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Taking and starting cuttings
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Posted by oxankle 6/7 (oxankle@windstream.net) on Thu, Nov 5, 09 at 7:57
| As a beginner, I need some advice on taking and starting.
My trees have lost almost all their leaves and will be bare when the next good frost hits them. With grapes it is best to take cuttings as soon as leaves drop; When is the best time to take dormant cuttings from figs?
Is the timing different for potted figs from the timing for in-ground trees?
If I take cuttings soon after dormancy, how soon can I start the cuttings? (I have in mind that I will start the cuttings this year the moment that the equinox passes.)
Ox |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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| Just because the leaves drop does not mean the trees are dormant (yet). Are they in the ground or in pots? |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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| I personally like the cuttings taken in late winter or early spring. I find such cuttings are so primed & ready to take off and I keep them in fridge for 2 to 3 weeks. However that said, I do take cuttings in mid Dec & leave in the fridge till late Feb. or early March. Most of my trees are in pots. |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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| Cuttings taken anytime after leaf drop generally do very well. I like to start my cuttings in early to mid January in my zone 9 so that there is no pause in the rooting process from cutting to newly potted tree in full sunlight. Timing the start date to take advantage of early spring temperatures works best for me. Dan |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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| I take cutting any time after the wood has matured and new growth has ceased. In my area this is usually mid October on and occurs a week to 6 before leaf fall. I have received cuttings of mature wood from local growers in full leaf and have left them in a cool spot till the leaves fell and had good success rooting them. Leafless wood is easier to handle because latex doesn't bleed all over your hands while cutting. Potted figs cease new growth before those in ground and drop their leaves up to a month earlier for me. Cuttings may be started immediately in heat but starting them too early results in plants that must be kept inside for 4 months or so and present problems providing enough light for good growth. Early starting has no advantages unless perhaps you have a warm greenhouse and good Winter sunshine. I like to start mine mid to late Feb so they are well rooted by early May the soonest I can set them out here. Cuttings can be stored polybagged in the fridge or bundled and tied by variety and buried 6" or so deep horizontally, the tips slightly deeper than the base, in a well drained location in the garden. |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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I agee with paully22 based on an accidental observation that spring cuttings root faster when taken as the plant is waking up from dormancy and the buds show some life and size change.
I was bringing out and up the staires my plants from cold storage room and dropped a 5-gallon pot which broke some 8~10" pieces from two branches. I potted them right away and within 4 weeks I had a fast growing plant with roots. I have not repeated the experiment because I don't have space for too many duplicates but wll repeat again if I drop another pot and if it breaks a branch. |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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| EJP3 what do you mean by that the leaves drop off but not dormant yet... can you explain farther please. Big Al |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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| I thought I had posted a reply, but here goes another try: Thanks to all for the advice. I believe that you are all telling me essentially the same thing; it is pointless to try to start cuttings before you have an environment in which to grow them, and they store better on the tree than any other place. OK, so those in the garage can be taken when I want them next spring. The ones outside must be cut and stored before a killing frost. This is so simply because I cannot leave the tree so large that I cannot cover it--we have gotten to minus ten F once since I have lived here. That means that before the end of this month I will take and store cuttings from my outside trees. Thinking ahead, I will start my cuttings in a big Walmart box, a mini-greenhouse indoors in Mid-January; by the middle of March they should be rooted and ready to pot and can go outside on warm days. Mid-April they will be outside for the summer and should make nice trees by fall. Thanks again guys for all the comments. I appreciate the help. Oh; I have located one of those Home Depot three-way Moisture, etc meters too; $7.98 and it is under the counter waiting on me. They only had three in stock.
Ox |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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- Posted by ejp3 7NY (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 6, 09 at 12:57
| Big Al, I am not an expert but there was a post 11/03/08 entitled "can cold hardiness be judged by leaf falling" that leads me to believe that there is still a period of time, I am not sure how long, after leaf drop but before cold enough temps that the tree may not be dormant yet. See Dr T's comment half way through. One of my trees has dropped all its leaves and the rest have over 75% of their leaves, even ones from the same country. Go figure that. |
RE: Taking and starting cuttings
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| Read the linked below - the presentation will help you with the rooting part. I've seen a lot of info on taking cuttings but not rooting them. The link below was insanely helpful for me as I'm getting started. I know where ever fig tree is in my local area, although nobody ever seems to know what variety they are. Leaves are dropping off all figs in our area, and I've started taking cuttings and using the bag method following. Hope this helps you as it has helped me. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Expanded CRFG 2007 Festival of Fruit presentation
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