After a few yrs of growing figs I've made a lot of mistakes and have also have learned lots about growing figs.  Thanks in part to this forum and also through lots of trial and error.

Please share 1 tip you've learned that you wish someone had told you in the beginning. Mine would be

"Control the moisture on new cuttings. Do not drown you new cuttings or freshly potted cuttings. Pre moistened soil is better then drowning them with a hose"

This is a good topic, Ben.  Something I wish someone had told me is that...

"a thicker cutting has more energy stored than a skinny cutting making the thicker one a better candidate for rooting." 


I had the wrong impression when I first started.  I used to think that a fat cutting would NOT root easily but this was incorrect.

Thanks for posting on this subject.  I'm sure it will help many.

Well ben i was going to talk about drowning cuttings in water. ; )
Mine would be
Only get the varieties you really want because no matter what you think. You will get too many fig trees.

an excellent fig is one that ripens reliably with a bountiful crop.

When starting cuttings, keep in clean water for 5 days, wrap in Parafilm, plant with rooting compound.

Potting soil matters.  A lot.  My first figs got potted up to a mixture of manure, perlite, soil conditioner, and peat moss after rooting.  Many drowned because my ratios were all off, plus soil conditioner+manure+peat made a really sloppy mess when it rained a lot.  Didn't drain worth crap. I now use a TON of sifted perlite (30-40%), as well as manure, pine bark mulch/fines, and a healthy amount of promix (30-40% maybe).  This mix might not be what the pros recommend on this site, but its done excellent for me.  No drowning, no lost leaves due to overwatering, and a TON of growth.

Also, in ground trumps pots, and its not close.  My 3 in ground ones are all weeds.  My RDB has grown 2 feet this year already (after only 3 feet last year), plus another 2 feet of side branches.

[QUOTE=brettjm]Potting soil matters.  A lot.  My first figs got potted up to a mixture of manure, perlite, soil conditioner, and peat moss after rooting.  Many drowned because my ratios were all off, plus soil conditioner+manure+peat made a really sloppy mess when it rained a lot.  Didn't drain worth crap. I now use a TON of sifted perlite (30-40%), as well as manure, pine bark mulch/fines, and a healthy amount of promix (30-40% maybe).  This mix might not be what the pros recommend on this site, but its done excellent for me.  No drowning, no lost leaves due to overwatering, and a TON of growth.

Also, in ground trumps pots, and its not close.  My 3 in ground ones are all weeds.  My RDB has grown 2 feet this year already (after only 3 feet last year), plus another 2 feet of side branches.[/QUOTE]
Good points. And i agree with in ground. That dwarf my potted figs that are the same age.

It's about eating good figs and sharing them with the people you care about, not collecting figs or propagating figs as some kind of investment.

Enjoy!

Pro-mix for baby cuttings! And don't drown them.

Don't start your cuttings too early. Growing them and babying them for months before you can get them outside is a hassle and a burden.
Also transition your young cuttings very slowly once you get them outside. Don't rush getting them into full sun.

Join a forum!

Honestly, I would have a much more productive, healthier tree if I had found the forums when I first got it.  3 years without winter protection have led to dieback ever year--I'm so lucky it came back strong!

Mulch and keep the root zone of your potted plants cool during the warm summer months. They will cease to grow if the root zone is too warm.

I can't think of anything better than what has already been mentioned. but,

Pinch early, pinch often, maybe because most of my figs are grown in part sun they want to be lanky otherwise.

A weak solution of fish fertilizer weekly with help cuttings struggling with FMV, until they get large enough to out grow it.

I agree with many of the comments here but also disagree with a couple. 

Only thing I'll add is the following:

If you are just starting out and don't have any fig trees yet, start as many cuttings as you want, but also pick a couple well known, productive varieties and buy large trees from an established, reputable source.  This is much more expensive than cuttings, but from cuttings you will be waiting years until you get any substantial amount of figs.  Buy a Hardy Chicago (for example) and get that guy producing in the first or second year.  That way you'll have something to compare to when you start getting yield from all those special, exotic varieties you started from cuttings.

If you collect the figs because somebody said it was one of the favorites, make sure you do not have it already. The same fig may go by a different name, like VdB, Negronne, Nero 600M, Petit Negri, etc. ; almost all the Mt Etna figs are identical like Hardy Chicago, MBVS and about 15 more.

It is better to have 10 that produce reliably than 100 with fancy names.

If you are in California z10 or similar and with the wasp, about 70% of things discussed on the forum will be different for you, including the fig taste, look and the rooting procedures.

I agree with using a fresh clean soil like Pro Mix for first potting and not too big of a pot, one gallon or smaller depending on the cutting size. Because you need such good drainage at first it is difficult to keep even levels of nutrients in such a porous soil. Becky made a good point about frequent weak doses of fish emulsion. I am not waiting until the new leaves are not as green as they should be, a very mild shot every second or third watering has them growing like mad.
One lesson I learned on my own is potted plants can develop dry pockets that no amount of regular watering can penetrate. You must put the pot in a shallow pan or put a large piece of plastic under a larger pot and form a bowl to hold a few inches of water and for 20 minutes or so let the bottom soak in water and flood the top over and over until bubbles stop coming up. I have had pots put out so many bubbles for minutes on end I wondered if there was any moisture in them at all before I started.

[QUOTE=paully22]an excellent fig is one that ripens reliably with a bountiful crop. [/QUOTE]

Just adding to Paul's great point is to also choose figs that produce well.. in YOUR zone.. YOUR climate. Sure a Panache looks sexy.... but how many members north of zone 7 have had any ripen lol. Likely not many.

[QUOTE=greenfig]If you collect the figs because somebody said it was one of the favorites, make sure you do not have it already. The same fig may go by a different name, like VdB, Negronne, Nero 600M, Petit Negri, etc. ; almost all the Mt Etna figs are identical like Hardy Chicago, MBVS and about 15 more.

It is better to have 10 that produce reliably than 100 with fancy names.

If you are in California z10 or similar and with the wasp, about 70% of things discussed on the forum will be different for you, including the fig taste, look and the rooting procedures.
[/QUOTE]
Those four you mentioned are the same ? Well i bought all four and grew them from cuttings. I thought the leaves looked the same. They have figs on them and they all look the same except nero looks different but they are still small fruit that are not ripe. Well lesson learned. This is a very good thread.

Don't over-complicate propagation. It happens naturally. Look, listen, learn. Observe the natural world and follow what you see. While it can speed things up, you do not need high tech equipment or store brand products. Sand and Soil will do the trick.  

Rooted cuttings make the best inground trees, they will outpace their siblings in containers in most cases even with winter damage to their tops. A large container tree will still be just as vulnerable to the cold if it grows too much after planting.

If you have 2 rooted cuttings and plant one at the beginning of your planting window and it dies from any number of things (that could kill an older tree also, although more slowly) you can hopefully correct the problem or change the plan and plant the other before the window closes for the year. 

Keeping them longer in containers does make them more resilient to difficult situations, the situation that would have killed a small plant might make a larger tree languish if it is not improved though.

That coir is super simple to use for rooting figs.

new rooted cuttings and baby trees dont like much sunlight    I keep my in pots under a big ole oak tree.

A Fig does NOT have to be expensive to be  Outstanding !!

You said "share one tip" and well, sorry.

1. First year cuttings: Knock all or all-but-one of the figs off. Figs aren't great until the tree gets older and anyway, first year fruits generally are a bad frame of reference for a mature tree's product. During this period, I allow only one fruit to ripen just to see if what I purchased resembles what I received. The first year or so is when you should worry about growing the size of the tree, which will give you larger harvests in the following years.

2. Building on the advice to not spend a ton of money until your rooting technique is good, just know that sometimes fig cuttings just die. Sometimes it’s the plant material and sometimes your techniques are at fault. It happens. Keep in mind though -

3. - there is no one correct way to root figs. I've had tremendous success with 100% moist perlite in punctured solo cups, and yet other people maintain that 100% perlite is horrible for them. Either way, figs root at their own rate. Just make sure they're properly watered, fertilized, and are out of danger of things like mold or fungus gnat infestations. The subject of good rooting practices is tremendous and can’t be accounted for here.

4. So when it comes to advice on the internet...

Story time: I once read a post on some other forum where the OP was experiencing algae growth on perlite in a container. The first response was from someone who told the OP to boil the perlite. lol.

There's a lot of correlation vs causation claims, confirmation bias, and just flat out untruths floating around. Hobbyist or not, sharing our experiences is great even if our findings aren't scientific but I think after a certain point, the more experienced you get, the easier it is to spot when people are just making stuff up just to write something down. I guess, just remind yourself that this is still the internet and skepticism along with discerning research can save you a lot of frustration and money. I don't mean to be contentious about this but the take-away should be to get a second opinion. 

5. Having said that, lol, in my hobbyist experience, unfertilized figs in containers have been bland and a major waste of the tree's energy. Since all of my trees are in pots, I have my figs on a slow-release fertilizer regimen. I use veg&fruit fertilizers with micros, important among them are magnesium and boron. (I mention those two because I've seen fertilizers that exclude them. I'm not sure whether they're required for figs but I've noticed no adverse effects.)

6. Um... sometimes Violette de Bordeaux has droopy leaves mid-day in my brutally hot summer climate. There’s another thread on F4F in which a few other people have noticed this about VdB. Not 100% sure what this means - whether it’s a quirk or if we’re all doing the same wrong thing to this variety. However, the leaves are just fine by sunset or if VdB has had partial shade throughout the afternoon.

7. For the love of all that is good, wait until your fig ripens before you pick it. Figs should be soft and supple. When you pull the fig from the branch, no sap should seep out from the break. 

8. If you get a long cutting with about 5+ nodes, cut it in half and make two perfectly rootable cuttings. You should divide the branch in half at the point where both ends will receive the maximum amount of nodes. You should make the actual cut just immediately above what will turn into the first node of the bottom-half’s cutting.

9. If you see a too-good-to-be-true deal on ebay, use the F4F search function for the seller's username. Peony77 will definitely come up. Also, don't be afraid to create a new topic and ask. Be careful about condemning people from the start because you never know what's going on - honest mistakes get made all the time. Still, truth-seeking is important. These forums are used for monetary transactions and people share their home addresses. It's imperative that we all at least try to keep one another safe.

10. Keep your receipts and PMs when purchasing/trading. If you're gonna start selling Galicia Negras and whatever and I'm the purchaser, I'd really like you to be able to provide a source. I definitely wouldn't ask to see how much you paid for it but if you got something from Herman, drivewayfarmer, or Bass, let me know that. That's gonna be good for the both of us because you'll get your sale and I'll get my fig. 

11. "Longue d'Aout" is pronounced "Lung dee-you"
"Ischia" is pronounced "Ee-skee-ah"
"Brogiotto" is pronounced "Bro-joe-toe" (Roll the R)
"Hative de Argenteuil" - "Ah-teeve - day - Ahr-jun-tie-uh" (The “jen” is almost pronounced like the J in “just” combined with the “sh” sound in “shush”)
"Hollier" - “Uhll-yey”
"Filacciano" = “Feel-ah-cha-no” (Cha like “charred”, not cha like “change” or “Jackie Chan”)

Night everybody.

Oh gosh another amazing flood of wisdom! Thanks all, again. Praying for rain for the river here in too dry AZ! Hope your Figs and you are enjoying spring. Jodi

Levar

You are a trip. I agree with much of what Levar has said. My advice: Growing cuttings into trees is an extremely time-intensive proposition. If you are a beginner, by all means do not start experimenting on expensive cuttings. It'll take 2-3 years to become well practiced. And you will lose some for sure. So learn the art slowly. Or, if you can afford it, buy reasonably priced trees. Time is money. I have grown many rare trees from scratch and saved myself a lot of money. But it has taken so much time and effort, I am not sure it was worth it. Over and out.

[QUOTE=brettjm]Potting soil matters.  A lot.  My first figs got potted up to a mixture of manure, perlite, soil conditioner, and peat moss after rooting.  Many drowned because my ratios were all off, plus soil conditioner+manure+peat made a really sloppy mess when it rained a lot.  Didn't drain worth crap. I now use a TON of sifted perlite (30-40%), as well as manure, pine bark mulch/fines, and a healthy amount of promix (30-40% maybe).  This mix might not be what the pros recommend on this site, but its done excellent for me.  No drowning, no lost leaves due to overwatering, and a TON of growth.

Also, in ground trumps pots, and its not close.  My 3 in ground ones are all weeds.  My RDB has grown 2 feet this year already (after only 3 feet last year), plus another 2 feet of side branches.[/QUOTE]
So I am sitting in my garden with 2 yr old trees from Home Depot, VdB, Panache, Black Jack and Kadota. Do I keep them in pots w holes buried in ground because Tx everbearing died down to 18 inches or do I bite the bullet and sink these babies in ground for real??

Do the best of both worlds. If you put alot of long slices in the pot and burry the pot permanently. You will see there is no shock or loss of fruit.
Now you have to do better winter protection. ; )

[QUOTE=figpig_66]Do the best of both worlds. If you put alot of long slices in the pot and burry the pot permanently. You will see there is no shock or loss of fruit.
Now you have to do better winter protection. ; )
[/QUOTE]ya the winter protection! The tx ebs were so wrapped up leaves, tarps, insulation etc and still died down to 18". It gets cold here down to 14'. That's my dilemma.

I live in Louisiana so no winter protection
ideas. I seen videos on peps putting 4 poles around the tree. Wrapping the poles with burlap and filling it with dried leaves then tarping that. Wow. I have 40 plus in ground tree. They would die each year and recover. Lol. .

So Richie how cold doesn't get w no winter protection? U r saying u have die back and recovery??

No. I dont really have winter. Hot humid. Never snows or freeze. Maybe a 8 hour freeze. Now and then

Never grow on concrete...

What's wrong with growing on concrete? I was just thinking of doing just that.

Probably a heat issue on pot and roots.

Stains the concrete? In northern latitudes pavement can be helpful for the extra heat.

[QUOTE=DevIsgro]Never grow on concrete...[/QUOTE]

What do you mean? 

I'm gonna assume that you might mean that heat could "cook" the trees or something. I have to say that I only grow figs in pots on concrete and all of my trees are fine. I live in 10b so my trees are well acquainted with extreme heat.

I think part of the success is due to that the trees are spaced together so as not to expose too much of any one pot to sun for an extended period. And after about two months into the growing season, the tree foliage provides good shade for the pot. 

I suppose had I just left a small number of pots overexposed to the sun and with inadequate shade, the rootball would dry out much more quickly and perhaps even damage the roots. I'm guessing, though. 

However, hoosierbanana is right about the stains; you must be diligent about cleaning up after yourself. 

Get a couple trees that will perform well in-ground in your climate. Even if you don't keep in-ground trees, you can give them to friends and family that will. 

If you take a vacation make sure that your plan includes irrigation while you're away.
Start slow and don't buy to many in the first few years unless you gain enough experience with what you've got.
If you believe that you will be moving in the next couple of years, don't get too many.
If you have a large space, try some other fruit trees beside figs.
Can anyone recommend a compound to clean up the concrete, or should I hire a professional?

Drip irrigation for potted trees!

Chicago 5b

[QUOTE=greenfig]If you collect the figs because somebody said it was one of the favorites, make sure you do not have it already. The same fig may go by a different name, like VdB, Negronne, Nero 600M, Petit Negri, etc. ; almost all the Mt Etna figs are identical like Hardy Chicago, MBVS and about 15 more. It is better to have 10 that produce reliably than 100 with fancy names. If you are in California z10 or similar and with the wasp, about 70% of things discussed on the forum will be different for you, including the fig taste, look and the rooting procedures. [/QUOTE]

Amen to the multiple names thing. It can be an expensive problem to not research for synonyms first.

Over the years I have learned several things. Don't wait till Jan. or Feb. in zone 7 to take your cuttings. Wait till they are fully dormant but take them in  November.  They  have more vigor and are more forgiving of newbie miscalculations.

Don't start them too early. Late Feb. through early April work best for the climate here. I can move them out in late April or early May and slowly transition them into full sunlight before it gets too warm.

Don't throw out the ones hiding in the bottom of the veggie drawer that you do not discover till August. They will start just as successfully. They may be too small to survive a long period of dormancy the first winter but they do well as house plants with a little light and some misting to supplement what mother nature provides. They take off like gangbusters when moved outside and may outperform their peers started earlier in the previous year.

The last thing for newbies is to never get discouraged. All of us are continually improving our skills and a rough start does not mean you cannot be successful. If you love figs, keep learning from your mistakes.  Start with common varieties suitable for your area and work toward adding more exotic cultivars as your skills increase.  Once you have your first tree or two going, normal pruning will give you plenty of guinea pigs with which to further develop your propagating skills. Most of the time when you give away a tree, a friend or family member learns about the joy of fresh figs.

Don't cover the ends of cuttings with wet paper towels. Start wrapping an inch or so above the cut. Otherwise they rot.