Hi All,

I’m a bit confused about something and hoping for some advice. Several months ago I took cuttings from my Chicago Hardy tree and placed it in water. At the time I removed all the leaves. As you can see in the picture, they are very much alive and have even grown leaves. The problem is I’ve not seen evidence of a single root. Thinking back I’m pretty sure my father used to just put his cuttings in water and wait for the roots to come but perhaps he may have done something additional. I don’t know. Should I not be seeing roots on these things?

OK - I recently came into possession of cuttings from three varieties of figs.(See Fig 1,2 &3) I LEGALLY imported them on my recent return from Italy. I’m not sure of the variety but I have some pics of the trees and fruit so maybe I could get some assistance identifying them later.

Anyhow, as I’ve clearly had no luck with the Chicago’s I really don’t want to mess these up. It's a long flight to get more. Reading through the forum here it seems most propagate their cuttings in a soilless mix rather than water. I’m willing to have this a try. I have some good mix here made from peat moss, perlite and vermiculite…and some clear plastic cups. I also have some liquid rooting hormone….

There are a few things that remain unclear to me:

Do I need to establish little white root nodes before I place in the mix?

Do I need to peel off some of the bark?

How long should it take before I begin to see roots?

Do you guys use rooting hormones?

I just spent three weeks eating these figs and they’re fantastic! Two are green and one is a beautiful black fig with a dark center of jam. I’ll post some pics of the trees and fruit later on.

Assuming I get them all growing I won’t be able to keep more than a couple of each tree. I’m very happy to share with anyone in the GTA.

Yes, I have olive tree cuttings as well. I plan to try and get them growing as well.

 
 
 


 

I use a simple approach: Walmart self irrigating pot similar to: https://www.walmart.com/ip/11.54-Flare-Self-Watering-Plastic-Planter-Cream/43000740

Some Moisture control potting soil similar to : http://www.miraclegro.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-moisture-control-potting-soil/prod70262/

Insert cutting into soil, add water and keep the reservoir full by adding water everyday from bottom. Keep near a sunny window in winter and do not move. Some varieties might take over 90 days to root.

You do not want too much water or too little water especially during the dormancy period. Too much water will cause the cuttings to rot before they had a chance to root. Too little and they will dry out. This approach will do the trick.

The rate of success using this method is about 50 to 75 % depending on the quality of cuttings, the time of year and the amount of light and heat they get.

Soon as you see white,bumps put in your favorite media in cups. Put another cup on top. Watch it grow. Spray your dry media with water bottle. Very little moisture is key. Cover with cup. You will see humidity and do not water till its really needs it.

So, no rooting hormone?

No rooting hormone at all.

You've gotten good advise.  You will do well.

Thank you. Just so I'm clear. I should leave all of these in water as they are in the pictures until I see the white bumps? I only ask because as I mentioned, those Chicago Hardy figs have been there since June and I see nothing....

I'm pretty sure one of them is a Sicilian Black...Given where it came from and what they look like.

     

Most figs are very easy to propagate. I've heard enough old-timers say, "They said to just snap off a twig and stick it in the dirt and wait, so I did" when I've asked about some of the local trees and where they came from.

Does that include the spiteful Sicilian varieties? :-)

Seriously - Every time I go over there I'm amazed at how effortlessly they grow these massive, fig producing monsters....All the while I'm knocking myself out trying to squeeze a fig out of one of these little plants...

 

Remember Joe that some Sicilian varieties need the wasp to ripen their fruit. It all depends on the source. Some will take over four years before you see any fruit.
I propagate all my figs the same way. Here in Texas where it hardly freezes, I've left some cuttings in the dirt all winter outside in pots and they grew in the spring. Your worst enemy is too much water.
If you keep them in a glass of water as you did some varieties will never make it.
Contact with a humid (not wet) medium is the way to go.

Understood. I had considered the wasp issue given that these are native Sicilian trees. I'm hoping that of the three varieties that I have, one will bear fruit. While there I asked my cousins about the wasp. While they knew of them, none of them had ever actually seen one... They just assumed it was some other insect that was doing the pollinating...I'm hoping they don't need the wasps at all....These trees have sentimental value more than anything...But I'd like to see some figs...

I'm going to stick them all in the soilless mix tomorrow and monitor the moisture carefully..

I have a few Sicilian varieties and only a couple turned out to be wasp dependent. You've got nothing to lose and you might end up with some unique trees. Good Luck!

Joe, just want to remind you that if you keep cuttings in water be sure to change the water daily so bacteria does not accumulate. I only leave my cuttings in water a few days at most tjen I put them into soil. I found that putting my cuttings compietely under the soil works best for me. Congrats & good luck!

Hi,
This time of the year this is what I do :
I cut all leaves but the last two. Those I cut in half and let them attached to the stem.
Put the sticks 3 weeks in water (2/3 length in water and 1/3 above water ) . Change water every day or every other day. ( I never saw roots, just white bumps)
Then Put in loam in a half-shady area. Keep moist . Plant them with an angle, and not straight up - this is for moisture distribution .
Let them grow.
Your cuttings of HC, I would cut the leaves in half and put in loam in a half-shady area... And swim or sink ... 2 full months and no roots ... I wouldn't expect them to grow roots now ...
Your cuttings of HC are a bit thin. They may not have the fuel to make it.But now let them do what they can . Try to choose thicker cuttings ...if you can. They have more energy to help roots grow.

Hi Joe,

I'm sitting here in Rome airport waiting for our flight back to CAlif. Spent 12 days and 1800 miles on the tour bus passing by hundreds of big fig trees. In Venice there was a large outdoor market and lots of fichi for sale. Most with the same issue as US, picked too green. Then I Spot one vendor with exceptional quality produce, his figs look perfect and I'm near delirious with anticipation, about 3 dozen available. I want them all! But he doesn't take credit cards or US$ and all Ihave is 1€ in my pocket, enough for two figs. I get one dark and one green, there're both excellent. Would have been another high point of the trip if I could have enjoyed more but wasn't meant to be.

Hope you get lots of "deliziosi fiche" from your future trees!

Well - I took a look this morning and look what I found. Almost all the cuttings that have been soaking in water are showing little white root nodes. This is very encouraging. I just finished putting everything into soiless mix. Now time for some TLC and fingers crossed hoping we see some roots soon.

How long should this take?

Hey - Also, winter is coming up here. Assuming they establish and I repot these trees, they don't just go into the garage to lay dormant for the winter, do they? Should I just keep these in the window until next spring? I have no idea how big they might get by then....

I've read that sunlight stimulates leaf growth while darkness stimulates root growth.  While leaf growth is a positive sign they are not dead, root growth is what you prefer.  People root out of direct sunlight.  I don't know if it is beneficial to move the cuttings out of direct light if they are in it at this point.  More of a question for the experts.

your cuttings look very promising.
maybe you may try divide your cuttings into small groups to try luck, in water and in soil. keeping them in modest moisture will help roots to grow. 

If your not attached to the water method, try throwing the hardy Chicago cuttings in some barely moist coconut coir. Just air out the container daily and wait for roots to appear. I have used the water method before but found coconut coir worked much better.

Hi ! If you want you can mail me some Cuttings and I will root them and grow and next year I can ship you their Cuttings back . 

These two Caprifigs have been growing in a very large living room by the window in a 6.8"x5.5" pot since last November. Did not report them yet.
The size of container and the amount of light will determine how large they grow.
These two so far are acting like bonsai trees. I don't recomend growing too many in a room especially a bedroom.

Might anyone know how long it should be seeing some root growth? Almost 2 weeks in the Soil and I'm not seeing any activity in anything.

Hi Joe,

A Caprifig is a male fig that contains pollen necessary for pollination of Smyrna type figs, via wasp, otherwise those figs will never ripen their fruit.
If you grow too many fig trees of any kind indoors in a non ventilated room when they grow leaves, will eventually start to emit a bad and probably an unhealthy smell.
Don't know if you ever heard about keeping certain plants in a bedroom might be unhealthy. My theory is that fig is one of those plants.
I've had certain varieties that took over 90 days before I saw active growth.
Some could push out leaves almost within three weeks, but it does not mean that you're out of the woods as there might be a chance that the roots are not fully developped. This is one of the reasons I don't like to disturb the roots and repot a plant too early.