Back when growing edible mushrooms inside the house, inside a 4-tier mini greenhouse, this Repti Fogger supplied air exchange and ample humidity so I don't see why it wouldn't work for cloning fig cuttings.  A brief search around google I see there are a few fogger cloners.  This one will attempt to make use of a ten gallon aquarium.  I want to be able and see what's taking place if this thing works lol...

 

I don't remember where the Repti Fogger was purchased but it was some online pet shop and was around $50 if memory serves.  It has an adjustable knob for fog density and flexible hose.

My sis gifted this aquarium a few years ago.  It has sat in the garage, never used.  Still have the styrofoam packing in the box.  Indention in the packing styrofoam makes it easy to cut out the desired piece by following the edge with a box razor.

 

Not sure what I will use to hold the foam discs that will hold the cuttings.  Perhaps the tops cut from small solo cups.  A grid was marked and holesaw makes quick work...

 

Four pieces of pvc pipe were cut to 7" for temporary supports while filling the small gap around the foam with silicone...

 

A couple of smaller diameter holes were cut to insert 3/4" pvc pipe.  One on the right is fog inlet set right below the foam.  One on the left (outlet) is set at the bottom.  Not sure why I did it this way, just seems right.

 

The lid still fits if we planned for the inlet/outlet and made sure they line up.  Had to hole-saw a bit for the outlet.

 

So sorry to end here for now while the silicone cures and I can get some other stuff gathered up. Fail or success, you all have a front row seat to the project as built.  Stay tuned. :) 

 

 That looks great!  very clever adaptation.  I cant wait to see how it works.

Hi Charlie,

You could shove 4 toothpicks into the sides of the styrofoam disks to hold them in place. Very cool set up.

Pretty neat idea and craftsmanship. I'll be keeping an eye out for these updates :)

I have to admit, for all the stuff you've mentioned in the forums, I was most impressed when I thought you managed to get them out in one piece. BTW, this week I'm planning on making a 3 gallon sifter with a bucket, some screen material, and a heat gun.

Aha!  I knew there was some dense foam rubber around here somewhere lol...

 

Wife happily donated some of her old flip flops.  This is perfect material for cutting holders.  Each has a razor cut from the center so one side opens...

 

All these foam rubber discs are now cooling after being steamed to sanitize and I'll spray them with alcohol just in case.  Now all we need are some small cups to cut and make rings for these and we can begin trials.  Brown Turkey has some nice lower limbs that are all new growth.  Isn't that supposed to be the most difficult to root?  May as well try and either win or toss and try some woody cuttings.  

Hey we have 36 holes.  Let's try both at the same time! lol 

Steaming has puffed up the rubber and made it softer, which is ok I guess lol...

 

There you go ladies, flip flop rejuvenation via steaming!  Cuttings vary in diameter so we can sharpen the end of any size copper tubing to serve as a plug cutter and customize the disc to the general cutting size.  I believe we want the cutting to be just a hair big so the disc can close snug around it.

 

Tomorrow we stick in some cuttings!  Fifty small solo cups for $1, some small scissor work and we have enough places fixed to get started.  Plugged half of the holes with cups for the sake of demonstrating the fig fog.  First showing the cut cup with foam insert...

 

The grid overhead view...

 

Fogger on...

 

Fog flowing out from top of outlet.  This may also be partly piped to flow into the upper chamber to help keep a bit of humidity there if there are green, leafy cuttings but mostly I believe we want the fog below...

 

Fog is thick after a couple of minutes.  Will have to play with the timer some to see how much fog is really going to be required...

 

That's all for tonight.  Feeling kind of foggy headed lol. Good night :) 

I had a mini fogger once that put out cold fog. Is yours cold? Great idea to get humidity up but what about heat? Maybe put a heat pad under the tank; one of the reptile sticky pads that you stick to the underside of the tank should heat things up. Just brainstorming...

Good morning :)

Brown Turkey is the only plant I have with enough new side limbs to afford any green cuttings. Shears and scissors were washed with alcohol.  The center holes in the foam discs are just the right size for these small cuttings.  Timer is set to run 15 minutes out of every hour.  The unit is by a window with shades closed.  Going to wrap the entire bottom with heavy duty foil so it's dark in the rooting chamber.

I notice the fog coming out of the outlet, some flows back into the upper chamber around the hole cut for the pipe and some scatters out.  This may be just enough for the upper chamber.  Will wonder about these all day.

If anybody has any cuttings of anything they would like to donate for the cause of this project, they would surely be appreciated! Variety doesn't matter to me.  If this works out and they root I would gladly send back one potted or forward on to whoever the giver would like to have it/them.

 

Your cutting will smell like feet!

Ha! Nice setup. Good luck!

Very nice, Charlie!  Can't wait to see future results.

Charlie,
Thanks for sharing the detailed pictures and build info of your project.

How will you be maintaining temperature of the cuttings in the fogger?
IMO, the two major requirements for successfully rooting fig cuttings are temperature (72*F - 78*F) and humidity (85% - 90% RH), when maintained in these ranges cuttings root quickly and have a higher success rate, regardless of the rooting method or medium.

Good Luck and please keep us updated.
 

Temperature in our home stays 72-75 F all the time.  They look the same this evening as this morning but I can already see a negative.  The fog is collecting on the inside bottom and pooling.  Never gave it a thought.  There is currently no way to drain this type of setup.  Is it bad?  I don't know far as having a fig negative impact but it will cause bacterial problems.

Hmmm.  Have to think awhile. 

I'm intrigued. . Very cool idea. Keeping humidity up along with a constant supply of fresh air. Water vapor removes heat from the air, so you may find its a bit cooler inside than your room temperature. If so, maybe put the whole setup in a warmer place?

How hard will it be to remove the foam for cleaning the bottom of the tank?

Great project.  I hope it works well.  If it's fog pooling, and not water maybe you can blow air through to clear it out.

There is no way to remove the foam for cleaning James.  It's water collecting Bob.

Main reason for doing this in the aquarium was to be able to see below.  All the cloners I looked at were made of plastic totes from Lowes with the square grid lid and EZ Clone inserts. Now I see I cannot see either.  The fog effectively covers the glass on the inside, like trying to shave in the mirror after a hot shower lol. 

Oh well.  This is how I learn not to do stuff.  It still may work so I will leave the cuttings in and just let it do its thing for awhile and see (NOT lol) what happens.  The little cups with foam lift out easy enough.  

Taken all these factors together I have a different setup in mind and likely cheaper and easier to make.

Oh I did cut the remaining large leaf parts from the BT cuttings and added a woody stem cutting from Mary Lane Seedless and covered the sides with foil.  These are all I will put in this model.

 

Stay tuned for new and improved. :)
 

This looks interesting.  I think their AIT is small soaker hose.  

That fella makes a very important point.  The quicker one can place green cuttings in water, the better.  I don't know fig specific but seems a cutting is a cutting far as embolism.  That's air entering the cut stem where the normal flow of water takes place.  Not so important in dormant cuttings, which is why I figure most take cuttings during this time.  It should not be any more difficult to root green cuttings of figs if embolism is prevented.

Although I really love to tinker and build, the KISS method is better than my usual projects if it works.  The deep water raft culture with ample aeration should work very well.  I think one of the black concrete mixing tubs with a sheet of styrofoam and simple air pump with a single section of soaker hose fixed to the bottom would work just fine.  No need for that AIT grid.  

Actually that looks just a small version of a waste water SBR (Sequence Batch Reactor) where the aeration is fixed at the tank bottom and causes the whole tank water column to roll when on and does a very good job of supplying dissolved oxygen. 

 

Ok back on topic figchuck lol.  Look really close.  See what I see?  Mary Lane Seedless already poking out roots?  Maybe new and improved can wait awhile. It hasn't even been 48 hours!  Don't see much on BT but this has me fairly pumped...  

 

  omgggggggggosh  it is rooting.    congratulations.   onward and upward ! 

Congrats .....keep up the good work

Charlie,
IMO, speaking objectively, swollen lenticels are often mistaken for roots, and if they are roots, that area of the cutting may have been in a moist environment (possibly under mulch) for a longer period before being placed in the fogger.
Please keep us updated, Good Luck.

<edit>
Sometimes swollen lenticels are mistakenly called roots. Usually they swell in response to high humidy and reduced air circulation. Also it may takes several weeks to develop roots, depending on the vigor of your particular cultivar.