My LSU Purple has six or so limbs that grew vigorously last summer. If I wanted to take some cuttings:

• could I do it now?
• should I cut them about 9" long?
• could I immediately pot them?
• Should I use rooting powder?
• should I wait?
• should I refridgerate?
• what are your suggestions

Personally, unless you have a specific reason for wanting cuttings, I'd recommend waiting till spring and then making airlayers.

I do agree with Ken that air-layers may be your better option. However, it would not hurt to try a cutting or two just to try it out. That way if you ever choose to buy dormant cuttings you will have had some practice. Since you already have an established tree it won't matter that much if the cuttings don't work out.

Hello, fellow N. Floridian,

Well Charles, you could do each of your bullet points including throwing one into the dirt and probably have success but air-layering in the Spring would guarantee it 100%.
If you decide to root as cuttings, now would be as good a time as any.
6-8 inches seems to be optimal. Rooting hormone can't hurt but is not mandatory. My personal preference for rooting medium is spagnum moss.
Good luck.

Frank

As strange as this may sound I really am only thinking of the cuttings so as to not waste them. I will be pruning to stimulate branching and I just don't like the idea of throwing the cuttings away.

Frank,
I will try a couple of ways including spagnum and potting soil.

Thanks all

Darkman, I'm in southeast Texas zn 9. I just stuck them(LSU Purple) in 1 gallon pots(1 per) full of potting soil when I pruned in January last winter. I put them along the south side of my garage outside and watered them. I didn't do another thing to them and every one of them struck. Should work there as well. It worked for other varieties too, (Atreano and Adriatic) although you may want to use another method for your more cherished varieties.

Hi Charles,

If you are taking cuttings now, it is also a good time to root them as well.

I started rooting cuttings in the ground in October and had some more go in last weekend and more going in next weekend.  I put them far into the ground and covered the rest with mulch.  The mulch protects them from cold/wind during the more wintery days, and the roots can have a chance to grow on the warmer days so they are better established when the heat arrives.

Last year, I started planting later (around March).  Between the heat and drought, the immature roots of the cuttings had a hard time keeping up. 

~james

James and Tim,

Thanks for the advice. I'll plan to do this tomorrow. I have a good protected site to store and protect them. I'll try one with sphagnum moss to see how it effects the rooting.

Charles,
I think trying to root some cuttings is a great idea, even if you don't have an immediate need for trees.  Like the others say it is a fun process and some experience at it may pay off for the future.

However, if you have extra cuttings and don't want to waste them, you can always post here and I guarantee you will get some members who will pay postage to receive them (myself included).  In particular this is true of named varieties such as LSU Purple. 

Or you might be able to swap them for a different variety from another forum member. 

Good luck with whatever you end up doing.  I'm up here in NY and it was 13 degrees here last night, so I'm a little jealous of that North Florida weather (I grew up just south of Tallahassee).

Rob,

If I was 100% sure of my trees I wouldn't mind. I bought the LSU Purple from a guy who said that he paid royalties for the cuttings and that he bought about 100 at a time. He had other figs "labeled" LSU and I would like to think they are what they were labeled BUT until I get a crop off of it and can confirm the cultivar I don't want to cause any confusion. Hopefully this year I can get that confirmation. I hope my thinking doesn't offend anyone.

As far as LSU goes I'm not sure but I know for other plants that have been developed and licensed there are Royalties to be paid. I'm sure that is what he said. Maybe he just used that term to mean that he had obtained them legally. I don't know which ones if any are protected or licensed.

Royalties are due on all patented varieties.  Technically, we are not allowed to propagate (by any means) a personally owned, patented variety without permission and/or royalties to the patent holder.

A separate issue for nurseries is obtaining plant materials (whether patented or not).  Many buy cuttings in bulk from a wholesaler or grower.  Like anybody in business, they charge a fee for their product.  If they buy a patented variety, royalties are paid on top of product fee.

I do not think LSU's figs are patented... at least not the ones distributed by UCD.

~james

I know he said that he gets them from a Louisianna nursery/distributer. He has a green thumb but I don't know how knowledgable he is. He may have been suckered by an unscrupulous dealer himself. He is a nice guy and I know he trys to keep everything legal. I purchased some Angel Red pomegranites from him and he had all the tags and paperwork. Those are patented.