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First fig grow!

Today I received a box of cutting from  vito12831 who was kind enough to give me my first cuttings.  Thanks a ton Vito!


Figs from Vito:
2x Dark Portugal 
2x California brown Turkey
2x UCD 184-15
2x UCD 337-3
2x UCD 187-25
2x Marselies
7x "'Pipo' large pear shaped green fig"

In researching propagating figs from dormant cuttings it seemed there are two schools of thought.  Most folks on this forum suggested Jon's bag method, most non-forum sources I found suggested using long fiber sphagnum moss in a humid chamber.  I divided my cuttings in half and am trying both!

These cuttings are in moist moss and will stay in a dark spot at room temperature sealed in this plastic box.


All of their relatives who didn't go in the box go in an 80% perlite 20% organic vegetable compost blend in clear cups (so I can see the roots!)  I added some holes to the cups for drainage and buried the cuttings in, then they will sit out on my north facing deck.




I picked one average cutting from the sphagnum moss group and one from the perlite mixture group to test rooting hormone with.  This picture is a scored cutting pre-hormone dip.  We'll see how they fare against their hormone-free relatives!


update 4/11/12
Today I received cuttings from northeastnewbie
4x Red Sicilian
4x Brunswick
4x Benillo
4x Stella
Since I have 4 of each species, I'll do one of each in the sphagnum moss, sphagnum w/ rooting hormone, perlite mixture, and perlite mixture w/ rooting hormone.  However I took the time on all 16 of these to shave a little bark near the bottom to expose green (and two of them I split the bottom in quads instead.)  

Also, the lone Pipo that was in the sphagnum bag w/ rooting hormone developed a little cobweb mold.  Super bad sign.  I washed it off and placed it in new sterile sphagnum moss in a new bag.  It is quarantined alone.

Of the whole 35 I put 2 of them into a cloning chamber with other plants.

Update 4/26/12
We have roots!  So far cuttings with root hormone are outpacing those without.  Interestingly, though, the roots are not occurring on the spots where hormones were applied like most plants.  

This Benillo has grown roots on more surface area than any of my other cuttings so far.  This one is hormoned in sphagnum moss, I received it 15 days ago.

This 187-25 is in sphagnum moss with no hormones, and I received it 18 days ago.

This bundle of Pipo is also in the group received 18 days ago and is in moss w/ no hormone.  Two of these three have rooted, the bottom one clearly outpacing the other two.

California Brown Turkey from a local nursery
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Happy Easter! Looks like a project. I've done the same thing by default and have no clear winning method. I just used what was available at the moment. I have had two chamber boxes side by side, with the same kind of cuttings from the same source. In one, all three took off; In the other, no success. Overall conclusion: still fun. I am looking forward to more fun - having enough to share figs , trees and cuttings.

Good luck!
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Interesting.  Was there any evidence of mold in the non-rooting box?  Did it have more light exposure, less heat?  What do you think happened?
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I have the red Sicilian also from northeast newbie and it is an A+ fig!!!!!!
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Originally Posted by will
I have the red Sicilian also from northeast newbie and it is an A+ fig!!!!!!

 

Glad to hear it. I recently purchased some Sicilian Red cuttings from the same source and they are the only cuttings I've tired to start thus far that just aren't doing much. Hopefully they'll perk up. It was a variety I had really wanted and I'll be disappointed if they don't take.

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All of the cuttings I got from northeastnewbie seemed very healthy.  I will say though that his brunswick are very thick.  

Today we moved all of our cup cuttings into a humidity chamber to prevent them from drying out while rooting.  I was partially inspired by the pics on your thread Gina.
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We have roots!   See updated pictures!
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Have not gotten around to updating this for awhile, but here is the quick summary.


All of the figs in the boxes/bags with sphagnum moss did better than the figs using the cups.  The cups had about a 1/5 survival rate from cutting to live figs.  The figs in the boxes/bags had 9/10 survival.  

Cuttings with rooting hormone also dominated those without.  While the groups with and without hormones had an equal survival rate, those with hormones rooted much faster and with far more roots.  

Half way through the experiment I changed potting substrate.  At the beginning I used organic vegetable ready soil mixed with perlite.  Not long after I read another forum suggesting a 2:1:1 pine bark, organic manure, perlite mixture.  Root production skyrocketed after the switch, and freshly rooted cuttings that were being planted for their first time also grew much faster and stronger in the 2:1:1 mix.

From my experience with my first cuttings it seems to be the best combination for successful and vigorous rooting is to use rooting hormone, and to use moist (not wet) long fiber sphagnum peat moss sealed in an airtight container and placed in a dark location that stays at or right below room temperature that is opened daily for air circulation.  I also highly recommend 2:1:1 pine bark/manure/perlite mix.
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