Mine have been in bags since they arrived, and are just starting to form root initials.

I requested 4 varities. I received only 2. Four very short, about 4 inches, Brown Turkey and only one Celeste which is also short, just 3 inches. So far nothing is showing. No green, no roots in almost a month. Rather disappointing but I haven't given up hope yet.

Peg

"Mine have been in bags since they arrived, and are just starting to form root initials."

As I have a couple of small roots visible on my bagged cuttings I feel much better about the rest now. Not all but most are showing white nodules, and I'm hoping and planning for the best!

I think my Conadria is biting the dust, but I'm hoping for the best. I only received one cutting of that, and over half of the cutting has shrived up. I took it out of the soil medium after the first few days, and placed it in water. There seems to still be viable wood on the lower half, so I'm hoping that I only lost some length instead of the whole thing. We'll see. Now that I think about it, it did seem rather dry when I got it in the mail, so I'm thinking it was something that happened in transit.

Also, I too have no roots to show yet on any of my cuttings. I'm getting ready to move them into a brighter spot that gets a couple hours of direct sun every day. A lot of them are already trying to leaf out due to the warmer weather, so I'm feeling like they're wanting more.

~ Erin

I received 5 out of my 6 ordered- couldn't get the Adriatic.
I received 3 cuttings each of below and they were 12 to 14 inches long. Started them 3 weeks ago yesterday in bags on top of fridge. They all show nice fat green pre-emergent tops. Here in succession of progress are:

Castle Kennedy- lots of initials and numerous small roots
Calimyrna- lots of initials with a few small roots
Capri C- lots of initials with a couple of roots
Excel- lots of initials and no roots
St. Jean- healthy but no signs of initials yet

I will be planting as they develop and will keep my fingers crossed that St. Jean will not take forever!
Fig on!
Christy

Christy,
I think that St. Jean is especially affected by mosaic. All the varieties from UC-DAvis are infected with mosaic of course, but it affects some (e.g. Ischia Black) more than others. Question is whether this affects rooting as well as normal growth -- I would think it could.

Thanks for the heads up Gene. I'll pay extra attention to the St. Jean and will post an update if anything interesting should turn up.
Anyone out there in figgyland start a UCDavis St. Jean?
Thanks-
Christy

Last year, I think I got at least 2/3 St. Jeans from UCD...

And yes, thinking very hard, they (St Jean cuttings) may
have been late bloomers...

I got my cuttings on Feb. 21 and first put them in cut off 1-gallon plastic milk jugs. But then I saw pitangelo's pictures and moved some to ziploc bags on Feb. 26 with damp paper towels wrapped around them.
The first to show roots is the Brown Turkey. I potted it in a mostly perlite mix with a little potting soil. I didn't have vermiculite but I'll get some this weekend.

When they are at this stage -- in the clear plastic -- do you place a plastic wrap over the container to preserve humidity?

I have 12 varieties (I wasn't sure which to select when I ordered them since this is the first time trying figs):
Brown Turkey
California Brown Turkey
White Texas Everbearing
Roeding 2
Roeding 3
Roeding 4
Santa Cruz White
Santa Cruz Light or White
Giant Amber
Capri P
Maslin Edible Variant
If I get any of these established and rooted they will be planted in south Georgia where my parents have a large lot (zone 8b).

I got Brown Turkey (common, but I don't think I have it yet) as well as a couple numbered varieties. ucr 143-36 and ucr 278-128. I had also requested another one, but they were out of it.

I recieved 3 cuttings of each and have them all in vermiculite/perlite mix. Two of the 143-36 have pushed growth and one of the two has a single root that has emerged from the cup.

one of the 278-128 has begun dessicating from the top bud of the cutting. I will be trimming this cutting back in the next day and soaking it in water and then maybe putting it into a bag and trying that way with it...

~Chills

According to Pierre Baud, Grise de St. Jean is one of the most difficult variety to root, along with Noire de Caromb. Likewise, Grise de St. Jean is very prone to show Mosaic symptoms, the main cause to this is an excess of water in the soil (I am referring to an adult plant, not to a cutting). In any case, it is an excellent variety and one of the best tasting fig and breba.

Happy Spring, well almost,
I have initials on most cuttings, and roots on some that I have potted up. The ones that are potted up, are in a 55 gallon aquarium that we need to fix. It will continue to provide a little extra humidity as in the bags, but has lights and more air until they get established and moved up and out.

The roots are very succulent but easily damaged. Is this how they all are or is it a weakness by my rooting method?

Also, I have them in a soilless mix , both the bagged and potted plants... It is peat and perlite type of medium. For potting up, is this suitable or do they need more substantial soil? Right now, the bottom 4 inches are planted. When I pot them up to gallons or 2 gallons, can I bury more stem, like tomatoes, or will that cause rot? I want them to have a good amount of stem buried in the bigger pots.

So far, Conadria (1 of 1) and Mission (3 of 3) and Genoa (1 of 3) have rooted. Also have roots on a cutting from a trade (1 of 3).

Any advice on potting up and burying stem deeper would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dawn 3jsmom31

Figs all have initial roots and have leafed out. They are sitting under shoplights in plain water with clear baggies over them, as I root them successfully every year this way. They don't develop thin water roots, but do develop thick roots which easily adapt to soil conditions once planted.

I also received various fruit cuttings, such as apricot, sweet cherry, persimmon, and almond. These were started in Promix under shoplights, with baggie chambers over top of the individual plastic cups. Cuttings have sent out roots and leaves have emerged. I mist the cuttings through vent holes in the plastic a few times a day. My laundry room, aka plant room, feels like a greenhouse with the heat and humidity, and I keep a small fan running during the daytime.

It seems they're all happy, figs included, at the moment :)

I decided to go ahead and pot up my cuttings that were in ziplock bags today. Of fifteen only one had root growth, but the others had what appeared to be starts (white bumps).
I may not have had my paper towels damp enough, but thought I had read to just have them barely damp... interesting that the towel wrapping the only cutting with roots was still fairly damp but the other towels were drier.

Greetings!
I was very happy with the dormant fig cuttings that I ordered and received from UC-Davis. The cuttings arrived about 3 weeks ago just as the email from them said. I received 3 each of Brown Turkey, Golden Celeste, Alma, 1 Celeste and 3 (only one is rooting well, thus far) of Wonderful pomegranate. This fig farming thing is a new turf for me, however I am very hopeful. So far, my banana grove is doing great, my mulberry tree is fruiting and my tangerine & Meyers lemon trees have blossoms. The papaya trees (fruit is evident on one)are lovely. The repressed farmer is not longer repressed! Ha! Retirement is great!
Here's a photo of my fig and pomegranate cutting. I do not use sophisticated methods, however I usually get some fine permanent plant installations to my yard. Any advice is welcomed. I am getting ready to try my hand at citrus grafting and the vegetable/herb garden is great fun.

Diana, Welcome to both the world of retirement and the world of fig growing. Unless you have very specific questions to which you have not found any answers by going to the search engine, I would suggest you just start reading all the fig threads available on the forum. It will take a while, but you will get a lot of good info. And a few laughs as well.....Elder (Lou)

Here's an update:
Once the figs move from the ziploc to the perlite/vermiculite mix, I am placing them in a clear plastic container with about an inch of water in the bottom to keep humidity high.

The Brown Turkey that I put in a week ago, is starting to sprout a leaf in the top and has nice roots growing below.

Also added in were the Roeding 3 (which has a breba) and Roeding 4 figs, which were potted up this week...I also have some rose clippings rooting in there too.

The red-topped container is in a shady spot that gets filtered sunlight in the mornings and shade from the porch the rest of the day.

I figured this container was the best way to control for cats, dogs, slugs, snails and too much or too little rain while maintaining high humidity...

I'm experimenting with what works best for my conditions down here...
smile ....it's hard to keep myself from opening that lid and peaking inside to see the progress, but the clear plastic gives me an OK view.

Here's another update:
The Brown Turkey that I put in the clear plastic container March 16 has developed nice roots and I potted it into a 1-gallon today with potting soil. I'm going to leave it in this shady spot for about a week to gradually introduce it to the hot Florida sun.

There are also now about 10 cuttings that have gone from the ziploc to the container.
The cuttings that went outside in plastic pots a month ago show no sign of progress.

All of my cuttings, UCD or otherwise, are still in the fridge in Houston. I may be able to get to them at the end of this month. :/

~james

I got some advice from a CRFG member and stripped off lengthwise a thin strip of bark from the bottom of the cutting, dipped it in rooting hormone and buried it as deep as possible in a 5 gallon can. I had three cuttings, two of them I wrapped the exposed part above soil in parafilm, the last one I did not. The three are over a heat mat in a south-facing window inside my home. The two wrapped in parafilm are pushing leaves, the third one has a green budswell and is behind the other two but it looks like it is going to live. I mist that one with water from time to time.