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timmy2green

roots in cups browning leaves shriveling

timmy2green
12 years ago

Hello everyone, I could use some expert advice. I'm quite frustrated because i have cuttings that with roots along the sides of cups in clear tupperware bins and the roots are suddenly turning brown along the outside of the cup and the leaves are wilting. In some cases the leaves showed some brown almost mushy looking texture on the outside or the leaf and dropped but that may be a separate issue. What am I doing wrong. Was I supposed to move to soil as soon as the roots had some side branching? What am i doing wrong? I've had this same problem two years ago and again this year, both times at this stage. Its like it has healthy white roots and all of a sudden they all turn brown. Also I could use some clarification on the timing and order of when to move to a pot with soil and also when it should be removed from the tupperware to lower humidity environment? Which comes first also?

Thanks

Comments (2)

  • tmc2009
    12 years ago

    Hi, I know it can be frustrating, but I guess thats part of the challenge of growing figs. This is my 3rd year growing from cuttings so I'm not an expert. The first year I used the baggie method and then transfered to vermiculite and perlite mix. I had them in rubbermaid storage containers and were doing fine then almost overnight I noticed the green stems were black and rotting. Its important to have some fresh air flow everyday. 100 percent humidity all the time is not good. When roots are substantial up the sides of the cup I would transfer to soil mix with perlite. I like to use garden soil and not potting mix. Last year I had thick Atreano cuttings that grew roots very fast and were vigorous growers. When I transfered to soil they surprised me by wilting and dieing. I put them in small pots with the saucer attached on the bottom. I think I just over watered. I put lots of bark on the bottom of my pots now. A fig variety can be a vigorous grower in one region and not in another where it needs to be babied. It just goes with growing figs. Experiment, If you have multiple cuttings of one variety try different formulations of mix. Some people say a heat mat will rot your cuttings. Someone here recently showed great success with a heat mat. I'm having my failures this year too. Transfering is very stressfull to the young cutting. You really disturb the roots in the process. Someone here had an ingenious idea with an inner ring of perlite around the cutting and an outer ring of soil mix so the cutting almost transitions to soil on its own. I'm going to try that next year. So don't give up. I't very rewarding when it all goes right. In Massacusetts I've found that Negronne fig is a strong grower here and is a really good fig too. I put up three videos on YouTube this year to show how I do it. I would also go to Figs4fun website forum if you don't know about it yet. Hope this helps.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Growing figs from cuttings Part 1 video

  • budbackeast
    12 years ago

    I take cuttings and place them in a jar of water immediately, with half of the length in the water. I set them in the kitchen window for 3 weeks, adjusting the water as needed. The leaves usually fall off. When the white bumps appear below the water line in reasonable quantity, I pot the cuttings in commercial soil. I leave them in the shade and overwater them for a month. Just when you want to give up, leaves start to show, and off the fig tree goes. Seldom lose any.

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