im new to fig rooting, i took a few cuttings about 2 weeks ago, one was 5 inches and the other ones were 4 inches, the 5 incher one already has big roots, and its about 3 inches deep.

rafed, I missed this post earlier. The cuttings I've used are mostly 5 to 6 inches. As you know I using sphagnum moss this fall in my baggies and cups. I am burying the rooted ones all but 1 or 2 buds. I really can't compare to last year because last year I move them from baggie to cup filled with fungus gnat infested MG potting mix. I lost a lot of cutting to them. Looking good so far this year.
"gene"

I tried the baggy method twice and had mold issues twice. I'm sure I must have done something wrong but those were my results. Last year I put 6-8" cuttings into pots of sphagnum moss with only one node showing. I had nearly 100% root but my health was bad and I lost a bunch of them when I could not care for them.

This year I plan on rooting cuttings two ways. The larger more mature cuttings will be done the same way I did last year. The younger green cuttings I plan on putting in water and moving to sphagnum moss after I see root initials starting. I picked up 108 2.5" X 10" tree pots that are used for bench grafts to stick the cuttings in.

I like sphagnum moss because mold hates it.

I plan on leaving more nodes out of the soil this year. I find that when there is only one node above the soil the new leaves are more susceptible to disease. This is because the new leaves are so close to the soil its almost impossible to water without getting them wet. I realize having several nodes above the soil can pose a problem with dessication of the scion. To combat this I plan on spraying the portion of the scion thats above the soil with a mixture of Dormant Oil and Neem Oil. The dormant Oil will help with dessication and the Neem Oil should help with possible mold issues.

Rafed,

I am at about a 50% success rate with rooting cuttings, so I'm not an expert in this area. But what I have observed is this: I can generally tell whether or not a cutting will root for me by how well it puts out initials in the baggie. I wrap cuttings in paper towels, mist them, and put them in 1 gallon freezer bags. The cuttings that push out initials fast and strong in the baggie pretty much all successfully root for me once I transfer them to cups with a mixture of perlite and potting soil. The ones that don't push out initials well in the baggie don't root well or thrive long term. I'm not sure what determines whether or not cuttings will put out good initials in the baggie. I've used this same method with cuttings of Hardy Chicago, Barnisotte, Violette de Bordeaux, Black Madeira, and Jersey (my unknown). I had good success with Barnisotte and Jersey, mixed results with Hardy Chicago and VDB, and no success with Black Madeira.

Joe

what to do,snow weighted down my tarp on my fig tree broke two branches at y"s.the branches are about 6 ft.each. tree is about 9ft tall.

You need to have plant stakes of some kind to hold up the tarp so it won't break the tree branches. Maybe you could get some tall bamboo poles to stick into the ground to relieve the weight on the tree itself.

noss

Jws631, you could snip some of those branch-tips and root them, now that they're broken off.

Josh

I really have no luck for my Cuttings to root. I had 6 of them one worked I hope and one may work teh rest died. I started to wonder about teh Fig trees I buy from nurseries. How they produce it from cutting or from seeds. Just curious.

I am lazy, I cut a branch, strip off all the leaves dip in root tone (not needed but I like) cut the top out of an old gallon plastic milk jug and fill with water, then stick in the shade and insert the branch. Some were 3 foot long to start. I expect to plant as soon as our weather gets warmer around February.

I use cuttings from 4 -6 or so inches long. I make an attempt in the spring much the same as everyone else, but I always save 2 cuttings (If I can) per variety and just push them into buried pots in the garden in July/August.

My spring rooting averages about 50%, with one in 4 of these dieing before I get it potted up to the second move. My summer rooting averages about 90% with losses only due to my own stupidity (I left a potted Beall with 4 growing cuttings out in a pot until just today when I noticed it beside clematis pots I have to plant in the spring...

~Chills

I find that the summer rooting also works well for pomegranates and I rooted jujube the same way this past summer....