Pete and Jack, no fertilizer used yet but I may start this week.  I actually would prefer for them to slow down a bit.  It's cooler in my greenhouse but very crowded in their with larger fig trees and 100 seedling white sapote and dragon fruit and etc.!

I was thinking of using a water soluble fertilizer today but I'm using the same tub of water for cuttings that are at a much later stage and I don't want to be fertilizing them yet.  I suppose I could store leftover water in a bucket until I need it again.

Harvey, You are lucky to have found those pots! I bought a hundred or so a few years ago but without the trays they were really not convenient (They weren't available in small quantities then). I just want to mention that the tree pots don't stand up well to UV rays. Unless they have changed them in the last few years they will only hold up well for one year out in the sun. I don't know about grow lights, however. I got mine from Peaceful Valley.

I have some of the larger tree pots which I've are a few years old.  These smaller 3" x 8" pots probably won't spend much time out in the sun, if any.  The trees will either get sold and shipped off in these pots or moved into larger pots before planting in my orchard.  I've bought the larger tree pots from http://www.stuewe.com/ in the past, maybe 100-200 at a time (for chestnuts, originally).

Harvey, I wanted to re-visit this thread to ask the same question as Zach i.e. did you do anything to keep the humidity up or just go with ambient humidity?  Any idea how humid the environment was around the cuttings?

Edit: oops just now realized this thread went on to two pages and my question has already been answered!

Glad I could help, Steve. ;)

For some reason, it seems that very fat cuttings have the lowest success rate for me.  I don't know if the method I'm using has any bearing on that or not.  Overall, I like this method very much and will continue using it.  I am also using it for mulberries and pomegranates (use Dip N Grow hormone for poms, mixed with 5 parts water).

Do you think there is much of an advantage in using rooting hormone for figs using your method, Harvey?  Re. humidity, I will probably keep the containers in a humidity bin in the shade outdoors with the lid propped open a bit.  I won't have water in the bottom so it will probably increase humidity only slightly above the already relatively humid Maryland air.  The main purpose of the humidity bin would be to prevent rain from falling on the cuttings and saturating the soil.

Steve, last year Pete (ascpete) did an experiment an cuttings without rooting hormone did better.  Although his samples with rooting hormone were probably at excessively high levels of hormone, my own experience with lower levels showed much of the same thing: cuttings with rooting hormone developed roots more quickly but were slow to push out leaves.  Someone posted a link in his thread (if I remember correctly) to a report on roses in which it indicated that IBA (the primary rooting hormone, though Dip N Grow also uses NAA) inhibits bud break.  In early 2013 I had many cuttings with a lot of roots in 10 days or so but failed to grow very well and many died.  My success rate with no rooting hormone is much better.  Figs root so easily without rooting hormone that there doesn't really seem to be any justification to use it.

Pomegranates don't root as easily and rooting hormone is beneficial.  Pom cuttings always leaf out before they have roots.

Can't argue with your success rate.  Your plants are beautiful.  If you don't like fat cuttings feel free to send them to me!  Those root the best for me.  I have trouble with the ones ~ 1/8".  Once they get bigger than 3/16" I do OK with them.

Bob, when I say "fat" I mean like 3/4" to 1".  I don't have any left at this point, they were mostly ones I bought from others.  I guess if I was to pick a typical "perfect" size I would like 3/8" to 7/16" in diameter. Every cutting should have 3 buds with the top two buds being nice and plump.  Cuttings should be cut 1/4" below the bottom bud and about 1/4" above the top bud (angled at the top).  Most cuttings are not "perfect"!

I received a good number of green fig cuttings this spring and, after removing leaves, prepared them the same way as I have dormant cuttings and success rates for those so far appear to be over 90%.  Overall, the quality of the cuttings was better than what I worked with earlier in the year.

I've rooted 2-3" cuttings with great success.  3/4 - 1 1/2 are great!

Mike, thank you so much for the head's up on Atlantis Hydroponics! There's one barely 10 miles from my house, and I was able to snag their last bale of Pro-Mix HP earlier today.

Harvey …… I enjoyed your original post and discussion so much; I had to give it try.  

The tree pots, where found on eBay at a reasonable price ….. here.   I tried ProMix HP and Sunshine #4 in various trials and to each added more perlite.   Maybe too much!  No greenhouse, so I cut 1.5 liter “FIJI” water bottles in half to help with humidity.  They fit snuggly and some I cut vent holes in top but, then abandon in an attempt to keep gnats at bay.    Also, had pots on heat pad with tray between, approx. 75 deg. in mix!  

All in all, think my success rate in rooting is about 50%.    Keeping uniform moisture content seemed to be problematic.  The FIJI top hats didn’t work out as envisioned.  Also the fact that we had very low humidity this spring, like a week under 10%, hasn’t helped.   And, then there are those gnats….urgh.   They have been like the plague this year, even finding a way between the tight fit of FIJI bottle on tree pot.

I will try again, only next time ditch the FIJI bottle tops and put the whole tree pot in a large plastic storage box, as I’ve done with Jon’s Uline bag method.   Which, I also tried for the first time this year, with terrific success.    For me, the all-important humidity issue is much easier to control via Jon’s method.  

Thanks for all your follow up posts. 



 
 

Jon's Uline bag method

 
 

I also wanted to post an update on this thread and thank Harvey again for posting this thread. I started about 40 cuttings using this method and I had about a 75% success rate. Half of the cuttings were started in standard promix with some added perlite and then the other half were started in 70% coir and 30% perlite. I noticed that the coir mix maintained moisture better and dried out less frequently leading to a slightly higher success rate. I did modify harvey's technique a little bit in that I put plastic ziploc bags over the top of each individual pot. I like this better than putting them in a humidity bin because if one cutting does develop mold/fungus it is isolated and less likely to spread to others. The main source of my losses was pots that dried out too much and then when I re watered them that seemed to either cause mold or they would just die. I also think that the heat/temperature is very important. When I started rooting in March the temperature in the room I was using was around 72 and the cuttings rooted but very slowly. Recently, since the temperatures have warmed up outside, the temp in the same room is now 80-85 and the cuttings I have going are rooting much faster and putting on a lot stronger growth. Like Harvey, I tried sealing the ends of some cuttings with parafilm but I also tried using wax- I didn't really see a difference between these two but I do think that sealing the end helped prevent drying out and improved my success. 

Harvey, those pots in post #1 and #34 above, where did you get them?  and the tray too....

I've got a case of the tree pots from Stewe and Sons but the pots I have don't sit well in their trays.  I want some pots and trays like yours.

Jack, I'd ditch using Sunshine #4.  Stayed much too wet in my experience and fungus gnats appeared shortly after I did a batch with Sunshine #4.  I'd almost bet that it had eggs in it.  When I ran out of ProMix HP at one point I used the Sunshine #4 and at that time I did a batch of 40 pomegranate cuttings and had a success rate of only 10%.  I did another batch of 30 pomegranate cuttings two months later using the ProMix HP and it appears my success rate will be 100%.  Also, I don't think the humidity needs to be high so I'd ditch the bin and Fiji bottles.  The Paraflim keeps moisture in but lets air in as well which, I think is an advantage over using wax like Zach worked with.  I have no experience in using the wax, but that's an advantage I've read of in literature before.

Zach, I didn't really have trouble keeping these watered.  I would just add a small amount of water from the top every 2-3 days and when the bottoms were dry I'd dunk the entire tray of 20 pots into a tub of water for 15 seconds or so, and increasing the time once trees started to become established (as well as increase depth of water from 2" to maybe 5").  It would take me 30 minutes to an hour to water about 300 trees (longer time as trees became larger).  One downside of this that was a fair trade-off is that some smaller trees (i.e., runts) would get over-watered when getting dunked and would sometimes die as a result.  I would sometimes sort out trees into new trays to create full trays of similar sized trees to reduce this but sometimes time just wasn't available to do this.

Dennis, Stuewe carries these same pots and trays the mini treepots 3" x 8".  However, I have not ordered these from them but they do look identical.  I got mine for free!  Maybe a few thousand of them.  There were may tens of thousands available at the time from the planting of a winegrape vineyard on property previously owned by my dad and other relatives and I filled up the back of my pickup and now have a supply that will last me at least a few years.  Even if I had to buy them, I would use them again.  See MT38 and MT38T at http://www.stuewe.com/products/minitreepots.php

THANKS HARVEY!!!!   Yeap, those are the ones I've been looking for.  I just called made an order including the trays.  Should be here in a few days.  Now, I'm happy!

Thanks for your input Harvey, I will have to try the way you watered next year. 

While I like the 3" x 8" mini treepots I've been using, I am open minded and am going to try some 3.5" x 5" pots.  Another winegrape vineyard just got planted down the road and the owner said I can have all the pots.  I estimate there are about 15,000 pots (plus trays) in this pile and I got about 2,500 today and will go back.  He said they have more and another farm I can have as well, but I think this is enough! :)

There are probably advantages and disadvantages to these pots.  They don't have a large hole in the bottom so the ProMix HP won't fall out but I won't be able to see root development as well.  The winder dimension will probably be easier for removing the plants when it's time to do so but the soil will probably also dry out a bit quicker.

 

Congrats on the free pots   :)

This is my summer set up for propagating from cuttings.  These cuttings were taken last winter but they weren't set up for rooting until 3 weeks ago.  I have them on my patio in partial shade under an old shower door with row cover material as shade cloth. There is a little bit of water in the bottom of the bin - just enough to keep the humidity up.  I have them in 5-1-1-1 mix with lime but no fertilizer.  I've just starting adding some very dilute fertilizer in the water.  About 3/4 of the cuttings have already leafed out or have green/swelling buds.  I would have used promix hp but don't know of a source near me.  The 5-1-1-1 mix seems to be working well though.

I thought I'd just bump this thread in case anybody else might like to try this method this season.  Also, wanted to mention that I have used this method several times also for green cuttings (actively growing).  As long as the cutting is fairly firm (lignified), success is just as good as dormant cuttings.  I trim off leaves and then wrap it with BuddyTape (see post 10) just like the dormant cuttings.

This is pretty interesting. Do you get as high a take rate with 5-1-1-1 versus promix (bx or hp)? Just started some cuttings in promix bx and I'm a little concerned that it's holding too much water (though last year it worked out just fine). I'm thinking of putting a bit of extra perlite in the mix just to lighten it a bit.

Just like to thank you, Harvey (and Tim on his blog), for putting out this info.   I've started a run of cuttings following Harvey/Tim's posting with the exceptions of adding a bit of extra perlite to bring the BX towards HP(not available locally) ratio, a pinch of lime, and using plastic growsleeves or tubepots @ 3.5"x 10" instead of the treepots.   No bottom heat yet, temps ranging in 70's.   Tops wrapped with 1/4" parafilm(what I had on hand). The medium was lightly moistened when I potted the cuttings, and I've lightly watered once since.  3 weeks in, some are starting to bud out and seeing some roots on the sides of some of the containers.  
I like the way it limits the amount of handling/disturbance to the cutting.   I'm hoping I can leave them in those containers which have about a quart of medium in each for about 4-5 months, when they will move out to greenhouse and get potted up.  
How long did you keep them in the treepots before you repotted, Harvey?

Tim, I've only tried ProMix HP and Sunshine #4.  I wouldn't want anything with less perlite than what's in ProMix HP, I think.  In the early stages, I still water pretty carefully avoid saturating the mix too much.  I don't plan to ever use Sunshine #4 again.  It stayed much too wet and it sure seemed like it must have had fungus gnat eggs in it.

I've left trees in these pots for over 4-5 months several times.  Some I start selling in 2-3 months.  If it's one I'm keeping for myself, by 3-4 months I'm usually moving it into a 5 gallon pot but only filled 2/3 of the way.

Oh, and I've stuck with the original taller pots as I can see the roots from the bottom very well and I can fit more more plants on my propagation mats and it's easier go get the plant out of the pot.  I have about 7,000 of those 4" square pots now so may use them eventually, LOL.

Harvey,

Quick question:

I'm using mini tree pots (Stuewe&Sons) and ProMix HP as well.  I keep my cuttings in a dark bathroom.  To keep up the humidity, I fill a large plastic tote with about 1" - 2" of water, put in a couple of bricks and then put my tray with pots on top of that.  I then put on a top lossely to allow a little air exchange.

What I've found is that cuttings are budding, but slowly.

I'm thinking this is due to the lack of heat and possibly light so I'd like to transfer the whole shebang to a growth self with with a heated mat.

My question is, how important is it to keep humidity up with these cuttings?  I didn't notice you capping your pots at all, only wrapping the top of your cuttings with parafilm.  Is keeping the cuttings in a humidity chamber necessary?

Thanks,

smithmal