I was wondering how long can figs stay in the cups. my mix is of miracle grow moister control potting mix and some perlite. more mix though. they are not root bound as of yet, but i am seeing roots. the question is not how soon i can plant them in a gallon pot but rather how long i can avoid planting in a larger pot. in april they will be planted inground in thier new home. i would rather skip the gal pot. i have in the past with smaller pots than the cups they are in. march might still be to cold for them to go out but the way the weather has been the past few years who knows. i hope to have the greenhouse fixed back up by then. the four year film didnt make it one year and the people i bought it from will not reply. it has been months of me trying to get a replacement cover.

I would not recommend it, but I have left rooted cuttings in 3 inch 14 oz pots for seven (7) months. After the roots have hardened off the cuttings/young plants are quite sturdy and can take a lot of abuse. 11 cuttings out of 12 survived for the 7 months. They were fertilized with half strength MG liquid fertilizer (1 Teaspoon / Gallon of water) once per month, and left exposed to the weather. A lower ambient temperature (above freezing) will also slow their growth. You could also prune, both leaves and roots to maintain their small size.

Edit: they were rooted by baggie method and potted in the 14 oz pots in the 5-1-1 ( pine bark mulch-perlite-peat) potting mix

I just need three, three and a half months at most. i will play it by ear i guess. and try to get a new cover for the greenhouse asap. over 100 cuttings going now and more to pot up once i get more cups tommorow. might look on ebay and see if i can find these cups in bulk. once i get my out building up, Cheeper than a four season greenhouse it will be game on. the only ones rooting now at this moment are some for my privet collection and only the ones treated first. i think it will be ok. as they get well rooted i will move them to the spare bathroom (not working at the moment) so the temp is a little cooler in there. i have to see a man tommorow, he wants me to graft his apple tree for him.

Well, mine stuck badly to the cup walls, so Pete's idea is better, soon you see roots, move them out... in transfering I broke many of them... and had to sog them to unstick from the cup... so, my input is please transfer them, even to a soda pop bottle (smooth wall) with a little more room to grow

these cups im using are smoother than pop bottles. im not worried at all about root damage just if they can be sustained until april at the latest.

they should last long time in the cup. 3 months should not be a problem. just make sure to check the moisture level, and sign of mold/rot.

mold/rot is more concern to me than anything else. i usually move my cuttings up as quickly as possible so they can be in open air. with winter rooting, it will be more work as i'm finding out. we do get days with 60-70 day time temp here now and then, so i'll have to take my bins outside occationally to air them out and give them some sun. problem is.. leaves grown without the sun will likely burn when exposed to sun.

New to this myself what I'm doing is using 10oz clear cups.. once I see several roots on the edges on both sides that tells me I have a nice little root ball developed. Then I plant in 6x6" pots like the ones in the picture below (a picture I took at a nursery) with potting mixture and put under grow lights. Considering the size of the plant in the picture I felt that this would be adequate enough to get me by until spring when i can plant in much bigger pots and put in the greenhouse.  Of course like many space is a factor too... I am rooting a bunch of cuttings and only have so much room under grow lights. I'm sure the first year growth with suffer a bit but my goal is to just get them growing and established.

Tyler

Yesterday, we potted 10 cupped up fig plants into 1 gallon containers.  Those that were root-bound held together, and potting was simple.  BUT prior to extracting them, Bcantor told me to soak in warm water.  This loosens the roots from the sides of the cup for easy extraction.  Those with few roots fell apart.  They all seem fine this morning, but time will tell.

With my small cups... I pour the loose perlite/vermiculite out by rotating the cup on the horizontal while keeping the cutting in place to not disturb the roots. When its just the root ball left.. I squeeze the sides of the cup gently to loosen the rootball from the walls and the whole thing slides out.  Seems to work so far for the ones I've up-potted.

i use peat pot method. meaning, 3" peat pot in 16oz clear cup. no problem what so ever pulling them out. and soils stay intact inside of the peat pot with root ball.

I'm growing my rooted cuttings in these 1.75 litre juice cartons, and nine cartons fit inside a milk crate.
This milk crate is good if you have to move them around alot.
And the size of the juice cartons is a plus too.