I had a poorly-timed opportunity to get some cuttings last Saturday.  I say poorly-timed because I have basically had to ignore them, and I don't have much free time to do anything with them until next weekend.  I have had the ends of the cuttings in water and sitting in the shade since Sunday.  (It is Tuesday afternoon now.)  I might have a bit of free time tonight to do *something* to them until I'm able to do more on Friday or Saturday.
    The question is, what is the minimal *something* I should do to the cuttings at this point?
  Should I take them out of the water or leave them in?
  I'm assuming I should take the leaves off ASAP (they are starting to curl up anyway).  I have read that I should leave the leaf stems on until they fall off naturally.
  Should I leave them outside in the shade (it has been cool)?  Should I bring them into the basement (also cool)?
  Basically I'm trying to keep them stable for a few days until I get more time...
Thanks in advance for any advice.

I wrap my cuttings in damp/wet newspaper and store the in a large ziploc type bag in the refrigerator.

Starting in water won't hurt them. I often start in water then move to sphagnum in a plastic bag or sometimes right to a pot of starter mix if the cuttings respond quickly

Definitely remove the leaves.  I wrap mine in damp sphangum moss in a zip lock with a dry paper towel to absorb excess moisture, and put them in the dark wrapped in a dark bath towel.  Doesn't take any time, and you can just leave them there like that for a week or a month, and you will see roots.  But if you just leave them outside with their ends in water, I'm not sure what will happen to them.

Suzi

    I guess it is a misnomer to call them cuttings -- that implies care and order.  Essentially, I have a bunch of branches hacked from a tree -- odd lengths, odd shapes, etc.  I don't really have time to cut them to size and bag them and such -- i.e. to really start rooting them.  (Like I said, it was bad timing.)

    Basically, would I be better off leaving them in water where they are (outside), or should I pull them out of water, bulk wrap them in wet newspaper, and throw them in a garbage bag (or even a garbage can) in the basement?

    I keep reading that figs are like tenacious weeds...so I'm hoping that's true of this one ;-)