Greetings,
I got some cuttings and they have been doing well but I have not seen leaves like this on a fig before and wondered if anyone else was growing this...  

I am/were?.  My leaves look the same.  

After getting off to a good start, mine are going backwards now.  Got to about 6-8 leaves and i do not know why they are dying. Not over watered, not dried out, no signs of bugs and no fungus.  Roots just slowly darkened. Temp is around 78 degrees and they are getting 16hrs of light a day. Growing 50% perlite, 50% miracle grow potting soil.

Sure hope you are more successful than I have been.  Its my second attempt with this variety and its depressing not to know what I am doing wrong.

When I have had that happen in the past it is usually the stem below the roots rotting...because the was too much open stem below. Now I am careful to cut them off so the bottom is sealed and not open to rot and I root right at the bottom...

I have three cuttings started, or rather trying to start. I used to eat these in Central Asia and they are wonderful, larger figs. I only hope I can get some to grow for me here.

I had cuttings of two different varieties last year throw out several leaves like that before they started making leaves similar to their kind. 

Good to know I had rooted a wild persimmon and it had those leaves...so I got a bit concerned..
Gene you will always have cuttings if I get this to grow..

Thank you Gloria!  I have been trying to figure out what the name means. If I am not mistaken it means "the yellow from the Zeybek region" i.e. Western Anatolia (that is the Western part of modern Turkey). The cuttings I have are from a man who got his original tree from a horticulturalist in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; and that's where the figs came from that we ate when we lived in Kyrgyzstan. There everyone peeled the Seri Zeybek fig because of a thick skin, but they were wonderful tasting! We would buy a kilo in the bazaar and with the kids eat them in one sitting at home! I remember they were about $1 a kilo, man that was some good eating.

The pictures had me mesmerized...

Gloria, Thanks. you may have hit the nail on the head. The Saribyzek were some of the first cuttings I started because I was the most interested in getting that variety in ground. I was careful about tips later on but I am not sure I was as aware of the need to trim on the first ones.

Please explain what you mean about trimming the tips? Do you mean  you cut off any extra below where the roots start?

Good question Gene.  I took it to mean trimming off the excess below the last node.  One thing I did notice on my Sari Zeybeks were that they rooted the whole length of the cutting from top to bottom. I had as many roots above the soil as in the soil. Perhaps I should have cut them up at that point and buried the pieces but I was afraid of diminishing the vitality of the cutting so I let mother nature do its thing. I was so determined to make a success of these cuttings that I was perhaps overly conservative in handling them. If mine do not survive and it does not look good at the moment, would love to have hints from anyone who is successful in rooting these babies as to how they did it. Although its my top variety to grow, I have not put it on my wish list because I thought I would be able to put some in ground this year.  Maybe they will survive, but at this point it does not look promising and I am totally bummed out. :(

Mariann, maybe between you, Gloria and myself we can get a few Sari Zaybeks to grow and share cuttings with each other if needed. I have three cuttings and I am trying a different rooting technique with each one since I am new to rooting figs. The one in perilite/spagh moss and a humidity dome is showing signs of roots. The others, nothing so far. I'll keep you informed.

BtW, did both you and Gloria get your cuttings from the guy on Ebay who has a tree in AZ?

root rot can cause the cutting to die.. or it just could be too much water in the soil... which can lead to root rot.  too much or too little water will give similar symptom, leaves drooping. if the cup is very very light, let it sit in water that's about 1/3 of the cup height and let it soak up water for about 5 min. use warm water. if the cup is heavy, and if you have been watering, misting or what not, stop giving it water and let the soil dry out a little. bottom feed it again when the cup is very very light but not totally dried out. if the top is well developed, there is chance it will come back. make sure to give some light so the leaves can start photosynthesis. 

Here is a great picture.. 

I have been doing a lot of reading on getting the right kinds of bacteria and stuff into the picture.. decomposition shouldn't kill....but so far trimming so there is no white circle on the bottom has been working well...

small pith shouldn't really make that much difference. i usually cut right below the node and try not to damage the node. usually, there is small pith/white stuff, but so far not much of an issue. at cup stage, lot of the issues are due to giving it water. if humidity bin is being used, more than likely pre-wet soil mix will last for a month or two before watering is needed. if humidity bin is not being used, the watering becomes tricky. if you water too much, you can kill the cutting. if not, you can kill the cutting. some people have it down to science, i haven't gotten to that point yet. but i know what works for me.. that's the thing with rooting the cutting. something that works for me might not work for the others. and what works for others might not work for me. have to try and find what works best at your location. 

I'm telling you the best way for me is putting a big plastic bag over each cup and no water again for a month. Try it

That was my first attempt at a SIP... all those pretty leaves are gone now..... I will hope my other cutting that has roots and no leaves will make it... otherwise I might be hitting one of y'all up... I really love the look  of this fig..

When I've had small cutting decline like that it been due mostly to the presence of fungus gnat larvae. Take a cutting out of the soil and check under the rotting bark. If the larvae are present they will be small clear and hard to see but look closely near the remaining live part of the cutting under the loose bark. They are almost hair thin and 1/8 to 316 inch long with a black head. I'm hoping it's not gnats.
"gene"

That was the first thing I checked, no it was just too wet the mix I used with the sip held too much water...I've cut and cleaned the rot and re cupped in my regular mix and it is dying less quickly....

Alas die it did, anyone else have better luck with this one?

Gloria: My Sarizeybek tree is nearly 10 month old now. I bought mine on ebay from iofbeholder2012 on June 1, 2014. I planted it in the ground in mid June 2014.

Best,
Tam

Gloria,
I just read this thread, sorry you lost the cuttings to rot.

Sarizeybek has always been one of my dream wishes... But, I have been seeing only on eBay which was out of my reach, Turkey or China...I want to get from a local source for safety issues.
Does anyone sell or trade this variety? I am very interested in one.

I've been curious about this variety for a while now and have seen pictures of beautiful yellow figs, but have never been able to find an interior pic. Anyone have pics of a ripe sarizeybek fig? Also, can anyone give a personal description of the inside color, texture, and flavor? Thanks so much!

I have  Sarizeybek from Turkey. My fig tree has deep long fingers on leaves:
Unfortunately, it needs pollination for setting figs... which is not available in my region!