Hello all,
I'm in a little panic as I've got a box of about a dozen 8" cuttings of a semi-hardy (unknown variety) green fig from a friend's sheltered garden just outside London (England). I followed advice on an old thread elsewhere on laying them horizontally in perlite in a closed, clear plastic box, about 6 weeks ago and they all sprouted roots along and around the stem sections. The roots are now racing all around the box and up the sides and are incredibly fragile. Only one has a leaf popping up above soil level, at mid-stem. I don't know what to do with them now!
I'll probably have to float them out of the perlite to keep the roots intact but not sure whether to cut the stems into individual rooted sections and pot them horizontally under the soil surface. If I pot the stems vertically, the roots will require quite big pots as they're v.long now. Don't want to kill them by shortening the long roots. I'm also not sure which way is up and don't know what to do about the roots all along the stem, not just the end.
After you all/anyone please(!) help me with that - the next problem is overwintering them. Shall I keep the potted cuttings in the greenhouse (subject to temp. fluctuations all winter) or a dark garage, swaddled in a big box? 
These figs are worth the trouble -they are really delicious. I just hope I can grow at least one of them on to fruiting stage. Many thanks for any and all advice!

Hi Silverquessn6,

Welcome to the forum, 

You can start here for your propagating 
http://figs4fun.com/basics_Rooting.html

From my experience you will need to keep the cuttings in doors till next may, you might be better to take some winter cuttings December/January and start again.

good luck 

Luke

Thank you Luke for that dazzling treatise! I think I'm going to try using the big box method you describe for the cuttings. I'm afraid getting winter cuttings may not be poss. 
What I don't understand is how you handled the roots when potting them up because they've grown upwards within the constraints of your plastic bags -and in my case, grown miles around the rectangular box, when they need to go downwards into the potting medium? I'm sure they will snap off if I try to bend them downwards. Then there is the issue of the roots all down the stem - just brush off everything except the lowest root cluster? Bury a long length of stem with roots?
Can't believe your 2" diam. cutting! Would that mean earlier fruiting, faster growth of the tree? 
Would you recommend root pruning for a dwindling pot grown Rouge de Marseilles in a greenhouse? 4 fruits and rust this year. Hate to bin it after 8 years...so many questions.
Better stop gabbling on as I don't want to divert you from the main topic - if you wouldn't mind the bother of further comment.
Thanks so much!

I always skip the bag part and go straight to the cups, any roots you don't put into the soil will just drop off.

Here is my set up I started last week, this is the first year I am using a heat mat.-->

Since you have 8 of them and only really need 1 or 2 to root, you could try a few different approaches, and take the best candidate after it's all said and done.  Here are a few:


1.  Try as carefully as you can to not break off any roots, and plant a cutting horizontally, such that the entire cutting is about .5 inches below the surface, plant it in a plastic shoebox, or something similar.  One or more shoots should break the surface and serve as your new plant.
2.  Ditto above, except plant vertically in a cup.
3.  Ditto above, except plant vertically in a 1 gallon pot.
4.  Ditto above, except plant vertically in a 2 gallon pot.

As far as the media is concerned, you could try straight potting soil, or a mix of 50/50 potting soil and perlite. 

You will want to keep the plants indoors under light.  Outdoors, or even with some shelter, they will probably not survive.

Kept indoors in the dark, they will not do well.

Don't bother brushing anything off at this juncture.  Try as best you can to keep everything intact.  Only thing to brush off would be little baby figlets.  They won't help.

Indoors, you'll need to keep them humid, at least 70% relative humidity.  It can be a challenge to do this while not providing ideal conditions for mold growth.  You can do a search here for some ideas.  Many people use a large box, like Luke has done, and open it once every day or few days.

Good luck.

Is it possible to refrigerate cuttings once they have begun to root/sprout? (I.e., could you remove leaf buds & place in a bag in the fridge until ready 2 propagate--say for an additional few months--as some do with hardened scions?)

Luke,  is that a thermometer prob inserted into  one cup?  If so BRAVO  because I cooked some cuttings using an overly zealous heat mat.

Greetings, definitely a problem with starting cuttings too early. Unless you have a heated greenhouse, proper humidity and light conditions, it seems like a long time to keep them growing, warm, proper light, no gnats, etc! Good luck, keep us posted!

Luke, what do you plan to do with those new cuttings over the winter? Do you have a light source for when winter starts closing in? 
S'queen6

Thanks Rob,
I actually have 12 already rooted cuttings and figured I'd need as many as poss. for insurance over the winter. 
S'queen6

You'll need to buy lights.  With 12 plants 2 T8 fluorescent shop lights will probably be your best bet (cheapest).  If you have the $$ a MH HID light will work even better.  I would guess that the cuttings would not have enough energy to come out of dormancy in the Spring but you could try a few to see.  I'd plant them straight up in a pot as large as necessary.  You could drill holes in a 5 gal bucket if needed.  Those can be had for free from dairies and delis.  Read about soils.  Search on leaf scar to find photos of which way is up.  You can post photos (label them so we can refer to different ones easily) and we'll tell you which way is up.