Hi everyone.  I've been lurking on this site for a little while and thought I'd introduce myself as the newest newbie. 

I got into figs when I bought a property in Highland Illinois that had two Celeste and two Brown Turkey fig trees.  I wanted to share these with friends and family so I started doing research and started learning about taking cuttings. 

I have absolutely NO experience with gardening but these figs have taken over so I'm trying to learn all that I can.  I dont have any pictures right now but I have around 20 or so cuttings in Spahagnum moss and 10 or so are starting to show root initials.  SWMBO thinks I've lost my mind with all the "sticks" all over the place and the office is now a nursery, but we're good! :)

I've got the heat mat, grow light, thermostat, hygrometer, cups with holes, course perlite, peat moss, pine bark nuggets, garden soil, you name it so I'm ready to go when these things get about a quarter inch roots on them.  Any ideas of what kind of potting mix I can make out of that? 

I've also purchased a Hardy Chicago from Hirts Gardens, but the leaves fell off and it looks like it went back into dormancy.  But I've got it in the humidity chamber between 75 and 80 degrees at 70-80 percent humidity so I hope it bounces back.  (although I did read somewhere that it might not be good to heat it up that quick as it need to come out of dormancy slowly, but it also had dried leaves on it when it arrived so I dont know)

Anyway, thanks for all the info you gurus make available for us newbies.  We sure do appreciate it!

John

Highland illinois yess. I'm in millersburge about 12 miles from highland.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to our mad addiction John.

Welcome from Southern California!

Suzi

Welcome, John!

Welcome! 
If your HC doesn't come around, Hartman's Plant Co. in Michigan has really nice HC's for a fair price and they show no signs of disease.

Welcome, John!

Welcome, John!

Welcome to the ward. You seem to have come down with an acute case, good luck. I've been, kind of, following the advice I've been reading here. I have some cuttings rolled in damp newspaper on top of the fridge and some in cups in a bucket converted into a humidifier in a South facing window. They all seem to be doing fine. But then, there's one that I started in a jar of plain water on the windowsill, and, one that I just stuck in a pot of dirt, and those are doing fine too. They say you have to find what works best for you. Best out of what options? You have to try different things, and the more the better. Sounds like you already have the equipment to do controlled experiments... and a good source of cuttings. Please keep us updated on what you try, and what results you get.

Welcome Cooper, I started with Celeste, they are great trees!!

Hello John,
Welcome to the forum community.
A Celeste was also my first purchased tree.
Good Luck.

That's my plan.  I love forums like these where we can experiment and then share the results with everyone else and I'm learning a lot from this forum, again, my thanks to all! 

I do have a few that are in potting soil with a gallon freezer bag over the top to keep in some humidity to see how they do as the weeks go by.  I've had what I consider a horrible time with mold on my cuttings;I've been careful to not get them too wet in the S-moss and I've been spraying the recommended dilution amount of Physan-20 on them (not too sure that's helping) but the best thing has been to brush them under warm water with soap and a toothbrush.  I know it's all about the humidity and heat levels and it's just my learning process of where the happy medium is.  They've been in the moss since the 25th of Jan and are showing root initials.  Now if I can just nurse them along until we have decent roots and I can cup them we'll be all set.  I'll make sure to get pictures asap to share.

Welcome to the forum!  Good luck with your cuttings