I clipped and started these cuttings in the last week of August.  Since then they have roots and leaves, which is great, but compared to the other pictures I see on these forums, the roots seem much thinner.

Is this a problem (lack of nutrition, sun, etc)?   Or is it just this species (which I do not know).  

I'm also wondering if they are ready for potting.

I've got them on a temp controlled heating pad, by the window, just put a T5 light over them, and water every day or two.  Fertilize about once a week.  

     

It sure looks good and healthy to me!  Mine haven't gotten nearly as thick as some posted on here have, either. But if it looks like that, I'd be perfectly happy with it.  Nice.

My interpretation is that the yellow roots mean too much water and the amount of roots cries out for potting up.  That's what I would do if it were mine.

Hi figlegacy,

It all depends on variety.
Some varieties send out very thick roots and some very thin and the rest something in between .
When I was rooting the 185-15 the roots were thinner than that...so it all is related to the variety.
And when I rooted the Capri cuttings from Beverly Hills old lady...the roots were amazingly stiff and thick.

Nothing is wrong with your root system. They look beautiful.

Welcome to THE forum, where it all happens :)

Looks great,totally agree with Aaron on the variety diffs , and Bob on water and up potting!
Welcome and best of luck with your cuttings!

Sometimes root thickness can be directly related to the amount of energy stored in the cutting as well. Maybe a cutting from a less favorable side of the tree will have thinner weaker roots. If you can keep them alive and growing, it's all the same in the end.

I can see what looks a problem in your setup though. It looks like your using a hard plastic cup to root in. When it comes time to remove the treeling you will realize the problem you have. When using a rooting media that is primarily Perlite, there isn't a great deal of adhesion of the media particles. With out the media being very root bound the rooting media plug will crumble easily. A more flexible cup is easier to free up and get out with less damage to the roots you have worked so hard to grow. I need to add though that even with a flexible cup it can be hard to get them out in one piece. All I can say is when it comes time, be gentle and use something like a butter knife to help coax it out with the least damage. If you don't care about the cup you could also cut the cup in half from top to bottom with a dremmle tool or similar.

Save the fig !!! cut cup at top in multiple places and it should rip right off in strips.
Good luck

Figlegacy,
IMO, darker thin (woody) roots are usually due to excessive light and or several dry cycles. Thin translucent roots are usually due to excess water and possibly reduced oxygen. Re-potting may be necessary, including removing some of the lower older leaves to balance the growth (leaves to roots).
Good Luck

Here we go again on someone else's thread.

I am wondering if there are any drain holes on the bottom to allow oxygen to the roots. I am new to rooting fig cuttings so I don't know if drain holes are needed. edit: Just opened my eyes a little wider and noticed there are drain holes.

Larry,
Usually there are holes in the bottom of the cups. Fig cuttings need good aeration for fast healthy growth. Rich Started a topic with lots of good compiled info on his rooting method, http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6838912 .


Figlegacy,
If you would like, I'll be happy to expound on my comments about the roots.

  Jon Verdick's Encanto farms webpages with perlite rooted cuttings and pictures of healthier roots...
http://figs4fun.com/basics_Rooting.html
http://figs4fun.com/Rooting_Bag_New_Style.html
  My personal posts of visibly healthy roots in several different tests and mediums...
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1284356059&postcount=15
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1284871622&postcount=19
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1285152675&postcount=30


Rich,
I believe it is useless for me to produce any technical documents to you, and to have a true discourse as proven by your discourteous comments in this and other topics.

Goodluck getting your cutting out of that cup. I have already made that mistake lol

Thanks everyone. I gotta say, this forum is fantastic; its great to get all this valuable feedback. I'm also glad to hear the roots are in good shape.

Yes, I goofed on the hard plastic as this is my first attempt with cuttings. I think I will have to dremel vertically as some suggested. For fear of cutting the roots accidentally, I'm thinking I just score the cup vertically and squeeze it so it breaks along the score lines.

So if the consensus is "up-pot" then I'll give it a shot.

Figlegacy,

I'm noticing that the cup has a nice taper, if you drill a large hole in the bottom (big enogh to put you finger through) you may be able to push the cutting and media out (a fostner bit would be best).  If it was me, I would most likely just cut the bottom of the cup off with my chop saw.  obviously avoiding the roots as much as possible.

With the absence of a lip on the top of the cup, I'm sure that most any method you use will yield decent results. Thanks for posting the pictures, and asking the question, it's another piece of information I'm glad to have learned about. 

Scott