First Cuttings and their progress! Is it really this easy?

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Joeturbo26

Registered:1398466224
Posts: 73

Posted 1401456747	Reply with quote #1

Hello Fig Friends! About a month ago, Ed and I traded some lemons for a Chicago Hardy. I pruned one branch off before I put it in the ground--it's doing incredible! So I took that one branch, made about 6 cuttings from it... Also had some cuttings from a neighborhood tree that has been there unprotected for as long as I can remember, as well as some cuttings from my uncles unprotected tree. I actually suspected that both of those trees had actually perished in this brutal winter. My uncles tree still shows no sign of life and all the cuttings rotted as I had suspected. The neighborhood tree, I passed the other day and appears to be alive and fully leafed out! So here I was with about 20 sticks... I began to test different methods including: -rooting in plain water -rooting in a clear shoebox filled with moist coconut coir -rooting in paper damp paper towel in a ziplock Each cutting variety was exposed to each method... There was a lot of labeling going on which had my OCD thriving LOL. Here's what I found: Every cutting was successful! The Chicago hardy was the quickest to root, in fact it took root within days in every method. The neighborhood tree did best in coconut coir also rooting within days. The ziplock bag was a bit slower and produced roots everywhere on the cutting even though only the lower half was wrapped in paper towel. However, the water seemed to produce the heaviest healthiest looking roots and I was able to control the water level to where I wanted roots exactly. I also found that water produced the most even root to leaf growth ratio. The Chicago Hardy by far has been the most vigorous... It's like a "super stick" lol.. Just a few days after the very first two cuttings showed root growth, I transplanted them together into a mixture of 50/50 soil to coconut coir in a 4" nursery pot. That was on 5/17.... Just 13 days later (this morning) I looked at the drain holes on the bottom and noticed that the roots were already growing out of the bottom. So I decided to repot it into a much larger 16" terra cotta pot which I will now put outside. When I took it out of the nursery pot I was SHOCKED to see that in only 13 days it appeared to almost be root bound! I decided to plant them deeper now, knowing it will root quickly, much like you would with a tomato. Is this even normal? Or do I have a super cutting? Lol As for the rest of the cuttings they're all looking great, lots of roots, with buds but very few leaves. I've potted them all up this morning into those same 4" nursery pots. Here's a photo of the super stick LOL Attached Images image.jpg (606.26 KB, 35 views) __________________ -Joe- Queens NY Zone 6b-7a depends on who you ask!

brackishfigger

Registered:1366681613
Posts: 270

Posted 1401457378	Reply with quote #2

Looks great but you are not out of the woods yet. . . HC has been one of the easiest to root for me too

Ampersand

Registered:1389979527
Posts: 728

Posted 1401457421	Reply with quote #3

It's always easy the first time!

ako1974

Registered:1393356294
Posts: 299

Posted 1401457585	Reply with quote #4

I didn't do so well last year, but this year I did great. I have to eliminate stupid mistakes, like leaning my garden shovel next to all my potted cuttings then have the wind knock it over and chop into the cuttings :) Duh to me. __________________ Arne Zone 6a - NJ

Joeturbo26

Registered:1398466224
Posts: 73

Posted 1401457757	Reply with quote #5

Quote: Originally Posted by brackishfigger Looks great but you are not out of the woods yet. . . HC has been one of the easiest to root for me too Uh oh! Lol __________________ -Joe- Queens NY Zone 6b-7a depends on who you ask!

mgginva

Registered:1320266925
Posts: 1,857

Posted 1401458813	Reply with quote #6

They only fail when you pay out the nose for them or trade a valuable tree or wait for years to acquire. __________________ Michael in Virginia (zone 7a) Wish list: Perretta,

Joeturbo26

Registered:1398466224
Posts: 73

Posted 1401459885	Reply with quote #7

Quote: Originally Posted by mgginva They only fail when you pay out the nose for them or trade a valuable tree or wait for years to acquire. I can see that being the case! I breed and raise Clivia as a hobby... Although, there are many people who take it SOOOOO serious, I've found that my least successful attempts are usually with the ones I search and search for, or pay a stupid amount of money on... Although some people spend more than 300.00 on a single seed, I never would for that "law" you just mentioned. Haha. __________________ -Joe- Queens NY Zone 6b-7a depends on who you ask!

DallasFigs

Registered:1358877623
Posts: 990

Posted 1401480290	Reply with quote #8

Quote: Originally Posted by Ampersand It's always easy the first time! Exactly.. There seems to be "Beginners Luck" factor with figs. You think.. oh that was easy. And you feel like you know exactly what you're doing. That's what they WANT you to think (those sneaky fig trees). Then BAM. Disaster strikes.. mwa ha ha ha ha. Like you, I did GREAT my first year (last year). I lost some, but overall it was fantastic. This year, started out good, but suddently EVERYTHING went wrong. Stuff would just seem to die for no reason. so.. enjoy.. but don't get over confident.. lol.. __________________ James - Irving, TX - Zone: 8a Follow me on EBay Wish List: 187-25 · Ice Crystal · Maltese Beauty · Maltese Falcon

GRamaley

Registered:1357742252
Posts: 791

Posted 1401482858	Reply with quote #9

I had a 100% rooting rate till the fungus gnats killed 80% of them.....pout but life goes on and you learn how to kill the little buggers __________________ Gloria --------------- 7a, maybe 8

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