I searched up and down in the archives I couldn't find it. I wanted to ask how long before you give up on a cutting rooting in the bag. I have a few cuttings left in the bag that show intials and a few keep trying to leaf out, but they don't show any roots. It has been about 2 months. My second question is in reards to telling if a branch is still alive. I asked before and if they terminal buds are still green its a good sign the branch is still alive. I have some pictures of the terminal buds on some branchs. Do they still look like they are alive?

P.S. Ignore my fingers that was just to get my phones camera to focus a little better.

I would try to gently squeeze the twig and if it feels soft/soggy then it's bye bye.
If it is still firm to the touch then I would leave it alone and let it take its' course.

I've had cuttings that showed roots in a matter of days and some too as long as yours.

Different breed different speed I guess.

Good luck

Sometimes only the top covering of the bud on terminal cutting shows brownness and underneath could be a green bud. If and when it starts swelling during rooting process the top cover starts showing green bud underneath.

Thanks for the responses. I should clarify I have cuttings inside I am still holing out hope for. The buds in the pictures are not cuttings. They are trees outside.

As Akram indicated, the terminal bud often is layered, like a rose that is closed, with only two petals.  It is not uncommon for these outer 'petals' to turn all kinds of dead colors, but the underlying bud is still green.  It is not an adequate way to see if a cutting is dead.

As rafed has indicated, if the cutting is squishy or the outer 'skin' (bark) of the cutting can be 'slid' off, then rot got you already.

The other indicator that they didn't mention yet is shrivelling.  When a cutting is dessicated, pith is dreid up or cutting is not viable anymore, the skin (bark) will take on a wrinkly look from top to bottom.  (NOTE: it is not uncommon for the top or bottom node to wrinkle and dessicate if they are cut in a way that the pith is exposed).

Thanks Jason, the cutting seem to still be good then. I will give them more time. What do you think of the buds in the pictures? They are from one of the trees outside I did not cover.

I wouldn't immediately be concerned.  I have several cuttings outside right now that look similar.

Watch over the next 2-3 months for the wood tips to redden and wrinkle, which would be one common indicator of death.  It is not unusual to have some tip dieback in the winter, happens every year on my inground BT, which is supposedly "incredibly cold hardy".  It's best just to leave it alone.  There's nothing much you can do about it.

Thanks Jason, I'm not going to touch it. I guess I am just getting anxious to see how these trees do over the winter.

Here's what I can tell you based on my trees, almost every winter we have ice or snow storms that damages limbs of my in-ground.

Usually around December we get hit with a snowstorm and prolonged periods below freezing. After the first few, the terminal buds darken in color and the outer layers of skin become a shell, like pistachio (only a much thinner shell). Some variation in color is seen - brick red, yellow, brown. Sometimes the terminal buds shrink slightly in size. If they lose more than 75% of their fall size, the tip of that branch is usually dead by spring. The dead giveaway is when temps warm up in spring and the branch turns this deathly, sickly reddish brown color like nothing else on the tree and starts to wrinkle. Some figs have a reddish hue to the branch, so color is not an accurate indicator alone!! For most of mine, the branches are olive or dark burgandy once hard, then grey when mature. I rarely ever lose branches that are grey, and this is something that also rings true with local in-ground trees I frequent. So... In my growing, my goal is to get my trees protected until the branches get nice and silvery grey, and mind the brown/olive/burgandy branches during winter. Whatever doesn't send out new shoots by July is usually shriveled gets pruned back to just above the last healthy (not shriveled) node. 'Fine tuning' cutting can be saved for later, although the tree will self-prune any dead excess by shriveling it down to a stump, similar to how a baby's umbilical cord does in the first couple weeks after birth.

Hope this helps? Just sharing my experience. YMMV.

Thanks that does help. I checked my cuttings today and two had roots. One had a lot of roots growing. I potted them up. Now I am back in the same crap as earlier I noticed today some of my other potted up cutting getting droopy and I went around and watered them a few days ago. I guess they are drying out quickly now. Some of them especially the smaller pots were very light. Oh, well I guess I need to check all pots daily or every other day now.

I think I said this before, but you will need to water more frequently when you take each additional step from indirect light -> filtered light -> unfiltered light.

For each step, you will find that your potting medium will evaporate more and more water due to heat/light addition.  Be mindful.  Ride the wave.  You should be able to learn through weight of your cup exactly how much water you should be applying.

Yes you told me about it. I figured going from not really watering for  weeks to checking every few days was reasonable. I need to check more. I will get it... Some I have potted in 2 liter bottles, some in 1 liters, half gallon milk containers and one in a water bottle. The water bottle is the smallest and that is the one that dried out this time. I guess the size of it makes it dry out quickly. Thanks again for the friendly advice and help.