I'm sure I'm not the only one here but I'm so tired of buying cuttings ,only to attempt to root them and fail. Looking back now, I've probably spent more money on cuttings off ebay, when I could have just ordered a tree and the done with. Well we all know not every variety is available online. Once in a while I will win an auction off ebay. Anyone here feeling the same pain ? 5 times already I've ordered JH adriatic cuttings and all times I've failed. Is this just one of the hardest varieties to root or what :( ? Someone needs to sell this tree on eBay .

JH Adriatic, White Adriatic.  Same?  Different?

JH Adriatic was one of the varieties that gave me fits to root. Failed on several cuttings. I eventually ended up buying the tree off eBay. I feel your pain.

Hi,
Fresh cuttings work better IMO.
So try to get the cuttings from someone you know, so that he can give you fresh-cut clippings.
I always feel sad when loosing a should-have-become-a-tree. But you can't always win ...
I have Dalmatie that is an Adriatic type. I did not have difficulties rooting it with trimmings made in March.
Trimmings made in October were a disaster - but I had left them outside during the winter, not even in the shed.
So this year, I'll do my cuttings in March and root them right away ( like I needed one more tree ... LOL, I have to keep myself busy! )

The consensus has been that JH Adriatic is likely not an Adriatic but a Green Ischia/Verte-type, with Battaglia supposed to be a close relative. I'm surprised you've had rooting issues--should be a good rooter and grower.  herman has some on ebay now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/322289239060    he's an exceptional source. Unless we have a supercold winter with lots of tree damage, I prefer rooting dormant scions from winter cuttings (usually sold in January/February) Coir bin or Mai's baggy method both are solid methods. I don't always have great luck with green cuttings during the growing season unless I cut them myself from local plants -- shipping can be a troublemaker during warm months. 

I would say, don't be afraid to buy potted plants while you get your skills going!!! In the end the cost about the same for a beginner, and it's nice to have some plants maturing while you "play." Otherwise you'll have an army of tiny plants and might have to wait 3-4 years before you get a decent harvest. 

Good luck!

This forum is a great start. Very soon, members will start offering cuttings, which will be at least very fresh. Also, I have had better luck when i burry the cutting. It keeps it from drying out. Too much or too little moisture can kill your cuttings. Good luck!

As a 1 plus year newbie, I can only tell you it's trial and error. That's why it's called "gardening" and is not called "dinner" lol.  Though I try to scrounge up my own materials when-ever possible, finding out what works and what doesn't cost me about 2 house payments in lost cuttings 120 + and other materials in the first year,  and it's still in the 50-70 % range now. But it's like gold prospecting- once you have the fever, you're lost :)  My JH adriatics were near the top of my best rooters and first year plants. Some, I think has to do with the cuttings, and some with watering. I don't think you can be over-cautious on transplanting either. That said, once they were transplanted (lost a few there too) and they grew over a foot it was pretty easy sailing, (though I dote on my plants more than my kids haha). It's that first taste of a great fig that will get you- sounds like drugs.  Good luck. 

I too feel your pain. Even as a person growing figs for less than a year. I have tried a number of methods, as I am sure most people do. What I learned, for me, is that a lot has to do with the cuttings you start with. A method that worked well on one set of cuttings failed on others, and I take very careful notes to duplicate the method.

On some cuttings I had 100% success rate. On others I failed completely. Example of my failures would be Smith, where the cuttings were old (I knew this going in). Battaglia Green and CdD Gris were also 100% failures (these were green cuttings, and I have had issues getting green cuttings to root). Most attempts were somewhere between these two extremes.

I have picked several small trees of special varieties, to be sure of success. All from members or reputable nurseries.

Keep practicing with the cuttings is all we can do. I have practiced on many that were easy, and free, to obtain locally.

Cliff H.

I ordered 5 JH Adriatic cuttings from Mountain Figs about six weeks ago. All five have rooted and are growing like weeds under grow lights. I take no credit for the success, I received fresh cuttings and followed his instructions to the letter. Heck, I went five for five with his Maltese Falcon cuttings too, I coundn't be happier. If you are up for "one last try" I would recommend Mountain Figs or Herman's cuttings - they are great too.

Good luck,

RC

i am now 0 out of 15 or so (from 3 different sources) for "Smith"

I have given up on this one. It just won't root!!

I have about a 90 to 95% success for other cuttings

I have at times failed with cuttings, as the source is out of my control. I however will not pay more than 5 bucks for them either, plus postage. If more, I will pass as you say it's not a tree. Speaking of trees I just got a JH Adriatic, nobody really bid on it, it was fairly cheap.

I've offered this before.

I'm having great luck using my home-built cloner.

If you want to send me cuttings later in the year and then spring for the small tree postage back to you (obviously only if I get the cuttings to root), I will drop your cuttings into the cloner and hope to give you a tree.  No charge, but I get to keep 1 extra of any interesting duplicate varieties which take off (assuming they aren't Brown Turkey <g>).

No promises of success either.  I had a few (can't remember which cuttings) which were total losses.

This isn't a large scale production (we already have a member hoping to hand out $7 trees at some point), but if you have tough to root types, I'm happy to make space (assuming I have any).


Andrew