In mid-February, a generous forum member sent me a couple of cuttings and a fully-dormant but rooted sucker from his white hybrid unknown. I know many cuttings need a gradual transition from the high humidity rooting environment to harsher outdoor conditions, and I also realize that many of you have started more cuttings in a single afternoon than I have in my entire life, but after seeing the vigor of this rooted sucker (I planted it in a one-gallon container in full sun, and it's growing like mad), I decided to experiment with the cuttings.

I bet those clear containers in the sun with mild temperatures had something to do with your success, warmer roots and a cooler top. Plants have to transpire faster as temperatures rise so as long as it is not hot light is fine. I had similar success last year moving a few cuttings out the same way, only it was sometime in May, must be nice there. Watch that they don't heat up too much though. I lost a couple that way and I would not especially recommend it either.

The ones in the clear bottles don't get much direct sun yet--certainly not enough to overheat the pots. I just moved them out of their normal spot in order to take the pictures. However, the one in the semi-transparent milk jug, which already had some roots (but no leaves) when I received it, went directly into a full sun, all day, situation, and loves it. I'm sure you're correct about that early warmth stimulating faster root growth. These days it's already getting pretty hot here, so I'm working to keep the root zones shaded by piling mulch on the west sides of the pots, or getting them planted in the ground as I find time.

I did full sun with mine, I think it may have actually been the rain that did mine in because the ones that did survive did great and enjoyed the sun. I bet it's easy to grow figs there Ken, but I imagine you have your own problems to deal with though. My uncle in Austin just basically laid some cuttings I sent him in the garden, set the irrigation and now has 20 foot trees 4 years later. I have to wait another month before I can even begin growing outside and have to raise figs for years in pots before planting out, so good for you two.

Yes, every place has its problems, but Tucson seems to have a pretty good climate for growing figs. It's normally very dry and the soil drains quickly, so excess rain never seems to be a problem except occasionally during our summer "monsoon". Today, however, it's unseasonably chilly and rainy so I moved the cuttings to where they'll have full sun as soon as the weather clears. I sleeved a paper lunch sack around the clear container to keep sun from baking the roots.

Austin is supposed to be a very Mediterranean climate, and the soils are limestone, so it may just be the best place in the country.
Great idea with the bags, tall crystal clear containers can really heat up. The milk jug is probably ideal for this because it reflects maybe half of the sunlight and does not catch too much on it's sides. If water cannot evaporate and cool the mix, like happens on top, temperatures inside can soar. I used translucent Slurpee cups last year and packed them together with other plants once it was really hot, before they went into 1 gal.

I like your close-packing strategy too; the tight grouping of plants helps shade each other's pots. I also pile mulch against the west side of the jugs for the same reason.

Spiraling roots are a problem, I have to prune a bit each year until they go into the ground. If I could plant them right out I sure would to avoid all the trouble!

I'm updating this sooner than I had planned, because I gave my neighbor the larger of the two cuttings this morning after taking the photo. I'll try to remember to post another progress shot of the little one at some future date.

Ken,

Ken, your experience is similar to what I experienced and reported this past year as well, so there must be something to it. 

I would say it's a tricky situation, though - if a tree doesn't have much root base to start with and you move it into full sun ... it will perspire more fluid out of the leaves than it can uptake from the roots, and it may hurt more than help.  For this reason, I personally try to avoid going to direct sunlight with freshly rooted & transferred cuttings.

Yes, I certainly wouldn't move a newly-rooted cutting to full sun if it already had leaves, but at least on these, when the leaves opened in bright sun they seemed to stay small, so maybe they transpired less? I don't know. It just seems that gradual transitions are harder on my trees than growing in harsh conditions from the start--but there may be other factors I'm overlooking.

I just can't wait to get back to my little ones and see how they're doing right now.  Another day and a half to go ...

This White Hybrid Unknown cutting is still doing fine in full sun. A barely-rooted LSU purple cutting is also getting the same treatment, and seems able to handle it okay. It stood with 3/4 of its length submerged in a jar of rainwater till these initials formed, and then I planted it in a 2-liter bottle of organic "duff" raked up in the yard. As soon as a shoot started to form, it went into full sun. I'm sure there are many exceptions, but to me it appears they can handle most any amount of sun if 1) they've started rooting before any leaves form, 2) the first leaves unfold in full sun, 3) the bottom of the pot is in a shallow saucer of water, so they can always draw up enough to cool the leaves through transpiration, 4) the clear pot is shaded, and 5) the surrounding air temperature doesn't get too hot.

After seeing you use that milk jug I decided to try a mushroom container. It has been working better than slurpee cups for exposing cuttings to more sun. The blue plastic does not heat up at all really, and the sides are not exposed because of the wideness of the container. I used some of my precious baked clay in the mix and just water when lite. The cutting being diagonal is not ideal but several could be fit together.

Ken :Hybrids are more powerful grower,compared to real cultivars.
If you tried the same thing with a known cultivar say Calvert,it will be dead now.

Herman--

I have about 12 cuttings from two dark unknowns that I took from my neighbors tree and a local gas station and put them in a box covered with a plastic bag under my avocado tree, and 80% are already budding green. This is turning out better than my previous attempts, that seem to have mostly failed due to unknown reasons, sudden death and transplant shock.

"I'm not sure how to tell whether something is a real cultivar:"
Real cultivars are fig trees that were reproduced from cuttings for hunreds if not thousands of years.
The new fig is a vegetative continuation,of domesticated figs that grew a long time ago.
Hybrid is a fig that grew from a seed recently,even tho,you might have it from cuttings.
Hybrids are many,but time will eliminate most of them from lack of interest from growers,due to inferior fruits.
If it makes high quality fruits,is rain resistant,resist cold,and drought,resist viruses,then ,a hybrid will become a cultivar,in the future.
If not it will disappear,without a trace.
That is how i understand it.
Best Regards

Ken posted......."this suggests that if a newly-rooted cutting gets full, outdoor sun from the moment its first leaf buds start to swell, it will immediately acclimate to those conditions and won't need to go through a lengthy transition from shade, to filtered sun, to full sun. However, at least in Tucson it's probably critical to keep the clear plastic pot shaded to avoid cooking the roots."

......you are 100% correct Ken.

However, IMO it is much better to go from outside filtered shade then to full sunlight using an easy rooting method rooting method that I will post later in another thread. I was supposed to post the simple rooting method and rooting mix details a week ago but got side tracked into a shed building project for my brother in law. Roots that are developed by "outdoor" and open" rooting methods (as opposed in "indoor" and "closed" rooting methods similarly do not need to be harden off to heavy watering's either.
More later........

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

The summer here is starting to really heat up--over 100 degrees, bone dry, and windy. Not the best conditions for fighting forest fires or growing figs, so I thought I'd update on how my little full-sun rooting experiment is going.