Hi, I'm getting Falls gold and Black Provence from Harvey C's fig cutting website, what is the best way to sprout them, or root?

If you asked 10 folks you may get 15 different answers as to which way works best for them. =) 

I've tried all of them.

http://seattlegardenfruit.blogspot.com/search/label/fig%20propagation

So far the lasagna method has worked well for me. I'm currently trialing the bag method

I am no expert, so when I started reading posts on here I had never had reliable success rooting fig cuttings or much else. Some rooted, many did not. I tried the newspaper wrap, lasagna style processes, etc. It wasn't until I found Jon's Uline bag post [ http://figs4fun.com/Rooting_Bag_New_Style.html ] that I could count the number of cuttings I was going to start and know the number of pots I would need once they all rooted. Discouraged by other methods, I had resigned myself to air layering only. Needless to say, that requires time and money to travel (at least twice) to make house calls on the mother tree -- often in other states.

Using Jon's Uline bag method has worked literally perfectly for me. That said, I am in a part of the world where things grow extremely well anyway (Southern California), so my beginner's luck might not transfer to your (anybody else's) situation.

It works particularly well with slender young cuttings but I've had success (eventually) with the thick sticks as well. I find that the thick stick cuttings, when rooted using this method, are particularly robust and are ready to go into the ground much sooner.

Off-topic:  CAGES !!!!  For years I had not experienced gopher / mole / vole? etc. problems with my fig trees. For some reason (we can pretend it's global warming if we're so inclined) many of my young fig trees have been killed by having their roots eaten. I had always provided the new fig tree plants with an above ground wire cage to protect them from rabbits, deer, etc., but I never had an under-ground destruction problem.  Now, I never plant any fruit tree without first lining the hole with wire mesh.  Needless to say, I don't use hardware fabric or anything with too tight a weave, as I want the roots to be free to go beyond the mesh. What I found that works really well (and is very cheap) is the rolls of paperless stucco wire. It rusts out in about a year or two and doesn't inhibit the roots from going wherever they want to go. By that time, the gophers may nibble a bit but they can't destroy the entire tree (so it seems to me). 

I think I'll post this as a new topic as well.

Ehhhh, I think I will stick with the bag method

Whatever you do, don't be afraid to cut the cuttings if they're very long with lots of nodes.  You can try the 2-node "backups" in coir or direct potting with loose potting mix.  The cuttings I got from Harvey were huge!

Hmmm, I will try damp paper towel method and soil method

If you take a look at the spreadsheet in my signature, it's a full list of what I'm working on--everything except for the Monticello Marseilles (my own) came to me as cuttings this past fall/winter.  Lots of experiments going on at my house!

I have bad results with zig bag with damp paper towel, in 4 weeks, 40 cuttings,  molded badly even with almost dry towel, no response at all, Good cuttings seems dried out.
By using those dried-out cuttings, Switch to Jon's uline bag method and cup with perlite for 1week, some cuttings response and buds start to open up, it looks like it will grow some leaves.

you need to find out which method work for you.

I suggest you read about Rooting,  there will be a lot of information here! Use the search bar and type in "Rooting" you will get a lot of hits and great information...You been a member here for 1 1/2 years??

I have had good success with layering in lfspm (in plastic shoebox). On occasion, the roots hang onto (grow through) some spm, which I find concerning. I plant it with the spm and that has not been an issue, but I am considering switching to coco coir because of this annoyance. On balance, though spm is very effective and I have >50 cuttings growing that were started that way this year.

Don't knock the common methods!

I certainly wasn't knocking any methods at all. I live in a very (very) dry area and FOR ME, Jon's Uline bag and perlite method worked well, as I have to water my cuttings a lot. Also, few things are as inexpensive as perlite and a bulk order of small bags from Uline. But if your methods work for you... great.  Far be it from me, a novice at such things, to suggest anybody follow my example.

I'm starting a small fig orchard in Ojai, California this spring and all of the trees are either air layers from unusual trees I have discovered or from cuttings using Jon's method.  As I believe I said before, the bag method yielded FOR ME a zero failure rate.

Ken, I wasn't targeting you, just saying the common methods are common for a reason.  Frankly, the method you mention sounds good and I am considering giving it a try.  What I meant was, "don't overlook the common methods."

I understand. No worries. Thanks for the clarification.

I don't do anything especially scientific. Stick the branches in the ground and wait -- like the old timers did it. I learned to propagate from my old Italian immigrant neighbors. Most of the cuttings take when you let them go naturally - no heat, no moisture control, no rooting chemical. Not all will take, so it doesn't work if you have a very specific cutting you want to root and only have a limited amount of that scion. When i put the cuttings in garden soil and just make sure they get water, usually about 70% take. It's a more laid-back method, but you don't get that 90%+ success rate. The method you use depends on what you are looking to do