Hi, I see that several of my fig trees have develped sukers.  The leaves of the sukers are under the mother trees so do not see enough sun light.
I would like to propagate these sukers and move them away from the mother trees so they will have more room to develop.

Anyone can tell me how to do it?

Thanks for reading.

hi
search the archives for  "cuttings" or "air layering"
you will find lots of information.

It is unfortunate, Walter Reeves discussed transplanting of fig suckers on his show, Your Southern Garden this week.  http://yoursoutherngarden.com/program_information.phtml

As you see in show #1 description.

Unfortunately, he does not have archives of the show available as with his old show, Georgia Gardener.  I have the copy on my Tivo and could rip it, trim it and it could find a way to the internet if there is interest.

Basically, to summarize his information, expose as much root structure as you can and give the sucker as much roots as possible (carefully).  Transplant to a pot, fill with soil, water, and put in a shady spot until it recovers.

Hi.  I do this every year.

Those smaller branches that are under the plant running near along the ground, just bury the middle sections of the branches in some soil over winter, and at least in our climate (Zone 7b), by Spring they have a strong root system developed, you can cut and separate them from the mother plant and grow or give them away to family, friends and neighbors.

If they are not easy to bury a few inches, cut some pieces of heavy wire to make "U" shaped hoops to hold them down and/or add some additional good quality soil on top.

It is definately the easiest and most certain way to propogate, but only works for branches growing near the ground for obvious reasons.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

Hey Jason!  How are you doing my friend.

Trust that you and the family are doing well.

Best wishes.

John

Air layer them is the best way to do it. Just air layer them where they come out of the ground of off the trunk if higher up...

We may be talking about two very different things here Northeasternnewbie.

I'm talking about outdoor in-ground plants in the South, and I'll bet you are referring to figs in pots brought inside up North.

For a fig in a pot, and indoors, air layering would be fine.

But for an in ground fig in a climate where the ground doesnt freeze solid, it's pretty easy covering something with dirt.  No cutting is required, no watering, no plastic bags or growing medium, you just bury the branch and leave it till it roots.

Air layering works best for higher branches, and in the Spring outside, but this time of year I wouldn't recommend air layering outside.  The air temperature will be much colder (and will freeze solid overnight) than the ground temperature a few inches under which won't freeze. 

In a climate where the ground doesn't freeze hard, if you've got some ground level branches, bury them and in the Spring you have new trees.  Done.  Can't get any easier than that.

Best wishes to all.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

Depending on how you look at it, airlayering and burying are basically the same concept with a reversed order of how the branch and soil meet.

Burying is like airlayering at the ground level.  You are bringing the branch to the soil.

Airlayering is like burying at above-ground level.  You are bringing the soil to the branch.

So, in effect, both of you are saying the same thing in different ways.  The major difference with airlayering a plant at the base of the trunk (for a sucker) is that with air layering, you are not removing the root system inside the earth, so the tree could potentially come back from the stump left behind.

Just thinking out loud!

@John, family is doing wonderful, thanks for asking.  Life is great, we've had little Avery on a solid routine (schedule) since 8 days old, in her own bed, in her own bedroom.  No fuss, no muss, no cranky baby, bath time starts at 8:45pm, then a full feeding, other small items, then into bed by 10pm.  Mom wakes up up between 2-3am for a feeding (she decides the time) and I wake up at 6am(ish) for her morning feeding, and she (and mom) sleep until 9am, then she wakes up and gets some 'tummy time', play time, and random small naps through the day.  Been an absolute joy so far, baby is healthy as can be from what we can tell.  Dad is getting sleep from just before 11pm until about 6am every night and mom is sleeping in two shifts from 11pm to 2am(ish) and from 3am-9am.  We go in for the 4-week pediatrician visit next week, really looking forward to it.  She's put on about 3lbs from what I can tell and is getting the cutest little buddha belly you've ever seen!

Hi Jason.  That is great news!  Thanks for sharing.  You are very fortunate and have a very, very good baby.  We are still trying to get ours to go to bed at a regular hour and sleep through the night (and they are 12, 10, and 7!)  ;-)

Very best wishes and happy holidays friend.

John

Jason,

 If there is substantial info about figs, I'd say go for it...please post the video.

I wouldn't call it substantial, but you know the old adage:  a picture is worth a thousand words....

So I guess that makes a short video with a million? 

I am connecting to my media server at home and pulling the show off my Tivo.  I'll cut out the section and post to Youtube or something.  I'll update this thread when complete (can't video edit over the internet connection I'm on, so that will need to wait till later.)

I must say - the guy who does these shows (Walter Reeves) always has good fig information.  When he was doing his previous public-broadcast show, Gardening in Georgia, he had two different segments on Figs with guest visitor Ray Givan, who you may know as our regional US NAFEX fig coordinator and general southeastern fig expert for the last couple of decades.  It's pretty cool.

Will update later.

I feel we are talking about the same principal methods I would not recommend either method in my area at this time zone6/7 as all but a few of our trees are going dormant. My air layer method works great for me on either potted or in ground trees but most of my trees are in pots.  I use a peat pot cut up the side and slid around the branch then fill with moist sphagnum moss wrap with plastic secure both ends and in 4-6 weeks new tree in 1 gal pot.. placed in shade for 10 days and then moved out into the sunlight. I have also air layered right at the soil level same method but only secured the plastic on the top covering the base with mulch keeps enough moisture in to start roots. I have a few trees that I will be doing this with in the spring I will take pictures then and post..But again in my area I do not recommend this while trees are dormant.

Hi Northeastnewbie.  We are 7b here in the Georgia Piedmont, but close to 8a, so it is a different climate. 

And I would think that while technically the same Zone, Zone 7 in New Jersey is different than Zone 7 in Georgia in overall climate, as the Zone system describes average minimum temperatures annually, not average daily temperatures.  We get some cold weather, and chilly nights here, but there are also a lot of warm days throughout the "winter" and it's usually above freezing most of the time.

If your ground freezes though, plants are not going to do anything till it thaws.  We get a little surface frost and freeze, but a few inches down the soil is moist and unfrozen all winter, so by Spring the branches have rooted.

So I do this every year with the low lying branches already near the ground.  The cost/benefit is very favorable, it costs almost nothing in time and materials and you will get some well rooted branches by Spring without any effort after covering with soil.

Happy holidays my friend.

John

So, can you show me how this works using your Hardy Chicago as an example, and let me trial the tree in my yard next 5 years to make sure it's healthy and undisturbed, John?  ;) ;) ;)

Hi Jason.  My Hardy Chicago has an odd growth habit.  It is very upright and small.  The taste and productivity are excellent, but I'm not certain it's actually a HC, but may be a related variety.  You are welcomed to a cutting but it doesn't have suckers near the base like most figs.

I have other figs that do have branches at the base, I'm pretty sure I can find you a good one to "trial"!

Best wishes.

John

Ok, check this link for the video in question:

Thanks Jason. Very informative clip. I found it helpful and entertaining. Walter Reeves is pleasant to listen to and offered a useful and successful method.

I recently detached some suckers from my in-ground Hardy Chicago and was in a hurry, so didn't take as many roots as I should have. They struggled to survive and did make it, but it is good to be reminded on the importance of including a good root mass when detaching suckers from the mother plant.

Eve
Near Buffalo, NY

Hi Eve.  My Mom wants to grow a fig in Northern Indiana (Zone 5; and my brother back in Bangor too; also Zone 5), neither of which is colder than Buffalo I would think.

She would prefer in-ground if possible.  She has a south-facing brick wall which would help, and I am giving her a large plastic rain barrel (rain barrel in summer; fig cover in winter).

Heavily mulched and covered with the rain barrel, do you think she can make it through the winter in Zone 5?

What do you do to prepare your HC for winter there near Buffalo?

Thanks.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

Hi John. Yes, figs can survive in zone 5 with lots of protection. Here the method that has worked well for the past few Winters.

My in-ground clump is 9 feet long X 3 feet wide.

There are garden posts pounded in the ground, 2-3 feet apart. They are positioned around the perimeter of the 9 x 3 fig clump. They are 5 foot posts, so 1 foot is under the ground and 4 feet are above.
There is a row of 6 foot posts pounded through the middle of the fig clump/bushes the long way about every 2-3 feet. These higher garden posts help to create a peaked roof when a tarp is put over everything in the last step.
(I usually trim the clump to a 3.5 foot height.)

Insert heavy black roofing paper between the posts and the fig trunks.
This creates a rectangle of heat absorbing black paper that also blocks the
wind. From trial and error, I've learned to push 4-5 inches of the black paper flat to the ground to help create a barrier against moles, voles and mice.

Next comes a layer of R-15 aluminum faced bubble wrap insulation. This can be purchased at H.Depot or Lowes. I found some on the Internet, but that was 6 years ago, so prices will have changed. My roll was 50 feet long and 5 feet high.

The bubble insulation is inserted between the black roofing paper and the fig clump/trees. Again, 5-6 inches are pushed flat against the ground, cutting slits to facilitate the bubble insulation being able to be flat on the ground. (critter barrier)
About 1 foot of bubble insulation will be higher than the fig clump/tree.

The interior of the fig clump is loosely filled with DRY, clean straw, leaves or newspapers. If it is damp, then a moldy mess will form.

Once the interior is filled with the straw, then the remaining foot of bubble insulation is folded toward the middle of the fig clump/tree. Cuts are made as needed to help the wrap to fold inward.

An additional 9 foot length of bubble wrap is laid on the top of the fig bush clump. Since some air circulation prevents too much condensation/mold, the top length is placed loosely on top and not weighted down. Insulation is wanted, but not suffocation.

A large plastic tarp is placed over the whole clump and then a second tarp. The bottom edge of the tarp that laps against the ground is weighted down with heavy rocks to keep our strong winds from causing rips.

In March or April, I remove the tarps and the first layer of bubble insulation wrap, from the top of the clump. On sunny days with higher Spring temps, the flaps are opened to let the fig branches start to warm up and breath. The straw is left in place. If a Spring frost is predicted, then the top layer of insulation wrap is put back on for the night and removed in the morning. If it is windy, then the top piece of insulation has to be weighted with a few boards or rocks so it won't blow off.

When temps are getting fairly higher in April-May, the straw is removed and the insulation bubble wrap is pulled out. Only the black roofing paper is left in place.
My clump is planted next to the Southern exposure of my barn. The sun hits the black roofing paper and is absorbed, helping to give the figs a good start. When temps are safely warm, the black roofing paper is removed. After four years, my fig clump has become an aggressive grower, so frequent pinching and occasional major pruning are needed.

I chose Hardy Chicago and Celeste as my in-ground varieties. Of these two. Hardy Chicago wins as the best in-ground variety for my climate. I have found that it has higher productivity when fruiting branches are kept shorter than 3 feet in length. It also does better as a bush/clump. Great tasting fig that ripens even in cooler Fall temps with no splitting.

Important to note that these figs were planted outdoors in the ground after they were 4 years old. A younger plant would most likely suffer or demise from our Winters.

Hope this is helpful. I am sure other materials could be substituted for insulation.

Thanks, Eve
near Buffalo, NY

That is VERY helpful Eve.  Thank you so much for the detail, which will be very helpful in replicating your success.  I will forward this to my Mom and Brother, in Indiana and Maine, who will also greatly appreciate your help with this.  I am sending them HCs to try.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

@Eve, here is another Reeves segment where he talks with fig lover/expert Ray Givan: 

Finally, here is a link to a video from Ray that talks about simple mid-year propagation technique with minimal supplies required.  He also mentions using fire ants to kill RKN ;)

interesting bit in the video about how dormant cuttings of different fig varieties like different length of time in the fridge.
Does anyone have any more info on this matter? what is optimal cold time for vairous varieties? 

I wasn't sure if I bought into that tidbit about Sal liking 3 months of time in the refrigerator.  I would think you'd benefit more from striking while the iron is hot (sap is flowing).

The video in post #21 has me wondering. I noticed that they are tasting Kadota figs. The fig that they are calling Kadota is a purple fig. I thought Kadota was a white/yellow fig. Anyone else confused?