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GeneDaniels

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
My wife and I were just in Asheville, NC. The little motel we stayed at was owned by an old Greek gentleman. There were fig trees all around the place!

Looking at the leaves, there were several varieties. All of them had died to the ground last winter, but one had new shoots that were over 6 ft tall! (This is zone 6b).

I grabbed a few cuttings, but they are mostly green so I don't know if they will root. I have them wrapped in a wet teeshirt and in a plastic bag since we will be another 3 days in Atlanta before heading home.

Any suggestions about how to try to root these since they are not completely woody yet?
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Zone 7b (Central Arkansas) Seven trees in the ground: Hardy Chicago, Celeste(?), LSU gold, Italian Black, Southern Brown Turkey(?), Strawberry Verte, and Unk yellow.  Trees in pots: VdB, CdD, and Sicilian?
eboone

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
On Bass's blog he has an entry on rooting green cuttings - I used that this summer on several cuttings with pretty good results.  I potted them individually rather than in a group

link:  http://www.treesofjoy.com/content/rooting-softwood-fig-cuttings
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Ed
Zone 6A - Southwest PA     
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Short wish list: CDDG, LSU Red, Dark Greek (Navid),  Col Littman's Black Cross.   And any cold hardy early fig.
americanfiglover

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
Why not wait until your on your way home before taking a cutting?
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Jarrett
Spokane, WA ZONE 6A
Proudly Serving in the United States Armed Forces, 2009-Present
Everyone should have a green thumb
Figs: Nero600m
GeneDaniels

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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
We left that city and are 4 hrs away from there for this part of the trip.
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Zone 7b (Central Arkansas) Seven trees in the ground: Hardy Chicago, Celeste(?), LSU gold, Italian Black, Southern Brown Turkey(?), Strawberry Verte, and Unk yellow.  Trees in pots: VdB, CdD, and Sicilian?
jdsfrance

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
Hi genedaniels,
This is how I did it last year :
Take cuttings with hardened wood is better. Some call it the crossette method. You need just 1/3 to be hardened or old wood, the 2/3 can be green wood.
Remove all except 2 last leaves.
Keep 3 weeks in a bottle or jar of water ; change water every 2 days.
In days that you're on the move, wrap each cutting in a paper towel and wet it under the faucet. Put them in the empty jar or bottle , the bottle in a plastic bag to avoid water running in the car.
On arrival, unwrap and refill the bottle with water.
After 3 or 4 weeks, put them in a pot of dirt from the nurseries and let them root and grow. keep moist with a plate under the pots. You need 2/3 of the cutting to be buried in the dirt. Choose a diagonal position, not straight up. Use a gallon pot; you should not have to manipulate or up pot them until October.
To do first: cuttings must be between 20 cm and 30 cm / 7'' and 10'' - too short they won't have enough power; too long they will waste the stored energy.
Keep them in a half shady spot all the way water stage and dirt stage.
By October you'll be able to put them in the ground if it is your plan. If you do so, cut the bottom of pot and put them in place. I did it with 3 pots, and just lost one surely because it took too long to root and wasn't strong enough.
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Climate from -25°C to + 35°C
Only cold hardy figtrees can make it here
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