I worry about them surviving as they just lost a main energy source being cut off the main plant. What I do is put them in a pot for their size, and once they outgrow the pot, that is when I would do the root pruning, or at least try to stop the swirl. It is so tight in those little bottles, much more closely wrapped roots compared to a normal pot. Speaking of up potting I’m about to transfer three figs from rooting in DE. The one on the right upfront is Boysenberry Blush. A new wild find that is common. Jon a member here discovered it and said it is by far his best fig. I’m excited about this one! Another one in there is Santa Claus Lane discovered by Eric E from ourfigs. It appears to be common as it had fruit after the wasp went away and also all seeds floated. It’s a huge fig!
This is what Eric said about Jon’s find (Boysenberry Blush)
"This is truly a remarkable find. Large, soft skin, intense and complex flavor, sweet, pool of honey, no splitting, beautiful… What doesn’t this fig have?!?
This now has the number one spot from all figs trialed this year. I can’t believe it. I have had some seriously top tier high quality figs too."
Back to our subject I have to do a number of air layers this year, as some actually prefer them.
Air layering is a fine way to propagate figs, but do not mail them out until they have at least 3-4 weeks in soil after removal. They seem robust, but best be safe. I have to admit to being a little biased as I have lost three of them that were sent to me because of poor handling. So I really try to avoid them for trades. I would much rather have a rooted cutting. Out of those three losses one guy sent me a couple cuttings free. And I now have the plant, a valuable fig too. The other two I traded healthy figs for mis handled air layers. I’m still not happy about it. I’m not the only one other fig growers won’t accept air layers either. Although I want to be clear it was the grower’s fault, nothing wrong with doing air layers if you care for them properly.