aaa, glad you enjoyed the picture.
It is a Ponte Tresa fig. Story and more pics can be found here:

ok thanks for that link, glad i asked about the picture,
shame we dont know the actual variety name.

I started cuttings in coir two weeks ago. I have them in cups in an airtight ziplock bin. The humidity has been reading 99 percent almost constantly and the temps range from 60 to 66 or so. I have been airing it out daily for maybe 5 or 10 minutes to try and get the humidity down but it doesn't seem to help. I did squeeze the coir pretty good, did I not squeeze it enough and should I be worried about the humidity being that high?
I've been checking daily for mold on them and have noticed only a few which I cleaned with some lysol wipes. Any suggestions?

I don't think there should be problems with the high humidity, Travis.
Coir will not contribute to mold unless the cuttings were old and decomposing to start with. If you are worried that there is too much water left in the coir, you can always leave the lid off the bin for a few days. However, one of the big advantages to coir is how forgiving it is regarding the range of moisture it can tolerate.
If the cuttings are relatively fresh, you should have great results.

I found this info from a study from UC Davis comparing various rooting medium for Rhododendron rootstocks. Perhaps it will be relevant to rooting fig cuttings as well?  There’s a dramatic difference among the different rooting mediums. Coir and Perlite seem to double the chances of rooting over all but one of the alternatives. 

Rooting Medium Rooting % at Six Weeks

UC Mix and Perlite (1:1) -43%

Perlite and Vermiculite (1:1) -29%

Coconut fiber (coir) -29%

Coconut fiber and Perlite (1:1) -64%

Sphagnum Pea -21%

Sphagnum Peat and Perlite (1:1) -14%

Ca saturated Sphagnum Peat -14%

Ca saturated Sphagnum Peat/Perlite (1:1) -21%

 

(Rooting success of Rhododendron occidentale cuttings in several types of propagation media. )

http://slosson.ucdavis.edu/newsletters/Reid_199829064.pdf

I'm rooting in 3 batches this year. I've started the first 2 batches, using perlite in clear cups only. I'm 5 weeks in on the first batch and my success is 38%. I expect it to go up (I hope it goes up!), but it has hit a lull after a huge leap during weeks 3 and 4. However, there is a lot of bud/leaf growth despite the lack of visible roots in the "un-rooted" cuttings, in both batches #1 and #2. I'm going to start batch #3 this weekend.

Last year, overall, I had a 75% success rooting, under different conditions. I didn't use dedicated lighting (for the first half of rooting) and heat mats like I am this year. As such, last year's first roots of batch #1 didn't become visible until into the 7th week. After setting up lights last year for batch #2, I saw roots at about 4 weeks.

Good information Mara, that is a interesting article about growing rhododendrons on rootstocks tolerant of alkaline conditions. I have been having great success using coir for fig cuttings with very little loss, now I will add some perlite to see if that speeds things up.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Has anyone here used ReadyGro Aeration mix as a source of coir? I went to my local garden specialist store yesterday and that seemed like a better product than the flat coir brick. It has a formula of 70% Coco Coir to 30% Perilite already, with a few additives to buffer the mix. They have already treated the coir to remove the salt and toxins, so it seems all you have to do is add a little perlite to get the optimal 50/50 mix.

Ok Frank....I'm a little bored with this cold weather and I want to play with my figs so I will gather my supplies this weekend.  I will let you know how they turn out!

As a long time Long Fibre Spagnum Moss user I must say that I am very impressed with the Coco Coir in tupperware (airtight) tubs. I have had remarkable success with it this year. Also after using the coir with and without Dip N Grow, I must say that I lean towards  using it as opposed to not using it. Both work, but it seems a little fuller with roots earlier on with Dip N Grow.
I still use Spagnum also (because I still have so much) and have been happy with that too.
I guess you need to find something that works for you, but coco coir seems so easy, clean and really never needs any additional  water.
I have also been the stingiest this year with water. I use a large tub for the humidity chamber and can go many weeks at a time without watering. The cuttings are raised on  cut up milk crate sides (cut up and used as a drainage platform) and I add some water on the bottom. I also spray the lid from time to time. I use 4 foot florescent lights 14 hours on and the environment seems just right

Dennis, I was over at HTG Supply on Freedom Drive, and while discussing figs with the store owner Steve, he asked me if I knew you. He had mentioned it has been some time since he saw you.

We should meet some time since we live driving distance away.

This is the first year I have used "Coco Coir" and I love it!! I've got around 85% rooting  on what few cuttings I have done in the last few Months! I used only "Coco Coir" and "Clonex", I only rooted around 18 as I have a lot of trees left from last year. My container is not airtite, I punched a few holes in my container so they could get a little air (So I wouldn't have to take the top off every so often) and they rooted great.. Will not use no more Sphagnum ..Also I had no Mold or rotting... I have learned so much here from you Guys..Thanks so Much!! :)

Yeah, that's my buddy Steve!  He's the manager there.  I've been meaning to stop by on my way home but I've been riding the bus on and off with the weather the way it is!  I may swing by there today and say hi!  

Yeah, we can meet over there one day for a meet and greet.

Great to hear so many great success stories! 

I did a trial recently comparing coir with a modified version of Harvey's method using 16 similar cuttings of the same fig variety. The coir method won hands down, in quality, quantity and timing. Despite these wonderful successes, there are some who have reported disastrous failures. I am not sure why since coir is so forgiving when it comes to moisture problems. 

Coir has been best by far.

Does anyone wash their coir to remove excess salts? This website recommends that:

"Some Coco peat is not fully decomposed when it arrives and will use up available nitrogen as it does so (known as drawdown), competing with the plant if there is not enough. Poorly sourced coco peat can have excess salts in it and needs washing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_peat 

That's why I wanted to start with a coir that was already prepared and buffered like in Redi-grow.

I do not and the figs do not care. I mix the coco with Napa floor dry, the success is almost 100% as a second stage rooting.
First, I give them a kick start in moist paper towels on top of the fridge

Coco is great. I like not having gnats or mold.

FMD (Frank), thanks for originating this thread.   It’s getting late but, I hope to root a few cuttings this year and after reading all the comments, I’m ready to try something new.  You guys have convinced me to give Coir a try.   Especially if greenfig is giving a thumbs up!  Sounds like it may also help in deterring mold formation, maybe even gnats.

 

Mara…. funny you should mention!  I haven’t tried this yet but, I’m about to.   After reading Frank’s post and comments, I decided to go for it.  I went to my local hydroponic warehouse and after much discussion with the expert about their selections of coir, I walked out with a bag of the Botanicare ReadyGro Airation mix.   1.5 cu ft was about $22.50, which I thought pretty reasonable.   Here’s the make-up:

Readygro formula contains a ratio of 70% Coco Coir to 30% Perlite. Also, contains worm castings, humic acid, seaweed powder, and yucca extract. These inputs occur in trace amounts meant to buffer and condition the media, and do not provide a major food source for plant growth. 

This coir is double washed to remove salts, so it says on the bag.  I’m hoping to acquire a few new cuttings and trying this.  I’ll let you know how it turns out for me.

Jack, Jack, the Redigrow Aeration mix seemed like a better product to me over all and should last a while. I did some math and figured out how much perilite to add to bring the mix up to a 50 coir/50 perilite balance. I’m paying for some expensive cuttings, so I figured I might as well put the same money into the rooting mix. Figs seem to be very forgiving of their soil, up to a point. In The Smyrna Fig, Roeding describes how they shipped bags of fig cuttings from Turkey in moist sawdust which at that time took many weeks. When the cuttings arrived, most of them were alive and had already put out extensive roots. They planted them directly into the soil in an orchard, and experienced massive die back. Even the experts can make mistakes. 

Does anyone use a moisture meter to measure the level of moisture with their rooting cups? What level do you keep the moisture level at, on a scale of one to ten, one being bone dry and ten being very wet? Having the cuttings too wet is listed as one of the biggest causes of cutting failure.

One suggestion was that if there is moisture drops on the side of the cup, they’re wet enough. But the heating mat seems to dry them out faster. After a week and a half without water, I decided to use a moisture probe for a more accurate measure reading at the bottom of the cup. The probe registered some of my cuttings around Level 1 in moisture, but they still had moisture drops on the side of the cup. That seemed a little too dry, so I watered them.

When do other people water their cuttings? When is dry too dry? Do you use a special fertilizer water?

Here is the Coir I ordered off eBay! : )....On moisture, I use no meter (don't trust them) I go by weight,  If the cup feels real light, it needs water! It takes some getting used to but you can do it..Hope this helps!  :  )

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171410730943?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT