I'll share the methods of my experience. I have good results but understand- there is more than one way to skin a cat (or root a fig).

Responses to your questions above:
Antibac soap scrub then bleach scrub. Then rinse. Wrapped in (damp- not wet) newspaper and placed in bag (no need to air dry).

Always start in a bag first.

I do blow in my bags while rooting. Usually every other day.

They do not get unwrapped (unless I peek for roots). Aired out when I blow in them.

I wrap in black and white newspaper- not paper towel. Wet it the squeeze it out in your hand. If it gets too dry, you can always mist it lightly and place it back in the bag. Damp not wet.

My cups all go in a rubbermaid container with a cookie rack on the bottom. Open it daily but how long will depend on the humidity. When I forget and leave it open too long, I sometimes need to mist the inside walls of the container to get the humidity up again. Avoid spraying the top of the plants.

See above.

I treat mold with a 10% solution of peroxide and water. If it's light mild, sometimes just a quick rinse. Rewrap with fresh newspaper.

You should be ok for 4 days. Treat as above, give them a puff of fresh air before you leave, then address any mold issues as above when you get home.

Most importantly, have fun!

Dan,
Would you mind commenting on my questions above?
Thanks in advance,
Timmy

Timmy,

When cleaning the cuttings, do you leave the bleach on it and let them air dry or after bleach scrub should they be rinsed, then air dry?
��.After bleach, let them air dry and do not rinse. This will leave a bit of bleach residue on your cuttings which is good.

Do you get better results using baggie first?
���.You can definitely omit the baggie step and go directly to cups. However, I prefer to use baggies first. This gives me an opportunity to optimize my rooting. I can see what attention, if any, that the cutting needs. Able to remove unnecessary buds or force a viable bud to open. Can gauge if cutting it too wet or too dry. Can remove "barking" (white flaky stuff that is often confused with mold and/or root initials) from the cutting. Can fight mold if it surfaces. By placing the cutting in a rooting cup AFTER you see a small root, you will decrease the time it will stay in the cup. Usually this will allow the cutting to completely root (i.e. form feeder roots) without you having to add water to the cups or just a small amount.
���.Make sure to keep your baggies in a large closed container. This helps keep the temperature stable. Temperature stabilization helps prevent uncontrolled moisture that will occur when the temperature inside of the bag changes and will occur when the atmospheric pressure changes. Place your container in an area that has a relatively stable "room temperature". This silly little detail makes a big difference in rooting success rate.

.....by all means use Fertilome Ultimate Potting Mix if you can find it. Mixing it 50/50 with coarse perlite produces a SUPERIOR rooting mixture. UPM is specially designed for rooting.

Do you blow air in the bag?
��� DO NOT blow air into the baggie. This introduces carbon dioxide which is harmful to the rooting process. Just grab both sides of the baggie and open and close them together several times and this replaces the air that is within the baggie.

When you air them out daily, do you unwrap them individually and let them sit out a while before re-bagging every day?
���..I usually wrap several cuttings into one paper towel. Use a "cloth type" paper towel such as Viva. I lay one cutting down on a damp paper towel, roll it until it is covered and place another cutting into the towel and roll it until it is covered and continue until you get to the end of the damp paper towel. Usually can get several cuttings in one paper towel. If you see any liquid drops on your cuttings, dab them off with the towel.

���.Re-wrap the cuttings in the same paper towel immediately after inspection. Upon inspection if your cuttings appears to be "dry" rather than have that dull damp look to them, re-dampen your paper towel. If your towel is too dry, it will significantly delay rooting....or the cuttings will not root. The towel MUST BE barely damp. Change the paper towel as needed. It only take a few seconds to un-wrap, inspect, and re-wrap.

Do you wrap them in paper towel or just put it in the bag?
��..cuttings are wrapped in damp paper towels and then placed into the bag. The closed bags are then placed in a "closed" bin for temperature stabilization.

Do you vent the clear container once they're in cups, if so, how long, how much, how often?
���.Open your clear container and wave the lid several times over the top. This is sufficient for an air exchange. Make sure you have drilled several air holes in your cups. Place your cups on a raised grid so that the cups can "breathe" properly.....this is important.

Do you keep the clear container with cups completely dry on walls and in bottom?
���I usually keep wall and bottom dry. However, this is no problem with a little water or condensation on the bottom or side. The moisture in the rooting mix should provide enough humidity in the air within the bin. If you do not open this bin daily....be sure to keep a crack on the top corner of the bin by placing the cover at a slight diagonal. A tiny crack (vent) will keep moisture from condensing on your cuttings. Condensation on a cutting can be harmful.

How do you treat mold when it crops up in baggies, etc?
��..If you clean you cuttings properly and follow the method, mold should not be an issue. Do not confuse "barking" with actual mold. They are not the same. Barking shows up as white puffy stuff that is easily removed with a toothbrush. When you remove this white powdery stuff....your cutting will look like it just created some rough "bark" on the its once smooth surface.

Any ideas on how I can leave my cuttings in baggies for 4 days without them succumbing to mold because I'm going away?
����..Start your cuttings at least several days before you leave. Inspect them daily before you leave.....if you have time. Exchange the air in the baggies just before you leave and be sure to put the baggies in a closed container at a stable room temperature. They should be OK unless you did not clean them properly or the quality of your cuttings was not up to par.

Hope this helps....and by all means have fun!!

Dan

Wow thanks for the replies tbucketer and a very big thank you to Dan the Man for a very thorough and likely time consuming response that will have immense value to me and hopefully many more fig fanatics! I can't express how much your contributions have meant to me. I've read through many of your longer threads multiple times to make sure I get as many details as possible. Again, a very big thank you from a very greatful enthusiast!
Timmy

You are quite welcome.

The method sounds like it is time consuming and complicated; but, it really is not. I am assuming you have already read from my past posts in other threads that you should NEVER EVER apply heat of any sort to your cuttings. It simply is not needed when rooting indoors at room temperatures and it can cause mold to occur on your cuttings if you apply any heat to them.

Dan

Hi Dan or anyone,

I am new with fig. I just got 7 cuttings and try the baggie method. It only 5 days but the leaf start to push out but no root yet. It that ok or should I rub off the leaf? Please give me some pointer.

Thanks

Tony

Tony,

If bud "tips" are opening just a bit, wrap your cuttings in barely damp paper towel leaving the tips (or opening buds) "outside" of the paper towel. If multiple buds are opening up on your cuttings, remove all of those that will be "below the soil line" in your rooting cups. If you see any condensation at all form (liquid water drops) on an opened bud, remove it by touching the paper towel to the bud. The towel will wick that moisture drop away. Condensation on a bud can cause it to die and then mold....so remove it whenever you see it on a bud. That applies to when your cuttings are in rooting cups too.

If a bud is opening wide into a leaf, move it to your rooting cups. You don't want to keep cuttings with large leaves in your baggie. They should root just fine in the cups.

All of your cuttings should have been cut about 1/4 inch below the bottom node. Sometimes when too much wood is left below the bottom node, it delays root formation.

Dan

Dan,

Thanks for the infos, I have another question, what is the chance of that branct will root in a glass vase with water.

Tony

Tony,

It should root in water. However, the roots that will form will be "water roots" which will have to functionally re-adapt themselves to form soil feeder roots when you later plant your cutting.

IMO, you would have a better chance of success using rooting cups or peat pots with a perlite/UPM mix. If you do not have any UPM......use a good potting soil and mix it 60/40 (coarse perlite to potting mix). This rooting mix will encourage stronger feeder roots to form that will not have to change job function too much when you up pot your new plant.

If the leaves get too big before the roots form, the leaves will fall off and the cutting will lose energy reserves in the process. If you decide to root in water, move your cutting to rooting cups AS SOON as you see a tiny root emerge.

If you go back and read what I had written in several of my last year's posts, you will find that I recommend using "three inch round peat pots inside of 16 once plastic cups". That is one of my secrets that I revealed last year in an old tread. I've not seen anyone pick up on it.....maybe it was because one forum member kept arguing with me and me with him. That turned a lot of people off. But rest assured I know what I am talking about. That is "THE TECHNIQUE" to use if you have only one cutting and want to assure success. Most cuttings will root just fine without the use of peat pots.

I am now choosing to surface that "peat pot in a plastic cup" technique once again. FYI...I attain nearly 100% rooting success for many reasons that are outlined in the Improved Baggie Method. You will not lose ANY cuttings to transplant shock if you follow this very simple technique..... "Peat pots" inside of plastic cups work EXTREMELY well. It eliminates all transplant shock. Something that you will learn more out about as you become more experienced in rooting fig cuttings.

100% success is attainable in "indoor rooting" if one pays just a little bit of attention to details. If you have lots of cuttings to work with....100% success is not needed.

......I hope that I am helping rather than confusing you.

Dan

Dan,

I just want to make I am doing it right, the peat pots three inch round, is that the peat pellet or a degrable peat cup that fit in a 16 oz plastic cup.

Tony

This is becoming a very informative discussion. I'm curious what the purpose of the peat pots is? Is it intended to hold the mix together when it comes time to pot up? Should the soil line go beyond the top of the peat pot?

On a separate note, I thought I'd mention that I've found that thinner cuttings with many leaf nodes seem to be more prone to molding than ones with just 3 or 4 nodes. Dan have you found the same?

Thanks,
Timmy

Tony,

The peat pots are not the pellet types. I use the ones that are already shaped like a cup. These will fit inside of the 16 oz plastic cups. Once you put your peat pot into the plastic cup, you will see a space between the two cup bottoms.....a void so to speak. So before you put your peat pot in.....you will need to put a bit of potting mix inside of the plastic cup FIRST so there will be no space when you put the peat pot on top. Soak your peat pot in water first.....before you put is inside of the plastic cup.

Timmy;

After you become more experienced rooter, this neat technique will become quite obvious to you. Reason #1, you will find that using this technique PREVENTS you from losing your rooted cutting to TRANSPLANT SHOCK when you up pot your rooted cutting to gallon containers. Many people lose cuttings during the up potting step. Reason #2, the peat pot will dry and get lighter in color when you need to add a bit of water to your rooting mix. It will tell when when moisture is needed. Over watering is murder on rooting fig cuttings.

I am sharing this simple little technique with others so that you can attain nearly 100% rooting success like I normally do. Don't under estimate the effectiveness of this very simple tip. Fill the peat pots all the way to the top with "already moist" potting mix.

I have done quite a bit of research work on the prevention of mold. From my experience most mold issues are due to the quality of the cuttings. Often, bud tips are damaged from cold weather and/or how they were stored prior to rooting them. The best cuttings for rooting will be at least the diameter of a pencil and larger.

Dan

I am adding a copy of this post in this thread FYI only. I believe it belongs in this thread too.

This post was in response to a forum member who had not seen any roots forming on his cuttings. He had been trying to root them for 2 months in potting soil without seeing any roots.
----------------------------------------------------

You should have seen roots after 2 months in potting soil. It is likely that your rooting mixture was too heavy and your cuttings were just not getting enough air. Mixing it with coarse perlite will help.....also drilling "air holes" on the side and bottom of the rooting container would help. If your mix is not "airy" enough, roots will be slow in appearing. Air must be able to move through your rooting mixture. If the container cannot breathe, you WILL experience rooting problems.
Other suggestions or tips:

> You need to know that potting SOIL and potting MIX is not the same thing. Cut potting "soils" 70/30 with coarse perlite. Cut potting "mixes" 60/40 with coarse perlite. Cut Fertilome Ultimate Potting Mix (UPM) 50/50 with coarse perlite. FYI.....UPM is specifically designed for rooting cuttings. It is a SUPERIOR material for rooting cuttings and by all means use it if you can find it. It is based upon a proprietary formula which enhances the rooting of cuttings.

> Make sure that your rooting mix is always BARELY damp. Cuttings will be slow in rooting or will not root if mixture is too dry. Too wet is bad and can cause rot/mold to occur. But too dry is not good either......strive for barely damp.

> Likewise, make sure that your damp paper towels remains always barely DAMP. Cuttings will be slow in rooting or will not root at all if the paper towel is not damp enough. Again, strive for barely damp and not bone dry or soggy wet.

> Make sure that you do not leave too much wood below the bottom node of your cutting. Fig cuttings should be cut about 1/2 inch below the bottom node. Sometimes if too much wood is left below the bottom node......it will be slower to root.

> Your cuttings should root just fine at normal room temperatures....no heat is needed. Adding heat to cuttings that are rooting "indoors" can cause them to mold.

Dan

Here my funny experience I had 20 cuttings and I selected the big healthy ones I think 10 of them I am going to call them the spoiled one. I cleaned rapped in wet paper towels and put them in ziploc bags. I put the ziploc bags on my cable box which is a little warm to the touch. I open the bags every other day to air them and see if I got any roots. Yes I got some roots but not as big and healthy as I thought. The remaining cuttings (I will call them the neglected ones)I stuffed them in a black trash bag, sprayed them with water and left them on the heater. I forgot completely that I have them. I was cleaning the garden stuff in my basement getting ready for spring. I noticed the bag and thought probably they are all rotten by now. I opened the bag and what a sweet surprise, all of then rooted with tall thick roots. I felt ashamed for a moment but happy. I transferred all of them in plastic cups with some leftover perlite I had. I ordered twenty 2 gallons pots, ordered perlite, humus and peat moss and I have good top soil to make the mix. After I get them started in 2 gallon pots to healthy shape I will get my three sons in the Figs growing hubby. My woman told me joking why don't you open a nursery business and I said Nah.

danab
would you mind listing your top 3 favorite early, mid-season and late figs?

iammarcus,

Which one of your children do you prefer? I bet you love them all...lol.

Many variables go into deciding what are the best figs.....climate, productivity, rain tolerance, bug resistance, cold tolerance, fig drop, number of crops, ripening dates, taste, sweetness, etc. My taste buds tell me there are a few "broad" groupings based on fig "taste alone":

1) The Celeste types .....Celeste, Improved Celeste, O'Rourke, Southern Brown Turkey, English Brown Turkey

2) The Mission types.......Black Mission, Violette De Bordeaux, Native Black, LSU Scott's Black

3) The Honey types......LSU Golden Celeste, Italian Honey, LSU Gold, Jack Lily, White Triana, Atreano, Florentine

4) The Black types.......Hardy Chicago, Sals, Sicilian Black, LSU Purple, Black Triana, Black Italian, Marseilles VS, Dark Portuguese, Gino's

5) The Adriatic types.......Smith, Dalmatie, Battaglia Green, Adriatic, Green Greek, Strawberry, Monstreuse, JH Adriatic
----------------------------------------------
IMO Everyone should have one from each taste grouping.

Violette De Bordeaux is a must have fig as it tastes so good and does well in most Climates

--------------------------------------------------------

Here are three ALL SEASON or "everbearing" figs that I highly recommend.....LSU Purple, LSU Improved Celeste, and Joe Morle's White Triana.

Here is what I wrote about LSU Purple and Improved Celeste two seasons ago:

LSU Purple is an early season, mid season, and late season fig.....the same with LSU Improved Celeste. The problem with LSU Purple is that it takes a few years before it produces excellent tasting fruit.....yes I said EXCELLENT. LSU Improved Celeste will produce superior tasting fruit during dry periods. Fully ripe figs are to die for.......very sweet and rich tasting with a strong fig flavor. It will produce figs from mid June until frost....usually in November in my yard. Its late season (October/November) figs still are still sweet and figgy tasting but not as rich as earlier in the season. I ate a few at Thanksgiving dinner last year. It is "the best" fig for making fig preserves. Its problem is that it will split and sour during very heavy rains as many figs do....though it can handle light rains with no problem. Unfortunately, there are at least three (possibly four) strains of Improved Celeste that are going around in South Louisiana where they were bred.....and they are not the same cultivars.

For more information, you can read about White Triana and many of the other figs that I grow and study in the link below. The dates on my posts will give you an idea if a particular cultivar is early or late ripening. Keep in mind that Celeste figs ripen July 1st in my yard. Find out when Celeste ripens in your yard and you can estimate when those other cultivars will ripen in your yard.

FYI, I will start a similar thread for the 2011 fig growing season where I will again report on the fruiting characteristics of the figs that I grow. My goal is to find "the best" figs for my long, hot, humid, rainy climate. It just takes more growing experience to arrive at those answers.

Dan

Here is a link that might be useful: Dan's figs-----2010 Season

danab
Thanks for the information, after reading Dan's figs--2010 I ordered LSU Gold and LSU Purple. I currently am nursing an Italian Honey fig. I am saving your list for future ordering and looking forward to Dan's figs--2011.
Dan