I am trying to get this cutting rooted. It has been covered with moss, but I took it out to get the picture. I am sorry about the picture quality. Cutting has white dots which I believe may be the beginning of roots, but the thing seems to be putting its energy into the growth at the bottommost node. I don't see this being a good thing.
Should I cut the growth off? Just wait and see what happens? I thought about putting it in a pot, with the cutting on its side, so the growth is just under the surface.

Any suggestions are welcome.
TIA,
John

Unfortunately I have had this happen to me a little too often and few successes;

- When I planted this upright that bottom growth will end up dying and also seems to impede root development at that node.

- To plant it sideways/angle to get the growth above the soil is a pain, you need a wide container and it will be prone to drying outand still may not form roots.

Assuming the nodes above the growth look good I would cleanly cut that growth off, seal the cut with wax and put it back for rooting.  I think that would increase your chances with that cutting.
 

Hi John, looking at the orange coloration of the top I would begin cutting it down and observe the color of the cambium and wood. The cutting growing from the lowest bud is also a signal something is wrong, the vascular system (cambium + wood) is not working correctly. Healthy cambium will be light green and healthy wood will be light tan to off-white. Fungi and bacteria can attack cuttings and invade the interior without showing much on the outside. Inside, the cambium and wood will be much more apparently discolored. Cut 1/2" off until you see nothing but healthy cambium and wood, then wash the cutting to remove any surface contamination on the lower part. Clean the tool with bleach or alcohol in between cuts to avoid spreading it.

I can get some pics of what I am talking about if you would like.

p.s. I see your moss has grass in it, this decomposes rapidly and can host pathogens. Chilean or New Zealand sphagnum available through orchid suppliers is much higher quality and does not contain any grass like edit*Mosser Lee. A cheaper material that works very well and is easy to find is coco coir.

Welcome to the forum John, Pino made a good suggestion, but I would try to salvage the growth and see if you could have the Charlie touch and see if this could produce a one node plant, the worst that can happen is the same as if you tossed it in the trash and the best is that you could end up with 2 plants. See Charlie's thread on one node cuttings, I think there is an occasion or more where Charlie had to replant a cutting with established growth. Good luck and good growing.

Is the bud below the tip/terminal end swelling?(This would be the growth bud that looks to be about 1/2" below the tip and facing directly up in relation to the moss) And, is the lower cut end of the stick (below the growth) developing callus? Callus is kind of warty lumpy looking tanish growth that grows just below the surface of the bark and will sping forth real roots, not lenticeles which are most likely what the white dots you are seeing. Although roots do sometimes push through lenticels, the white fuzz itself has nothing to do with roots directly. There seems to much confusion about this on the forum lately.

If the answer is yes to both of the questions, what I would do is trim off the terminal growth tip and cup/plant the cutting so that the new shoot growth is buried deep(IMO that growth is doomed) and what appears to be the swollen bud is just at the soils surface. Make sure you trim that breba fig embryo off with the terminal tip, cut in the lower portion of the internode below it but be sure not to damage that swollen bud(if it actually is a swollen bud).

That's what I would do, and then you probably have a 50/50 chance of success.

Everyone has their own opinion.  Here's mine. That shoot can make food for the cutting to survive if it's placed under bright fluorescent light. I would scrape the bark to expose the green cambium behind the shoot and put some clonex on the scrape.  That encourages roots.    I'd then bury the cutting on a diagonal so the shoot's pointing up and leave the shoot out of the soil.  I'd keep the soil moist but not wet and put the whole thing under the brightest fluorescent light you have.  Most of those root for me.   I would also cut away any diseased part of the cutting as has been described to you above.

See my thread link in my sig.

Yes Bob, sounds like a plan, I think this will work, I have about 7 that I have had to plant horizontally and all have produced good roots and leaves.

I am grateful for the help.

Until it was pointed out, I did not realize the tip was actually that bad. The camera picks up colors that were not obvious to me. I removed the tip (it had a brown ring inside) and made another cut and found just green and white. I cleaned and dipped the end in melted paraffin. I "wounded" and put Clonex on the lowest part behind the growth. It is now planted in soil under a light

To be honest, I don't expect it to survive. Also, I am a little bit hurt that the moss I bought locally, has grass in it.
I was never in any of the talented and gifted classes at school, and it is possible that figs are just one more thing I will never be good at.

Thank you all,
John

John

Don't be so down on yourself, figs are very tricky and I don't buy into 100% success rates with cuttings. But there is good advice from some of the folks here, so keep at it!

John the moss you get at the big box stores gets used successfully by some but it did cause similar problems for me. I have killed my fair share of cuttings ; )

Don't give up on that one, the flared base means callus has formed under the bark and roots are not far away.

I hated Moss with all my heart. 
Found my calm again with baggie method and transferred the newly rooted cutting to 100% Perlite cup. Success!! never lost a cutting. No flies, no gnats no fungus not mold. Period!

I have used moss that is a lot less pure than yours with success.  Got mine at Home Depot.  Has tons of that grass looking stuff.  Never gave me any problems.  Just my experience. 

As long as there are still viable nodes there is still much hope for that cutting.  Even if the roots are coming out the top and shoots are coming out the bottom. 

It seems like in this case the reason for this growth was rot at the top, thereby forcing growth further down.

I wouldn't cut the bottom at all, but if the top is rotten I would cut that off as far as you need to.  Even if you cut off the tip and the node below it, you still have 3 nodes left, which should be plenty. 

Can't really tell for sure from the picture, but your moss looks like it might be too moist or packed too tight.  Take a handful and squeeze it.  Do any drips of water come out?  If so, it's too moist. 

Good luck, John.  Practice makes....near perfect.  ;)