Hi all. I have been looking on the forums for a while, and have a question on rooting.  I have a cutting that was taken yesterday and I would call semi-green. its about an 8" tip of a branch that is starting to harden off, but still has full green leaves.  We havent had a frost here in NJ, so its probably seen a low in the low 40s a few times for lows so far this fall.  I know that rooting hardened/dormant cuttings is easier.

My question is would I have a better chance of getting this to root if I take the leaves off and use the baggie in fridge method to force it into dormancy versus rooting now as I would a green cutting?  If so how long should I keep in the fridge for?

I have found some good info on techniques for green and dormant rootings, but not sure which is best for this "in-between" time.

Thanks

Stick with green cutting method. I would  stick in soil and put a ziploc bag over for humidity. Maybe even treat cut end with rooting hormone. Keep by a lite window or under grow lights. Keep only 2 to 3 leaves on. 

thanks Dominick.   i dont have grow lights.  hopefully a window will be enough, though not a ton of sun this time of year.  Do you usually scrape or rough up the nodes when rooting?

Anyone have any addl suggestions?

Windows are fine just watch the heat from radiators.

Once it gets leaves a cfl will help keep it alive through December.

Brent,

Could you please tell me what a cfl is?  Thanks for help.

                              luke

Compact Fluorescent Light. For one little cutting 23 watts should be plenty, keep 4-8 inches from leaf tops.

Sorry, another question about light. I know with flower and veggy seeds that I start with a light you are suppose to have a timer on the light for 14 hours of light. To many hours puts stress on plants. So my question is, does this apply to fig trees also?

                               luke

I just started using growlights. I do it for 14 hours and they are doing fine. I use T5 lights and they work well wih 6500k bulbs. I have an unknown rooting like crazy under them. Temp stays at 72 degrees and a fan circulates the air.

Update - I did end up putting the cutting in a cup with perlite and covered with a bag- watered maybe twice.  The bag seems to have kept in humidity, but the other day the couple of small leaves I left fell off. buds still appear green.  I have this near a S facing window, but aside when direct sunlight is there it's a cool place.  Any ideas?  leave it?  more heat? 

your doing perfect leaving your fig cutting in perlite and keeping simi moist.
come spring time in your zone after frost danger plant fig tree.
dig a hole 36 inches deep - 20 inches wide 
and buy 2cu ft bag of red bark from HomeDepot or OSH or Walmart
and a bag of potting soil. remember to fill hole with
water first .. let it drain ... then mix both bark and soil.
Plant half of your stock in soil for good root development
or just lay entire stock 2 inches flat <_ _ _> under soil
again to stimulate root hardiness (I've done this and it
works great)
use very low Fertilizer or none until new leaves emerge.
once you see leaves feed with miracle gro for trace minerals
or lite amount of cow/chicken/horse manure for leaf production.

Any idea why the leaves would fall off.  Is that normal?  

motownnj,

Move it somewhere warmer.


Tigger1,

Upon planting a tree in ground, it is best to backfill the hole with the existing soil (the soil which you dug out). If it's a clay soil, then amend it with 40-50% compost. Using the existing soil for the backfill encourages the lateral roots to grow away (horizontally) from the primary root out of the hole in to the surrounding soil. Unlike other fruit trees figs do not have tap root system their roots grow away from the tree.

Back fill the hole with anything else except the existing soil and compost, you'll end up with a problem after 2-3 yrs. It encourages the roots to grow only in the hole and they will chock the tree from up-taking nutrients.




Navid.

Here is an update, and of course a question....

8 weeks on, and there is good root development (see pic in link below). 

I have been keeping this near a s. facing window, that gets a few hours of sun a day.   A freezer bag is kept zipped around the cup - the stick is to hold the plastic off the fig.

While the root growth seems great, there is little development above.  The buds seem to be swelling at a very very slow pace.  My hunch is it just wants more warmth.

So here is the question - should I pot up now or wait for top growth to begin?

Also, I was thinking about adding more light with a single plant bulb, which may throw a little heat also.  Thoughts?

Thanks in advance..this is my first cutting, and seems to be going well so far, so I want to keep it up!

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/file?id=1245733

Thanks alanmercieca.  Any thoughts on if I should add a light bulb to maybe speed things along?