This year I rooted 4 different varieties. Barnisotte was the easiest to root (5 of 6 rooted). Then Violette de Bordeaux (1 of 2). Then Hardy Chicago (3 of 10). Then Black Madiera (0 of 1).

What have the rest of you experienced?

By the way, I noticed much better results when I made one change to my technique (this may explain the success of Barnisotte, which I rooted last). Once cuttings sprouted initials and I put them in clear cups, instead of covering the cups with clear baggies I left them open and misted them several times a day. No more mold and the cuttings took off.

Joe

Hmm, that's weird. I had lots of trouble with barnisotte. Only got 1 of 5 to root and survive. My easiest were 143-36, Gino's, Hollier, Preto, and panachee. I did all of mine in baggies with SM.

Yeah, for me Barnisotte was the easiest.  Look at these picks.  I have 5 that look like this one, some that I've already repotted because they have good-sized leaves. Very vigorous root growth.

i had no trouble with barnisotte till transplant.  i had a really tough time with hardy chicago, like, 0 of 3.  i had two different kinds of 'easy' rooters.  the ones that rooted fast and took off quick, and the ones that rooted slowly and when they struck, they blew up.  Easy to root were Conadria, Sal's Gene, Gino's, Beall, Unknown Voiture, 143-36, Italian Honey, Marseilles Black, Schuyler, Negronne, Native D'Argentile, JH Adriatic, Black Madeira, Fico Preto, Black jack, Deleon, Sicilian Black, Vernino and Excel.  Latarrula and Chico Strawberry blew up fast, but fizzled out shortly after, lost all four of the sum of both cuttings. 

I can list about a dozen cuttings that I've had problems with as well if you want :)

Jason,

half of my hardy chicago struck with roots.  the other two rotted to mush, one of the only varieties that did.  of the two that rooted, one fizzled out fast.  the other one .... in the process of transplanting, the bottom half of the soil stuck, and the top half released, which severed the cutting from the majority of the root bundle.  it was all downhill from there.

really, i know some varieties are just tough to root - a lebanese variety i got cuttings for was a serious pain in the butt, in fact, i still have one left which is the only cutting that i have unrooted right now - but with some patience, a lot of them grew just fine - they were still tough to root, but i had 50% success rate, compared to hardy chicago (0%).  out of all the cuttings this year, some i screwed up with, some i got wimpy cuttings, or got cuttings that bolted before rooting and there are about a dozen other excuses ;)

for blk madeira, i got four cuttings from a generous member, and one from UCD.  the UCD cutting rooted fast and efficient.  i sent a free cutting of the other four to a fig friend, rooted the final three - the other three took forever to pop roots, and even now they're not leafing out like i'd want to see, but two are 1gal potted, the third is still cupped, looking like it could be hit or miss.

i'm only upset about a couple of plants.  i'm let down that hardy chicago didn't root, upset that my sicilian black did so well and is now in the process of tanking, i was hoping that my ronde de bordeaux would've pulled through. maybe one or two others...but there's always next year?

next year, i'm definitely toning down.  i think i'm going to give Jon's new baggie method a shot to save space and cut down on hassle.

I feel your pain Jason, my afghan "a" scion went south, today i looked at option c ( sigh) in a baggie and it was growing mold i rinsed and went for option D
I stuck the darn thing in one of my containers outdoors and buried with about half inch sticking out .
Raspberry Latte i have 1 scion left in gallon pot doing nothing, they rooted great only to fizzle out.
Thats ok though no big deal.

Easy rooters for me this season were Latarulla Red, Doce, Col De Dame Noir, O'Rourke, Kathleen Black, Florea,
Takoma Violet, Branca, Domenico Swiss/Ital and Eve's Blk Cherry. Col de Dame Noir(6) fizzle out.

Really tough were AdrinA(all kaput) & JH Adriatic.

My easiest to root was Golden Celeste, Sal's, Parsido, and Latturula.  My hardest and longest to root were Rattlesnake Island, Celeste JM, Ventura, Tommy's Fig.  Last week I started 38 Italian fig cutting....so far I got initials.  I don't use the baggie method.  I just wash the cuttings and pot them in water bottles....more success rate for me.

So far my best rooters were Doçe, Capelas, Hollier, Preto, Branca, Chico Strawberry, Nardi Black, Strawberry, Salem Dark & Bêbera Preta.

Hardest to root were Fico Genovese & Hunt

My gardening style is as simple and as natural as possible (i.e. lazy).  So what I wanted to do was simulate the conditions a sprouting fig would find in nature.

Since they grow under a mother fig, I dug a 4 x 8 foot spot on the south side (for mid-day shade) of my largest fig (an Italian Honey; it's a weed; so I couldn't kill it if I were trying), put about 4 inches of good quality garden soil on top, and put the cuttings in the ground.

I also gave all the cuttings a brief soak in some home-made rooting tea I made from the soft wood tips of willow branches (which may be totally unnecessary; but it was free so I tried it), and covered the whole area with a quick made chicken wire box to keep the dogs and armidillos from digging up the cuttings.  And watered lightly when the dirt looked dry.

Nothing fancy, but I had about a 70% success rate overall.  100% with some, including these: The Almas, Raspberry Lattes, Hardy Chicagos, Celestes, and Golden Celestes all leafed out well and are still going strong, up to about a foot tall now (I'm assuming they have roots because of the length of time they have been growing and vigor of growth; but since they are in ground you can't see of course).  The Marsailles Blacks did well too, but more like about 70%.  And the only one that was a loss was the Florea.  They were good strong looking cuttings so who knows what went wrong.  But with a second set there is now one leafing out and two that still look possible.  Overall it was a big success I thought, and pretty low stress and low maintenance.

The Almas and the Raspberry Lattes were the strongest, fastest rooters, but once the Marsailles Blacks leafed out they have also been very strong growers and are now the biggest and strongest of the varieties I am rooting.

Most important, it was a lot of fun watching them every day to see what was happening.

And remember that gardening isn't like parachuting.  If something goes wrong, you just try again.

Best wishes to all.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

@paul, I also found col de dame noir a good striker, but fizzled out. I only had one cutting to try, but had same experience. I also had one cutting of regular col de dame (via ucd trade) and it struck fairly easy but also rooted really well. It's already in a 1gal pot with half a dozen large leaves.

John /Ga.fig  ...  What was month and approx. temps. , when you placed the cuttings/sticks into your "rooting bed" ?  Thanks, Fred

Im not sure any variety is hard to root as long as you respect the basics (aeration, no over watering, adequate but not excessive sun, moderate temperature, competence of person taking cutting, cutting girth).

Hi Fred.  I didn't get them all at once, but pretty much early April, which is generally just past the last freeze date here in Zone 7b.

In generally though, the ones planted a little later (and in warmer conditions) sprouted much quicker and better.

I'm still adding a few here and there, and there is still plenty of time before the late October first freeze here.

Hope you have a great growing season Fred.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

What can you guys advise on rooting Desert King? A friend of mine promised 2 cuttings to me, he lives abroad, so they would have to travel a bit. Does DK root well? 

Hi Yuri.  I had success with 2 out of 3 cuttings on the Desert King.  But my method was pretty basic (see above).  Others may have greater success with more sophisticated methods.

Hope they do well for you.

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

Hi John. That sounds optimistic! BTW, your "lazy" method is really nice.

Regards, 

Yuri

Hi Yuri.  The natural drainage of being in ground, good air circulation, sunlight, and the presence of a wide spectrum of natural bacteria, etc., in soil may help with avoiding some of the fungal problems.  But this is just a guess.

I can, however, conclusively confirm that it is easy!  ;-)

Best wishes.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b