I bought 3 fig cuttings off Ebay (exotic fig from North China). I received them and bagged them on Feb.26th. I treated them all the same. They were side by side in the bag and then in the humidity chamber. Here's how they look today.

 

Baby fig is finally showing mold so I can write it off. Momma fig is finally showing roots so I can up pot it. And, Poppa fig is looking ready for up potting too. It's been a sharp lesson on growing figs, and about not obsessing over things I can't control.

Losing 1 out of three isn't too shabby. If those cuttings were sent to you from China, you might want to keep them isolated for a while. If you search around this forum, you'll find reports from people who bought plant materials from out of the country. Many months later, some people have received visits from the USDA who will come confiscate the trees. If I were you, I would make sure the ones from China are clearly labelled so that if you do get a visit, the inspector will only take the ones from China and not confiscate every fig tree in sight. Sorry, don't mean to be discouraging. I know most people who order plant materials on eBay assume that if it were illegal, it would not be on eBay. Hopefully you are not on their radar and we will get to see your exotic Chinese figs by this time next year.

No, they're not from China. They're from a tree in NY, and presumably, it's from China. The seller is a member of this forum. He has a good sized setup and he sold a lot of sets of these cuttings at $5 a pop. I've got to think he handled them in bulk and didn't treat them different. So, why did they grow so different for me? I'm wondering if any other buyer had the same experience, or has gotten a fig off one to taste yet. The little thin cutting died. If the big thick one had been the one to thrive there was a ready made conclusion to jump to... but. It's hard to do science if you can't isolate factors.

2 out of 3 is pretty good fig rooting in my book.

As for trying to make sense of it, I have tiny cuttings that rooted and big thick ones that rotted. Some cuttings are just more viable than others.

I'm looking at putting one in the ground and keeping one as a potted backup so I'm happy with two. I'm trying to figure out the best way to grow them too, and this has shown me that it's not all that simple. I see these claims on the forum that "I just do this and get 99% success" and I've got to wonder.

I up potted Momma. She doesn't have much roots but looks happy and healthy, just months behind. She's been by a window getting a little afternoon sun so I'll move her out to harden off when she's had a couple of days to settle in to the new soil mix.

if it's the same variety, one out of three rooted equals to 100% success in survival formula. you have two rooted  (is it 100+ % success) ;-/