I did a couple of them. Will see…
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Never lose hope , figs seem to be very resilient
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I read many suggestions to, at some point, put the rooted fig cutting into potting mix for longer-term growth, but it seems that ‘potting mix’ generally means 'soilless." The plants are going to need some nutrition so I assumed that 1/2 and 1/2 (or ??) mix of potting mix and real dirt would be required but I don’t see that talked about. My cuttings are approaching one month in the mix (peat/perlite); I gotta fig, figure this out.
Also I have cuttings from several different types of figs, and one type seems to not be responding to the rooting conditions…zero activity. Their (all the cuttings) average daytime temp is only around 70°F…I don’t have a heating mat…maybe that’s the problem, eh? Only one kind isn’t leafing.
Another thing: I noticed that the ends of branches sprout leaves quickly and the cuttings that are not the very end of the branch take a lot longer to push leaves. Maybe it’s best to not use the ends so more nutrition/effort is put into rooting than leafing at this critical point (being cut off and stuck into potting mix). These / were started Feb 20.
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My advice is to never put “dirt” in a pot. It holds too much water. Stick to potting mixes in a pot. Don’t worry about nutrition, just use a complete fertilizer like Osmocote Plus.
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That is amazing. It sounds to me like, don’t eat food just take vitamins…or planting a garden in gravel and only using fertilizer. I suppose hydroponics is like that. I have never learned about fertilizers; I guess I should.
Since we can not see how much roots I would leave them a little more in the mix you have. If you are sure they
have some roots then put in a very light airy mix no dirt. Like pine bark perlite and potting mix one part each. You did the hard working making them some roots so stay patience. If you have to put a fertilizer just use Miracle grow general plant food at one third of a strength. Most of the cuttings killed by over water so when you water just a bit .Please make sure these gets some light too.
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Some potting mixes have nutrients in them besides fertilizer. Like there is one that I buy has sea shells and other sea related nutrients added in. Cuttings in that stage you have them can not take in much nutrients anyway. Some people use 1 part perlite to one part soil. I used to yet I rooted them and left them in it for months undisturbed. I also used greenwood and softwood cuttings with it, not dormant cuttings so I could not say with confidence that it would be good for you to do. You can technically put a very thin layer of compost or composted cow manure at the very top and that would be way more nutrients than the cuttings could take in.
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Scott, Naeem, Alan…very interesting new info to me. Many/most of my cuttings will end up planted in ‘dirt’ of some type…maybe with additions, maybe not, in permanent locations, because they will be given to friends. I may create some containerized units for myself and a couple friends but for a variety of reasons I don’t have a situation that would accommodate their yearly needs.
Anyway, the first transition out of the rooting bin will be into 1-3 gal. containers, which I can prepare with this new knowledge. After that, their final locations will be varied.
I have one plant that I dug up after a rough outdoors Winter, its first one with me, and it is in a pot of garden dirt. Both times it has awoken after dormancy it grows a lot for a short time and then stays quite small with very little growth after that. I suspect it has hydration problems (too much and sometimes too little) and breathing problems (most of the time) because of the soil condition. Thanks, all of you.
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You can put these in the ground as I did last year but first let them develop good root system. What I did let these grow in 3 or 5 gallons pot for about six month and then put in ground. The reason I am against soil at this time soil is too compact and will not let develop roots.
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Here are some fig cuttings using the Baggie method I did last night. I bleach them well to prevent molds. Most of the time the moldy ones were bad cuttings from freeze damage. I try to root only the good greenish color fig cuttings.
Tony
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OK here is Updated Pictures on 03-18-2018.
I did lose some of the tiny cuttings but most are growing good. Please ask any question you may have or want to upload your figs growing pictures
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Very nice results Naeem. I just came upon this thread and it is nice to see your progress.
I used to root my cuttings via the baggie method until a thoughtful member introduced me to using perlite. My cuttings rooted better in perlite compared to coir. It is also easier to separate the cuttings in the perlite compared to coir and moss. Thank you for sharing.
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Yes I agree with you it is easy to root in perlite.
Here is one of my bins with cuttings, as of March 19. They haven’t grown much in a week. A couple leaves fell off and it looks like they had dried up a bit. I had re-watered them a few days ago and then left the bin cover off for a couple days. I don’t know if I over-watered them or let them get too dry. They have been in the mix for one month, so today I will pull one out to look at the roots. That might help me to determine if the roots are dry or starting to rot, too wet. This is a great post, Naeem.
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Yes this will help to determine how much roots these have. Good Luck
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Dang, I’ll never try to root them in bins again. When I ordered my individual cups (24 oz. clear) I found it would be a month before I would get them…problee should have waited. What a hassle to get them out with the roots intact…plus, I couldn’t see the roots; and they were all different; some should have been left alone for a while. Eventually, I filled the bin with water and floated them free from the mix.
One strange result was that on two of them (same NoID cultivar) there were no roots at all but there were two ‘arms’ with little leaves on them, growing up toward the light. One is shown; it has another below it; they had both been below ground. On the other plant both branches (?) are below ground but just barely.
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Ok you did what you have to. Please watch out for over watering it is the main cause of cuttings death.
So did you find any roots after washing these at all? I know you mention two with arm but no roots how about others.
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Oh yes, thanks for asking. A few had very healthy roots, and many had some roots, enough, I think, to be moved. A few had just a little root showing, and the ‘armed’ ones and one or two others had none. My main goal is to get 3-4 good trees going. Since I have ~30 cuttings I should be able to do that, and have a few extras for myself and some for friends, even with mistakes that I will make. Since the number with very healthy roots was small I think I’ll wait another week or so to transplant from the second bin. It’s a learning experience, ha ha.
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The watering issue has been tricky. I’ve had a few leaves drop off some cuttings from (I guess) getting too dry. I’m trying to find a balance. I’ll probably only have to keep the ones in the second bin going for another week. The transplanting so far has been a wet, sloppy experience. I should know in a week whether group one is OK. Thanks for your good advice!
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You are doing good so far and no body can say they 100% rooted and grown figs. You will have some failures so does as everybody including me.
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