Read a few other posts about this and wanted to give it a go. 

A few of the larger limbs on Unk Lake Spur had long node spacing so these 24 were cut from them, leaving a couple inches of stem on either side of the node, ends dipped and buried horizontal in potting mix with only the bud slightly exposed on 10/19.

A couple of them look like the buds are starting to swell.  No mold so far.  The potting mix is ever so slightly moist.  These are in a big tote with a lid and are uncovered daily.

 

Good luck, Charlie.  Looking forward to the progress updates.

   I think you're on to a good technique.   Good luck.

I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I've heard of a lot of people dividing cuttings in half (usually more than one node). I have hesitated to do it myself because my assumption is that with a larger cutting, there is more stored energy and (I assume) a higher success rate. I figure that if I get a higher success rate with larger cuttings, I will soon be able to make more air layers (which have an even higher success rate than cuttings). Anyone ever done enough "tiny" cuttings to say whether or not size of cutting affects success rate?

The reason I don't do Single Node rooting is because my goal is to bring up bush looking fig trees. Single node will give a single branch where multiNode cutting will give multiple branches taking same time of rooting/growth.

Good luck. I hope all goes well. You have enough future figs to start a small orchard.

Experimenting with something new is always exciting. Good luck, Charlie. Please keep us posted on your progress and findings.

Paul,
Absolutely, specially if you have an expensive cutting in hand or hard to come by types...

Furthermore if both ends are sealed with wax they have most chance to survive with no rot, no matter how long it takes to root. Sometimes they root faster than they open leaves  and sometimes they open leaves before they root.

I find it very beneficial keeping them in the fridge drawer few weeks for callusing. After callusing they are much easier and safer to root all cuttings, specially if Single Node.

When you say "single branch" does it mean to say it will grow straight up and have no limbs?

Well, 1- if you have one node , it will sprout one shoot but that one, on it's term, can brach out from sides.
        2- if you have several nodes, you have several shoots to come up, on their own term, they will branch our sideways too.
Something like this... pardon the crappy work, i had to do it on my phone and save it to my laptop to bring it here.

Added four Sicilian White.  To add a bit of drama to the experiment, the potting mix for these is 50% TGA super soil.

 

Surely a bud break on one of the Unk Lake Spur.  Pic taken right after spraying a tad of water.

 

This soil is what I had planted the dried Turkish figs in a couple months ago and they never sprouted.  Now there are some tiny somethings sprouting.  Will let them stay and see if they are little fig trees.

Every cutting is budding out.  This one has a root trying to go straight up!

 

 

Very cool, Charlie. That tree really wants to grow!

After seeing your work, I took a single bud branch tip off one of my trees and stuck it in a cup with Pro-Mix. It is growing. One for one. That's 100% success rate!

I've thought about laying a cutting sideways and letting the entire thing root. After a while, when good growth is observed from every node, cut in between the nodes to separate them. Just an idea at this point.

Charlie,
You are so right.  think that's what I am going to do also from now on.
I'll dumped the mix before planting the cuttings and no watering on top of them , just cover them and let them be, until the roots hit the walls of the clear container then I'll just transplant them in 1G nursery pots.
Overwatering must be the cause of gnads, melting leaves, fungus, mildew and finally rot. (The Misery Pack!)

Great job Charlie,
ill try rooting cuttings your way.
i have killed them every other way,
so this will be my last atempt at rooting.
i can airlayer with no fail, and graft... i just cant do cuttings LOL ;-)) 

Charlie you make it look easy :) Nice job

A smart way to stretch limited genetics, I'm guessing you just have to be careful not to let it get too dry as it is so near the surface. I agree about barely moist, it's so easy to rot a fig cutting.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Here's a bunch more single node cuttings of various varieties, set into styro bowls, each having a drain hole and covered with clear solo cups, three vent holes in top of each.  The mix is 50/50 of moist potting mix and fresh, moist worm castings.  I got these bowls and cups at the local convenience food mart.  The solo cups sort of just "snap" in fairly secure.  They can be picked up by the cup and stay together but easy to snap off.

Did not water any at all.  The mix seems moist enough.

 

The vent holes were melted into ten cups at a time with a piece of clothes hanger, heated by a propane torch.  

Now the total of 100 are in the bright room...

 

I don't know what those horizontal bars are showing up in the photo's I take in the bright room.  Must be something to do with the 1000W metal halide light. The cups are all covered now with aluminum foil to keep light off of them until we get some roots.  

Temps in the bright room are about 80 F during on time and 72 ish at night.  The door stays open and ceiling fan keeps from excess heat buildup. 
 

That's a benifit to running a MH or HPS light in the winter, heat. If you can run it at night, even better as temperatures drop.

Mike in Hanover, VA