Thanks for the clarification. So--do we have enough info now to get started? I'd like to give this method a shot ASAP, but don't want to get going before all the essential steps have been laid out.

Sure you can get started ASAP.

I will post a summary of this method without all of those sidbar distractions. It is very very easy to do and not at all as complicated as it might sound. The intent of the method is to force things to go in the right direction and to not let those good things happen by mere chance.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Great--I'll look forward to the summary. My pruners are itching to get started.

Look for any branches which have "unopened bud tips" on your tree. Take cuttings from that branch ending. Remove the leaves as was directed.....and keep the leaf "stems" intact and still attached to the twig. Get them in aerated water as directed and you are well on your way.........

Have fun.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

I realize this method is geared toward actively-growing summer cuttings, but is there any reason it would not work for dormant cuttings as well?

Ken, If you and I ever met, we would be talking figs for hours!! lol

This method works well enough for starting dormant cuttings too. To date, I have not rooted dormant cuttings in "direct sunlight" as I have done with many summer cuttings.

I do not see any reason why the shipment of summer cuttings would not be possible. My initial thoughts were to use a water/peroxide gelling agent around the bottom node of some live cuttings.  Have not actually done that yet.  Anyone want to give that a try and report back to us??

For all I know at this point, the shipment of "summer" cuttings using only moist sphagnum or paper towel would work just fine. I just wonder about getting an air plug or seal in the internal pipeline.  And I would try using an ultra sonic bath to try to break that plug or seal if it did occur.  Now why in the world do I have an ultra sonic bath.....well it cleans the crapola out of cuttings and helps with their re hydration. Ask me how I know?? However, that is an expensive piece of equipment that is not needed. Unless you need to clean many fig cuttings., the cost is simply not justified.

All of these ideas take time for study and time to determine a cost vs benefit analyst. Next year I will be in a much better position to answer more questions. Like I've stated, I have many more tricks up my sleeves that I have not yet found time to try. I did not want to wait a year or two to release/discuss my findings of this particular rooting method. 

Hopefully, others will share how this method worked or did not work for them.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

I assume if the "pipeline" were to get blocked, it would happen at the cut point, due to air drying the latex or other "juices"? If so, could you just make the cuttings longer by one node, and then slice off that extra node upon receiving the cuttings, to restore the flow?

Yes... in fact, IMO, it would be best to cut your summer cuttings a bit longer in the field (a least an  inch below the bottom node) and then re-cut it just before putting it in water. That cutting juice when in the water will use up oxygen.....so change the water often as was suggested. That detail of leaving the cutting longer will be written into the final version of the method. Maybe that will be enough in all instances to insure the pipeline is OK.....just do not know this for certain right now. I do know that it is NOT HARMFUL to the cutting in any way.......it just affects the dissolved oxygen. And if that goes to zero, than it can become harmful.

Dan
Semper FI-cus

Thanks. I and many others greatly appreciate all this information and look forward to giving your method a try. I've had very good luck the few times I've placed the lower portions of my cuttings in water for a few days prior to planting them in medium, and this sounds like it will build on those beneficial effects and yield a much more reliable way of turning twigs into trees. I would enjoy meeting to talk figs some day--I'm sure I would learn a lot!

Tell me about the ultrasonic bath!

By the way, the bubble thing is something that "fresh" flowers have to deal with. A fresh cut (underwater for roses) is the best way to deal with that. Woody branches are usually split at the bottom to increase water uptake (not that it really applies here). I also suspect that a low ph will help with water uptake (though not necessarily rooting) because floral preservative solution contains citric acid to bring down the ph for that very reason. And Poppies are chemically burned at the cut to stop water from entering the transport systems (not a recommendation) somehow it makes them last longer.

A dip in an ultra sonic bath should break any bubble blocs in a cutting . A bubble simply cannot exist in an ultra sonic bath. It would be almost immediately broken down in size where it could very easily exit the internal pipeline. I would place my cuttings in a manner where the cut ends of the bottom node are angled slightly upwards. This would then allow the liquid solution that is in the bath (water) to rush in fill the space where that bubble once was. A bubble bloc would have no chance of surviving those waves. The internal pipeline would then be restored. And any external debris on the exterior of the cutting would fall off too from that same ultra sonic action.

This is what jewels use to clean jewelry. I used one for many years in my laboratory to clean many items.....especially things like needles that would get plugged up with heavy hydrocarbons and for the cleaning of electronic parts, and for routine cleaning of filters that would get plugged up with debris.  Those ultra sonic waves will clean the crapola out of almost anything. They work like magic.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Dan,

From the later parts of  post #59, I am still wondering what
prompted some very, very old words to be mentioned (less some facts)
and what were the exact intentions for doing so.

I thought that a truce has been agreed to.
Maybe some editing should be done.

Hello there George,

I just re-read that post twice and find it to be 100% correct. All of what I have written in this entire thread has been 100% accurate  If you have a problem with ANYTHING that I have written in this entire thread, you can send me a PM. I gladly accept PM's (private messages) from anybody and do not have that wonderful PM forum feature turned off like you do. However, if you prefer to discuss "whatever" is bothering you in a public manner.....than please go right ahead.

Did you enjoy reading about this fig rooting method? I have found it to work real well for those summer cuttings. Hopefully, this will be of benefit to others. And I really did enjoy seeing more new forum members getting involved and asking questions.

Dan (from Southeast Louisiana----Cajun country)
Semper Fi-cus

 Hey, Cajun Dan.
When y'all left Arcadia, some put leashes on their pet lobsters, then drug then down to the Gulf.
Wore the legs and shell way down! That's why all that's left is Mud-bugs / crawfish!
  Excellent tasting crawfish!!   Fredfig

Hey Fred,

LOL.....that is the story that we tell those who frown upon the idea of eating crawfish (or crayfish as known to many). Crawfish that are raised and  come from the rice fields and swamps of south Louisiana are some mighty fine eating.

Dan...when you are dealing with the ultrasonic cleaner, do you want one that you can emerge the entire cutting in water solution, or can you do one end, then the other??   
     If one end, then the other...folks, on eBay you can grab small ones for less than $4.

Also, if one has started rooting some cuttings via the baggie method, and it has been 1-2 weeks since initiating....can you switch to your technique?  Of course, you don't have the stems to monitor, so where would one start..IF you can??

So interesting!

Years ago when I was experimenting with the prevention of mold, I used an ultra sonic bath to clean batches of cuttings. I laid them down horizontally in the bath. And I tried using plain water, an alcohol/water solution, and an AB Dawn solution. They all cleaned up nice by the mechanical agitation of the sonic waves. The Dawn solution seemed to work the best. I'm guessing that is because of the surfactants (ie. Chemical wetting agents) that are in the detergent. Using an ultrasonic bath adds much more of an intense and reliable "mechanical cleaning" action to the cleaning process. Using AB Dawn and then 10% bleach "chemically" cleans those cuttings too. The combination of excellent mechanical action AND chemical cleaning gets them pretty clean.

However, from a practical standpoint.....using a toothbrush (i.e. human mechanical action rather than sonic action) and cleaning sequentially those cuttings with Dawn AB soapy solution that is then followed by a brief minute soaking in 10 bleach solution.........works quite well for the needs of most people. In short people don't need an ultrasonic bath unless they really want one.

FYI, I also used UV light to treat my cuttings.  This works great too. Years ago , I was big time into developing a safe "Anti Mold" chemical agent. To conduct my many experiments, I needed lot of both moldy cuttings and cuttings that were very clean for my studies. I leaned how to make batches of moldy cutting and found some effective chemicals too. In fact I had even named my product ----Mold X2. LOL.....

However, that extreme cleaning is simply not needed "if" you pay attention to the rules of rooting cuttings. First and foremost......never apply heat intentionally to cuttings that are in a "closed" rooting environment. This can easily form that bad ass high purity "condensation" (again not talking tap water here) can form on any newly opening buds or on any newly formed roots. This can initiate an osmosis reaction that will liberate food for mold to grow on. Condensation is what most often begins the mold/rot cycle and it is caused by a temperature differential that exists anywhere in the "rooting environment".

But I have to tell you this......it is sure "fun" to use heating mats, propagation mats, ultra sonic baths, and ultra violet lights on your cuttings!!! But NONE of that is needed to attain a very high success rate of turning twigs into plant-able fig trees.

Have fun with your experiments too.

If you switch over the cuttings that you already started to this rooting method, let us know how they progress for you. Try it with half to be on the safe side.  Best of luck to you.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Re posts #59, 87, 88 :

The question(s) about 'why/intentions' these years-old words were even
brought up again was not answered.

The context for "shut up" was said in a "speak up or shut up" way;
about some repeated mentioning of multiple "secrets" that
somehow could not, not, not be posted (revealed!).
If there exists one such a secret, why even bother mention it;  it
no longer is a secret - hence the phrase used.

The "get lost" term was used for arguing that it is ok to 'knowingly'
ship rkn infected fig plants just b/c rkn is very common - which is not
always the case; and everybody knows that rkn should not knowingly
be shipped/distributed all over the country.

As for damage; it already has been done. Many members have
complained already before; about those sudden holes that appeared in
many threads that they owned themselves.

I prefer email over PM.
My email is set up to block/trash mail coming from any person
notorious for sending ugly/nasty/vicious emails to other members.

I am happy with the way I root my figs.

I feel sorry for you and your guilty conscience George.......

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Speaking of new jersey George when you do come back are we still on for that Iron Bound area nj portuguese figs? Seems a lot of midle eastern people live near there too. Who knows we may find gm#26 might be better that cddn? Call me when you do get home buddy.

Re posts #59, 87, 88, 93, 94:

I feel sorry for you and for all your narcissistic behavior.....

I have nothing/zero/nada bad on my conscience.

You should feel guilty for the ugly/nasty/vicious emails
that you sent to all other FF members who disagreed with you.

You should also feel the guilt for your own selfish act of
creating holes in other (innocent) members threads and then going
to the GW/FF and blatantly attacking and (falsely) defaming both
the F4F forum itself and its members from there. This was the result
from one of your rages b/c some member caught you in a pure lie.
Good thing I had stayed away, away, away from posting anything in
that particular thread. As a matter of fact; privately, I even tried
to prevent such a circus from ever happening. In spite of all this, you
are now trying to trash other people from here too, as is evident from
your post #59; and without any provocation.

Who is next?

Why do you do this?
Is it just to attract some more beloved attention towards your magnificent self?
Or is it to impress the newbies and the ladies? (it ain't working!)
Or is it so that you can do some more of that self patting on the back?
I wonder how often you do visit the mirror, mirror....

George I will pray for you.....as you are obviously delusional, jealous, and need professional help. Please continue with your venting and rant for all to see the real you.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Dan,

All can see and it seems you picked the fight with your comments. I don't know you from a can of paint, only reading your posts, but I know George enough to comfortably say he is an honorable man, very humble and very kind. I don't know how or where this started initially but it certainly started in this thread with you. I have read all of your recent posts and it is obvious that you have much to contribute, and you make a point to tell us al just that. Ok but you went over the line here. Perhaps you should add the study of human nature to your fig endeavors.    

I am 100% AGREE with George. Someone else here needs LOTS and LOTS of prays.


Navid.


Anyone don't like what I said, I really don't .....

I will pray for you too Navid.

BLB, I told the truth.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus