Hi Guys I have read on the forums allot about people using vermaculite or perlite or a mix of both as a rooting medium. I received a Desert King Cutting this sunday and just wanted to ask a few questions.

1- I am using a heating mat for the 1st time how often should I water the Vermaculite & Perlite mix its 50/50 ratio. Its only been one day and looks a bit dry.

2-When should I remove it from the heating mat?

Thank you

This is just my way of doing it, I never used the perl/verm.  I just root them in the bag in a warm place and place them directly in potting soil or good dirt when they root. I don't force the cutting into the soil, I put a little at bottom of pot then stick rooted twig in middle, I hold it verticle with one hand  and carefully pour the dirt around carefully as rooted cuttings are so fragile.  I fill it to the desired  depth and water well so it packs good around the  twig and set it in bright, not sunny place and they go crazy quickly. I don't water again until it is almost dry. 

Thank You Italiangirl I was debating about trying the baggie method although I have great success with allot of seeds that way. You got me thinking now should I just pull it out and try the baggie method. I only put it in the vermaculite yesterday and the cutting was taken from the parent plant sunday.

Nelson,
once you do that baggie method that is mentioned and you see roots your gonna get excited and um well you will keep doing it and keep doing it and keep doing and soon find yourself like a lot of us.
Lots of figs Plants!!!!
Yes indeed.   ;)
Course thats only if you dont have a lot presently!

Oh and once those plants grow there is the airlayering method to create even more plants that works well, oh the madness!!!

Definitely start rooting it in a bag!, then if you want you transfer to perlite and ect when the roots have started to form.  It may very well work for you the way you are doing it, just not how I do it, doens't mean I am right and you are wrong, there are many many many ways to do it, but i would start in the bag, but clean it well first and then wrap with ink newspaper, not the shiny ink that advertises clothes, but the regular news newspaper, the ink will keep the mold off of the cuttings while rooting in the baga, also don't over drench the newspaper, just damp.  Ciao

Ok im sold will give it a try thank you both for all the help.

Here's a related question:

When a cutting from actively-growing wood is rooted late in the season, does it need to have a dormant period before next year's growing season, or would it be better to put it in a warm spot where it can keep growing throughout the winter?

Thank you for asking that Tucsonken I too was wondering the same thing since I have 4 small plants that started rooting in mid August this year.

Nelson---If those cutting get any mold in the baggie, I've had great success with 50% Hydrogen Peroxide(Off the store shelf) and 50% water in a spray bottle. Open the newspaper & cuttings up, Spray them both good and leave out to dry for a while. Roll them back up & put back in the bag. Out of  probably 40 + cuttings I started this spring, I only lost 4. Two in baggies never rooted and two in cups never took off. I used clear 20 oz. cups, and 50/50 UPM(Fertilome Ultimate Potting Mix) and Vermiculite to pot. Just saying this worked great for me! Good luck with your cuttings. Tim

Thanks Tim good thing I have Hydrogen Peroxide here at work where I do most of my Experiments. I just stuck these cuttins in potting soil with about 30% perlite lost atleast 5 cuttings out of 12 so I learned my lessson.

This is my yellow serbian that rooted 1st week of Aug. pics were taken aug 12th




This is the plant now pics were taken sept. 14th as you can see my boxer Cyprus likes fig plants too lol.

I stay away from Vermaculite. It was  bad experience as they seem to hold moisture better. I stick to perlite mixed with compost & top soil once they root in the ratio of 50:25:25. and stick them into 32 oz clear plastic cup. I may water plant after 10 days, depending on moisture present in soil. I mostly used the water method now to initiate rooting. Only issue is you have to change water on a regular basis.

Given the size of your newly rooted cuttings, they should be OK if they go into dormancy. I won't do it if they have 2 to 3 leaves. I have some where they won't be going thru dormancy like Conadria etc that I just started because the dog(large) went into my fig jungle and decided to find a cool spot to rest.

hahaha you too eh Paully cyprus here likes to trim my plants and when I had my paradiso here at work he kept stealing figs off the tree. This cutting is the only one that has grown nicely has 11 or 12 leaves on it now, all the others that were started the same day are just starting to wake up now so I will just let them grow over the winter.

Nelson, Paully is right about the vermiculite. I used perlite with the UPM and not vermiculite. I guess I need another cup of coffee!LOL I used pure vermiculite the first time I ever tried to root cuttings and lost everyone of them. Never used it since. Nice plants. Congrats.

has anyone ever tried to root green cuttings with a misting bed?

This is my first year with rooting green cuttings and had wonderful success, I take the green and clean them then put into water glass almost to top of cutting or to the top bud, I clean the water every other day and when I see roots, i pot them up in good potting soil mix, I don't shove them down into the dirt in the pot, I hold the green rooting cutting with one hand and gently put the dirt around and then water well and leave in bright window. I rooted many green cuttings this year this way and had almost 100 percent success. I love this method as well as airlayering for the spring and summer months. But I don't clip off the green too late into summer season because that might promote new lush growth that could be lost to frosts and cold in the autumn months. Ciao

Forgot to mention, I pot them when I start to see the white roots coming out, i don't wait long till they get big roots, because I don't want them to become watery roots which are very weak and the cutting could rot if left in water to root too long, I just wait a couple days after i see the little white bumps form little roots in the glass.  No need for huge water roots that will not last when you pot them up.  This is MY opinion and what I found works for me.  Ciao

from what you're telling me then a misting system would work very well. i'll be doing this next year in my shade house :).

Maggie, I root almost 100% of my fig cuttings in water this year. I would be experimenting more to see whether they would root with just all the root bumps/initiations showing instead of roots. I tried with just the bumps as some cuttings refused to send out roots and I have been quite successful like 50% of the time.