Potted first cuttings received from Forum Members (thank you).
 
Desert King cuttings taken about 9/5/08. Received via mail 9/15/08. Moved to rooting media 10/2/08 with large initials and leaf growth. Roots visible in rooting container after 10/14/08. It is estimated that roots formed likely about 10/10/08 (5 weeks).
 
Unknown cuttings were taken on 9/30/08. Received via mail 10/02/08. Roots developed on first cutting 10/14/08 by 10/17/08 all 4 were rooted (2-2.5 weeks).

Steve, you seem very good at rooting and good for you!
It seems like they take long time for me although recently i was suprised at a hardy chicago how fast it started and another different piece of wood. But for some reason my EL Sal's for me is most stubborn one as i have some in glass of water, some in baggie method and 1 or 2 i forget in cups with potting soil. Interesting the hardy chicago that just rooted was just a stick stuck in potting soil in a cup and Bam! I recently moved most of the above to laundry room where its warmest in house with water heater and furnace and they sit on top of dryer which gets warm i'm curious if it will make a difference for me.
Martin

Thanks Martin. So far the Sal's isn't doing much at all but you did say they were touch and took some time. I'll just wait it out and hope for the best. I have to say, those Unknowns are very vigorous and all rooted up nice and easy.

Regarding increasing the heat on the cuttings, I found that they start making more leaves than roots if I get them up above 80 degrees (at least for my Bella Unknown). So around 70-75 was perfect. Good luck.

Oh ok 70 to 75 its probably 72 in house but down in lower level its a tad cooler but i will move them once in a while thanks. As for Sal's i dont know its tough for me i have rooted several in past but for me they took a looooong time , either way if it fails to do anything just let me know. Yes the unknown does root good for me, also i have another one from near bolonia italy from a friend i used to work with that seems like it roots easy as well but only gave me one ripe fig in 3 years of its life so next year might be its time.
Martin

I guess good things are worth the wait ... so I will give the Sal's time. Thanks again.

Steve,

The cuttings look great.  I'm curious, what are you using for your potting mix?

They look great Steve!  Im glad to see the DK's are working out :) They all look very vigerous..

Bradkairdolf - For the rooting mix, I'm using 50% vermiculite and 50% perlite. For the potting mix, it's 50% perlite and 50% potting soil (although I had some left-over potting mix that I mixed in that was equal parts turface, perlite, sphagnum peat moss and pine bark mulch). The left-over soil was from potting-up some more mature plants and has worked great for them. 

Kim - yes I'm glad the DK cuttings are doing well. I have one other that looks like it will make it. It has put out leaves but I do not see roots yet.

Thanks Steve,

I'm hoping to find some cuttings to try to root and your recent experiments have been great to watch and learn from.  Were these started the same way as in your rooting experiment (wrapped with a damp paper towel)?

Brad

I started to use strictly newspaper instead of paper towel and it seems to help in mold control. These cuttings were sent to me so I am not sure if they were cleaned with diluted bleach solution but everything else is about the same as in the experiment. Glad you are following "the experiment" - some interesting turns that were a little counter to my preconceptions (but it's still early).

Steve, the ones i sent were just sprayed and put in paper with rain water as i had stored some in 2 one gallon milk jugs. Actually im kinda afraid of useing bleach as i would probably do more harm to sticks than good knowing me.

I did find a big improvement in reducing mold by using the dilute bleach solution. On previous cuttings I got mold after about 2 weeks. Not so on the current batch in the experiment. Seeing initials in the first few days leads me to believe there were no ill effects.

Steve if you get a chance I would love to see some update pics of these! Would you rather have the new BT cuttings now or in Feb? Just let me know.

Kim, Good to hear from you. The attached is a pic from 11/9 of the potted fig cuttings. From left to right are:

1) the first Bella from the experiment, 2) Martin's Unknown, 3) your Desert King, 4) a crab apple seedling, 5) and 6) ar Martin's Unknown and finally 7) is the second Bella from the experiment. I'm running out of room in the window since a few more cuttings are getting ready for pots soon.

Steve ,
you sure have nice green thumbs, plants have done well. Your account of the cuttings was is most enjoyed.

Martin

Thanks for the nice comments - it helps when I'm feeling impatient with the cuttings. It's funny how impatient I feel when waiting for roots to develop, then get excited when I can move them to rooting containers. Then I get impatient again waiting for roots to develop enough for transplanting. Then I panic thinking about where to put them all. I guess that's what makes it all so fun!

Steve, we are the same there and i bet you many others here also!!!

Martin