Do pencil thick suckers root as easily as fruiting branches of the same size? Will the tree be of same quality? I have a lot of suckers but running out of branches for friends who requested cuttings. This is on a non grafted tree so roots are same variety.

They can root.

When you cut them and put the cut ends directly in water. Change the water daily and keep there 4-5 days. Try to have the cuttings over 6".

Parafilm the tops and plant with rooting compound. I had a couple stupid thin from pizzaman, they wilted in 24 hours and I got them to grow this way.

p.s. don't buy green cuttings from pizzaman.

Mike

I have several like this that were at best 2/3 the diameter of a pencil and as little as 4" long. The success rate is lower but if it's a fig you want to grow it's worth while trying. I started this one 1st week in September. Also, I found success rate about equal with or without rooting hormone. Also, the narrower cuttings are further along then the thicker ones. I was worried they were burning themselves out so I gave them a very diluted dose of liquid fertilizer as soon as I saw roots.

Curious - Who's Pizzaman?

 

Conrad's question was two fold. First "will they root?" Yes - treat like any other cutting. "Will it be of the same quality?" I've wondered this myself. I have not done a side by side comparison but I would imagine that since they are from the same source that eventually they would be similar trees. I would think branch cuttings may produce fruit in it's first or second year while the suckers would be delayed a little longer, fruiting in 3-4 years. It's only a guess on my part but I don't think I'm far off. I don't think there would be any noticable difference in eventual tree shape.

Hi,
They can root ; it all depends on what you're calling a root-sucker ( one week popped out root-sucker ? one full season old ?).
This is what I would do: Keep the suckers and remove them with roots come next May or June and give them by then.
I would do this especially if the root-suckers popped out this season as they are green wood and that's a misery to keep those alive. You could be lucky too and root them all ...
It is a matter of odds.
I would edge my odds and act in May , except if you're urged to give the cuttings and people won't come back to you asking for more, because the first ones died ...
Depending on the strain root-suckers may take longer to fruit.
But on a non grafted tree, they will be a copy of the mother and fruit like herself ... Except for some possible small mutations .
I've got a weeping one for instance... She's the only one with weeping branches ... out of 50+ .

True. There are different stages of root sucker. I always just assumed a sucker behaved no different than a cutting. If you had one with roots from below ground I'd imagine it would have a better chance of taking.

In the end I generally can't bear to throw out anything I clip from a fig tree so will take a shot at rooting anything I can. Nothing really to lose and every attempt is gained experience. And if it works out there's always someone to take a surplus tree off your hands.

Thanks for all the inputs and ideas.

My suckers in this case are really shoots coming from the trunk/crown right at or below ground level. All are less than 6 months old but the wood is not soft green, it's more woody looking, still growing with fresh small leaves. These do not have their own roots attached as far as I can tell.

Since I need to send these out in about 2 weeks to beginner fig growers, I wanted find out 1) if they would root and 2) produce a tree that would bear fruit almost as quickly as a tree that started from a fruiting branch. I think the answers are 1) Yes and 2) Maybe ;-)

LOL! I think your assessment is spot-on....  My guess is that they'll grow fine but if first year growth it might be a few years until you see fruit....   But what do I know....   Different trees in different environments....   

Another related question:

Instead of using suckers as cuttings, can you air-layer the suckers now and produce rooted saplings by spring?  Or will dormant trees not produce roots at all?

I've seen suckers bent back in the soil to air layer but only during the growing season. As far as I know, once the plant goes dormant it's the whole plant - roots and all..... I'd assume if it's potted indoors and not allowed to go dormant this would work. However haven't seen that done.