Greetings Fig fanatics:

I've been thinking quite a bit about the cuttings I have either on their way or sitting in my refrigerator.   I've read several posts about how to root them, but for everyone it's slightly different.  Each of us must find the best way that works for us in our own situation.  I decided to do a pre-rooting trial using some spare cuttings.   I wanted to find out what is the fastest, easiest, most successful way to root in the fall with an inside system.   I've tried the wrapped cuttings in a bag method, but I don't know if that's the route I want to go. 2 out of 3 of these cuttings grew shoots and leaves instead of roots. I had them wrapped properly in a dark warm place.   I thought, even if they do root, I still have to plant them later. 

I'm skipping the rooting in a bag method with media also.   I feel that while it may work, its just adding another step as once they do root, you have the shock of taking the plant out of those long tubular bags and placing the disturbed root mass into a new container.

I'm trying 4 different methods using cuttings that I soaked in a 5% dip n gro solution for 1 hour.

Materials:

4 Hardy Chicago cuttings 6-8" long:  Stored for 2 wks in the fridge.
4 Celestial cuttings 6-8" long:  stored for 3 wks in the fridge.
4 Texas Everbearing cuttings 8" long:  Taken of the mother plant today from my garage.
9 Blue plastic cups
Sphagnum Moss (Lowe's)
Fafard 3B + perlite
Tags:  Aluminum cans cut into squares, primered and painted.
Brass wire
Gold Paint marker
9 Clear plastic soda bottles
1 Ziploc bag
1 sheet of newspaper-like paper
1 plastic tub
1 fish tank thermometer.

Treatments:

a. Rooting soil similar to Fafard, but I added a little more perlite.
b. Rooting in moistened sphagnum moss only.
c. 50%/50% rooting mix & sphagnum.  Sphagnum being moistened with the 5% dip n gro solution.
d. Bagged cuttings wrapped in sphagnum moistened with the 5% dip n gro solution.

All treatments are put in a clear plastic tub and put in front of my SE facing window.

Treatments that I could have done, but didn't (not enough cuttings).

e.  baggie method, just to see the time difference.
f.   no rooting hormone in each of the above treatment.
g.  cuttings that have been held longer in the fridge.

I'm simply trying to find the best way for me.   I realize everyone might do things a little different, and I've seen some great posts, but I don't want to always be guessing if I'm doing it the fastest and best way.  I also wanted a trial run at it before I root my extra special cuttings.  Hopefully I find more answers than questions.  


I will updated this with photos as needed.

thanks for viewing.

Awesome!  Looking forward to seeing some results!  Should be very informative.   I don't know very much, but will the SE window get too hot?  Although I see you are in Michigan - if your weather is like mine (zone 5 Ontario) HEAT is not a concern...haha.

Dave:

Thanks.   As I type this it is a concern that I share.  It's reading 86 right now and the sun has been going in and out of the clouds.  At one point it must have been 90 or higher, because it wasn't reading anything.  When I set it up it was 72. 

Dan, looking forward to how your different methods progress. I will be interested to see which ones root the fastest.

I'm currently rooting some now too. It's also warm here in SoCal with the lower fall sun streaming into the house now. I don't like my cuttings to ever go much over 80*F, and it's certainly warmer than that in the house now.

Yesterday when I set up a new batch of cuttings, I put them all into a small inner room of the house that thus far with the door closed has been maintaining a Goldilocks temperature range - not too hot, not too cold, but just right - from about the low 70s in the morning to higher 70s in the evening. Of course that range could change with the weather, and if it does, I can regulate their temperature quite easily. I wish I had thought of using this small room this past summer when I lost a few in the heat... Live and learn. :)

Dan,

Really nice operation and scientific method you have going there. It will be interesting to see the results you get based on your techniques and different
Plant types. I llike your bottle in the cup method. I have my cuttings here in MD started in empty cut off soda bottles, and I'll borrow your idea of
Placing those in solid dark outer container. Your terrarium method looks good as well, I have mine covered with clear ziploc and bread bags
Depending on the height of the cutting.

good luck!

20 Day results:

Group A: Fafard 52 with extra (25% more, this is important)perlite.  Results were very poor.  Cuttings had a bad odor and turned brown.   There was too much moisture in contact with the stem.   Even with it being a coarse mix, still too much moisture.

Group B:  Sphagnum moss.   Results were not as expected.  The cuttings didn't rot, but were slow to callus.  Very little rotting, but also very little callus formation.  You may be able to see that the stem at the cut was swelling, but way behind group D.

Group C:  50% Sphagnum/50% soil   Results were somewhere between A & B, but still too wet and poor.   Cuttings were rotting.  Moldy along the stem and smelly.

Group D:  By far the best method of the 4.  Very healthy roots.

See photos:


More Questions to answer.....

1.  What about all this perlite discussion I've been reading on?   I need to try perlite mixes in a much heavier %, instead of the 25% formula above.  The coarser the better.   These cuttings don't want to be wet, only moist or humid.  A heavy or predominately perlite mix does this.  It keeps moisture away from the bark.

2.  Why would a cutting sticking out of the top of a cup, in sphagnum only, callus and root less than the one wrapped up and in a closed bag?  The Sphagnum might have been too moist.  No rooting hormone in my B group?  Why did I do that dang-it?

3.  When to take the cuttings out of the bag and pot up?   I can research this answer though....


I should note, I did move my bin away from the window and placed it over top of a register.   Stayed comfortably stable at 76 degrees.

Also, you can hover you mouse over the photos and they are labeled by the letters in the group they belong to.
Thanks for viewing.

i have about 7 cuttings in baggie method right now. they have been in there a week or two. they are all sitting there with no roots yet. then again, i don't expect to see roots for another 2-3 weeks. no rot, no issue. little mold at start, but they are gone now.

i'm more or less sticking to the same old method i have been using since they work for me. and most of the cuttings are something i really wanted, so i don't want to chance experimenting and losing them.

during the summer, i had one spare cutting of Kathleen's Black stuck in a soil. it rooted fine, and put out some leaves and start to branch out. but i think i didn't control the water well enough. it started to lose the bark and just died.

simple reason why baggie method works, i think and i'm sure i'm wrong is, it's closed system where we do not mess with the amount of water that's needed. once we squeeze out the water from s-moss.. paper towel.. new paper, that's will stay in there with cutting till they either root or die. and most of the time, given enough time they will root.

Pete:

I agree and the perlite method is similar.   Even when we try to mess with the moisture content, it might be hard to screw it up because it won't hold much water.

On a related issue.  I have a Maltese Beauty that I put in soil very similar to my "A" method.  The worse method!  To my surprise, it has 2 leaves.   I started it 1 week before my experiment.  I'm not seeing roots to the edge of the plastic.    I'm afraid to check it but don't want to lose it.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

another thing i tried this summer was putting cuttings stright into 1:1 soil:perlite.. 50% each. they worked great. but i was more controlled with water. basically i watered them once i stuck them into the soil mix, then left them in my "rooting chamber", platic bin with lid. given time, they all rooted to the edge. my problem there was, they were mostly soft green cuttings. i let them out of the bin too quick and they all dried up and died. at the same time, i had 3 hardwood/hard greenwood cuttings in same soil mix. they all survived.

with rare cuttings, and even not so rare cuttings, i use peat pot method. it draws the unwanted water outside of the peat pot and into the soils below, to drain out. so far only cuttings i lost with peat pot methods are soft green cuttings and it wasn't the peat pot, but my impatience that killed them.

Bumping this for a friend along with an update.

Last year I used exclusively the baggie method (B from above)  I had very good results and now it's the only method I will use.   It takes about 3-4 weeks to get roots and that for a newbie is probably the hardest part.  Just tuck them in the tote and only check once a week.   That's hard to do when you've never done it before.  Once you've done it and seen the results it's much easier to wait.

After I see roots I pot them up into trade gallons as long as you have the space.   Smaller pots can be used, but if you root too early in the season, you just end up needing to transplant again by Feb or having to water all the time.   I like a mix that drains really well and is sterile.  A sterile professional mix with about 50% pearlite and 50% Peat.   I would be careful of mixes that have lots of other stuff.   Composts and barks can incorporate a fungus gnat problem into your equation.  Worry about those mixes once they go outside into bigger pots.

thanks

Bumping for a few people that asked how I root.   I like the Bagged method the best.   I wrap the figs in moist moss, then newspaper or brown paper bags.   Then into a ziplock.   I put them somewhere warm (not too warm, I cooked some cuttings last year by putting them too close to the heat register.)  It takes about 3-4 weeks.    Some as soon as 2 weeks.    Then I pot them up.    I only pot the ones that have roots.   This stops me from growing fungus gnat s the soil surface of figs that aren't growing.   

I like to high quality Moss from Orchid growers that is lighter in color.   Its cleaner, but more expensive.    I also use the Mosser Lee moss at Home Depot or Lowes.   Cheaper and has some grass and twigs, but works as well.    I think that the moss and newspaper work well and help keep mold down.   Not really sure why.

I still use the bin once I pot them up.   Cracking the lid as needed to control humidity works for me.    This is the cheapest method and I get 80-90% rooting.   The 10-20% that don't root are mainly because there was some damage on the cutting to begin with.  

Once the are rooted, I like to use a mix that has really good porosity.   I usually like to add another 25% pearlite too.    I avoid mixes that have compost.   Peat based mixes work best.   I find that the Compost can be a source of insect populations.

For pots I us Steuwe & Sons Tree pots.    3"x3"x10" I believe.


Good Luck..

How do you keep the roots from sticking to the moss?

I don't worry too much about that. The moss falls off. What doesn't just becomes part of what gets planted.

I keep a close eye on the cuttings too and plant them before they get too long.