I came home today from a weekend away from home and my cuttings leafed out nicely in the two days I was gone. They seem happy.

So my new and latest question: How many leaves do they need to form to be considered 'safe' to live without their cup covering them? This little guy's leaves are smashing into the sides of the cup.

The dome keeps their moist in... I have seen a cup with holes for the leaves to stick out! I use plastic bags from Amazon as transition, they allow some air in and the leaves get used to the dry air of the house.  they do look very nice and dark Green.  how are their roots? Any showing through yet?

Nichole.
Cut some of the dome cup like strips from bottom to the middle when the cup is upside down so it will still hold a little moisture up top where the leaves are and then eventually you can remove it completely.

My cups have holes drilled in, top and bottom. Does that make a difference here?

Oh and yes there are tons of roots in the cups. I can see them along the sides.

if you see them, then it is time to pot them up and put a dome on the larger pot.  Remember roots stick to the plastic cup and you will break them upon the process, so soak the cup in warm water to loosen them from the cup and do little distubance as possible. (have all ready before you start) Also, since you will soak them before you transplant, you don't need to give them much more in the larger pot. Should you put a plastic dome over, just the excess water of the soaking is enough. YOu don't want over water the new transplanted plant. Puting the dome is a good transition... upon removing the dome, you start watering little at the time.

My fingers are crossed! This is my most difficult time with them.  if you water them, make sure to give them warm water, not to shock them.. as their temperature is on their 60's or so.  Larger pot and soil retains more water and that is cool. their roots will grow slower. Good Luck!

I thought it was JoAnn who posted a picture of upsidedown cup with large windows for leaf to stick outside, but I cannot find the picture. if you make it, please post a picture for everyone!

Oh my goodness are you serious? Already time to pot up? I just planted potted them in their cup 7 days ago! Oy. 

Mine stay in 32oz deli containers with tons of roots for at least 2 months more roots showing then dirt but thats just me.

It wasn't me with that picture - I put my cups in a large bin with a cover, I couldn't be bothered with  individual tops!! LOL  When I put some in the 32oz deli cups because the roots were so big, I didn't bother with a dome or bag over them, just out in the open of room temp and room humidity which is usually 30-50%.  I haven't had any issues that I have noticed.  I am satisfied with the growth and very satisfied I haven't seen fungus gnats.

Nichole...what is that on the top of your growing medium...sand?  and if so, does it help with moisture control or fungus gnats?  (I have not seen this before on other pictures)

You can leave them in the cups a while longer, gradual exposure to lower humidity is key, enlarge the holes in your domes and then remove them after a week or so. Also use your old sphagnum, put it all around your cups, maybe in a tray with the cups and keep it moist to increase humidity 

I have a couple plants in a humidity bin that are very sensitive to the dry air. They have lots of leaves and good root growth but I wait until they're root bound before moving to uncovered 1 g pot under grow lights.
From the same bin, I moved a Celeste and dotatto to 1 g pots the other day without any signs of stress. No drooping leaves at all. Been about 4 days now. I really think the large root ball helped tackle the new environment easier.

Nichole, your cuttings look amazing, and the advice above is great!  I think that you are simply doing "preventative medicine" with your figs!  You are blocking the dreaded fungus gnat before it can get started!  I think we all wish we had done that!

I do it now on the new ones, but am sad for the ones prior to all the knowledge gifted to us here!

Suzi

Suzi I think it is you who has the moth balls in all your cups? I was thinking about buying some of those too but I also am wondering if I'm teetering on the edge of neurotic since I haven't seen a single gnat yet ;)

Nichole... moth balls are poison!  They will do serious damage to a curious dog, and you have a couple of those!  I don't have a dog (JD won't let me.  He doesn't want to be tied down), so NO FEAR. 

I think the preventative methods you are using will do the trick for sure!

Sweet doggies you have!!

Suzi

Yeah that was on my next check list - checking out if moth balls are toxic to dogs. Don't worry, I google everything when it comes to toxins. I won't even use pesticides in the yard or house so weeds are pulled by hand. 
Thanks for saving me the home work!

Nichole, I noticed in a earlier thread of yours that you had peat pots inside the cups.  However, in contrast to Dan's method you didn't have any potting mix in the void between the plastic cup and the peat pot.  How did that work in terms of moisture control?  Did you pot up once you saw roots coming out of the bottom of the peat pot?  I am getting ready to try Dan's method on a couple of backup cuttings so I was curious.  Thanks.

I haven't really gotten to the point of having roots peak out. That is my plan - pot up once roots peak through but I don't know if I'll wait that long to be honest. And I don't know that I'd try it again. I like being able to SEE the roots forming. I feel like those cuttings are a cloud of mystery to me and that drives me nuts.


I haven't had any issues with excess moisture so far. The peat pot is always a little moist which is good if you want the roots to poke out. 

I set up one last night and included the soil in the void.  In theory the roots will found their way out of the peat pot and then to the surface of the cup where they can be seen.  Up-potting would be carried out immediately at that point.  From reading Dan's thread on this forum he was really concerned about roots coming in contact with the condensed water on the inner surface of the cup and this would avoid that issue.  In your case the roots will prune themselves before much comes out of the bottom of the peat pot so you will have to keep a close eye on them.  As long as the new leaves look healthy for weeks, especially after removing the dome, you probably assume there is decent root growth.  In my other conventional cups I can see the roots just fine but in a few cases the roots have yellowed, are slightly brown, are too thin etc so I'm worried about those.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss!

for hardwood cuttings, i usually lift the dome from the day one. just few min at first to air out. then as the top starts to grow, i leave it off longer. as soon as i see the leaves drooping, i'll check the cup and if the cup is still heavy, if it's heavy i put the dome back on. doing this, if the leaves are perky even after about a half day without the dome, they are ready for the outside.

thing is if the night temp is above 50 and if the roots are there, i up pot and move them outside. outside has enough moisture at that point for the plant to survive down here.

edit: i used dan's peat pot method, and all i have to see is about 5 roots poking through the peat pot for them to be up potted to 1 gal... at least for me.