i have several cuttings that will need to be stored in the fridge for atleast 3 months.
would like to know what is the preffered method....
any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know your entire set-up, Stevin, but if my husband wanted to store cuttings in my fridge, I'd friggin kill him!  We do have a couple other refrigerators.  One in the bar outside that we mainly use for Beer for BBQ's and a small one in our guest house.  I'd sacrifice those, but with Christmas coming, and Thanksgiving (our big deal is on Saturday, so my fridge is packed......... and we have a vegetarian family member, so that's double cooking for me).  NO ROOM in the fridge!

Is there some reason you can't just root cuttings now?  They can be rooted all year, but if it's cold where you live, the garage might be cold enough for storage.

Suzi

I have heard of people putting a moist paper towl on the cut ends and zip lock bagging them and putting them in the fridge. but i root mine as soon as i cut them. i have never stored any myself.

sorry i couldnt be better help

Some refrigerators remove moist from produce..if the cutting is sucked out of its moisture it will not survive... just bit the bullet and start the process - sauna chamber and moss/newspaper and by spring you have a jump start.   remember to label each before you do  anything!

It will not lose moisture in a zip lock bag sealed up just keep an eye on it make sure theres no mold on the cutting if there is clean it and restart the packaging process you should be ok

I store my cuttings in a ziplock in the vegetable drawer.  I don't add any moss or paper towels.  The cuttings seem to stay pretty moist.  I tie them in bundles that will fill the bag and still close the bag.  When my inground trees start to bud out in the Spring, I start my cuttings.

hahaha....
the wife pretty much gave me the stink eye when i told her that i was gonna store cuttings in the fridge.
but we do have another fridge in the basement.

it is getting pretty cold here. the garage lately has been hold temps in the 40's. but i'm sure it will get alot colder in there once the outside temps start dropping into the 20's.

i'm just a lil confused as too what steps i have to take to make sure that in 3 months from now i still have viable cuttings and not a bag of moldy rotted twigs.

some people say don't add any moist anything, just put the cuttings in a bag and toss into the fridge.
some say use a damp paper towel  or newspaper and put into a baggie and toss into the fridge.
some say use damp spagmus peat moss.......
i've read to wrap them with a damp something and then wrap snuggly with plastic saran wrap then into a baggie.....

i feel like Vinny Barbarino...
[video]http://youtu.be/U4hvH_xw2Dw[/video]

The point is to keep them dormant until you are ready to root them.  You don't want them to start forming roots until you are ready.  I don't think you need to add any extra moisture.

i just thought of this.....
has anyone ever tried vacuum sealing the cuttings?

I have just stored some for the past two months. I placed mine In a "damp" not wet paper towel. I then place them in a zip lock baggy. I checked them weekly and if there is moisture visible in the baggy I open it and allow the moisture to escape. They appear to be fine.

I've got my cuttings in moist spaghnum moss in baggies. And as the cook in the family, I have decided we do have space in the fridge. I check the bags periodically for excess condensation and wipe the inside with a paper towel if needed.

I am rooting my cuttings in stages. As some of the first batch become ready to move out of the mini greenhouse, round two will be going into cups and replace them in the humid chamber. Not everything will make it, so I hedge my bets and save a few special cuttings for the later stages. They should be fine in the fridge. I just don't have enough space to have all of the figs going at once. By springtime, my house should be a jungle. And I'll have a good start, if all goes as planned.

Stevin!  You crack me up!  Vinnie Barbarino!  One of my fav movies of all time!!  Makes me smile to think of it.  He was definitely out of his comfort zone, but he rocked on!  Got the job done! And his adorable fiance who had brothers who taught her mechanics, saved his day!!

I'm wondering if you put your cuttings in the garage in an insulated container if they will get too cold.  No experience here with that.  Just wondering!

Suzi

Why not start them  now?  If you can keep them indoors (assuming there aren't too many).   Seems safer than chillin them. 

I usually put mine in a zip loc bag with a half a paper towel that I wet and then squeezed all wetness out of leaving it slightly moist.  No need to wrap the cuttings.  Then I put them in the crisper drawer of the fridge.  I've successfully rooted cuttings that were stored this way for over a year.

The main thing is to find a balance that is not too wet (which can cause mold) and not too dry (which lets the cuttings dry out).   

Eric

the only thing that is holding me back from starting the cuttings now is what will i do once they have gone past the cup phase and need to be up potted. at that point they will be much light to keep them happy.
i have south facing windows but the sun this time of the year barely makes it over the tree line. so i'm getting more of a filter sunlight coming thru the bare tree tops. is that enough to keep the plants healthy?
i really don't plan on running lights...

You could get some lights like these from HD.

I have had very good luck storing cuttings using Axier's approach in post #4 of this thread :
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Storing-Cuttings-3295179

time for me to step up....kinda...
i'm gonna root some and store some.
here's a question, what if the only bleach i have in the house is the scented kind. is that still ok to use for the 10% solution?
it's fresh linen scent, if that makes a difference..hahaha

I got lights set up all over my place. one in the bathroom so the tropicals can get humidaty from the shower it works great. you can get a 2 footer from walmart for 10 bucks thats what i started with now i have a 2 foot t5 a four foot t5 and 3 of those 2 footers from walmart they work great and you can start 30 cuttings under one and keep 30 small plants alive all winter i do it every year. pot no wider that 3 inches starting out. the ones i use all winter are 3 inches wide and 9 inches deep and work like magic. you can do so much in a 2'x2' space.

i wouldnt use sented bleach. try honey its a natral fungicide

my wife gave me problems at first until i started making good money selling plants. she loves that money so now she dont mind.

been reading up on storing the cuttings also. best method i found is the one that leon suggested. clean the cuttings, dry them, then wrap them in plastic wrap so it won't lose moisture and store in the ziplock bag.

tho.. i'm going to root my cuttings. way i see it, it will take 3-4 weeks for good roots in the baggie, another 2 months in the cup. that will push it till end of feb., early march here. i should be able to start taking them out to sun during the day by then. so.. if i time it right, don't really need to store them, and give them more time to grow.

when you use the lights, do you also use mats and or coil to heat up their bottoms? how much electricity increase that causes?  I have an unfinished basement, perhaps I should do that and make it be alive down there... I would spend more time there for sure...

Last winter I had some cuttings that were wrapped in plastic and then put in a ziplock bag. I had a few that were too long for a ziplock bag and I didn't want to cut them so I wrapped them in plastic and then put them in a bread bag. I actually forgot about them and this spring when there was no danger of frost, I put them in pots, water them and put them outside in the shade. Some grew, some not. I probably would of had more success if I would of rooted them sooner. The moral of the story is: root them as soon as possible, if you can't for other reasons then store them for as short of time as you can. I think they loose viability the longer in storage so root them the fastest you can.

I found that cleansing them with dish detergent and a toothbrush, then sealing the cut ends with some melted wax and just placing them in a ziplock bag is all you need when storing in the crisper. I used to bleach them and wrap each one individually with saran wrap then place them in the ziplock bag, and they did well- for the most part. Sometimes I would see some rot.
One day I received some cuttings from a friend over seas who sealed the ends with wax. For lack of time, I placed them in a ziplock bag and into the crisper they went. Months later I rooted almost every one of them. Since then, I've made it a point to store my cuttings the same way and none have gone bad. The wax on the cut ends seems to retard  a portal for decay.
We only have one fridge in the house and a wine cooler. My wife doesn't take issue with a few cuttings in the crisper. But then again she loves figs and appreciates me for a hobby that keeps me home. Enough said!

As far as lights go that I use I go with floressence as they don't get hot and use less energy. I don't use heat mats at all any thing that needs under heat goes ontop of my stand up freezer. My bathroom we keep a small space heater in and there is warm steam with two adults and three kids showering daily.

Suzi------ You CRACK ME UP!!!!!!  With your propagation addiction (lol) I would think you had a small fridge just to keep the xtras!! 

Oh wait, there aren't any extra's cause they are all at some stage of growing !!!  ha ha ha ha  

And if you did have any, I'm sure you would get a beach cooler with ice to keep those babies chilled during the holidays. 

Leon , 
What kind of wax do you use and how do you apply it ?
Thanks.