I am by no means an expert on rooting and I continue to experiment but for now I have settled on coconut coir as my favorite method. There hasn't been much written about rooting in coir so allow me to start.

I've tried almost every method out there starting with newspaper and sphagnum in a bag or plastic shoe-box, old and new baggie systems. directly planting in cups with perlite, moss, soil etc, root riot and most recently, a bucket propagator. 

Newspaper and sphagnum media make it difficult to control the proper amount of dampness. Usually, we tend to keep the media too damp because we are too nurturing of our cuttings, resulting in mold and gnats. Too little water or forgetting to check daily runs the risk of drying out the moss and killing the cuttings.

Root Riot  was great for rooting but the resulting high death rate after transplanting to cups ( RR acts like a sponge causing the plant to rot) was disappointing.

My DIY bucket propagator looked and worked great but it rotted most of the cuttings. The few roots it produced were spindly and weak.

Coir, on the other hand is a very forgiving medium. It requires minimal dampness and hardly ever needs re-watering during the course of the rooting process. Set it and forget it _Ron Popeil

Another huge advantage to coir is that roots do not get tangled up like in some of the the other methods so there is little to no chance of damaging them during the potting phase. 
Last but not least, I am confident that roots formed in coir are thicker, stronger and more robust compared to those grown in moss or newspaper.

Anyway, that's been my experience.





 

Roots look good.
Do you control the temperature and the humidity some how?
What's your process for transplanting them and growing them out?

Those roots look amazing! I have tried every method you mentioned and failed at all except sphagnum, which I have been very happy with. However, your roots look better than mine. Where can I get it? I just searched homedepot.com and it didn't come up. Hydro shop?

Plain room temperature in covered plastic container.

Usual transplanting method to 32 ounce cups of Promix.


Yes, you can get coir at any hydroponic shop or have it delivered from Amazon.

Thanks for the write-up, Frank.  You've convinced me to try it.

Frank,

Is this the right stuff?  Do you think it's enough to root 2-3 cuttings?  Thanks

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10oz-Hydroponic-Growing-Media-Coconut-Fiber-Coco-Coir-Organic-Peat-Greenhouse-/141352285158?pt=Planters_Pots&hash=item20e940b3e6

Coir is sometimes in pet shops for amphibian bedding, too.

Thanks for showing this method Frank!
Is that Ponte Tresa? If so you've beaten me and i would be pretty disappointed haha.

I've never tried coir but I heard rave reviews about it at the trade shows last winter. Your roots do look great but I try not to let them get that big before up-potting. (From sphagnum moss). I'm looking for a direct potting method. Possibly a Coir / Pro Mix HP blend. I'm going to try rooting in Coir and direct potting next spring.

I seem to remember that there is a grade of coir that should be avoided for plant media - perhaps because of it brings the pH too high or low?  If anyone knows anything about this please chime in.  Getting the grade they recommend at a hydroponic store is probably a good bet.

I think that some readily available 'seed starting' products are coir, like this one from Burpee:
http://www.burpee.com/seed-starting/seed-starting-mixes/concentrated-seed-starting-mix-prod002893.html;jsessionid=B8E2D0C408F027A76C9B650E8E411824.node5?omn2pd=bz&catId=2210&trail=

I saw these at local Lowes, other stores this spring.   I have not tried using them, yet.

Frank, Very helpful thanks for posting. How do you hydrate the coir? Do you soak in water and squeeze out the excess? What has been your method for attaining the right moisture level? What size container are you using? Thanks, LE

Nice looking roots!  Ok, now I have to try coir.

Hi Leon, thanks for the comment. I guestimate the amount of water I add to the coir. It's hard to over do it. Mildly damp coir seems to work well. The container in the picture is 12 x8 x3 inches but you can use any size really. Unless the rooting process takes more than 6 weeks, the coir doesn't usually need any further hydration.

Thanks for posting this frank. I think I'm gonna try this this year. From my experience with buying the stuff for pets, pet stores will usually be a bit more expensive, amazon is a lot cheaper.

Look amazing. It's nice how new methods of rooting these plants keeps coming forward. Sometime I believe it's part of the fig's plans to keep their genes going.

I still remember when Ultimate Potting Mix was the thing to use.

Frank,
Thanks for sharing the info and pictures. I'm also a Coco Coir advocate for rooting and growing out healthy cuttings.
.


Steve,
The Coir fines should be specifically processed for plant potting mix, otherwise there may be problems with both salts and pH. The Coir starts out with ~ 5.5 pH which works well for dormant cuttings, because it reduces microbial growth. I use Plant-It Coco Coir Fines distributed by Hydrofarm... a popular Hydroponics manufacturer. I've also used the Burpee Organic Coir seed starting mix and it worked as well, but was not available locally this past season. My local Hydroponics store, The Grow Room, http://www.thegrowroom.com/ has Canna Coco which is also specifically processed for plants.

^^^ Those roots!! 

Looks great Frank.Would get my brother to try the coir method. He is in similar zone -- tropics.

Hey Frank, thanks for posting! You Da Man! Will have to try that stuff! : )

Frank, I just received this coir block: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003MOD2HY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Could you please tell me how to hydrate it for rooting? Is it basically the same as moss? Soak it in a bucket of water, strain it, then squeeze it until you can barely get another drop out?