My tree’s are done for the year, repotting will be February plus heavy pruning.
Right now they are still waiting to go in garage, according the 10day forecast, good till 10 December. Still in the high fifties an mid sixties.
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I am putting these cuttings back to hopefully root them this coming late winter early spring… this is all new to me… been watching YouTube vids… hopefully some success.
PS… those are all in the 1 inch to 3/4 inch diameter range.
Question… your fav rooting medium ?
Something simple or a mix of various components ?
Note… so far I cut those including 4 nodes on each… gave them a wash in light bleach solution… sealed the end cuts with some coconut oil.
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I posted my very simple method in the other thread just started about cuttings. Is it Too Early to Root Fig Cuttings? - #8 by zendog
Basically, I wrap the top 1/3 in parafilm to keep them from drying out and put them in pots with the unwrapped part all below soil, keeping it lightly moist. I use ProMix, since I like a mix without any added ferts. If you just want another tree or two, you can also just put them in ziplock in the fridge until late March, then wrap the tops in parafilm and stick them in the ground then. I’ve done that in some open space in raised beds and had almost all take that way as well. There seem to be a lot of very complicated approaches, but for most common figs that hasn’t been necessary in my experience.
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I have those stored in the garage fridge veggie crisper… in a zip lock Gallon freezer bag. I may try starting the rooting process in February…
I have some parafilm and treekote ordered… should be here soon. I have used promix in the past starting my own tomato seedlings.
The best cuttings are the size of pencil to sharpie. The large ones are slow to root.
I never use tape. It is too slow. I just wax both ends for storage. If root right away, just wax the top. The hot wax dry the fresh cutting and seal it.
Figs are very easy to root , just two most important things temperature 75 to 79F + Moist media ( not wet ) .
There are several methods available on youtube.
Here is a post I did while back when I rooted few hundred cuttings that might help some.
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I use just Turface, nothing else. Have a lot of it on hand. Don’t ruin the roots taking them out.
See me now.
8feet.
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@RedSun …
Mike Kincade… does lots of fig vids… youtube… he experiments a lot with cuttings, methods, cutting size, etc.
He says that pencil size cuttings do root well… and may bud and leaf out ok… but they generally do not thrive after that. They do not have the stored energy (in the cutting mass) required to thrive after that. They often wither and die after making it to that point.
He prefers thicker longer cuttings… and said once they do root and bud and leaf… they thrive and make the best fig trees for him.
He has one rooted in this vid from a cutting that has to be 4-6" diameter… but he said he prefers 3/4 inch diameter cuttings… and that the mass in the cutting… is what makes them really thrive once you do get roots and shoots.
I may try a few smaller ones too… just to see what works better for me.
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Mike Kincade? There are so many personalities at Youtube. We all need to practice and do not take others’ advice for granted.
In order for cuttings to grow, we need the right environment to activate the dormant cells and make them active again. For those thick cuttings with old wood, it takes forever for the 4"-6" thick branches to get going again. I lot of us can’t wait for 6 months or 12 months for them to root and start.
Those thin cuttings are actually semi green or semi hardwood cuttings. The rooting method is different from regular fig cutting method. It is not that those thin cuttings do well, but he is not doing the right way. The green cuttings probably root the fastest. But we need to root them differently.
@Redsun – I am definately seeking advice… brand new newbie to this.
Mike Kincade sure seems to be a fig propigation knowledgable person… he has been doing this for many years… and I have seen other youtubers quoting Mike’s advice…
He did successfully root a huge fig cutting and it is flourishing.
He said he prefers thicker cuttings (in the 3/4 inch range) with some length to them…
(More total mass in the cutting) which he said causes them to have more stored energy… which helps them to survive and thrive better… after they root and develop buds leaves shoots.
Again his opinion after observing that smaller thinner cuttings often root well… and may even develop buds leaves shoots well initially… but then often stall… shrivel… die.
Best I remember he said those 3/4 inch thick cuttings will normally develop roots on 3 to 4 weeks… buds leaves shoots… in another 3 or 4 weeks…
I have no idea… so just gathering ideas and opinions now… and starting my own experiments.
I am going to cut 6 more fig cuttings this eve from my stash… 1/2 inchers… diameter wise… and will see which do better for me.
Thanks for all opinions.
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IMO, this forum is probably the most knowledgeable place for growing fruit trees, fig included. Gardenweb was great, but it died. I guess this is why Smith created this forum. I found people here have more knowledge than the so called “fig king” or “fig boss” etc. And people here are very friendly too.
Also, a lot of us never makes any YouTube videos. Sure we help each other here, but not the publicity we desire. I’m sure if Steve (fruitnut) wants to make YouTube video, he can make a ton. More than anyone else.
Over the weekend, I went to a friend’s house and cut his large trees. Some of the base cuttings are very thick, like 2" diameter. I may dig a hole in the garden today and wait over the winter. The ones I keep are mostly about Sharpie thickness. To me, they are the best to keep.
I do not care those YouTube videos showing people how to root a 4" thick 4’ tall fig branch. I do not really care how they do it as long as I root a new tree.
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In this vid… he roots two huge cuttings…
1… 2 ft long 6 inch diameter
2… 19 inch long 2 inch diameter.
They were started on May 5.
Next shown on July 10 (2 months 5 days later) and both had green growth happening.
Next shown Aug 17… lots of green growth… potts filled with roots and coming out the bottom.
Extreme examples for sure…
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Step 1: Prune off all top growth leaving a gigantic stump.
Step 2: dig up stump and put it in a pot. Bam! giant rooted cutting.
I root several thousand a year and haven’t seen the smaller ones die. Smaller than pencil are mostly a waste of time. But anything bigger has worked well for me. If I can get a growing top with 3-4 leaves I lose very few after that no matter how thin the cutting.
I don’t like rooting over 3/4 inch. One inch will work. But it takes a bigger media container that the 3x8 inch I normally root in. So for a few that’s OK but for hundreds it takes a lot of resources to start the big ones.
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Here is another vid that shows the entire process… her method of storing the figs in very wet newspaper does not seem to match up with what others recommend… but she does get good results.
She is doing exactly what I will be doing too…
Collecting the cuttings after fig Is done for the year… storing cuttings until late winter… then rooting, repotting, etc…
@fruitnut … thanks for the details…
Even the tips of my CH Fig tree cuttings are quite large… bigger than a sharpie for sure.
I will save some of those and try them too.
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So… are these better ?
They average half inch some a bit more where cut off.
Should I leave that top bud or cut that off ?
Those are the tips of my chfig shoots.
Thanks
@ TNHunter
Our goal here is to propagate a “new” plant. The easiest and quickest the better. There is absolutely no need for the “extreme” propagation. It is just for the “show”. And to make himself a social media sensation. So people can quote his video and get media exposure…
After folks 2-3 years into growing figs, they will feel fig is too easy to grow. If you stick a cutting in the ground, almost everything grows. Then we started to throw away stuff and those small fig plants become suckers to pull away.
There are so many easy methods to get new fig plants. No need to go the extra distance…
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No I don’t think those are better than the thicker ones above. And they look a little green to store for months. I’d root those right now and store the bigger ones until spring.
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@fruitnut… don’t think I am prepared for rooting figs now… I would probably have buds, leaves mid winter and I think I would rather have that happening in spring where I could put them out on warm sunny days… and perhaps keep them under grow lights when too cool.
Like that person did in the vid (I think that was from China)… They started rooting them in Feb… and up potted them in early spring when they have good shoots and leaves established. I noticed they took two shoots from their fig tree 3-5 ft long, and they made cuttings from all of that even the tips…
They rooted some in pots, some in bags and some in water. Looked like all the ones they tried to root in water died near the end. Most of the ones in bags and pots were successful. And most of the ones that looked really good looked to be from the larger cuttings (but their cuttings were much smaller diameter wise than mine are).
That is more of what I am hoping to accomplish.
I am just not setup for… and not wanting to have to deal with figs that are leafed out mid winter.
So I guess I will just toss those shoot tips… unless one of you folks wants them to start rooting now.
I would be glad to package and mail them to someone that wants them. Just PM me if that is the case.
I will keep some of those larger cuttings, and may take a few more from the middle section of the shoots this evening and prep them for storing until Feb.
Thanks
TNHunter