I uncovered those 10 shoots that I stuck in my garden bed last Dec and covered with mulch… this week. Our 10 day is still showing no close to freezing temps… so figured I could uncover all 10 of those and let them start getting some sun.
7 of the 10 have green buds.
4x9 pots uses too much rooting media. It also holds a lot moisture than what I need.
So I’ve changed to 3x8 tree pots. Only the 4x9 pot for thick cuttings.
This is how i root fig cuttings in water :).
Cuttings all look good. This is 2 local unknowns (one Adriatic type and one dark fig) that I started about a month ago. Different varieties seem faster to put out top growth than others. All seem alive, but most of the dark fig cuttins are just starting to push buds whereas the Adriatic type has pretty sizeable top growth. It may have also been these were taken late in the season so they may not have been as dormant. The one in the front in DE was given to me as an already started cutting by another member here.
A couple pomegranate cuttings I put in for kicks seem pretty good as well. I can’t really tell about roots, but given there is nothing covering them and they are in my heated home with not a lot of humidity I’m optimistic.
I never thought to try this!
I think I’m gonna take a few cuttings that haven’t grown at all yet and try putting them in water. They’re starting to look dry in their pots, so maybe this will help? My thought is that at least they won’t dry out this way?
A little update on mine in DE. Pretty much ready to put in soil now. I’m going to try in a day or two to get this done.
I think youre going to make me try the DE rooting. What temperature do you keep them at for rooting?
Room temp is 70F. Lights can warm it 5 more degrees. I put them under lights from the start. No heating pad. Exposed bark is wrapped in buddy tape.
Many methods work. I use soil sometimes too. I tend to overwater so this helps as it’s impossible to overwater. They were watered just before I took the photos.
A little update, My figs are ready to be up potted. Interesting how DE rooted figs have a lot of fine roots.
Nice @Drew51 …
My CH. Fig cuttings are making good progress now and Gerardi mulberries looking good too. Budding and fruiting immediately.
That’s the way Gerardi grows, lol. Even when I got my tree that was only about a foot tall it insisted on fruiting all over. I had heard they are one of the harder mulbs to root, so hopefully yours make it. Look good so far.
@zendog … I was expecting that type of quick fruit set… I bought a gerardi from burnt ridge in 2019… and on April 8th it looked like this…
April 15 we got like 26 27 degrees… killed all that new growth and it did not come back. I left it in the ground for months… and nothing grew above the graft.
Hoping to have better luck with these new ones. I have 3 rooting and budding now and they all look good so far.
Winter protection … all but lowest level removed… from my CH Fig.
Looks like surrounding with hay bales and filling the center cavity with dry pine bark mulch worked well.
I did have a tarp on top and a couple hay bales on top of that.
As I was taking the upper layer of hay bales off… noticed evidence of mice… bedding and hickory nuts… but see no signs of damage to my fig stumps.
I did have the bottom foot or so wrapped with layers of chicken wire. Looks like success.
A nice sunny first day uncovered too.
@Drew51 on your Fig cuttings with all the extra fine roots… that is interesting to me… and reminds me of something I have seen in Ginseng Roots.
First I looked up DE to see what it was, what kind of mineral content it had, etc…
I found this…
Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms called diatoms. Their skeletons are made of a natural substance called silica. Over a long period of time, diatoms accumulated in the sediment of rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans.
Diatomaceous earth is a mineral-based pesticide and its composition is approximately 3 percent magnesium, 5 percent sodium, 2 percent iron, 19 percent calcium and 33 percent silicon, along with several other trace minerals.
Hmmm lots of minerals.
This is pic of a nice Ginseng Root growing in limestone rock chip filled soil. Ginseng requires high levels of Ca and other minerals in the soil to really thrive. This root was in ideal soil very high mineral content and had lots of extra fine roots.
TNHunter
Add later…
Friday evening fig and mulberry update.
4/1/2022
2 more figs have popped thru the parafilm.
The last one has some bud swell happening… perhaps next week.
Is that growing medium Diatomaceous earth?
I lifted one of my fig cutting up this morn (4x9 tree pot) and there were roots growing out the holes in the bottom of the pots…
I use it to root only, I do add it to my custom potting mix. About 10 to 15% of media is DE aka Optisorb, as it has the largest particles. You can use up to 30% DE in media.
All are up potted now. I’m starting some more in about a week.
Notice on this one how the new growth is thicker than the cutting diameter.
I believe the silicon in DE really builds strong cell walls, also number of nodes is increased and distance between nodes is reduced.
If I can find some I’ll give it a try.
Grainger has the best price on Optisorb. O’Reilly’s sells it too, but it’s about 50% more.
