I'm really grateful this forum exists - and I want to thank everybody for sharing cuttings & experience. I'm a new fig nut still learning the ropes. My first try last year with cuttings from a local exchange was a disaster. Out of about 10, none survived. I used perlite, rooting hormone and bottom heat.

Since then, what works best for me is Jon's small plastic bags (u-line) method. As the rooting mixture, I use fine bark (3-4 handfuls), peat (1-2 handfuls) and perlite (1 handful). To this, I add a spoonful of dolomitic lime, and enough water to moisten it (so it barely sticks together). I bury the cutting leaving only 1-2 inches above, or even less if the cutting is short. I put all the bags in a plastic container that I keep covered. Twice a day, I fan the box with the cover. I keep the box in a cold-ish room (55-65). That helps the cuttings not leaf out too early, and minimize mold. Once I see new growth, I move the box outside in the morning (with the cover off), so they get used to the sun and I don't have to worry about that once they have several leaves. It also helps that days are cool (60-65) and humid, but I also spray the leaves with water. If I see the top inch of dirt dry I add/spray a little bit of water.

Once I see decent root development, I pot them up into 1 gallon pots, in 100% miracle gro moisture control (but this year I'm trying 1/3 bark, 1/3 miracle gro, 1/3 potting soil) and out they go on the deck (but we have mild summers here, rarely above 80)

I got about 50% success, but that has proven more than enough for me. I ended up with about 30-35 treelets last year, and probably the same this year (I'm in the process of up-potting the first rooted batch). I almost never get mold (unless the cutting was moldy to start with), and if they fail, in 90% cases the cuttings just shrivel up with no roots for whatever reason: failures mostly happen in the baggie (last year I only lost one after potting up) I'm sure this can be improved substantially, but it works out pretty well for me.

I think the key is the bark. It keeps the mixture aerated, can soak up excess moisture and regulate humidity, and I suspect it may have some chemicals that keep disease / mold at bay. I love bark! :)

Indeed, that was my first experience with heat. Some areas of the mixture would dry out and some would stay soggy and warm. So part of the cutting would start rotting and part would dry out. I stopped using bottom heat after my first attempt (I actually root them in an unheated room), and I had much better results. Takes longer to get roots, but the environment around the cutting is more uniform and mild. And there's no need to water again, which in my limited experience is not an easy task to get right.

Once the roots got going and potted them up, I didn't notice any ill-effects from keeping them on the deck in the sun. But again, the summers here are quite mild usually low-mid 70s, and we get morning fog too that increases the humidity.

50% is pretty awesome!  Nothing to be ashamed of, that's often my end result after a year.  I get about 90% strike, 50% actually make it to trees.

Even if everything goes well, I have 2 choc labs that if I'm not looking will pull a new small fig tree right out of the pot to do a little wittleling(GRRRR).



luke

I have some kind of vermin in the back yard that digs into the pots. Probably a squirrel, I fancy. No fatalities so far, but it exposed the roots a couple of times. Quite unnerving.

Daniel
A 50% cutting to tree rate is outstanding. When you consider how many acorns fall from an oak tree and how many become a tree. Thank goodness they do not have a 50% success rate or we would all be living in tree houses.

Squirrels dig out some of my pots regularly.  I have pecan trees and oak trees coming up in my pots constantly because of them.  They also have a penchant for spreading soil-borne illnesses, I suspect.  Trap or shoot them, if local law permits you to do so.

Local law... I fear my wife more, she thinks they're cute! :)


I'm kind of looking forward to a squirrel stew, a bit afraid though they may have parasites or disease. I really got into local foraging, went along the coast yesterday and got some mussels & limpets (and a lone mushroom).

Heat kills almost everything.  Not aware of many parasites that can support a good long braise or boil in a stew.  I used the term "local law" loosely.  My wife hates the damage they do to the house, but is understandably upset when anything dies, so that's a tough line to walk.

In this case, the only local law that matters is the wife.  I would follow her laws above and beyond that of any local or national government