Dennis,
Thanks for sharing the detailed info and pictures of your Fig Deck. Good Luck.
Also thanks for the info on the Hydroponic Cloner and its successful use in rooting fig cuttings.

Harvey, add 5ml per gallon of water. My 30 hole colner holds 5 gallons, so every 3 days, I add 25ml of HP.

I'll post some pics of my home made cloner later and repond to other comments too. Right now, I gota pack and go on vacation.

It's a beautiful deck, Dennis!  Just be sure to put those saucers under your pots, or the wood will rot from the water.  Trust me, I know!  We have 9 decks here.  When we bought the place, most were rotting due to water from pots.  Took about $30,000 to replace the wood.  Be careful!

Suzi

Have a great time!  Where are you going?

Bob, I went to Boone. Spent a day ziplining. It was great! Then took the wife shopping.

I really didn't want to go, but was getting burnt out at work and overworking my fig trees. I'm just now getting to setting up my irrigation timers and checking water lines and drip emmitters. Once again, the 3rd year in a row.....the %^*)HBY squirrels bit my water lines trying to get water. I didn't have time to repair them. So, it on my list of things to do this week.

Someone wanted to see my setup for my cloner. Here are a few pictures:



Look close, you will see laying on the lid, 2" plastic baskets. The lid has perfect squares on top. Using a simple 2" hole saw, drill a hole in the center. Cut the baskets ---they will fit perfectly in each hole.



Get simple PVC, tees, elbows, and standard pVC. Cut the PVC using a PVC cutter. The cutter is expensive BUT it makes a clean cut compares to a hacksaw. Put all the pieces together before gluing them. Once ready, and primer to the elbows, tees, crosses and PVC....then glue them with cement.








I have not tapped the PVC yet. It's on my list to do tomorrow. Your pump will have the screw adapters in various sizes. Also don't go cheap and try this with a 5 gallon bucket. Why? B/c the bucket doesn't hold enough water to keep the water from getting too hot. My 30 cutting cloner holds 5 gallons of water. My 64 cloner holds 12 gal of water. I have not had water overheating issues. But my friend Steve said, the bucket cloner has issues.

There you have it!

Viola!

Good luck!

I appreciate reading about all of that, Dennis.  Perhaps a bird bath might be helpful?

Thanks, Dennis!  Which brand cloner did you buy?  When you have some time would you tell us what products you use and how much, when, etc?  How much of the cutting is under the lid?  Since you're getting such great results I'd like to do what you're doing   :)

Hey Dennis,

Beautiful deck and an amazing set up you have.  I had no idea you are a forum member. 

How are those magic fig cuttings growing?  Still pleased with the cloner?

I have a request, please.  I recently introduced myself to the forum and posted pictures of my Desert King. 

Would you mind having a look at these picture to positively identify my tree? 

THANKS!

Shirley!!!! My BFF!!! How are you? Likewise, I did not know you were here either. Small world huh?

I don't think your Majic tree is Desert King. And that's a good thing! I think it is a sport of DK. We need more time. I hope it's as hardy as DK. I have 6 Desert Kings, one in the ground. All survived our harsh winter last year to 5 degrees but no brebas. Which means no figs for my climate. Most of the Majic cuttings did root. I potted them up. I placed every cutting in my cloner. The cloner is a only way I root cutting now and its fast. Here is one in the photo below. Today, I have 4 cloners; one I made from scratch. I'm gonna need to get more cutting from you later this year. With the cloner, I root year around now. The best thing about the cloner is no freaking gnats!

Hi Dennis, your cloner looks like the way to go. Can you give me more detail on what you do after they are rooted? Straight into pot with soil? Thanks for any advice. BTW, love your deck! I need one!

Hi V, sure, btw....thanks for the kind words. I just pot the rooted cutting just like any other tree. BUT, you must shade the tree then after a few weeks give it some weak liquid fertilizer. I would leave it in the shade for at least 2 weeks. Leave may come and go as it gets use to the soil.

Dennis, I would be interested to see more details of how your cloner is constructed. Are there plans online you followed or did you copy your purchased cloner? What type of fluorescent lighting are you using? Also, do you keep your soil wetter after moving from the cloner? Great method! Thanks in advance!

Mike in Hanover, VA

Thanks Dennis! Will have to give the cloner a try this coming winter.

Dennis
Nice work on the cloner. I echo Bob's request for more details or pictures that provide a guide to do,it ourselves. Or maybe you can provide a link?

Hi Dennis, what can I say?  I’m stuffing my face with figs.

I am pleased to hear the cuttings are doing well for you.  Thanks for posting a picture.  Roots look great.  It sounds like using a cloner really simplifies the process.  Just set it up, make sure they get nutrients and carry on.   

As you know our winter temperatures are fairly mild.  Rarely do we get down to single digits.  A couple times this winter we had temperatures in the teens for a week at a time. Very little die back in our climate. 

I should have a fair number of cuttings for members this coming winter, and I will most likely be selling on eBay again as well.

What I know.  At one time our land was owned by the nursery behind us.   In 1949 our house was built for the Auntie of the Nursery owner.  According to our next door neighbor at one time our property had some very nice and unusual plants that mostly disappeared long before we moved in. 

If there is another picture I should take to help identify, please let me know.  Oh, and it is a heavy producer. 

Excellent job, Dennis. Nice deck and sophisticated clone system you got.

Guys, I've start a new thread with details on the cloner.