I was able to find a box of 12 rolls of genuine parafilm to be delivered Saturday, which is perfect because I have a four-day weekend due to vacation time on Monday and Tuesday and I intend to get a whole lot of gardening done and I wasn’t interested in the one roll that arrives on Tuesday for $13.
Besides, we intend to keep pruned off wood from trees, and it will be good to have to wrap them up before putting them in the fridge. That’s what you’re supposed to do right, to store them?
I cannot imagine that the parafilm goes bad or has an expiration date.
Lots of great advice from more experienced folks here.
Here is what I did this year - first time - after scouring these forums and some other sites too - but mainly these forums:
See this thread:
Hydrogen Peroxide soak:
Once it’s dry - Take the cutting and snip a little bit off the bottom if it has dried out - like a few centimeters.
Wrap the entire cutting except the bottom few inches in Buddy tape.
Score the bottom of the cutting - that’s still unwrapped - lengthwise with a sharp knife and also shave off some of the bark carefully.
Plant it in a pot with a good well draining mix - lots of ideas above. I used Top Pot from Laguna Hills Nursery. (See GEM Avocado? - #17 by Tnx from around post 15 to see a quick discussion of what it is).
I kept all my pots outside in the shade. I water the pots every few days if they get dry. But pl remember I am in Z10 in SoCal so it can get warm here though it’s not been as hot as it usually gets by now.
I’ve had close to 100% success so far with a single cutting not germinating out of about 30-40 I started (mostly to give away and as backups).
Edit: and that cutting was looking dried/suspect when I put it in to start with. I just threw it out today and it was completely rotten.
I have heard from other more experienced folks
that there is a “fig cutting sudden death syndrome” that’s possible after a few months of seemingly perfect rooting. So I’m holding my breath and keeping my fingers crossed.
Depends on the person. I’ve received some wrapped perfectly, tagged with the variety and colored to show “which way is up” and pre-treated with hydrogen peroxide . And also received 2 sticks in a plastic bag with no label.
So YMMV. But usually folks are pretty good about it.
I find that watering with ‘Silica Blast’ diluted in water to the ratio of 1 teaspoon per gallon, every other day watering with that mixture that highly reduces ‘sudden death syndrome’, and it highly reduces transplant shock, if that is done for weeks straight.
When did you start the cuttings? I had 3 that around November or October that sat outside all winter with no protection and rooted out around March or so. Also in SoCal and the coldest I got was 38. No special protocol, just into a cup outside lol.
I also did some fig pops indoors. I followed the Notorious FIG’s cleaning protocol and they rooted fine. Some got trunk rot and leaves started drooping but I was able to save them with a hydrogen peroxide drench and bringing them outside.
Last year I tried a very simple method and it worked great.
I filled a pot with moistened promix hp… and put 3 fig cuttings in the pot. I had parafilm on the part above the media.
I started them early April… and kept that pot outside on a bench on the north side of my home. I put another empty pot on top to block sunlight for the first month.
You need roots to develop first… then shoots and leaves later.
For the second month… i moved the pot to my back porch which gets good morning sun… and let sunlight get to those buds.
They pushed growth quickly and all 3 cuttings rooted and survived.
Talk about easy…
When I root fig cuttings from now on… will use this method. Will change to one cutting per pot though.
Thx! Did you have your cuttings indoors or outdoors? I’m wondering if having them outdoors to start with is going to reduce the chance of this “sudden death”. Let’s see!
That is what I’m wondering maybe it’s too shocking to go from indoor to outdoor.
We live in a tent, so I don’t even really have an “indoor”.
We do have two little greenhouses that are cheap quality, and they would let everything freeze in the winter and then cook things in the summer. So my husband took the roof panels off and covered it with shade cloth after flipping them over to secure 1” fencing to the bottom with screws to keep ground squirrels from digging under.
All of this made them a lot more useful.
And I did buy a plastic dome to protect our avocado, it has zipper window panels, but fully shut and gets pretty humid in there and stays warmer. It is under some trees to help snow off of it so it is a bit shaded.
We also have two of the little cold frames from Costco that have the middle panel that opens when it gets too warm. I was trying to use those to start seeds and they are in a sunny location, but are a much better quality than our greenhouses, thicker panels. And I will never get over how cool it is that it opens its own panel when it gets too hot simply using gas that expands. Things like that are super appealing to me because we are off grid.
I’m trying to figure out which location would be better to root fig sticks in.
Should be fine, couple of days back I potted up my cuttings rooted and grown under the lights. Put them directly in 5 and 7 gal containers from 16oz drinking cup. They are outside and not bothered by 80F temps Same with vegetable starts, I put them out facing east for day and then they goto their growing space. Never lost any so far.
yes, to get a feel for it. If it breaks, just leave it and continue with a second piece, where you left off. I use multiple pieces as I still break them from time to time. You really only need a few inches to cover about 8 inches. Often use more if it breaks, no big deal. Buds will grow right through it, no matter how many layers.
Parafilm lets air out but keeps a constant humidity on the surface, this is why it works so well.
Do you think there would be any issues with Saran wrap? Better than nothing? Somebody else mentioned it, but there must be a reason to prefer parafilm since it’s so much more expensive.
I do have that at home. But wondering if it will actually stay solid in 85 degree weather. I have my cuttings in the shade, but it will still be hot - our first heat wave of the year is starting today.
and pre-treated with hydrogen peroxide . And also received 2 sticks in a plastic bag with no label.
