I think the big problem with pre-rooting in a light medium, whether moss, coco coir, DE etc is the up-pot into a different, heavier medium which can shock the cutting. I’ve started putting a layer of soil on the bottom and around the inner wall of the pot, leaving a cavity where I place my rooting medium. The idea is that the cutting roots in the DE, then continues to push the roots into the soil. When the cup has a nice mass of roots, I take the whole thing and put into a bigger pot filled with the same type of potting soil. The theory is that shock is reduced this way. I tried it with two cuttings last year and didn’t have any problems with them, I’m going to try it with all my cuttings this year (5 to date.)
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OK, spring is slowly happening in the Great Lakes Region.
When should I dig my figs out from under their woodchip winter covering?
My figs were rooted last spring and planted in early summer.
I just pulled my winter mulch back off my figs here in 7B. I would not uncover until chance of severe cold is past but I can’t give you a number. @ampersand what would you say?
I don’t really know the climate there at all, but If temps below 30 or so are past you should be ok. Just watch for freeze if growth starts up.
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I don’t have a fig plantation going, but I rooted and planted three Chicago Hardy cuttings last year, I bermed them with leaves and soil and covered them with 1/8" hardware cloth cylinders that I filled with hamster-bedding cedar chips. I uncovered them in late spring, and they have thrived to the point that they are waist high.
What do I do next, especially with frosts and near-freezes in the forecast here in Madison, WI? They haven’t dropped their leaves yet, but when they do, I was planning on not depending on the “hardy” feature of this variety resprouting after the tops freeze out. I was going to “bed them down” for at least their second winter to get their roots better established.
Do I bend them over and cover them, or do I build a waist-high mesh tube and fill that with wood chips?
I hope some Zone 4 or 5 fig growers can respond to your question.
Or start your search here:In ground Fig - protecting, unprotecting questions
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I believe @steveb4 bent his over and shoveled a few feet of snow on top and had success. This leads me to believe the wind is more harmful than the temperatures while figs are dormant.
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@PaulInMaplewood … not sure if this would work for you but it works well for me here in Tennessee z7a.
Once mine goes dormant /leaves drop… I collect cuttings from my shoots… and leave only about 2 ft stumps… which i surround with tightly stacked hay bales… and i fill the center with dry pine bark mulch… cover it all with a large tarp… and a couple more hay bales on top of that.
10 hay bales total.
I expext that this is way more protection than it may need here in z7a… but it works great.
I am sure your winters are much more extreme than mine.
Good luck getting your CH fig thru the winter.
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i cut the roots on one side and layed the tree on the ground then covered with a tarp then blew snow on it. it survived -40 3xs last winter with no damage. after springs frost were over in mid June i uncovered and tipped it back up. mulched around it and it continued to grow. unfortunately our season isnt long enough to ripen chicago hardy so i have a florea in its 1st year im going to do the same. supposedly it ripens earlier.
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How large and how old is the tree? You meant -40F?
yes. it was 3 years old. 1st winter it froze to the ground but came back from the roots. grew to 6ft. then i tipped it over and covered. this summer it grew to 8ft and 6ft wide. lots of figs that never ripened. ill prune it back and overwinter again. if no figs ripen next summer ill cull it.
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It is just too short a season if you can only dig it up in mid June. In my zone, I’ll have to get figlets by late June to early July to get any ripe figs.
I’ve had basically 100% success starting fig cuttings in the ground outdoors here in Seattle, even with our unusually cold spring this year. I posted in the other thread this spring after these four appeared to have rooted successfully:
Here’s what they look like today (probably should’ve given them more fertilizer this summer), so some day this will be a 4-in-1 fig tree:
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@steveb4 … frost over mid June !!!
Wow your winters hang on LONG there.
You probably get snow in September or early October too ?
Dont think I could take it there… and know my wife could not.
well the figs started to form at the same time it leafed out but CH ripens too late, Florea fruit ripens a month earlier. JesseS is just south of me in z4b and his ripen i believe late aug. he grows in ground also and overwinters with wire and leaves for protection instead of cutting roots and tipping over.
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I’m a newbie regarding fig propagation. I decided to divide and conquer, go with the easiest method and use less stuff without having to go out and buy more. I don’t have a heat mat, but the fig cuttings inside are pretty dry, they are next to a glass window.
So I potted some in clear plastic cups, 3 in plastic bags as fig pop method, and I also grafted 15 fig varieties to my Desert king, and a few others. Really, I just want to spread the risk. I only want White Madeira #1 and Black Madeira to root.
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Dessication is probably your biggest concern without wrapping up a few. Looks like a great start though! Keep us posted on how it works out 
Last year I did the same way for a Desert King, natural tip, no wrapping, the fig is a big tree now at my brother’s house. So I’m taking a risk this time I know.
I also did dip into rooting hormone, I know I’ve read it can cause rotting, but we will see.
I see something on White Madeira #1, Black Madeira, and Noir de Barbentane, these figs are inside.
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Update, I moved all of my plastic containers outside after killing one red spider in one trunk. I really don’t know how it get in there in the first place. So now I only have 3 fig pops inside.
Some buds are swelling, more than a few days ago, maybe that’s sign of life in there. The grafting of I-258 and Violetta seems to be selling as well, either that it’s my imagination. But checking on my fig babies everyday for progress is fun.
What’s better way to spend my winter here, lol.
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