Hi All,

So about a few weeks ago Pete has graciously gave me 3 fresh cuttings. I immediately put them in a moist soil in a cup, put a paper towel on top and wrap it loosely. I place the cup near my window but out of the direct sun.

I've been checking the soil every other day and it was always moist.

Two days ago I couldn’t take it anymore and began to search for the root, apparently my sticks have none. The cuttings are still green (when I scratched it) and the part in the soil is not rot. I don’t know what went wrong.

Can I cut the bottom tip and re-rooting? What is the best way to maybe get the root to grow :(

Thanks,

Anya

Anya...are these green softwood cuttings, or lignified wood--green/brown, or brown wood??
   I suspect since your cutting is still showing as green, you could trim the end and start over.   Perhaps search the "baggie method", or look for rooting summer cuttings--there are several posts with info.

Sara, I dont know what they called. They are brown but when I scratched it, it's green inside.

Alsn, Thank you so much for the PM! I'll give it a try. Though, Pete just told me that it could take 3-4 weeks for the root to start. I will leave two cuttings as is and try your method the other!!

Alan, I am always wary of anyone claiming "100% success rate". I know many pro nurseries that can't even boast 80%.

Anya, I don't like rooting out in the open indoors. I highly recommend placing your cups into a clear storage bin with the lid closed and place in a sunny room away from direct sunlight. Your cuttings need HUMIDITY (not water or oerly wet mix) and you cant get humidity out in the open. It could take months to root in a window soil. Also, NEVER take a stick out of the soil, you can break off any roots that were there, they are super fragile.

Also, be patient! The majority of the time, rooting a stick doesn't happen in "weeks", it takeS a month or two or three. I recently started a batch of 28 cuttings and using a sealed storage bin and tall skinny bags (roots show quicker) with only slightly damp pottingmix And after almost a month, I have at least a dozen cuttings with few or Zero roots.

Thanks Jason :) I've just read Pete's post about his rooting and he showed something about 3 weeks and he got this much roots. I might be mistaken something!!

I assumed it is a soft wood as it's not as big and still greenish brown. I'll try put them in the a container to creat the green house effect :) Thanks for the tips!! I'll try to control the temp as well. it gets cooler here lately. I'll keep my fingers crossed for another month or two. When do I know that the stick is a no go? is there a cut off limit?

If you want roots and not leaves cut the leaf nodes befor you attempt to root and keep it in a dark location.

Allan how many figs do you have? I mean do you root a season? This past season I had a 45% and was happy with that. Summer cuttings I have a better success rate. On Angelique I had a 1% and from what I hear that isn't bad for that strain it kinda hurt though since I feel I am pretty good at rooting.

Anya try a glass of water in a window if it's a green cutting if it's hard wood try moss in a blue ziplock bag in a dark warm place. These seem to work well for my except for Angelique.

Thank you all for the tips. I just put a ziplock bag over my cup this morning and place it outside in the shade.

Jason, the cutting was fresh in August, no leaves. the stick looks to be greenish brown.

Celt - I think mine is consier a green cutting (not a hardwood) but it is already been in a soil for about 3 weeks. I've put the ziplock over my cup to try to give it humidity. I will put it in a dark, see if it can stimulate it to root!!

Thanks for all the great tips guys!!

anya,

i noticed this post earlier, but i was at BSA training and could not post in time.

i see lot of members have already given good advices.

my cuttings that rooted in 2-3 weeks were done following dan's peat pot method. i followed it to the letter. however, my rootings didn't root at all in the baggie method before moving them to the peat pot. i waiting for a week on one that i gave to you and moved it into peat pot.

once i moved it in peat pot, i set it sit in a storage bin for another week when i started to see the root. by the time i gave it to you, i think it was about 3rd week.

my airlayer is another story. i meant to keep the airlayer to till the end of oct., now i think about it, i should have. but due to too much rain, i was afraied that it might rot or mold so i cut it. when i open the bottle, i have mass of roots.

however, i'm still waiting to see if airlayer is going to survive.

i pot the airlayer on wed. of last week, then on thur. i checked and made sure there was enough water in the soil. went off on my BSA training and came back last night.

when i check back on it, it looked real bad. i'm hoping it will come back. just have to wait and see what happens.

pete

I think that is the tough part for people - getting those cuttings to "small tree" stage.  It is very possible to have 100% root "strike" rate, depending on the wood you start with.  I had 100% strike rate with the first huge batch (~130 cuttings) I rooted using the old zip-top-baggie-plus-clear-cup method. 

Then I lost 20% of my rooted sticks for no clear reason (rot/mold/overwater/whatever).  I lost another 30% during transplant (transplant shock/overwater on transplant).  I tried to get creative and cut some sticks down to single-node cuttings, then calculated the number of plants I rooted versus the number of sticks I started with and the ratio was "100%" using that calculation.... until I started to transplant and lost that other 30% or so.

I think when it was all said and done I ended up having about 50% success then, also.  I pretty consistently have about 50% success with most methods I've tried.  I usually try to root in batches of about 30-50 cuttings now and never more, it's too much to keep up with (folks like Cathy boggle my mind with her success rates and batch sizes!!)

I always try to remind people, "use what works for you".  If you can find a rooting method that will result in approximately 50% success going from stick to tree, then you're doing a hell of a good job.  Don't get too tied up in the numbers.  You're not a nursery.  All you need to do is be successful with ONE stick, getting it to tree size, and you have a source for more cuttings - or better yet, airlayers. 

Thanks Pete!

Some good news (I think!) I saw tiny leaf buds forming!! The past two days I put it outside in a shade to get some heat and this morning two of the sticks have leaf buds! I moved it inside today though, planning to put it in a dark place. Should I do that? or it'll shock the stick too much?  Or should I leave it outside?

Anya - consistency is key.  If you're seeing action, stop screwing around with it ;)

We, as humans, have a huge problem with just "letting things be".  We love things "to death" as they say.

Caution...just because you see leaf growth does not equal root growth.  BUT, that is a good sign!!    You're getting there, isn't it exciting???

LOL I couldnt resist not messing with it!!! I'll try very hard to 'let it be' or I'll love it 'to death'!

Yes Sara, very exciting right now. the leaves are getting bigger by the day. I have to find a new place for it tomorow becasue it'll be in the 50s here for a little bit.

bad news - I see some white mold on the tip of the cuttings.. what should I do!!!

anya,

i haven't found a good solution for mold. however, i noticed when i let it "breath" by letting it sit outside for a day or two that will get rid of the problem.. providing that it's nice and dry outside.

also, i noticed that the cuttings that has very nice clean cut has less mold then the others.

i tried to cut all the cuttings straight for you, but that might not have helped..

other things i have tried is cut the part that has mold off if the that part just happens to be on top of the cutting. that will hold off mold for awhile.

one of the cutting that was given to me had number of areas where the mold was growing. all those areas were where the cut was made. i just couldn't control the  mold and i threw that away.

pete

Physan 20 on eBay is good. Northeastnewbie recommended it. Make a small batch because it loses its effectiveness fast.

That might be it. I saw the mold after I took it inside (a closed-in deck) I should've just left it outside where it gets hot! I will see if I could cut the moldy part off and left it out of the bag for a bit.

hmm...... I'm gonna be messing with it too much.. hope I dont kill it. I had a dream that all the cuttings were shrivel/wrinkle up and turned all white and I had to throw them away. This is only 3 cuttings and I'm already dreaming about it hm....

When I first started rooting I had no patience. Thought I was doing it wrong.

Thanks Dominick and Jason for the input, it all paid off!!!

I saw some roots YEY!!! The leaves are growing and the roots gets longer day by day. I'm so happy!!! And the mold hasnt come back yet :)

Anya

I will suffix with a downer:  Don't count your chickens before they hatch.  You aren't out of the woods yet.  Getting roots and leaves isn't the end of the ride.  Good luck on making a small tree!  Just don't overwater!  Don't need a lot of water until you have a LOT of roots.

from what i have read in the forum, lot of failure comes from moving the cutting after it roots into a pot. the roots will get damaged if not handled carefully.

i only used dan's peat pot method, so i'm not sure what the failure rate is, but so far i have not had issue with moving the rooted cutting from the cup to the 8" pot.

watering on the other hand is another story. it's been very damp around here lately. temp is around high 70/low 80, and been raining a bit. i try not to water until the soil looks rather dry on the top, but i think i might be over watering the cuttings. but so far the new leaves are looking well so i'm keep watering every 3rd day or so. the soil is potting soil and perlite 50/50. i haven't used this before so it's hard to tell how much to water for me.

pete

Yeah I was good all the way until I brought them outside.

Thanks for the tips! I love getting them :)

Anyway, I just saw 2 roots, only about 3 inches long each for the look of it. I wont think of moving it until next spring! it's just very exciting to see! I havnt been watering it much actually... about a tablespoon every 2 weeks, and it's still looking good. I'll keep watching for more roots and will water more if needed.

From what you all told me, I am surprise the little unknown fig cutting with leaves that Pete gave me is still alive! lol. I just put it in the pot and put it in partial sun outside since day one and it's still looks really good.

When is it time to take these little fig tress inside from the cold?

Anya