Hi all
Really struggling here to keep my rooted cuttings alive. Rooting cuttings i have found to be very easy! but keeping these damn things alive are starting to be a struggle now after 2 months in the humidity box. Ive already lost 2 and couple others have limp leaves and then i have a whole bunch with roots only no leaves after 2 months. I am pretty sure its due to over watering. Past 3 weeks now i have only been watering bottom up once a week! Because they are in a humidity box should i not water at all and just look for signs they need more water?? if so what are the signs? do i need to cover my clear plastic pots so the roots are not burnt?
i dunno any help will do...about to chuck the lot in hahaha

thanks

My experience is if the mix they are in drains well enough they can be watered regularly. I have more troubles with mine drying out.

Agreed with Steve.  Use a well-draining medium and a container with good drainage holes, then water some every day or two.  Once a week bottom up is not a lot of water unless the medium is very dense.

Personally, I'd remove the humidity cover as soon as you see roots.  Make the roots do their job.

Roots without leaves after 2 months is not unusual.

My thought is that perhaps you're keeping them more than necessary in the humidity box.
I don't use your method, but use a similar approach by using a self irrigating pot and covering with a clear plastic top hence creating a greenhouse effect.
As soon as I see leaves and signs of growth, I usually remove the cover and leave them do their thing but making sure that the reservoir at bottom is always full. I don't water cuttings from top.
Just an observation. The time of year is also important. Cuttings rooted in winter might take longer to root and are more sensitive to overwatering and humidity than spring and summer cuttings. Sometimes a cutting starts fine and then for no apparent reason dies. I've done it before, but rarely always get 100% success when rooting cuttings.

thanks for all the input everyone
i have slowly lifted the lid a bit and will remove it after a few days and review the soil mix

@Sas: so do you put a dish / saucer under each of your cutting cups with a bit of water? so the cups are sitting in water all the time? i guess i can do this as i have the cups all on a foil tray so it doesnt dirty the heat mat

TC,
I use Self irrigating pots with reservoir at bottom, similar to these below. The larger ones work better, as the frequency of adding water to bottom is less.
I might initially cover the top with a clear plastic cup with a hole in it to allow some air circulation, but on many occasions did not do it and still succeeded.
I don't use mats, heaters or anything else. Just leave undisturbed near a sunny window at around 72 degrees F and it does the job.
I guess a tray would do the same thing, but if in the house watch out for gnats.

ahhh k
wont be able to do that at the moment. Its winter here and overnight even inside the house will be really cold, probably 35f to 40f on really cold nights...open plan double storey house so retaining heat kind of sux

k i wont put them in the tray of water. I didnt think keeping the bottom roots constantly in water would be a great idea. Ill just try and better gauge their 
water needs which hasnt been a great track record at the moment haha

If in a 1 gallon pot, I water around the edges and let it wick into the root zone, with just a little water applied right at the cuttings. The cutting was rooted in some for of moist environment, cup bag, etc.  So continued growth in a moist environment wth some access to nutrition is all that is needed. air in the root zone is just as important as water.

I agree with everyone else about the soil mix. I use 50/50 soil and perlite. That way it never stays to wet and drys out quick.

pictures would help

I think I took the lid off too much too quickly. Lost some big leaves which I guess the cuttings were not ready to support. I guess that's one big down side with humidity box.
Not sure what pic I could provide as the ones gone are in the fig cemetery now. Hopefully some will come back to life in spring.
But from reading people's comments here and fb it does seem like it's the media, humidity box and over watering.

How long do you all grow the cuttings in the clear cups?? Was thinking maybe I've left them in there too long and the light kills off the roots which means they can't uptake the water and end up rotting? They seem to do fine and then turn. I've had alot of these in clear cups for over 2mths now with the setup next to a big window.

I'm not a fan of the humidity bin at all for this reason. I pre-root and burry up to the last node or as far as I can into Pro Mix HP. No bin at all.

I've read that some people weigh the pot to make sure they do not over water. I believe this is a last resort when things start to turn for the worse. Never tried it but should work.

Simple but effective.

-I drill several holes in the bottom of a 12 oz plastic cups

-Fill the cups with moist (not wet) coco coir (don't pack in the coir, it needs to be fluffy). I tap my cups on the table to settle the coir.

-Freshly cut the bottom of your cutting at a 45 degree angle about 1/4 inches below a node with sharp knife (I use a clever and a mallet)

-Use a sharp tool to hollow out a hole in the coir for the cutting,  dip the bottom cut into honey and put it into the hole so the bottom of the cutting is about 3/4 inch above the bottom of the cup, then use a sharp tool to tuck in the coir in around the the cutting

-I set my cups into a tray with about 1/2 inch of water. When the water in the tray is all gone, I add more water a 1/4 inch at a time as needed. Don't over do it.

-I do not worry about humidity. I live in a dry area and my cuttings always start just fine. The one time I put my cuttings into a high humidity environment they molded.

-When you start to see green, I put the cuttings under fluorescent lights. Sometimes they will put out leaves quickly, and later those leaves will die back, don't worry about that, the cuttings will still start. Once you have leaf growth, you can bet you have toots. Plan on a month or so to get good roots. At that point you can up pot your cuttings. 

Hope this helps. Richard Bertram
 

Thanks for all the input

@GrayFox thanks for sharing your experience. Wasn't too sure if I should be sitting the rooted cups in water. Was worried it get too wet and cause more rotting but since u have done it and with coir which retains water a bit of water I might give it a go.
But I think u guys are right. Humidity box long term does seem to promote mould and rotting

I am new to this fig growing, but so far my 2 plants are great. earlier this summer I pruned my C.H. made 4 12inch cuttings, I just
doused them with water ever morning.in a little pot. gave 2 cuttings away. kept 2 transplanted in a 10 gallon pot and whiskey barrel.
no whiskey though:((. Now I have 4 plants growing. 

Using Harvey's method is working great in the summer for me. FIrst time growing cuttings and 5 out of 6 have made it past two months with between 1/4" to 6" of growth. The thicker cuttings have definitely pushed out a lot of growth. Keeping the watering very simple, soaking the tree pots in water for 5 min only when they feel light. This is about every 2 weeks. Spraying them with a canister mister every day with diluted dyna grow.
The slower growing cuttings are not taking up as much water as the faster growing ones.
Good luck with all your cuttings!

At first I would water them daily especially since mine where started in conatainer of that size. I transplanted them into bigger containers
10 gallons to half a whiskey barrel about 2 months ago I still water them daily. they are very big, but it looks like your plants are doing fine.
So I don't know what to tell you. do what you do ;).
Stephen
zone 7A New Jersey.

Two months of growth in 4x4 to pots. Maybe others can comment on how much watering affects cutting growth but this is what I have going on. It really seems the cuttings like their daily mist of water, any one else do this or recommend this?

. 

I do but mine are also in pots, the one not in pots I just water a little.
Stephen
zone 7a nj

wow dont come to the forum for a bit and this post comes alive :)

do you guys find growing them in non clear pots you get better overall growth and survival? First time growing cuttings and i used clear cups. I find i get really great growth for a while and then not much or dying plants and the roots appear brown and rotten. I have one other fig in there in a dark pot and its always done well. But thats only one pot so i cant really say it was a great test. Just not sure if sunlight is affecting the roots or which in the end kills the cuttings or reduces its growth. Anyways ive up potted most of mine that survived and most are ok. The root structure and growth wasnt great for figs that have been rooting on a heat mat for 3mths but i did it without any additional light. Only non direct sunlight that would come through the windows during this winter.

Sounds like over watering. Drill holes in bottom of cup. Put in tray and add 1/2 " of water to start with. I watch the color of the planting medium to judge when to add more water. I always water from bottom. Feed with water soluble fertilized after green starts showing. I don't think light level is your issue.

Hello,
these are my 2 fig I started, growing from cuttings about 2 and 3 months ago, one is 
over a foot and half tall. I've been watering everyday when I started them, and continue to
water them daily. One is in a 7-10 gallon pot going to bring the taller one in for the winter.
They are both  doing really good. Thanks to everyone help on this site.
Stephen Zone 7A New Jersey

Steve,
That is definitely some impressive growth. what variety is it and briefly what method do you use for cuttings? Soil? Thanks.

This is a Chicago Hardy Fig, just clipped a wooded cutting about 4 feet long, diameter was bigger than a dime,  made 4 plants gave two away to friends,

I stuck in dirt potted in a small pot  of Miracle grow, or had some really good soil that was in roots, when cleaning up garden at the beging of spring, really
black.

Water daily, till started putting out leaves, 2 or three weeks after leave growth. potted it in bigger pot that's when  it shot up. now I have a baby fig growing on it,
that's the right one.  

the left one was very thin and much smaller, maybe that's why its not as big. 

Stephen zone 7a

Your goal is to provide enough moisture to the cutting to encourage rooting, supply enough oxygen in the root zone for the roots to delve freely into the potting mixture, and provide enough light to encourage leaf growth as the plant starts growing. Coir seems to do that. Potting soils not so much. I have also mixed perlite in with the coir, but have found that is not necessary. The coir wicks the moisture nicely. I liked another responders suggestion of checking the weight to determine the need for water. I inadvertently do that and forgot to mention it. Before long you will have a forest of figs. So much fun.