Hi Nelson, looks like they are doing well. Don't worry about top growth, you want the cuttings to concentrate on root development now. The top will burst out later when there are sufficient roots to support it. Good Job!

Thanks Tim you are absolutely right I dont want the top growth to burst now because that will rob the energy to the roots I have poked a few holes on the top cup to keep the temps lower up top hopefully that will slow down the top growth and the focus its energy on the roots. Worked for me in the past

Hey Nelson
there looking better and better your rooted little ones.
I also used those type of plastic bottles last season when i rooted several santa cruz dark scion , be careful trying to get them out i cut mine open with a razor plate and still had hard time as the mix was not real firm because i wanted the roots to penatrate easily and grow. I even tried to tip bottle over and slide it out but the soil because of to much perlite wanted to seperate , when i cut ope it did it anyways but they grew into nie plants luckily . If there is a next time for me i will use less perlite but i think im buying scion and rooting them.
Yours are coming along nice !

Hey Martin, I have done it a few ways using these pop bottles the best thing is to add perlite at the bottom to even out the bumps, obviously I only remembered that after I had the cutting and mix in there but have done that way in the past with great results. I have to say though the more perlite I mix with the soil the easier it is for me to remove the cuttings after, because the mix just falls apart. When I use these pop bottles I always cut them in three places straight down to the bottom then peel it back a bit like a banana and cut the plastic off all the way around and then just pick it up by the little bit of plastic at the bottom and tip it slowly into my hand has worked great for me so far. But 1.5L water bottles or cups with flat bottoms are the best and easiest.

Yes the flat bottom ones are the best !

Ok so 3 weeks into it and we have 5-7 cuttings with roots the other 2 that I talked about before still the same no roots or root initials yet.

This is Bebera Branca #3

Looking good Nelson,

Two cups coming up Huh!

Cecil the funny thing is that these three that have rooted was one long cutting that I cut into 3.

Cutting #1 this was the top part of the Cutting & is still in the lead

Ok got a quick question my cuttings that are showing good root growth are leafing out and its hitting the dome wich has holes in it, should I remove the dome gradually or can I just take it off?

Nelson,

Unless the humidity is really low because of maybe the central heat in your office taking out the RH I would take the cups off the top, maybe leave them off for a couple hours, then cover them again!
Then do it again for 3hrs, etc,etc!

That is how I do it, others might have better Ideas???

Hi Cecil the temps in here are between 70-80 humidy usually 55-60% atleast thats what my thermometer reads how accurate it is im not sure. In the past I have punctured holes every couple days and eventually just reomed the dome its worked 50/50. All the new leaves that are growing and touching the dome seem to be shreveling like the others have in the past. I guess I will try it your way and see how they react.

The little leafs should not touch the cup!
You are right, they will surely rot!

I think if it was me, I would remove the cup and watch the leafs closely.

Cecil this morning I took the dome cups off and instead put big ziplock bags over them and cut the corners off. I will take the bags out during the day for a few hours and then put them back on for the next couple days and see how that works out. I took some pics today just need to upload them to photobucket.

That is good thinking!

I'll bet they make it now!
Good luck.

Thanks Cecil

Bebera Preta- the other one is just starting to break bud



Bebera Branca

Hi Nelson
i love looking at pictures and you post em !
Keep eye on roots and watering is all i can suggest and i know you are cxertainly doing that each day!
Kepp us posted and pictures coming like a long frieght train.

Thanks Martin yup I have definately been keeping an eye on the roots today was the first time I misted some water on the surface since I started them three weeks ago. I have lots more pics just need to get them sorted out first right now 5 out of 7 are rooting and looking healthy for the time being.

So today I decided to switch the two Bebera Preta cuttings into 1 Gallon Pots. Today is the 24th Day since I received the Cuttings

Heres some pics of the roots of Plant #1



Heres pics of the roots of the #2 cutting



Now what I did was put layers of soil and then sprayed each layer with a squirt bottle wasnt sure how much water it needs at this point and was scared to kill the roots. Is that good enough or should I lightly water them?

Nelson,

Careful, careful careful with the water right now, you can drown them easily at this stage........I KNOW

I think I will use an old ink refill syringe to water my little plants like you have there, that way you can get the water down to the root level without having to soak the top enough to get water to the roots.

Others might do it differently, they can always chime in if they think I have gave some wrong advise.

Thanks Cecil I will just let it be like this for a couple days then stick my finger in the soil and see how dry it is. Last thing I want is to kill them now

Great looking picture Nelson and some great looking roots. This has been a learning session for me. Keep up the good work and the best of luck with the rest of the project. I want to see figs next year.

Thanks Gene this was the first time I used a heat mat on fig cuttings and so far I cant complain, I had these two cuttings that I poted today and the 2 Bebera Branca cutting that were also the first two to show roots out of the whites. Would be nice to get some figs next year, who knows anything is possible.

GO Nelson!!!! I leave mine in cups longer so that when I transfer them, they come out soil & all and right into gallon pots.  That way the roots aren't disturbed. I'm not saying you did anything wrong, just what worked for me. If you asked 10 different fig nuts, you'd likely get 10 different answers.They're looking great!

Cecil, you always give good advice! I swear them thumbs are turnin' green.

Thanks Tim , when I use smaller cups I do leave the cuttings in the cups allot longer the Cups I used now are huge no Idea where they came from but they are 9"tall and the bottom is 3" top 4" diameter the cuttings I have in the regular sized cups I will leave another 2 weeks alteast. Anyone ever use Cactus Soil? I used it on one of my Capelas cuttings just to see if there is any difference.

Do a search for cactus soil. I think Sue posted one time about using it, but I don't know the results. It's light,airy & drains well---sounds like it would work to me.