Hello,

I am new to growing figs.  I am 45 years old and last summer I ate my first fresh fig!  Wow!  It was delicious!  Being an avid gardener, naturally I need to grow these delicious delights!

Long story short, I learned about the baggie method, got some cuttings off ebay, and got started.  First mistake, I knew just enough to be dangerous.  I did zero prep, just took the cuttings, WET a paper towel, stuck them in the baggie.  I say wet because now I know I had way too much water. 

I checked them daily and in a few days they were starting to grow mold.  Then I learned about prep... so I took them, washed them (antibacterial soap), scrubbed with toothbrush, 10% bleach solution, more scrubbing with toothbrush, air dry after bleach and started again.

Will this work or are they already goners?  I have the paper towel barely damp now, and I carefully unwrap them daily for air and to check for roots and mold.  I also put them in new bags and separated the tips (supposedly more susceptible to mold?) from the non-tips, and I trimmed both ends (not tipped ones!), with the rooting end trimmed close to the last node.

I also saved 2 of the original cuttings, now cleaned as above and in a baggie in the fridge, just in case. 

I live in Delaware (7a/7b) - can I just bury the cuttings in the Spring?  Will they produce enough roots by fall to survive a winter here?  They are cold hardy variety as mother tree is in NJ, north of here.  We had single digits here this winter, but that is unusual.

Thanks, this is a great forum!  I wish I had searched more before starting!


Phil

Hi Phil, your cuttings may or not make it. If you want to spread your "eggs" to different baskets try sphagnum moss or perlite also. Pen just posted this a little while ago http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/the-best-rooting-method-i-found-over-the-years-6717809. 

You can try planting out in late May, a plant in the ground usually outgrows one in a container so even though the top will freeze at first the plant will probably become mature faster that way. I have only lost plants due to poor drainage so far so keep that in mind while planting.
 
p.s. What variety did you get?

Welcome Phil, I have found that some cuttings have a tendency to mold quickly. Some root fast and Some so Slowly. I would try to buy the cheapest cuttings and practice rooting first. If I get some cuttings from around the neighborhood I will send you some. You may want to drive through some back alleys people normally have their fruit trees in the back of the house. You may pick up some free cuttings with some fig branches leaning over a fence.

Thanks for the replies and link to propagating, I may try another method as well.  I do not know what variety they are, but I know the tree is in NJ, about 15 ft tall on the side of a house.  Figs don't seem to be real common around here, so its not likely I will find one for free cuttings.  I grew up here and never knew of one, hence never trying them until last year when I was in North Carolina. 

Can I assume the cuttings in the fridge will be OK to try to either plant outside or another method later in spring? 

Thanks!
Phil

Phil, welcome.
The cuttings in the fridge will last, but you should melt some candle wax on the cut ends, and store them without paper towels or any kind of moisture.

Some times things just go wrong. It's part of the process.
Next time you get cuttings, give them a 10% bleach scrubbing with an old toothbrush, let them air dry completely, then wax the ends and store them in the crisper for a couple of weeks.
When you're ready to start again, take some sphagnum moss and soak it for 20 minutes.
Get an airtight plastic container, and grab handfuls of wet sphagnum, squeeze as much water out of each handful as you can!
Take those compressed balls of sphagnum and fluff it, loosen the fibers.
In your plastic container, lay out half of the sphagnum.
Give your cuttings a fresh cut, give them a scrape or three across that bottom node, until you see green. Lay the cutting in the bed of sphagnum, all lying in the same direction, and not touching. Fluff up the other half of the sphagnum, and sprinkle it on the cuttings, making sure you cover them completely.
Check on them by pulling the sphagnum away from the tip side, not the root side. The roots will be stringy and fragile.
If you're not someone with a gentle touch, you can corkscrew rooting cubes into the cuttings before laying them in the moss. This protects the roots. The rooting cubes should also be squeezed of all water.
When you have the water level just right, the moss doesn't look shiny, and it should be aromatic when you open the container.
If at some point during the process the moss gets crispy or lighter in color, pull the cuttings and repeat the process of wetting and squeezing it.

The most important thing is to be patient (this way takes about 1 month), and really squeeze all the water out of the sphagnum.
Just remember that the cuttings need humidity, not water.
They will only start to need water when there is a bundle of roots the size of your hand, and they have new growth one or two inches long, with a couple of leaves on it.

When you're up potting, mix the water into your medium and (you guessed it) squeeze all the water out of that, fluff the soil, place the cutting, and don't water.
It'll be another 3 weeks, if kept in humidity, before the cuttings need a spray of water. If you dig down an inch into the potting soil and it's still dark (moist), it's not time.

Just don't get expensive cuttings to start out. There's a good amount of heartbreak in the beginning.
Armando offered some cuttings. I do too.
PM me when you're ready to start again.

i used to go though all this. washing... bleaching.. even washing my hand after each set of cuttings. but if the cutting will mold, it will mold. you won't be able to stop it. long fiber s. moss is said to have anti mold property, but i have seen plenty of mold in s. moss shoe boxes. 

simpler the better. go with paper towel like you are doing, and check on them every day or two. wipe the mold away along with any excess moisture building on the cuttings. you should start seeing the roots within 4 weeks. if not, move on to next stage. 

Phil, its always possible you might have just gotten a bad batch (which may not be any fault of the seller). It happens. What cultivar are you growing? 

I got some off ebay as well and may be from the same plant.  The cuttings started to mold  (as if it had cancer) from the 1 day after putting in baggy.  The cuttings are not too wet and all other cuttings from others are doing well and look very promising.  I have done every thing to control the mold and nothing has worked.  The mold is a very active mold and did not die after both a alcohol concoction and bleach mixture bath.  I agree with Pete, if it's going to mold it's going to mold and there is no solution.

Thanks to all! 

@Scarecrow - if you bought them off of ebay recently, an unknown variety from NJ, they are probably the same.  They had a picture of the tree, probably about 15 ft tall on the side of their house.  I bought these because they were from my zone or maybe one zone north of me, and they offered 6 cuttings, so the price was right.  When I got them I just put them in the fridge, and they molded quickly after putting in baggie.  Then when I checked the 2 I reserved in the fridge, they had mold starting as well.  After cleaning with antibacterial soap, old toothbrush, 10% bleach, old toothbrush... within 2 days mold was back in the baggie.  I haven't checked the 2 reserved in the fridge.

I have some cuttings coming from a very generous poster, Gloria.  She is going to send me some from her Celeste which should root easily (and cold hardy!).  I also bought some Chicago Hardy that I am going to try after I learn with the Celeste.

I will reclean my fridge cuttings and seal ends with wax to preserve them until I am ready. 

Thanks again!!

Update:  I have tiny root nodes starting on 2 of my cuttings!  I get a little mold only on the tips which I wipe off each day. 

Thanks for all your advice!

There is a video on youtube of a fellow who collected clean water dripping from his air conditioner condenser in two jugs. He then placed foot long cuttings with leaves in the jugs and put them under a tree for shade. It took about 40 days and the roots were short and only near the water line, but he planted them and had 100% success.

I have the same issues with the bag method. Fortunately I have a lot of cuttings in the fridge to experiment with. Right now it's perlite and a little water and sphagnum coarse moss in another container, with a couple cuttings in each, in the dark.