"UpDated" 2018-19 Figs Cuttings Rooting Propagating Experiment in Coco Coir Vs Perlite Vs Sphagnum moss Vs Pro mix HP Vs 3-1-1 Mix

Rooting figs is very easy once you know how to do it. I used coco only first year and results were amazing all most 100% success.

1 Like

Looking very good tony and love the way you set these up.

1 Like

It can take up to 9 months for a cutting to root, yet most likely within 5 or 6 months you’d see something.

They look great! So far you are the only person to give me any positive updates.

1 Like

What is your method for transitioning rooted cuttings to full sun outdoors? I will post pics of my rooted cuttings later. I also need to move them to bigger pots.

1 Like

I keep all my cuttings in cups all winter and soon as night temperature goes over 50F all my newly rooted cuttings comes under a shady tree and stays about two days and after that I will start about an hour morning sun and then after noon sun and in about ten days full sun. If you lose few leaves or have sun burn not a big issue will catch up later. I move from cups to one gallon pots and from one gallon to five gallon pots.

Thanks, Naeem. Time to move them outside! My goal is to plant them in ground. Is it better to wait until next year for that?

1 Like

I planted four cuttings last year July 2017 in ground and these came up ok with some leaves protection. Most people put about one to two year fig in ground. What ever you choose you have to provide some kind of winter protection for first few year no matter which variety is it.

1 Like

As long as your plants do well hardening off outside they should be fine to plant, they should be acclimated to full sunlight and reduced watering for 10 days or more; so that there is not much soft new growth. A little sunburn or occasional wilting is nothing to worry about during that time of adjustment, tough love. And it would be ideal if the roots have filled the container, not really necessary though if you are careful.

We’ve just entered into the ideal planting window for actively growing trees here, it runs until mid July. If you have any Surround that can help with heat stress after planting, I am pretty tough on them though and usually bare root ~3 month old plants and then plant through hot black ground cover, the leaves get a little crispy but they have all done OK.

Just regular water during dry periods until late August and mulch or use ground cover for weeds, add a little compost if you really want them to take off. If you will be bending to the ground to cover for winter plant on an angle to make it easier.

3 Likes

I have three Dominicks rooted and two are pushing a few new leaves now. They seem to be doing well

2 Likes

Here is a little up date on my figs. These pictures were take yesterday 06-01-2018. All are growing great last year plants are forming small figlets and newly rooted cuttings are doing great too. If you look back to earlier post on April 10th and can see the difference in growth.

15 Likes

Beginners question. When do you know Perlite is wet enough? Do you water it, then let it drain. But then when do does it need more water?

2 Likes

The only water perlite holds is on it’s surface. So it doesn’t really get wet. It’s just like gravel of the same size only 1/10 the weight.

1 Like

I wet (rinse) mine and allow it to drip dry. If you are using it a box with cuttings it does actually retain moisture although I’m not sure of the mechanism. You can see condensation in the box and can actually feel moistness when you stick your finger down in it. I just misted mine when I felt like it needed it. It doesn’t take much.

Katy

3 Likes

Okay…I lined mine up like Naeem!!! :joy::joy::joy:

@Naeem Btw that is a nice photo of your figs!!

The front three are Dominick and the back three are Brown Turkey, or whatever my big tree is. When we cut it back I kept 2 pieces that had a few roots. One has been given away and the other sprouted in three places so I separated the conjoined triplets this morning. All three had good roots.

And these “figlets” are on a Dominick.

Katy

6 Likes

Thanks just trying to use the space I have it. Your figs are looking great and I am sure you know this when plant has good rooting system and you have well drained media they can use lot of water with no problem. Also they need some kind of fertilizer, I use Osmocote plus just once a season and done.

1 Like

Groups of non-porous pellets will hold water by ‘capillary action’/surface tension and be wet when there is really very little water ‘in’ (between) them. I think most people include in the mix some kind of substance that actually holds water internally: bark, coir, peat, etc., to stabilize the water content and avoid major floods and droughts within the mix. There are many opinions about this topic.

1 Like

Here is another update on 06-12-2018, whole bunch of little figlets forming. Also did some up potting from 5 gallons to 7 and 10 gallons.


.

20180612_130347

11 Likes

Very impressive collection

1 Like

What variety is the last one Naeem? It looks like it has some sort of mutation that makes figs form early, I’ve seen something like it a couple times but the mutation never persisted, it just went back to normal growth after a while.

1 Like