Thank you for the link Jason. Your link and everyone's comments helped me prevent some blunders I was definitely headed towards, disaster averted.

Based upon what I have read it looks like it is really easy to have too much moisture even with the new bag method. I only watered my new bags once a week ago when creatign them and the soil stil feels moist to the touch so I took them all out of the tupperware bin and am letting them dry out for a day in our sun room, warm and humid in there so I think it will be ok. The next "new bag" trial I do will be with pre moistened soil.

Now since I overwatered and repacked my (old bag method) first rooting foray a few weeks ago I have not watered them since and still have been airing out the bags and reinflating them every few days and low and behold I have some root popping out! I will let them go for another few weeks then consider potting them up.

Need more pots, I will try make some out of the clear report cover binders and the food saver.

I have some more cuttings arriving soon so more play is on the way.

One year I did a heating blanket under clear cups under plastic wrap to keep the temp above 70 and high humidity near an East window and all I got were leaves - no roots.  Hoping for better this year  :)

Jon,
On 4/5/10 you mentioned that in the future you may sell rooted cuttings but that shipping is problematic. Do you know if you will be selling rooted cuttings this coming season? Would you sell them for pickup at your nursery?
Thanks, Eric

Haven't pursued it any further, at this point in time.

Rooted cuttings might eliminate the need for sanitary certificates if cuttings don't need them.

I'd order a bunch of rooted cuttings!

hi all, last week I started rooting about 30 fig cuttings using the bag method . i placed them behind my freezer and covered so the temperature is about 21 Celsius

I wouldn't. I plant when they outgrow a 5 gallon pot.

I agree with Jon. At this stage and winter season, you should be glad that some of the cuttings have not struck yet. I would not plant any tree in the ground unless it is 2yrs or older. Just leave the cuttings alone for a few weeks and don't worry about them. I know it's hard but patience is good. :)

thank you snaglplus,

This is just a thought. I ran home for lunch today and noticed some GLAD snack bags in the kitchen. they are about 3"x7". Since this is roughly the size Jon is recommending for his fig-in-a-bag propagation method, I wonder if it might be a good substitute, especially since so available locally. Seal the zip-lock. Cut off the sides for top and the bottom corners and you're set. At the point of transplanting, just unzip!

Jump on it.The is nothing magical about my bags, other than they are the size I like, and simple to acquire. Only critical thing is that they are clear, so you can see what it happening.

Is spagnum moss better than the 'green' moss used for lining pots?

Pitangadiego,

This is an awesome technique Jon! We are 10 for 10 potted up so far to 1 gallon pots (Thank You Jim) using the new bag method. Many more cuttings are in the plastic bin waiting their turn and I am pleased to report nothing had been tossed out so far.

I haven't watered any of the cuttings since bagging them up and have been airing the bin out an hour a day per Jason's post and they are very happy. Thank you Jason!

We have moved 10 of the cuttings to 1 gallon pots when I see at least 2-3 roots that are an inch long and some top growth. I filled the bottom half of the pots 70/30 potting soil/perlite and the remaining half of the pot with potting soil. So far so good.

Here are pics of both sides of a VDB Violet De Bordeaux (EL) cutting and it's rooting progress. They're going crazy!

Hi all,

Yes those very dark roots at the bottom are dead. It does not bode well for the cutting, if it is the end of the root it will be fine, if it is a root section that is coming out of the cutting it will quickly kill the cutting. Once the cuttings are growing roots it is very important to ensure they get good air circulation and are not overwatered. I see too much water in your bags at the bottom.

Back when I was still a wage slave I intercepted a box of these sample bags (4" x 8" flat) on their way to the dumpster. As you can see, my cuttings do not always fit completely. Otherwise they seem pretty much the right size.



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I don't have a greenhouse. I do have a 14" x 24" x 5" stainless heated water bath that I have filled with sand and used as bottom heat. I can set the 1 gallon pots in the sand. I'd like advice as to how warm the sand should be and about the tops of the bags. Should I just pull the twist-tie strips so that the bags more or less close and wrap the exposed wood in Parafilm, or would it be better to put a plastic shopping bag over each pot and call it good? What are the best conditions for the tops, ambient temperature and lighting?

I am eager to get these rooted and in gallon pots so I can cut buds to chip-bud top-work my existing trees in June, once they have leafed out (thank you, Axier,) especially the Osborne and Panache, the Osborne fruit is bland compared to Lampiera and Jurupa and the Panache needs more heat than our climate currently provides.



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Thanks,

baumgrenze

I have a question: does this new methodology replace both step one (bag rooting) and step two (cup rooting in clear plastic cups) described in your introduction to figs/fig basics page? Or is it just a step two replacement?  Thx

Raphael,

It replaces step one and two. You can leave them in these bags longer, so that you have more root development, and then go directly to a 1g pot.

In regards to rooting .  .I understand the reason for pruning in the winter . . however I have experienced an interesting occurrence this season, in regards to rooting scion from winter cuttings that was stored, as opposed to rooting fresh scion.

I took cuttings from a couple of trees at my brother's house, while in the process of shaping them up. One was a Panachee and the other was a white fig of unknown variety.

I had already received cuttings from other sources and sellers. All cuttings were handled the same way, and wrapped in newspaper and shoved in plastic bags and set in my garage where temperatures are fairly constant and comfortable. I mean to tell ya, the fresh cuttings rooted in an amazing fashion. . . the roots were flying off them top to bottom!

My other scion languished in comparison. I am of the opinion as a result of this, that using fresh scion for rooting is better than using stored and refrigerated scion that may be weeks old from winter pruning.

Any thoughts?

UCD cuttings i got this year, my first year, were very fresh. they rooted very fast. however, my KB cutting i'm rooting for back up rooted even faster.

KB was taken off my tree while i was cutting down the top in hope of helping it to fruit. it was last year's growth. cut it, put it into a bag wtih paper towel, didn't even wait for the root. i let it stay in it for a week or two. i saw leaves coming out and went to peat pot. now i see root to the side of the cup. also similar thing with my VdB cuttings.

but i don't have any old cuttings to compare.

pete

Yes, from my limited experience, I totally agree. Cuttings that I got that were fresh have rooted much better than those that were stored in a fridge. Those that I know to have been stored in a fridge did not root as fast - most taking longer than fresh cuttings started later. Some that I purchased on ebay are still just sitting there after weeks. Next year I'll be more careful. This year I started so late, and I had read it didn't matter, so I was less particular.