with strong sunlight.

Try bottom watering them for a few minutes but let them drain well.

That could be it. It's only happened to a few out I many. The issue also I forgot to mention us that they don't usually recover. I have to say though it hasn't even been sunny since I put it near the window.

Your soil mix does not drain well and you used too much water.The soil is too wet and your cutting rot. You should take out the cutting, cut the rotten part and try to root it again. I saved cuttings this way.

The mix is mostly about 50% perlite. I just checked it when I got home and it seems to be perking up a bit. I do air out the bins regularly. I do not water the cuttings while they are in the bins. The only water this cutting got was yesterday and only every little. This cutting in particular is a very thin small cutting, maybe that has something to do with it. For the most part I have not had a issue even doing the same thing with cuttings of the same variety. It's just these few that just seemed to have an issue days after they have come out of the bins.  

The wood could be softer and losing more water than other cuttings with thicker bark. I would shuffle the wilty ones in and out of the bins to harden them, or put them in the bathroom for a while where humidity is a little higher.

My cuttings won't get any direct sun for quite a while, yet. I think that it might be a little to soon for a sunny window. But, I think that we all have lost cuttings that seem to be doing well and then suddenly die for no reason. Dan La talks about damage from co2 - I don't understand it well enough to explain it but you might do a search on this forum for more info. He does say that changing temps can be a problem and if your cuttings are near a window the temp may drop at night.

Yeah I have read the co2 stuff. I do put plenty of holes in the cups. Temp could be it too. The thermostat does go down at might and during the day when we are not home. That could be it as well. I guess to I should clarify the sunny window. It is a a table in an east facing window it only gets sun in the morning this cutting was at the back of this table not to close to the window and i put it there last night. It was mostly cloudy today as well. I wondering if even though it had good roots the top growth just was not as good as I thought.

I have had three out of over 100 cuttings do this. The other two were thicker wood. I guess though I can see this one just being weaker. I think I will leave it in the bin and hope it gets all the way better. Then leave it alone for a while.

Well, last year I used compost in my rooting mix and lost a lot of cuttings, so I can't count those. But I have lost cuttings that seem to be doing well and have been out of my bin for several weeks. I have made the mistake of putting them outside to early and the change in temp may have been the cause, the tips of the roots turn brown and then they wilt. It has nothing to do with overwatering. On the other hand, if I keep the cuttings in the fridg longer and just start the cutting in a pot outside in the spring I don't seem to have that problem. People can tell you how to root fig cuttings but I think that a lot of it just comes from experience. My first attempt at rooting cuttings was with the instructions for Dan's baggie method and I did pretty well - maybe 80% grew into little trees. But I have learned other tricks on this forum that are good, too.

Something else, although you may already be doing this, I take my cuttings out of the bin very slowly. I start by putting the lid on at a slant so that the corners are open for several days, then a little more open, then I put the lid on sideways so that both ends are open. The whole thing takes more than a week for me. I probably stretch it out longer than I need to but I just hate it when they die!

My two cents:

Based on what I've read, I would doubt that the sunlight itself is causing any problems.  We're talking a February sun only a couple hours a day (since east facing window, not south) and filtered through a window and on a cloudy day. 

Humidity could be an issue in a heated location. It is probably only 30 percent relative humidity, so the cutting and leaves will lose moisture to the air, particularly if a green cutting or new leaves.  Even if the roots look good, there might not be enough vascular action to replenish the moisture losses. 

Did you say that you are only having this problem on 3 out of 100 cuttings?  If so, I'd say you have nothing to worry about, and that your success rate is great.  Try to make as many observations as you can about the specifics of these vs the others.  For example, I have about 50 cuttings that are doing great, but one of them dried up shortly after I put it in into a 1 gallon pot.  One difference with this cutting is that the roots did not form from the bottom like most of the others, but a ton of roots came out near the top of the cutting.  I did my best to cover these roots with soil when I planted, but now I realize that they were just barely covered.  So yesterday I looked at them and they're all brown and dried out.  The top half inch of soil dried out, and that is where the roots were connected to the cutting.  So now I have a dry twig.  An opportunity to learn and make sure I don't make that same mistake next time.

Rob

That is a good point percentagewise. The only thing is it seems like its happening with varieties I only have a few of... The top growth was not as big as I would have liked, but it had been in the bin for a while so I moved it out. I guess though seeing some people mention the leave them in the bins a lot longer then I would have though was ok and they do ok. I might leave them in longer.