I didn't look at the cuttings for over a week.  I was sad for a while, the house is so quiet without that little guy squawking his head off!  He had to be involved (or at least look like he wanted to) in everything.  If I was sitting in the living room while he was eating and decided to get up he would stop eating and run up to his porch (cage door opened down like a platform) so he wouldn't miss anything!  He was a character.

Back to figs, so I finally looked at them last night and oops! They got carried away with the roots!!!  Some of the new budded growth was starting to rot at the ends - no biggie - just pinched the rot off.  All of these cuttings were completely covered with sp moss, and there was very little rooting all over the cutting.  There was some on a LSU Purple so I cut it and potted 2 instead of one - that one is in the first picture the 3rd cutting from the left - it's a little bit crooked.

I have to admit I received some duplicate cuttings from different members - it's interesting to see how the cuttings root differently.  The cuttings in the pictures are Dessert King, It Honey and my own LSU Purple (for my hedge!)

I don't remember if I scraped, scored the bark, and I don't think I used rooting hormone - if I did it was a powder.  With or without the powder doesn't seem to make a difference with scoring  - I haven't noticed root growth at the score site - maybe I don't do it right?  That's OK, they seem to be doing OK with out it.

Nice. An explosion of roots. I hear you can graft roots to cuttings?

Congrats

Nice job

that's good set of roots :) last night i was looking at one of the cuttings in a cup and thinking "wow, i found an albino earth worm!" it was just a thick root circling around the cup. lol

Great roots JoAnn...you are definately on your way...good luck with all your fig trees...

That's a nice treat, Jo-Ann.
They say the best way to get over a loss is to give that love to a new pet.  Have you thought about raising another pet?  My parents lost their dog unexpectedly and it was one of the only times my Dad ever cried.  Within a couple of weeks, a coworker offered a new puppy and he says it definitely helped ease the pain.  Sounds like you're a strong woman nonetheless.

Nice root growth. Those will get your hedge off to a good start.

Great job! 

nice roots !

sorry for your loss !

Hey Jo-Ann thats the kinda roots im always talking about thats how I let mine get before potting them up I just plant them with the moss on them dont take it off and risk damage to the roots. Good job

Very nice roots. LSU Purple reproduces well.

I love the idea of a fig hedge and am planning on planting a few fig yearlings in a quasi hedge later today. 'Quasi' meaning filling in around the existing citrus row in front.


Sorry about your bird, Jo-Ann. One of my cats (the lovely Devil Boy) is a 'helper' whenever I work on the figs in the house. Sometimes I have to put him in the 'kitty gulag' (very comfortable room with all the kitty amenities) so I can continue.

Thanks everyone!

Jennifer - for now I'll leave that fancy stuff to Grasa - I love her pictures and experiments.  I barely have room and time for the cuttings now!  

Frank - I've been on the fence about another pet.  One day yes, one day no.  We got Dino the day after my sweet little Luna died - way too soon.  It was over a year after her death I could talk or think about her with out crying.  I never would have thought a bird could touch my heart in that way, they are amazing little creatures.  Besides, I don't think Glenn is ready for another one - since he is the one home all day (disabled) I have to put him first.

Tony - One reason to have a lot of roots is to give myself insurance in case i drop it or damage them in some way!  If I have 2-3 little itty bitty roots and I drop it, I might break them all, not as likely with this many ;)

Gina - sounds like your "Devil Boy" and Dino (monster/ dinosaur bird) were kindred spirits LOL.  That bird had to know what was going on. I like your "kitty gulag"  -  I might use that for a future pet.

So for now I have my cuttings to keep me out of trouble and to keep me sane, they are a nice diversion from the daily grind of life.  I have a couple of gardening ideas with them I'll start in a new post.

You bird reminds me of my dog, Patch.  He's a Malti-Poo.  I got him trained.  Everytime I get out of my easy chair, he jumps up and follows me.  If I go in the garage, he will run to the window and start barking until he sees me.  If I look around and say the words, "Who's that?", he goes bezerk, runs to the window and door growling, barking, and looking to see who's at the door!  I can go outside and point to an area and he would run to that area and look back for more instructions.  He's a hoot!

after my little sister's dog died back when i was school, i was a mess. didn't really want new dogs. didn't want to go through that again. but now i have new puppies.. it seems like they bring lot of new joys. maybe 'cause it's been so long. try to make them happy.. well.. almost happy, i'm getting tired of my hands getting shreddied by them. got them chew toys, but they like my hands better.. urgh..

Dennis - what a cute pooch!  It still amazes me me how much a pet can add to our lives.

Pete - you can try getting bitter spray to spray things you don't want them to chew - I watch animal planets Too Cute!  Puppies and kitty litters up to 8 weeks of life - Too Cute!!  And Dogs 101. 

We don't have a dog we both would love one but I don't think it is practical or fair for the dog.  I don't have a fenced in yard and don't see one in the near future.  The whole idea of taking it for a walk 3-4 times a day just doesn't fit in to our life.  That's what appealed to me about a bird - you don't take it for a walk!!  We even potty trained both of them to "go" on command - it worked pretty well but not 100%, the smaller birds are a bit tougher with the potty training, at least it is a small dropping lol.

I learned late after getting parakeets, that they don't live well in a kitchen where you cook on high heat with Teflon.  Evidently it emits fumes.  We would get a new one, go to sleep, wake up and find it on the floor of the cage with it's feet up.  This happened a few times before we realized birds didn't like us.  So then we went to gold fish.  There would always be a floater on top of the aquarium, and my boys would fight over who got to flush.  Then came the day that they got the brilliant idea to feed the fish their leftover milk.  This is murder to a fish.

Dogs did well.  I remember curing one with chicken noodle soup with a ton of garlic in it.  She wouldn't eat, but she lapped that up and was healed.  The Beagle and the Sheltie lasted a long time.  The kids are gone, and so are the pets.  Been there.  Done that!!

Not sure if I could love chickens, but I could love those fresh eggs.  Goats!  So cute, but what if they eat my fig trees and grape vines?  How do you teach them to eat weeds only?

Suzi

Pete - be sure to try to teach them a soft mouth now. Once they get their adult teeth in it is a lot harder to 'reset' their bite. Whenever you play with them and they are too hard on the skin, yelp and recoil like an injured puppy. High pitched. For most puppies, this will make them second guess their actions. If they don't get the clue, end the game and walk away after they bite too hard.

Another trick is to feed them by hand. One kibble at a time. Put the kibble between your two fingers and present. When they bite too hard, yelp and pull the treat away. Present again. Repeat this until they mouth it gingerly, carefully. THEN they can have their treat. This teaches them impulse control and the only way they get their treats is if they are gentle with their mouth. It usually takes a week or two of consistent 'bite training' before you start seeing good, solid progress.

Now is the time to do it, while they are young, so hop to it ;)

Jo Ann - your cuttings look great. I hope I can be patient enough to get a nice ball of roots like that before I plant mine up.