Has anyone see this before? I have probably 40 cuttings rooting at the moment. I didn't notice this yesterday but today I found this.

 
 
 

There are roots growing out of the top of the cuttings. I have no idea how or why. This is a cutting that I took from a dormant Italian white tree that a friend gave me.

Curious, I looked at the others and saw this:

 

Another cutting of a different type from an entirely different source is starting to grow a similar root.

They've been in the mix for about a week.

Has anyone ever seen this before or know what I'm dealing with here? Neither of these cuttings are showing signs of roots on the side of the containers yet.

I  had this happen a few times! They will dry up and fall off nothing to worry about.

Stupid figs lol!,I have one in my humidity bin doing the same thing,I've noticed some varieties seem to want to do this more than others,I put it down to humidity,I can see you have condensation on the sides of the bottle. I have seen it happen before,when I took it out of the humidity bin the aerial roots dried up. If I had a couple of buds to play with like on that cutting there id be tempted to snip it off just above that long bud you have going and pot the rest up to see if it takes,then you have 2 for the price of one.You could just snap it off to stop it wasting energy.As I said,dumb figs

I have one doing the same.

Right?!?! Just the weirdest thing. I'm glad I'm not the only one. So much for roots avoiding the light....

My wife asked me if I placed it upside down...She's cute. I'm glad she was kidding...

About snipping the top - I'm not brave enough to cut it at this point.... I started this cutting before another member taught me about the value of having more nodes in the ground. Now I leave only one node above ground with as many as I can buried in the mix.

You've got at least 2 nodes above that root and a strong shoot growing below it. If that were my cutting I'd be making 2. If you don't want to I'd snip off that root. Waste of energy. Not super important. It will not hurt anything.

What is the top of a cutting and what is the bottom? I am just playing around but if you think about it every node has the potential to throw roots... that is what we depend on even with 1 node cuttings (there is such a thing). If you take a stick with 6 nodes and cut just at the bottom of each node to create 6 pieces you now have 6 pieces with a 'top' and a 'bottom' which might root even though the original 'top' node on the 6 node stick was where you weren't expecting roots to form... All relative, I think but what do I know...   :-)

[QUOTE=ADelmanto]You've got at least 2 nodes above that root and a strong shoot growing below it. If that were my cutting I'd be making 2. If you don't want to I'd snip off that root. Waste of energy. Not super important. It will not hurt anything. [/QUOTE]

I didn't think to snip the root. Good idea. Thanks Aaron.

[QUOTE=tsparozi]What is the top of a cutting and what is the bottom? I am just playing around but if you think about it every node has the potential to throw roots... that is what we depend on even with 1 node cuttings (there is such a thing). If you take a stick with 6 nodes and cut just at the bottom of each node to create 6 pieces you now have 6 pieces with a 'top' and a 'bottom' which might root even though the original 'top' node on the 6 node stick was where you weren't expecting roots to form... All relative, I think but what do I know...   :-)[/QUOTE]

That actually makes sense too. Mind you, your method adds to the net number of cuttings I'm rooting.....The quantity of which has not gone unnoticed by my wife :-) Not that she's counting...

Joe... Just to be clear, I am not advocating doing 1 node cuttings... I have done 2 nodes but usually consider three a minimum. There are numerous more experienced forum members that have the ability to turn each node into a viable plant or cut each node and chip graft them onto good root stock to produce plants. I wouldn't even try... Best of luck...

I hear you. Three minimum for sure. I have a couple of two-node cuttings that became that way only because a third node dried out and I freed up a buried node to try and save the cutting....

One-node. Yeah, I saw the pics...I can't help but feel like that's more just about taking up a challenge.

Joe I think you may have to much moisture on top, try loosening the cap or remove at least for a few hours a day, better yet remove during the night

I've had it happen also. So far cuttings with a trimmed fork at the top like yours were very prone to it. Maybe the fork areas have a higher potential for root making.

Hi Joe,

what about burying the upside part to soil gently and let it grow, too.
similar to air-layering the cuttings.  When you find nice roots in the below part some day, you may cut the cuttings into 2. Then you get 2 plants from a single cutting.

please make sure you don't cut it into 2 now. wait until you find fat roots from the below part.

[QUOTE=torontofig]Hi Joe,

what about burying the upside part to soil gently and let it grow, too.
similar to air-layering the cuttings.  When you find nice roots in the below part some day, you may cut the cuttings into 2. Then you get 2 plants from a single cutting.

please make sure you don't cut it into 2 now. wait until you find fat roots from the below part.

[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure burying it upside down is a good idea. I've not done it personally but have read here about some who've accidentally started cuttings that way and from what I understand it doesn't usually end well.

 

[QUOTE=TorontoJoe]

I'm not sure burying it upside down is a good idea. I've not done it personally but have read here about some who've accidentally started cuttings that way and from what I understand it doesn't usually end well.

 [/QUOTE]

not upside down. just lay the current cutting with the cup horizontal, add another cup on the other side with soil and bury the roots in the soil. let the 2 ends to grow roots. :) then cut it into 2 when you find both has nice roots.

actually when you bury the roots in the soil, the roots will get fertilizer in the soil, and the cutting grows better than in the air. the energy will pass to the other end, helping it root fast.  Just a thought.


I had success once to have 2 trees from a Hardy Chicago cutting. The cutting was long and I wanted to cut into two but didn't do at the beginning. later it got roots in two end :)

[QUOTE=torontofig]

not upside down. just lay the current cutting with the cup horizontal, add another cup on the other side with soil and bury the roots in the soil. let the 2 ends to grow roots. :) then cut it into 2 when you find both has nice roots.

actually when you bury the roots in the soil, the roots will get fertilizer in the soil, and the cutting grows better than in the air. the energy will pass to the other end, helping it root fast.  Just a thought.


I had success once to have 2 trees from a Hardy Chicago cutting. The cutting was long and I wanted to cut into two but didn't do at the beginning. later it got roots in two end :)



[/QUOTE]


Ahhh. I get what you're saying now. I've never tried one sideways...I know a few here have done one-node cuttings that way. I wonder if anyone here has taken a long, multi-node cutting and just buried horizontal half buried in the mix? I wonder what the result would be....

I had a Hardy Chicago last spring that had two shoots growing.  I did lay it sideways just.  After they both were a few inches tall and had their own root system, I cut it in half and potted them both separately.  They did fine.

Actually, it's pretty common when the humidity is high on the cuttings.

Do you think I should I pull the caps off the top? I started doing it this way after losing some cuttings to the tops drying out. I know one can easily overwater but can it be "too humid"?

[QUOTE=TorontoJoe]Do you think I should I pull the caps off the top? I started doing it this way after losing some cuttings to the tops drying out. I know one can easily overwater but can it be "too humid"?[/QUOTE]

Sorry to comment it  but it has been happening to me especially during summer time rooting. /higher humidity caused from higher temperature in a small bottle - greenhouse/
The roots are triggered to grow due to higher humitity condensated in a top of the cover and humidity is increased in a upper part.
It is nothing unusual. I would let them. Just check whether there is sufficient  root system in down part inside this substrate or not.
If not, then just carefully replant the  figcutting in a taller (transparent) pot deeper and those new roots which are onto top of the cutting cover by a substrat as well. Potentional buds wil do grow through the  substrat as offshoots. (However, I see there in the snapshot two good developed green buds which they would be over the ground level in this case so no any issue). 

I would go ahead and rub these top roots off, they serve no purpose!

[QUOTE=torontofig]

not upside down. just lay the current cutting with the cup horizontal, add another cup on the other side with soil and bury the roots in the soil. let the 2 ends to grow roots. :) then cut it into 2 when you find both has nice roots.

actually when you bury the roots in the soil, the roots will get fertilizer in the soil, and the cutting grows better than in the air. the energy will pass to the other end, helping it root fast.  Just a thought.


I had success once to have 2 trees from a Hardy Chicago cutting. The cutting was long and I wanted to cut into two but didn't do at the beginning. later it got roots in two end :)



[/QUOTE]



i got a bunch of free un-named cuttings recently
a lot of them, huge tree cut down.

I took a 18 inch long bit and stuck it in the ground
at a 45 degree angle.
There must be 6 or 7 nodes underground at least.
i did 3 of these
cant wait to see what i get ... LOL

i actually did this once before with a 10 inch cuttings
buried at 45 degrees
it produced roots at 2 or 3 spots
and top growth at 2 different spots.
i could have cut it in 1/2, but left it in ground as is.

i do the same with tomato
i take the starts out the pot (when about a foot+ tall),
and put them in ground much deeper than the original soil line.
cutting off leaves etc...
i use a 45 deg angle 
Toms dont usually sprout from under the ground
and the roots stay near the surface,
but still at slightly different levels for soil moisture.
they seem to like this best. Though,
it can delay them sprouting new growth a bit.

[QUOTE=greenman62]



i got a bunch of free un-named cuttings recently
a lot of them, huge tree cut down.

I took a 18 inch long bit and stuck it in the ground
at a 45 degree angle.
There must be 6 or 7 nodes underground at least.
i did 3 of these
cant wait to see what i get ... LOL

i actually did this once before with a 10 inch cuttings
buried at 45 degrees
it produced roots at 2 or 3 spots
and top growth at 2 different spots.
i could have cut it in 1/2, but left it in ground as is.

i do the same with tomato
i take the starts out the pot (when about a foot+ tall),
and put them in ground much deeper than the original soil line.
cutting off leaves etc...
i use a 45 deg angle 
Toms dont usually sprout from under the ground
and the roots stay near the surface,
but still at slightly different levels for soil moisture.
they seem to like this best. Though,
it can delay them sprouting new growth a bit.

[/QUOTE]

I do that with tomatoes as well. The idea being that all the fine little "hairs" on the step develop as roots. You can see this really well if you take a tomato sucker and place it in water to root.

I'm not sure I understand the purpose for burying a fig cutting at a 45 degree angle. If the idea is just to have more root growth via more in-ground nodes, then does it really matter if it's on an angle or just straight in and a bit deeper? I feel like I'm missing something here....