I know its a bit late in the season but I decided to go ahead and take a few suckers from the Olympian and see if I can get them to take off. My plan is to keep them going under the grow lights this winter. They're currently sitting out on my back deck in the well-lit but shaded area.

They should do well, I just started some green Abebereira cuttings the same way, and they've rooted. I don't need to winter protect like you do though. Good luck with them.

Thanks Gary!  My plan is to buy a roll of burlap and a roll of tar paper to use for winterizing.  Once the leaves fall off I'll wrap in the burlap and then wrap in a cone shape in the tar paper and put a bucket on the top to keep the snow/rain out.  I have to do four that way so we'll see if it works.

John I took the top off an air layer of rdb and it seems as though it's still alive after about three weeks. Got it shaded by the grapes in a 9 inch Anderson band pot.

I see on your tag your in ofallon IM just a stone throw away over in bond county, Pocahontas to be exact.

Awesome Dave!  I used to live up in Highland, the place I bought up there had a couple of Celeste and BT trees and that's what got me hooked.  I can definitely get you a cutting from the Olympian if you're interested.

sounds good, im always looking for cold hardy figs to add to the collection. i will have cuttings  of the followin this fall/winter. MvsB, blue celeste, RdB, Adriatic, desert king, Sal'sG, Violeta Beyerfeinge, hardy chicago, brown turkey, Nordland, Lattarolla, LSU Hollier, and 6 different unknowns. . maybe we can trade or somthing come winter.

John C.

Just asking out of curiosity....what was the source of your 'Olympian' fig tree?  Has your original 'Olympian' fig tree grown so vigorously that you were able to take suckers from it?

I ask because I bought some Olympian, tissue-cultured, trees from Wellspring Gardens earlier in the season and the trees grew so vigorously that they were starting to set main-crop figs about 1-1/2 months ago.  I nipped the baby figs off, but still, that's a fantastic amount of growth in a few short months.  The plants started off as tiny, wiry, 6" treelets, and grew into 4 ft. trees, with 3/4"+  diameter trunks in less than 4 months.  I will harvest some figs, by next season.

Good luck with your green cuttings.  Almost all of my green cuttings strike roots, while cuttings using older wood usually fail under the same conditions.  The bark rots and then slips off.  Same temps. same mix, same lighting/sun, etc.  Go figure.

Frank

Frank of the Bronx - what's your green cutting procedure?  I might try some  :)

Bob C.

No magic involved.  I'm just lucky, I guess.

I just select a 8" long, pencil diameter, semi-lignified, (never a succulent, juicy, green), terminal branch, with an almost hardened heel.  In NYC, the new growth usually is ready for propagation in June-July.  I fill a large, green-plastic, soda bottle -(cut the screw top off, evenly, right above the label)- with a quick-draining mix, and plug in the semi-green cutting.  I also remove most of the lower leaves and retain a few of the terminal leaves and bud.  The cutting should have at least 5 inches buried into the growing medium and a few more inches above the growing medium.  I cut another clear soda bottle, at the cap end and just above the label, but this time, I include some of the larger tapered diameter above the label.  I cut where the straight sides just begin to curve into the neck of the bottle.  When the clear bottle is inverted, the curved tapered section will lock into the lower soda bottle.  This creates a little individual "greenhouse" for each cutting, and retains heat and humidity.  I should mention that I melt some drainage holes into the bottom bottle, and some air holes into the top bottle for ventilation.  I place the bottles holding the cuttings in a sunny window, and keep them warm.  The medium is damp, but NOT wet.

I usually see roots after a month, and I wait for the bottle to fill with a good amount of roots.  When ready, I just take a sharp scissor and cut through the bottle (at/around the bottom? and cut off the whole bottom of the bottle.  Now you are left with a root ball inside a plastic "sleeve".  I just push the rooted cutting down and out of the bottle and plant the little fig tree into a waiting, larger container for further training.

Hope this method brings success to those who may try it.  I like it because you can keep the individual, newly rooted cuttings growing through the winter if those cuttings are taken late in the season.  When spring and warmer weather arrives, you just slip the new trees into a waiting hole in the ground, or into a larger container, with very little root disturbance.

Good luck.


Frank


EDIT:  I think I am successful because I am careful about selecting the cuttings at the right stage of development.  Again, I never select a soft, juicy, succulent, green twig, but I select only semi-lignified wood, and always include a small section of semi-hard heel.

John C.

Thanks for the added information.  It sounds like your tiny trees grew like weeds.  Congratulations!  We will both get to taste some figs next year.  As I mentioned, I regretfully pinched out all the new main-crop figs off my Olympian trees.  I'm glad that you let a fig or two develop.  I think Dennis/snaglpus has some older Olympian trees.  Maybe he will show us his figs when the time comes.

Oh, Dennis.....


Frank

John C.

Nice tree!  Bet that tree will get to be three-four times bigger next season.  Good results for a few month's worth of growth.  Hoping for your continued success with growing, and the ripening of that lone fig.  Next year, we'll get many more figs off these trees.  I can't wait!

Thanks for the pics.


Frank

my fig blessing came from the amazing generosity of the members of this forum. so in the spirit of the forum i pay it forward as much as i can. last winter i sent out 60 somthig packs. might not be able to do that many this year as i am working two jobs now. one in long term care home, the other in 100% lockdown behavioural health unit at the hospital . but will still try to do what i can

Hi Cooper,
Did those root-suckers come out with roots ?
I usually wait for them to have some roots and simply pull them out of their place and put them in the ground or in a pot. I remove the older leaves and leave 2 or 3 leaves .
I water them every day.
Most of the times I don't use a greenhouse on them. But this year I'm doing it on some, until they wilt and perk up and after a week they are out in the wild.
The reason is that those trees were raised outside so I'm keeping them there. I don't want to soften them.

I had two I left ouside of the greenhouse that were taking time to perk up, and I put a plate full of water under each pot, and that helps them a lot, giving the time at their roots to become efficient at wicking water.
After a week I had to remove the plates because of our unusual rainy weather this summer.

PS: As for succulent cuttings, I'll be opening a topic on that. I got 3 of 5 going - because of my way of pinching.
      I saw roots surface on their pots, and they have been for 2 weeks out of the greenhouse and seem happy and growing new leaves, so they are up and running on their own feets...

Hi Jsdfrance. They weren't root suckers but they were very close. I should have piled up some soil around it for a few weeks and seen if they would have put out roots and then just did as you mentioned below. I'll give that a go next time around. Thanks!

John C,
Thanks for sharing the pictures and info.

I always plant fig cuttings and young fig trees deeper below the soil line than they where growing when they are up potted.
Its been my observation that tissue cultured fig starts will produce more suckers when planted deeper, but when the top of the plug is planted at or above the soil line there are fewer suckers and faster growth in the main trunk. Good Luck.

Dave, it takes a special person to work in these facilities.

John,  read the thread with interest. Good luck to you. Off topic, did you pick that avatar, because you couldn't find one of Gary Cooper?

Dale, I picked that one cause I grew up watching just about every Clint Eastwood movie with my dad so it just kinda seemed right. I do have an uncle named Gary tho. :)

John, you just made my day, and believe me, I know my limitations.