Here is a shot of my new cuttings.  I received these from someone in my town who has a tree from northern Italy.  He doesn't know what kind it is though.

Hopefully the cuttings will root like this.  I soaked the sphagnum moss for a day and then squeezed the excess water out. 

Question:  Should I open the clam shells and mist the moss after a spell?

I am expecting some cuttings from UC Davis but don't remember when they are supposed to arrive.  If someone could fill me in I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Cassandra

I think, given the container, that the moss will hold moisture - personal opinion.

If you can open the container, and stick your finger in the moss, and have your finger come out dry as a bone (i.e. absolute zero water transfer), then I would say you should mist it.

The biggest mistake people make while rooting is overwatering.  Remember, these sticks have zero roots.  No roots means no significant need for water.  Please keep this in mind while rooting.  Humidity is important.  Direct water is not, until you have a strong root system.

Ps - that is a unique rooting system.  I like it.  Very adenturous.  Lots of moss required, but I guess it can be re-used, so .... very cool.  Thanks for the pics!

Cassandra around  2nd to 3rd week in March .

When I have more cuttings I will be stingier with my moss.  Wasn't sure how much to use but judging by your comment I can get by with much less when my UC Davis cuttings arrive.

Thanks to both of you.

Cassandra

Hi Cassandra ,
I root cuttings in Sphagnum moss also and never have to add moisture. Soaking the moss for a whole day has been key for me getting good results. Usually I put the whole cutting within the moist atmosphere of the clamshell container. My cuttings tend to be in the 6" to 8" range mostly so they fit well in one of those bakery type clamshells you might get fig squares in , though I mostly use 13x8 plastic shoebox containers or whatever food storage container is closest to that size at the dollar store. Just as with the cuttings rolled in slightly damp newspaper in the baggie method , I leave the bottom half inch of the cutting exposed so you can see when the roots form and don't have to extricate the roots from the long fiber moss. Also if using tip cuttings , I leave the very tip exposed.
Use enough moss to keep the cutting off the bottom of the container and use enough on top to just cover well.
I think you will be very happy using Sphagnum moss.
Good luck with all your rooting.
Best,
Kerry

I'm no expert but i think that there may be a possibility that the cutting could dry up I've tried something similar
I put some cuttings in cups with the tops exposed and they dried up on top and rot in the bottom
unless the humidity is high a lot of the moisture from the stick will evaporate
i would put those containers in a bigger container to hold the humidity around the cutting
I could be wrong but I didn't have any luck with the wood exposed
 
Good luck Casandra
Hope they root well for you

Hello Cassandra,

Last year was my first season rooting dormant fig cuttings. But I certainly learned alot from the folks here. I also learned alot by trial & error - with alot going on in the 'error' department :-} ! I now know MANY ways to NOT root ctgs - (thank you Mr Eddison).

By season's end last time I had really taken a liking to using sphagnum moss. This is also what I am using from the start this season.

Would you mind if I point out a couple of small details that would have me worrind in using those containers in the way you are? My first thought is that they could begin to dry out with the tips exposed to the air that way. My after thought is - maybe not since they are moist on the root end. Just something to consider.

The other thing to consider is, if the ctgs start to put on any buds before they have enough roots, you could break off the valuable buds when trying to remove them from those containers.

It would be interesting to see your experiment through as it is, but we also hate to see people's cuttings fail. So, it's really up to you if you wish to change anything. 

I did use some pastic containers, much like yours, last season. But I also used containers large enough for the ctgs to fit in completely. Yet I still ended up primarily using  large zipper bags - 1 to 2 gal size.

I eventually settled on finding a way to clearly mark each ctg individually as well. This way I could put multiple varieties in one bag without concern of mixing them up.

At start of this season I went to Wally-World & got some of those paint based markers found in the crafts dept. They're called Painters & I've found the 'fine point' ones to be the most useful when marking small pieces of sticks like this. They work very well, seem to be water resistant at the very least, and the paint dries faster than nail polish. So, overall, they seem to be ideal for our use. 

I may not have found these great little 'painters' if it weren't for the suggestion from Jason - Thanks dude!

May your cuttings grow into delicious fig trees Cassandra! 

Hmmmm.  It's not too late to switch my strategy and use a baggie to contain the whole cutting.  I think I will do that today.  I wasn't sure about leaving some out or not.  Sounds like it's not a good idea.  Glad to have this board as a resource!  Thanks to all.

Cassandra

Here is "First Attempt Chapter 2".  I have all three in the bag.

Hope this succeeds... I can't go crawling back to the guy for another cutting after having killed the first.

Stay positive!   I think you're doing fine.  We all find our way, hang in there!

Looks good Cassandra.

Be patient & keep asking questions. The folks on this forum are just great about sharing their knowledge.

In a few days to a week you can check the ctgs for progress by gently dumping the whole bag out on some newspaper. Be careful to not allow those new roots to be exposed to the air for even a minute. I found out the hard way that it takes almost no time for them to dry out - irrevocably. I got in the habit of draping a damp paper towel over the root initials until I got them in a pot. 

After inspecting your cuttings you can re-pack the ones that don't have roots on 'em & check them again in a few days. 

I had one variety of ctgs put on a good number of roots within about 7 days. Most take longer and some take much longer.

So you must not be too far north of where I am Cassandra. I'm in west KY.

Cassandra ,
One thing I like about using the solid containers, like plastic shoe box,for the cuttings in moss,is that you can quickly check on root formation by just removing the lid. The bottom half inch of each cutting is visible so you can see if the roots are the size you like for potting up. If not just snap the lid back on. They stack on each other nicely , so can fit in a fairly small area.
Depending on the thickness of my cuttings , I usually fit 6-12 cuttings in each container. You can put in multiple layers to fit more in,but I don't usually bother to do that , I just use another container.
Good rooting luck,
Kerry

Has anyone tried just laying the cuttings on top of some sphagnum moss in a sealed bin?  Or maybe making a 'sphagnum sandwich' with two sheets of moss?

saxonfig - I'm right in the middle of IL.  Harsh long winters here compared to KY.  I'm ready for it to be over.  Was thumbing through seed/plant catalogs tonight.

drivewayfarmer - You wouldn't happen to have a picture would you?  I think I have the idea but want to see.

Cassandra

Jason ,
That is the idea , a "sandwich", really a cuttings "sandwich" with the layers of moss being the "bread".

Cassandra,
I have been meaning to learn how to post pictures,but I bet someone else would be able to post a picture before I would get to it. I'll try to get to it though, got to learn sometime. Now where did I last see that camera of mine ?
Kerry

That's ok.  I think I can come up with something that approximates it.  I'll have plenty of cuttings to experiment with in March.  I suppose I could cut some off of my own trees also.

I have to be careful not to accumulate too many plants.  I would love to give some away but people around here have never tasted a fresh fig and are leery of them.  They are right up there with prunes in the minds of midwesterners.  They also think of Fig Newtons... I don't even like Fig Newtons.  Anyway, I get funny reactions when I offer plants.

Cassandra you hit it on the head about folks here in our state.
Unfamiliar neighbors and folks in cars see all my trees on driveway and wonder what im doing.
I have had a few stop and ask questions , some neighbors on block ask what im growing and then late in season say here taste this and they go wow thats real good.
Man across the street from Pakistan ( long story) when we met could not figure out how to start his pull string lawn mower and soon we became friends and he instantly recoginzed my trees in summer that year and begged to taste them when ripe.
I'll stop there on not carry on.
Anyways yes for some reason they relate them to them awful to me anyways fig newton bars i call them.
Im lucky i suppose as i grew up and around fig trees or i may have thought the same.

Hope pics come thru.
Thought they would come as thumbnails.
Best I can do for now to show the cuttings in plastic shoebox.
Wish I were not such a Luddite.
Best,
Kerry

Hey it worked ! I learned something !
Oh , this could be dangerous , I may start posting all my fig and gardening pics. Somebody stop me.

Great job and very helpful too.  This helps me see how much moss is actually needed and that there can be airspace in the box.  I would have stuffed the box full.  Being a newby, I also would have thought that the exposed part would not grow roots but... live n learn. 

Looking forward those pix

Thanks for teaching me a new word too.  Luddite.  I'm just learning all kinds of things here.

The newspaper ziplocks method working pretty well for me. But it was annoying seeing mold in there occasionally so i tried some other stuff just to experiment.

I tried moving a few from the ziplocks that at least had green budding growth but no roots yet to see what would happen. I put them directly in perlite mix (80%perlite rest potting mix) in the 'alternative' plastic cups inside the plastic storage box as some peeps do(which would have been step 2 from the ziplocks). But it seemed like the top fizzled out and dried up even though the humidity seemed pretty good. I cheated and looked inside the cups and the cuttings didn't have root initials mostly. Other peeps seem to have better luck... So I put some of those back in newspaper and they eventually responded well and caught up to their newspaper buddies, and also put some back in the ziplock with spragnum moss (with the ends sticking out like newspaper method). The sprapgnum ziplock method seemed pretty good, but more messy than the newspaper (more chance to break off roots pulling off the moss as transfering it out ). I also learned my lesson that it would be good to get even bigger ziplocks as the ends sometimes are a tight fit or I'll buy some of those Uline bags to try that method next year.

Some remaining ones I tried keeping in the alternative cups but a little different experiment and they rooted... I put perlite mix covering bottom, moist spragnum moss in middle, and perlite mix on top. My thinking was the roots will grow in the perlite and work their way up which you would be able to see ... The Spragnum moss in middle traps moisture between the other solid layers for the cutting without getting too wet more effectively, and also a plus as you can see much more clearly the amount of moisture on the sides. Anyway once i saw roots develop in the perlite bottom layer and reach towards the top, I just dug the moss out and replaced with perlite mix, and I can see roots are now growing through that. Will try a few more like this.

Anyway got 6 cuttings rooted, and a few more on the way. yay.