I have several figs that I have rooted and placed in cups.  The cups have holes along the side and bottom and the mixture is 50% Promix BX and 50% perlite.  Over the last few days, the leaves started drooping, drying up and falling off of 5 figs.  I am concerned that I am not watering them enough.  When I pulled out the cups they were very light and appeared to be drying out.  I am also concerned about overwatering.  I took those 5 cups and lowered them into a water filled container, lifted them out and let them drain.  I have over 30 cuttings in cups and want to make sure that I do not lose them to not watering enough or watering too much.  Is the method I used to water ok or will it provide too much water and drown the plant.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I am new at this.

Thanks,

Brad

I go by the weight of the cup. After roots are showing and humidity dome removed
I water from the top and let it run through. I wait until the cup is light again and repeat.

Doug

I'm new at this to I had the same problem . watering from the bottom did not work for me some rotted now there bone dry and I put just drops of water on top leaving them bone dry they are doing good now.  good luck.

If you use the 3 cup method excess water drains to the bottom reservoir cup. This allows for some evaporation back up to the cup with the fig. If you have a drain hole in the bottom of your fig cup, and a couple holes on the sides you can't drown the plant, (though of course you don't want it wet, especially if you're not using a light potting mix). After 2 years of 70% failure with cuttings, I started using the 3-cup method, and it has been a god-send.

Noel, the 4th cup I add between helps even more with drainage.
Glad its helping you.

Doug

Doug, I picked up all of the cups and they were light.  I also noticed that the 5 figs with drooping and dry leaves were some of the first that I transferred to cups.  So I believe it was due to lack of water.  I pulled all of the cups from the bin and lowered the cups slowly into a container of water to the rim of the cup.  I then removed the cup from the water and allowed it to drain.  At that point the cups seemed too heavy, so I placed the cups on a dry towel to help wick out the excess moisture.  It seems to have worked since the cups were lighter after removing from the towel.  I then placed them back in the bin.  I also read about the 3 cup method recommended by NoelG_123 and think that most of the figs have probably been in the moisture bin too long.  Most have roots and leaves so I am now lowering the humidity in the bin, gradually over the next week or so, to acclimate them to the indoor humidity.  I will then remove them from the bin and place next to the window and transfer to larger pots after more roots form.

Noel, I am going to try the 3 cup method you recommended on the next set of cuttings I receive.  I read about the method and it seems relatively straight forward.  I also like the idea that each cup is an independent greenhouse and that you can add holes in the upper cup to gradually lower the humidity.  Right now my cupped cuttings were placed in the same bin at different times so they are at different stages of development.

Fighobo1, I initially tried watering from the top several days ago using a spray bottle but that did not work. The leaves still drooped and dried up on the 5 figs.  When I lifted up the cups last night, I noticed that the bottom of the cups were very dry.  That is when I decided to submerge the cups.  Hopefully I did the right thing.  There are so many rooting methods on the forums and with each step in the rooting process, no matter which method you use, there seems to be the chance of killing the cuttings.  Right now I am using the trial and error method to determine what works for me.  Hopefully I can minimize the errors using lessons learned from other forum members.  There is a wealth of knowledge out there.  Good luck with your rooting. 

hi Brad  last night I dug out a heat pad I had I put the figs that were having trouble on it . they seem to be liking it I never used a dome just inverted cups for a while.  good luck . let us know how they are doing from time to time.

With enough drain holes in the bottom and the side, a little extra watering is no problem.  If the cup is light that's a sign you are under-watering.  If the top is wet and the bottom is dry, your soil mixture might be too dense.  Generally, the looser the better.

In the past my biggest error was lack of holes in the side of the cup.  The center can stay wet a long time while the top and bottom may dry.  This makes it hard to feed the roots while not rotting the cutting.

All of the figs look good today.  The roots on the 5 figs that lost leaves still look alive so hopefully the will survive and produce new leaves.

adipose, I have many hole in the sides and bottom of the cup.  A soldering iron works great for making the holes.  I am using a 50/50 mix of Pro mix BX and perlite.  Is that too dense?  Do I need to add more perlite?  Also, I am using a 75 gallon fish aquarium and stand with aquarium lights.  Beneath the aquarium, I am using a lamp with a 60 watt bulb to provide heat to the aquarium.  Could the lamp be drying out the bottom of the cups?  The temp generally ranges from 70 to 75 degrees F.

fighobo1, funny you should mention a heating pad.  Before I read your post, my wife and I were looking for a heating pad to put under figs I placed in cups a few days ago.  Last night I separated the recently cupped figs from more established figs so the could get higher humidity.  When I got home this evening the temp in that bin was only 64 degrees F. That prompted the search for a heating pad.  I will be receiving other cuttings this week and plan on using the inverted cups.  I will let you know how the figs are doing.  Please let me know how your figs do.

Thanks,
Brad

hi Brad I just checked the surface of the pad its 82.3 I don't think that's 2 hot the house is 69-70 if I had them in a closed tube I would worry about getting to hot. I would put a thermometer in there .I'm getting some nordland cuttings and really hoping they do good there a good cold weather fig I think take care.

I use 50/50.
keeps soil light and allows oxygen in.

Doug

Doug,

Do you keep the same 50/50 ratio when you pot them up?

Thanks,

Brad

adipose, I could only find Pro Mix BX in my area. 

Thanks,

Brad

fighobo1, what zone are you in?

Thanks,

Brad

I usually go straight from cup to in ground.
If I pot it up, I just use cheap potting mix and add about 30% perlite.
I never found figs to be all that picky on soils.

Doug

Of course no one says the HP ratio is perfect.  But it's pretty darn successful for me.

hi Brad I think I'm in 8 right above seattle wa.  near portownsend  my figs are loving the heat mat should have used it sooner.