I couldn't wait any longer so the last week of February I started rooting my cuttings. (About 120 varieties.) It was a little too early as my set up is a little cramped. I do not have grow lights so I am dependent on the weather as to when I can put them outside in the hoop house. Well today is the day.

My preferred method of rooting is going to remain sphagnum moss (although I've tried coir this year). Once they show signs of roots, I can push them right into filled pots of 50% ProMix HP and 50% Pine Bark Fines. If they have real roots I have to be a lot more careful and it just takes more time. I push them down all the way to the last node. Some of my cuttings are pushed 9" down into the soil with just 1/4" sticking out. I think this gives the cutting the maximum amount of surface area to grow roots. All of that energy will be directed to the top bud.

Now here's the tricky part. I have no room in my place. So I put each tray of 12 pots in a garbage bag and stack them in a closet. Unfortunately my timing was a little off because some of them pushed more top growth than I would have liked. They are pretty pale but should be ok.

My hoop house is set up on a shelf off of my back deck. About 3x12'x3'. As you can see that there is still snow on the ground. I put a small heater in there and it's about 70-80 degrees. I've got 120 pots in there now, but not all of my varieties have rooted. I had to leave room to expand. Some varieties are 1 cutting per pot, and others are 3 cuttings per pot. It really depends on the size of the cutting. When I up pot them to 10-15 gallon pots I usually like 3 cuttings per pot. (Or 3 strong stems from a large cutting.)

Happy Figging Everyone!

I am going to show my wife the pic of trays in kitchen because thats what i do too. She thinks i nuts.
how deep are those pots. They look short. Is that the pots you push the cuttings down 8 inchs?

Never mind just seen a better pic. Nice pots. Where you get those guys at.

And what is under them holding them up. This is a perfect set up. Love it. I have 3 hoop houses
need that set up in each. Details if you don't mind. Thats for sharing

My wife was not home when I was mixing the potting soil and filling all of those pots. I had to make chocolate chip cookies before she got home to hide the "earthy" smell.

They really are nice pots. This is my third season using them. I bought them just once. Because they are only used for about 6 months (before the figs are up potted) they should last for many years.

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/shipment-of-tree-pots-came-in-today-6262915?pid=1277521389

Nice setup, Aaron! You're definitely more space efficient than I am - even though I think I'm doing a much better job of that this year. How is your success rate for rooting?

100% of the ones that went in the pots were starting to push roots. I have a couple varieties that I cleaned with bleach solution before going into the moss that looked a little sketchy. I check on them every few days. Some of those I have pulled out and cleaned a couple more times because I can start to see the distinctive tiny dots of black mold starting. Of course they are some of the most rare of my varieties. The ones I find around the corner root like crazy! I do not expect every one to grow, but it's pretty close. I started collecting this batch in October so some have been in the fridge for almost 5 months. I would blame any lack of success on the individual cutting and most likely the shipping conditions. In the winter they could get too cold as well as too hot during transit. I had a couple show up starting to push roots as well as finding some in my mailbox wrapped in frozen newspaper.

Looks really super Aaron, where did you get the hoops?

Aaron - forgot to ask - how much direct sun are the cuttings getting there? I assume whatever they get is filtered, but how many hours?

What are you going to do with all of them?

These are just around to keep the others company.
56 more potted up today!

About 10 pots had a little die back but not bad. Most pulled through just fine. I have room for about another 84 pots. I think it's going to be close.

I realize this is an old thread .... but I am curious it appears to be already cold outside (plus I saw another pic where theres snow outside the loop house). I can't imagine the temp inside the loop house to be much above 60F. How are these cuttings surviving?

I just started rooting cuttings 6 weeks ago keeping them in a warm and humid sterlite box. Now they are rooting (although about 30% of them are goners). And at this point I am wondering how to transition them to normal temps. And here I see pictures of Aaron's cuttings in most likely cooler temps :-/

The secret of my design ( I think) is that I pre-root my cuttings, or at least wait for root initials to appear. Then I push them into pre-moistened soil. Most of these cuttings are 90-100% under the soil line. This helps keep the moisture on the cutting and keeps the cutting at a more steady temp. I do have a heater so it is quite warm in there. I would guess between 60 at night to 80 during the day. I use a small pump sprayer to keep the top of the soil moist and to add humidity.

Very nice work Aaron. I love those 4x4x8 pots. They worked way better than any clear cup or mini sip for me last year . I see one with three cuttings in it. I did the same with three BT cuttings to create a three trunk tree and looks like it is happening so far! Thanks for sharing and best of luck!

In my area it's better to grow as a bush form, so I cut to the chase and threw 3 cuttings in a bunch of them. It depends on the size of the cutting. Even the larger cuttings that are 1 per pot now will be 3 per pot when I up pot to 3gal. They will be up potted again to 15gal most likely by the end of the year.

Feeling pretty good about success so far.