My season basically finished for figs, so a little bored until i have to put them away i cut some branch tips and put in rain water Sept 18 and some Sept 20th some are showing roots and some nothing .
One VdB AND NeroBC show roots forming.
Just having fun.

VDB



NeroBC

Martin, do you ever run out of ways to have fun with figs.
"gene"

Hi Martin.  I always wondered if that would work, and turns out it did.  Thanks for sharing this.

Just got back from Northern Indiana, not that far from Chicago, and despite the unusually warm weather lately, Fall did seem to be setting in for good this time up North.

And back in Georgia, we are seeing definate signs of Fall as well.

But not to worry, Spring and Summer will be here again before you know it.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

It does work, under the right circumstances. The bottom line is that figs can be rooted in a hundred ways, but there are varying degrees of success, and controlling the necessary factors is more or less difficult with various approaches. On the plus side, they are more willing to root than a whole lot of other things. Figs air-layer in a few weeks, whereas a lot of other things take months and months, and some don't work at all.

When a fig cutting grows roots in water like that, can it be successfully transferred to a soil situation?

I start all my cuttings in a bucket of rainwater for a few months, and then transfer them to pots of homegrown compost mixed with soil once they have enough leaves, and they all take.

Eeplox--This sounds very interesting. What kind of success rate do you get on the initial rooting in the bucket? Do most of them "take" okay? What length of cuttings do you use, and how much of that is under water? How long do you allow the roots to get before transplanting them to soil? And, do you have to do anything to increase humidity for the "in-air" portions? Any details you'd care to share will doubtless be of interest to many.

Ken, I use different methods for rooting cuttings and the "vase of water" is one of them.  I get 60-70% success with certain varieties such as latarolla and Brooklyn white.  Others like sicilian black for example have never rooted this way for me.  I take 6-8" cuttings in around 3-4" of water and wait untill I see a large root mass before transplanting.  Its a lot easier than doing the baggie method and constantly unwrapping the cutting to check for growth.   

I've tried this method before and also had mixed success. It can work with healthy green cuttings. I think that rot would be much more likely when trying to root fully dormant cuttings this way.

Growing up as a child this is how my grandmother always rooted parts of her fig tree for relatives and friends . I recall on Sunday visits vases of sticks filled with roots. Earlier i tried with more seasoned wood and it did nothing i do have a few sesoned branches similar age doing nothing.

At young age i ate my first fig off her inground tree in Chicago, on Sunday visits she would walk me into her garden patch and so forth and have fond memories as she taught me a lot even though i had to ask my older brother when he was with me what she said cause she always talk to me in Italian.
I share one memory when i used to get bit up from them pesky mosquito's in her yard she would put olive oil on the bites to stop the itching. I still do it as i dont like the bug spray stuff.

Martin, someone here mentioned putting fig sap on bites.  I've tried it on mosquitoes and fire ants bites and it does stop the itching, burning and the swelling.
"gene"

I don't get much in the way of roots with most varieties while they're in the rainwater bucket, but I get a lot of leaf and branch growth (and even tiny brebas). Should note that I always remove any leaves from the cuttings before I use them.

I get the kind of roots in the photo Dieseler posted. But then when I transplant the leafy cuttings to their pots, the roots grow rapidly until I have no choice but to put them in the ground.

My success rate is 100%, but I usually dispose of the slowest growers when I realise I don't have enough pots.

My cuttings are always small, from 8 - 12 inches. Around 70 % submerged in the water, and I have to constantly top up the bucket come spring because I live in a hot climate.

I don't worry too much about the size of the roots. I pay more attention to the top growth instead, and transplant to soil when there are enough leaves and green wood. My roots are about the size of the ones in the photo when I transplant, but there are a lot more of them.

I live in Cyprus, which is a very humid climate, so I have no need to increase the humidity. Otherwise, I'd just use a simple plastic bag like I do when I plant veg seeds.

I think my warm humid climate has a lot to do with my success rate, but the most important factor is the rain water. Mains tap water with all its chemical additives won't do, but I have used well water to top up when I lack rainwater.

Some varieties take quicker than others, but I've found that if I stick with it, eventually all my cuttings have taken. The ones that took quickest always grow much faster when they're in the ground too, while the slowest one (always a late maturing variety) might only grow a few inches the first year.

Hi Gene - John.
Gene i try to have fun with figs as i get bored at certain times of year mainly winter here which is around the corner it seems as of late. Oh i have heard about the fig sap and bites. 
John we got near each other ! I went east and then south thru Indiana this past weekend to Louisville for daughters Marching Bands of America competition and then around Elizabethtown .
Off to Mich soon.

Hello everyone. I am enjoying the thread. My baby fig trees are putting out suckers. The suckers are about 6-8 inches long. I really would like to root some of the larger ones. Would I be better off cutting them and placing them in the refrigerator until Spring  or going ahead and rooting them now? I am in New York and my house is only 60 degrees most of the winter. The greenhouse is unheated and fine for growing winter lettuce with remay covering but not figs. How would you handle this for best results?
Linda

Hi Linda,
you can use a wire shaped it like a "J" hook if the suckers are low enough and pin them to soil and cover mound of soil on top and keep moist, they will get roots and then sever and plant , do this when weather permits in your climate.

You can airlayer them if they are not close enough to ground also.

You can use them as scion and propagate them as well when the time is right for you .

Airlayer info can be found by typing in search its very easy to airlayer a branch.

Im sure others have idea's these are a few.