My tablet takes really cruddy pictures, but these guys are coming right along. I decided to pot up just the one tonight and give the others a few more days to grow longer roots. The potted one has a gallon plastic bag fastened over the top for humidity, and to keep out any fungus gnats that came in with my tropicals. I hope to eliminate the last of those before the "humidity domes" come off.

Congratulations, Danielle! Yours look healthy and vigorous....can't wait to get my cuttings from Matt started, too. And seeing your success with the sphagnum moss gives me hope that it will work for me.

A thin sprinkling of Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) over the soil worked almost immediately when I found some fungus gnats buzzing around my TC fig plants and avocado tree a couple weeks ago; I haven't seen any since.
Best wishes for your little guys! :)

Wow, the roots are looking great!

Well, here's an update on the Unknown Sheepshead cuttings now in VA...
Two are still refrigerated, for backup and also so I can give each growing plant the best of care with my limited experience at this point. Also, I figure that spring will have the benefit of being an easier time to grow them.

The other three cuttings are in a large baggie with damp sphagnum moss, on a table near one of my heaters to stay nice and warm. Each of these cuttings has leaf buds showing, and I can also see root buds!

I'll probably be potting them in plastic cups with humidity cover this week....very exciting!
Wonder if it would be better to wait until actual roots develop before potting, even if they start leafing out in the moss??
Thanks again, Matt....i'm loving my small pieces of Brooklyn.

One cutting in 50-50 composted cow manure and pearlite.

A better pic taken moments ago...

Lewi, your cutting looks very nice and healthy. Where do you get the composted cow manure? Do you buy it bagged or are there cattle nearby where you can get it that way?

The compost I get around here is "black Kow". Seasonally available at Wal-Mart cheaper...paid a little extra at a feed store...because I hesitated in buying.

Thank you, Matt! This fig really has a strong desire to root and grow. Lewi, that cutting looks great! I've never seen "black Kow" at my local Wal-mart, but I'll have to be on the lookout for it. LJFiggy, sounds like everything's good there, and I hope that your lil' figgies are sending out lots of lovely roots!

Four out of my five are potted. Also have three Strawberry Verte potted and one Salce. My last Unknown Sheepshead is a very thin terminal cutting that is trying to leaf out, so I'm going to move it under the lights to see if that gives it the energy to push out some good roots. I've been keeping most of my older potted cuttings in the upstairs bathroom. Southern exposure, some humidity, and gets quite warm. I'm using a squirt bottle and watering with a solution of 4 parts water, 1 part hydrogen peroxide, and sometimes very diluted fertilizer. I might repot one tomorrow because I really don't like the mix that one is in, but this variety is impressively vigorous.

This is the first one that I potted up, so you can see how the big sister of the bunch is developing. I'm clearing out some old sweet potatoes so I can use the lower shelf as they grow taller. I'll try to post a full family portrait soon.

Danielle, what a beautiful little fig! Your good results inspire and will help me remember to add hp when I water~ I keep forgetting in the busyness of taking care of all these little ones. Yes, at this stage they are a handful. But as i'm sitting here eating a cup of cherries, part of a very small bag from Walmart which cost nearly $8.00, it will definitely be worth it! Not to mention, picking fruit fresh off the tree or bush will be immeasurably more healthy.

What size pot is the "big sister" of the bunch in?  :)
Your growing set up sounds good. I have the still-small tissue culture figs from Well Spring Gardens on a table in front of patio door windows, probably facing SE. With these are several cuttings which were farthest along~ LSU Purple (2), one LSU Gold, and Unknowns from Solberi, all in cups with humidity covering at least some of the time. Several have roots that are clearly visible and doing a dance against the clear sides.

The Unknown Sheepshead, Celeste, Panache, RdB, LSU Gold, and remaining LSU Purple are all rooting in small bags according to the double bag technique of Mai. I waited until all had root buds, many also with leaf buds, before enclosing the lower portions in the small bags. I didn't have the large bags for humidity she recommended, so put all in a box with clear plastic wrap over the top and sides enclosed. I keep the box in front of a S window on a table, near one of the heaters, and move it to the kitchen stove every night, under the light there.

I ordered a clip-on shop lamp, with grow light bulb, and large bags on Amazon. When these arrive, will be moving figs in all stages under the lamp!

For now, I can't check on any of the individual little bags in the box, as they are all happily (I hope) packed in there, with just their little stems poking up. It looks like several are leafing out more. For me, this is very challenging, as I like checking for each bit of change a hundred times a day if i'm not too busy! hehe

Anyway, your progress is great! And Lewi, thanks for the info on the composted manure, I may be getting some myself. Unless I can manage a trip out to a pasture and find some that is perfectly aged. I grew up out in the country and was always handed a large bucket and given the job of searching my gf's pasture for "cow patties" which had to be aged just so. We had the most amazing garden as a result!

Danielle, looking forward to your family portrait...

Joy - thanks for the updates, cant wait to see your progress.
Lewi - leafing out beautifully :)
Danielle - Rockstar!!!! The two week growth you had is incredibly, i'm extremely jealous. That's definitely the most advanced cutting i have seen so far. 

Keep it up guys, love seeing the progress of these guys. 

Matt

I was reading Mai's bag technique, and it sounds fantastic. I'm tempted to take a couple cuttings from one of my dormant trees just to try it out. Sounds like it has been working great for you, Joy. Looking forward to hearing more in future updates.

Thanks, Matt. The tree is doing all the hard work. ;) Projects like this are what gets me through the winter.

"Big Sister" is in a 5.5" pot, and before taking her out of the humidity dome she already had roots that had reached the edge of the pot. They were trying to grow into the air, so I buried them when taking off the baggy. I'll pot her up to a twelve inch once she has a developed enough root system. I checked on the cutting that was in the potting mix that I didn't like, and it had lost roots. Still has one and a swelling bud, but that mix just wasn't airy and consistent enough. So I returned it to the sphagnum to get it back to a point where I feel it's ready to return to the soil. Hopefully, I caught it in time. The ones in my regular mix all seem very happy, and they got to soak in some natural sun today.

A little hydrogen peroxide can be a beautiful thing. Helped me save a Meyer Lemon a few years back, and it earned a place in my heart forever. It's also been part of my treatment for killing fungus gnat eggs in the tropicals. Between that and letting the pots dry out really well before watering, I could only find three fungus gnats in the grow room... and I had to ruffle up the potting soil to make them show themselves. I eliminated them from the other plant rooms already.

Here's the group in the window at present. On the left is Salce. The two pots next to him are both Unknown Sheepshead. Next two are Strawberry Verte, and "Big Sister" is on the right.

Your little figs are wonderful, Danielle! Just healthy and happy with their sunny view, and seeing them gave me a big smile. I don't recall if you've shared your soil mix, but would be interested in knowing what you use in the pots.

It's also good to know how the peroxide works against fungus gnats. I remember years ago reading about a gardener who always used diluted hp, saying how much it boosted growth in his garden. Obviously, it's also working for your plants.

Mai wrote about saving/rooting cuttings that had even become rotten at the end with her technique, so it would surely work if you needed it for yours (which doesn't sound that bad). Maybe you could include that cutting with your dormant ones if you decide to try the double bagging. I'll keep you all updated on the progress of mine, including the Unk. Sheepshead, for now still all bundled up in their humidity box. 

When the larger Ziploc bags arrive from Amazon, I'll be relocating all cuttings from the box into a bag for humidity, and will then be able to really check progress on Unk. Sheepshead cuttings. When they have a healthy root system, I plan to pot them all up.  Due to limited growing space in my house right now, maybe it's better that they can get a good start in very small area shortly before spring.

And Matt, thanks for encouragement :) Hope to have a camera soon to record progress, because words just don't show the full picture.

I just use standard old Miracle Grow/peat based mix. I sterilize and reuse mix, and sometimes coir or mulch might get mixed in. I'm really used to using it, so it's easy for me to gauge moisture with that one. The plants do seem to like a little HP, but good temperatures for growing really help too in my experience. I am using the microclimates in my house to try to keep them warm and encourage them to grow.

The bottom part of the cutting that I'm trying to rescue isn't rotted. It looks like the very bottom of that one dried out too much. It was in a sandy gritty mix that I tried for my citrus in the past. Got the recipe from my uncle. It seems to get wet too fast and then dry too fast for cuttings. It's getting dumped. I'm giving the cutting a night in sphagnum before deciding where to trim, but Mai's technique might be a great method to try. I still want to experiment with some cuttings that aren't stressed to give the method a fair shot in case this one is more damaged than I can see.

Looking forward to pictures once you get your camera! With the right pots you can fit a lot of plants into a pretty small area. Grower's pots are great for that. When is spring in your area?

Yes, i'm also trying to use microclimates in my house...In this cold weather it can be challenging keeping them warm enough, and agree the right temperature is really important. Thanks for describing the type of soil you use, and your experience with the sandy mix.  Hopefully your cutting will pull through just fine.

There was nearly an explosion of growth yesterday from the cuttings in the bags here. Leaves just popped out all over, and out of 16 or so, all but two or three are now showing growth. (The Unknown Sheepshead cuttings are in the bags, too.) It's really exciting to see the progress, as I know you understand!

I needed regular light bulbs around here anyway, so bought some daylight bulbs at Walmart. Usually I don't like that cool blue-ish hue, but am using them in the room with the cuttings and over the kitchen stove because I think it will help. I did some reading on grow bulbs, etc., and there was some speculation on the regular daylight type being beneficial. So, until the actual grow light arrives from Amazon, they'll hopefully still benefit. If not, maybe I will :) I'll just sit under one of them and pretend i'm sunning on a beach.

I think the last frost here in VA is usually around the beginning of May, and it can't come soon enough! What about your area?

Always exciting when the plants decide to give us a little growth spurt. My last frost is normally mid May.

My plants are doing well. I think I picked up a sinus infection from my father though, so I'm getting ready to see the nurse practitioner. Hope all's well with you and the little figgies.

Hope you are able to take good care of yourself and feel better soon....glad your figgies are doing well.

Today the clip on lamp, bulb, and large Ziploc bags arrived from Amazon, so I set up the lamp in the room with one of my heaters. Next I transferred all cuttings from makeshift box with saran covering I had put together (due to not having the large bags yet). I covered each of their little root bags with newspaper as Mai recommended at this stage and placed them into three smaller cardboard boxes- each then enclosed in a large bag. Any water from condensation will be absorbed by the cardboard box, so no cuttings are resting in it.

While transferring, I was able to really look them over well. Out of the sixteen or so bagged cuttings, all but about three are leafing out well. I saw thick healthy roots through several through the bags, yay! The two Unknown Sheepshead cuttings i'm rooting are both leafing out.

Out of all the cuttings, one showed absolutely no signs of anything, and another had a ring of mold around its middle. This I cleaned off with peroxide, and hope I can save it.

Now they all look happy in new greenhouse bags, where they will hopefully stay until ready for gallon pots. Whew, these baby trees are an effort of love and learning.

Please keep us updated on yourself and figgy family.....

After a round of antibiotics, I'm feeling much better. It was a sinus/ear infection. Blech.


The trees are doing well. The three Sheepshead figs in pots are putting on good growth. They all seem to be growing in the same shape for some reason. One new branch coming from near the base and two branches coming out from the top node. I did lose one of the remaining cuttings. The really thin filler one just didn't seem to be able to put out strong enough roots to take off and finally succumbed, but the other one that I returned to the bag has been trimmed back and still looks like it could put out new roots. Fingers crossed for it. Still beating back a handful of fungus gnats. I might just check Amazon for some diatomacious earth to finish off these stubborn survivors.

I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better!....

It sounds like you have some strong little Sheepshead trees coming along, and that they are nearly out of the woods, so to speak, as far as cuttings go.

Out of all the double bagged cuttings that I have rooting, two of the Sheepshead showed evidence of at least a little rooting visible through the root bags, and healthy leafing out. There was also an LSU Purple (vigorous rooter), and Celeste~ I took all four of these out of the large humidity bags and put them near the window and grow light. At this point, i'm misting them every few hours because they are still delicate from being in their little greenhouses. I hope it's not too soon for them to be out.

One thing I discovered that constituted a close call was that I had noticed some browned leaves on several of the cuttings in the big bags. I couldn't figure out what was wrong because I air them out every day, etc. Yesterday afternoon I came in to check on them and discovered that sun from the window was directly shining on the bags, and I'm pretty sure this was too strong because not only was this afternoon sun, but the bags must have amplified the heat some. So I quickly moved them to a more shady spot and hope they will all be okay. I now suspect that the brown leaf edges were caused by sun exposure. Whew, I never thought raising these little ones to adulthood would be so tricky!

Cinnamon powder is also a strong deterrent against the fungus gnats. I put a thin layer of it over the DE in every planter, because for one thing I like the natural earthy color better, and it also adds additional protection. I'm guessing they don't like getting their little feet in it!

And even in the big humidity bags, I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon because it's a mold/fungus inhibitor. The one that had housed the cutting with "fur" around its middle smelled faintly moldy, but after I sprinkled in a little cinnamon, that hasn't been a problem. I get organic cinnamon powder in bulk inexpensively online.

The food grade DE that I use was a good price through Amazon; think I got about three pounds of it, but a little goes a very long way, and a half pound or pound would probably be plenty for your plants for a long time. Let me know if you want me to look up the brand I purchased.

Sounds like yours are coming right along. That had to be a scary moment with the leaves. Humidity problems can look similar, but when I had too much humidity I could see the condensation on the bag. With that strong sun, it would be very easy to get leaf burn. Plus, without a developed root system, the plants would have a harder time pulling up enough moisture for the leaves to handle that heat and sun.

You might want to cut back on misting. Figs are prone to fig rust which can easily occur with indoor growing conditions. Wet leaves and lack of air circulation can cause it, and then you would need to remove the infected leaves to prevent it spreading. I lost a few leaves to excess moisture inside my humidity bags, but it's nice to avoid the setbacks as much as possible.

Sheepshead and Strawberry Verte were tied for being fast rooters for me. Salce put out roots really well too, but the roots were more delicate and the Salce cuttings had problems with mold. My SV and Salce cuttings got held up at one of the post office sorting centers, and I suspect the Salce was more sensitive to it. They still did great, and I have two plants that are coming along really well for them too.

I found seven gnats yesterday in the grow room, and I managed to kill five of them. I think they were hiding in my paprika peppers. I'll try reapplying cinnamon. The gnats don't like it, and it covers up the figs' eau de cat smell as a bonus. LOL It gives me something to use while waiting for DE.

Latest photos. In the longshot from left to right: The first two are Sheepshead (little brother, then big sister), as is the next one in the front on the wooden crate (my shorthand for that one is weedy cousin), the red pot behind that is Salce, the next three are Strawberry Verte, and the one in the big black pot in the back is the other Salce. As you can see the Sheepsheads have tons of leaves compared to the other figs. Also, little brother has more or less caught up to big sister. It looks like the time for potting up is fast approaching.

Danielle- glad your feeling better. I just gover an upper respiratory infection as well. Hate being sick. Your cuttings look amazing, I love seeing your updates of the sheepshead cuttings, they really are superstars.

Joy- keep us updated, glad the cuttings are doing well for you guys.

If your having gnat problems, check out mosquito dunks or bites on amazon. The active ingredient bti kills gnat larva, this with yellow stick paper and your golden.

I finally commenced my rooting, just the coir bin so far as I haven't had time to do remaining coir rehydration for bag method and lastly will be cloner, need to get more hydrogen peroxide before I start. Got 4 sheepshead cuttings and 27 other cuttings in bins so far.

Danielle, your plants are just beautiful and healthy looking. Big brother and sister Sheepshead, and even weedy cousin :), are strong growers. I don't know anything about Salce variety, and will have to look it up. But I have also experienced those cuttings with the extremely delicate roots and tendency to mold issues. Your Strawberry Verte are coming right along, too.

I have cut back on the misting of the new cuttings fresh from humidity bags....Also, I have tried to periodically mist with h peroxide when I do, in order to avoid the fungal issues.

For me, the LSU Purple have been the most amazingly vigorous of growers, putting out literally bunches of roots as well as leaves. Sheepshead are also doing well with their lovely emerald green leaves. LSU Gold seems much less vigorous, and how I hope at least one of the two will pull through! Celeste has been putting out heavy and strong white roots, and is now starting to leaf out....i have no doubt that there will be multiple hardy Celeste trees resulting. There are Unknown cuttings that I got from another board member which are now starting to swell buds and root out. And remaining in the humidity bags are a lot of cuttings, most of which are vigorously leafing out. But I still see no root development evident through their small bags. This does make me nervous....and I will wait to see roots before bringing them out. The few that had burned leaves still have green buds evident, so I have great hope they will continue despite this setback.

I confess to periodically checking them all daily, and even touching their leaves and wishing them well....

Your eau de cat scented leaves made me LOL.....haven't you noticed a nice, rather floral scent coming from some of the leaves?? hehe You're right, the cinnamon definitely gives them spice.

The weather here has taken a cold turn, and the temporary plant room here is warmest in the house. I went out and bought another small heater to get through the low teens expected. Can't wait for spring...Thanks for sharing your photos, love seeing all of them.

Matt.. thanks for the encouragement. I hope to be getting a camera soon in order to record visual progress, too. Yes, the Sheepshead is a strong grower and survivor, which is especially good for me due to current inexperience.

It sounds like you are going to have a lot of trees going soon!