Hey! 

Hi Alex,

Possible things to look out for:

1.  You may have trouble separating those cuttings after they send out roots.  You may end up with one big blob of intertangled roots. 

2.  I've never heard of anyone using tobacco in this way.  In general, leaves may be OK in a rooting mix, particularly if they are well composted, but maybe not really offer any advantage over other items.  

3.  If there is a lot of lamb manure in the manure/leaf mix, it might adversely affect the cuttings.  Manure is high in nitrogen and could burn tender roots.  You might think it would be OK in small quantities, which is true in some circumstances, but the perlite might not really act to dilute it in the same way as if you spread it on your garden and used a tiller to mix with the soil.  Cuttings don't need fertilizer at this stage anyway.  They only need it after they have put out roots and are ready to be "potted up"

4.  That is a whole lot of cuttings if your goal is to only get a handful of trees.  You could really just stick them in the ground in the spring with an inch sticking out and you'd definitely get a few with that many starting out.  Or you could offer your extra cuttings to forum members if you wanted to lighten your load.

Good luck

Rob

I agree. Just put 5-6 cuttings where you want to have the fig tree with the same soil mix you have prepared and surely few will survive.  With the above set up you will not be able to separate the plants later.

Ok, ill pull out some cuttings and set up some more boxes. 

Alex, I was just thinking again about what I posted.  As long as the compost/manure mix is well composted, it should be fine.  I was thinking you somehow got your hands on fresh lamb manure and had some tobacco lying around and just mixed it together.  But if you bought some compost that happened to be made of these components, if it's well aged, that should be fine. 

If you decide to offer cuttings, you could just put them in a sealed plastic bag with a moist paper towel and they should be fine for mailing.  It would also be helpful to wrap and label them so as to indicate which variety is which.  If you wanted to offer to other members you might have to start a new thread with the heading "Free cuttings available" or something like that, since otherwise people might not see.  You could also see if someone wanted to trade if you wanted to try a different variety. 

As far as crossing US/Mexico border, I have no idea how that works.  I think that shipping would be problematic, but perhaps you could cross the border. 

Alex,

Typically, the bagged stuff is fully composted.  If, it looks like dirt, it is ready to go.  If you can make out the components, it needs some time.  Sheep manure is a very "hot" manure.  It is has more nitrogen then many of the others, but it also has more Potassium which should be beneficial once the roots start forming.  Using only 20% was probably a wise choice.  Do not add soil.

If you can leave your cuttings in the containers for the remainder of the season (let's say Oct/Nov) you should be able to separate them without too many issues.  The roots will be strong and you will want to prune them before re-planting.

If you don't have drainage hole(s) in the bottom of the container, you will want to add one or more.  I am, also, becoming more and more of a fan of growing directly in the ground.  If that is your end goal, try some.

~james