Thanks for keeping this topic alive for so long.  I just started some cuttings using a pair of methods.  We've got a humidity chamber with 4 cuttings done in this manner, and also inside the chamber are some plastic baggies full of damp sphagnum and the majority of the rest of my cuttings.  They're only in the chamber because I only have 1 heat mat.  We'll see how it does....I feel like I'm playing a dangerous game between humidity, heat, and mold.

Also, my setup is about 400x more ghetto-rigged than yours, but there are fluorescent lights on a timer, a heat mat, and a big old plastic tub...the essentials it would seem.  We'll see how it goes.  I just really don't wanna lose some of the cuttings I just got, and I've never rooted cuttings before :-/

Rich,

This has been a great post, thanks for putting the time and effort on all the questions.  One question that came up for me as I'm doing my homework on starting cuttings indoors

In the world of hydroponics there is a huge amount of discussion on color temperatures, types of bulbs and etc.  I haven't yet found anything on the needs of figs.

Are you using a standard T8 bulbs or a special grow bulbs? 

tk

Thanks

Plants propagated in the winter/ spring growing this summer




Plants just about to loose their leaves this fall. Pictured with your's truly.

This years plants and a couple Bill's SIPS we have all put away for a nice winters rest.

Amazing growth for 1 year old plants there Rich. Great job!
Tyler

Wow! Thats a darn good job! I had been trying your method & was able to get 3 out of 15 to root. Most molded but the 3 that rooted have really good roots. One cup is almost totally filled with roots in about a months time.

I took out the remaining cuttings, trashed some because they were too rotted and washed the mold off the rest. I put those into a homemade cloner. I figured since they were already moldy it's worth one last try to save them.

I have total faith in your process, I just think I'm doing something wrong. I somehow have too much moisture in there, hence the mold. I think I will try again later in winter.

Hi Jenn,

I've found that if the perlite has too much dust or too small of perlite particle it will retain too much moisture if watered frequently. What I have available in my area tends to be that type of perlite. If you can find a good course perlite you won't have as much issue with rotting because it won't hold that much moisture. What I have to do with the finer grade perlite I have is after I water the cup initially and let the excess drain out I only water again once I can see that its actually drying out (usually the top half of the cup only after about a week or so in the bin). You get a good idea just by the weight of the cup what moisture level it has and you can see the condensation level on the side of the cup.

Tyler

Thanks Tyler, I will keep that in mind when I get more cuttings & try this method again.

Nice 1 year plants, Rich!  And a helpful tutorial that could allow more folks to have fig jungles like yours...thanks for documenting.   Did you allow any fruit to develop on your 1 yr olds?

Rich,

I looked through this thread but I never found this question:  At what point do you start seeing roots from your cuttings in the cups? 

It's easy enough for me to check my cuttings in sphagnum (disappointingly, might I add), but I don't mess with the perlite cuttings.  Of the cuttings I'm trying to root, I've got the ones I'm most excited for in perlite trying to imitate your setup as closely as possible.

Rich:
        I just wanted to tell you that my very first "twigs to figs" was started today as an experiment on my rooting ability while using your method.  The cuttings that I am using are from my families unk dark fig and another unk Italian white fig that someone in Orange,N.J.  gave to me last week. Half of them were treated with rooting hormone and half without just to see if there is a big difference.  Thanks for a great tutorial of your method and Ill be sure to post  the results.

Rich, I am trying your propagation method on a smaller scale.  I rigged up a chamber that will hold 6 quart deli containers, sitting on a heat mat.  Temps inside are hovering about 82 degrees and leaving the 24" shop light on for 16 hours a day.  Hope to learn enough over the winter to have some viable plants survive come spring.  Thanks for the instructions.
 

wow will give it a try ,im new to growin figs this will be my first year
going to get  some cuttings from e-bay

Really struggling with this method right now.  Basically, most of my figs rooted, many rooted well.  When I see roots on the sides of the cups (good roots) I take the cuttings out, and continue the process outside of the humidity chamber.  Except, the entire setup is too dang wet in my opinion.  Here's a few notes:

1) Roots reaching the side of the cup where there is condensation is an instant death sentence...many roots turn brown within a few days, and continue to deteriorate until they are thoroughly rotted.
2) I've noticed a pattern with several rooted cuttings now...I take them out of the humidity chamber, I water them with really dilute fertilizer (no urea in it) or water (after I was worried about fert burn), and within 24-48 hours their roots turn brown and shiny, the leaves drop.  I unearthed a couple that this happened to and the beautiful root system that it had developed was completely rotted out. 
3) The cuttings that I don't water at all seem to do the best.
4)  Within the humidity chamber, I've had many cuttings that, after several weeks in perlite, I dumped out to have a look at.  Most of them had sent out tiny root nubbins that had turned brown and rotted at between 1/4" and 1/2".  I don't give them much water (once every 8-10 days I give them a TINY bit).  About 1/2 of these I actually started in sphagnum, then potted up to perlite when I saw roots.  Seems the saturated perlite was an instant death sentence to the roots.

Am I missing something?  Even the ones that have good root systems die the second I give them any liquid (step 7 in the process).  I'll be lucky to get 20% of my cuttings to survive at the rate I'm going.  I'm going to try to stick this process out, but I've killed 3 cuttings that had been doing great when I pulled them from the humidity chamber and watered them, with a 4th and 5th going down the crapper currently.

Brett,

I have noticed that since sifting the perlite to remove the small particles the cups do not retain much moisture at all compared to before. The cups weigh half as much as the others. I noticed that if you put a cutting in the cup and fill with unsifted perlite from the bag and water it that all the fine particles/dust will settle on the bottom half of the cup which can result in the bottom of the cutting rotting. So I would either sift the perlite... or rinse it separately before putting in the cups. Rich must have a higher grade perlite than what I have available here :(

Tyler

I did my best to presift using a colander.  Worked well to get rid of the dust and smallest particles.  Strangely, the ones with finer perlite are actually doing better.  Less condensation on the sides and less root death.