I would put in good potting soil and keep indoors for the winter by sunny window i have learned here on forum being the plant is so young. I have some i just rooted as well and the temps for a few nights here dropped to 55 so what i did was put them in the house and brought back outside the next day now temps are staying in the 60s at night so the baby rootings are ok . If i were you i would after potting it put it in partial shade and slowly introduce to the sun. What i do and i have the time so its not a problem is i give morning sun and then by afternoon i move to partial shade the i give it a little more sun when its lower in sky i try to stay away from the afternoon sun then little by little i let it stay out longer towards afternoon if i see leaves starting to droop i put back in partial shade sun under my yard trees. I also have one from italy maybe when yours grows we can compare.
Martin

Great job inurb,

I can't help ya on the over wintering a plant that small, I have some that I intend to keep indoors this winter!

My question to you or anyone else if you can kinda answer?
how much water did you think you used on that cutting when you put it in the cup, and if you can answer that, then did you ever water afterwards? The reason I ask is, I think I hold the record for drowning young plants.

I have ordered some cuttings from Herman and I dang sure want to get it right this time!

Thanks in advance
Cecil

Cecil i used miracle grow potting soil, i know i probably could of used perlite or some other medium but i had this on hand so. But i wet the soil good once and covered with a plastic cup that i misted inside of and keep indoors in corner where there is not much light. I would take cover off once in a while to give air. About 5 days ago i noticed the sticks were maybe staying a little on the wet side so to give them more air circulation i put them outside in shade and now after 5 days just a little sun and the buds on the Hardy chicago popped open . I had to take in a night as it dropped in the 50s here is some pictures, first one no good as the backround of yard inteferes.
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I would let the roots develop more before potting. The recommendation is to use a good mix of perlite & compost (I used potting soil if compost isn't available). If you keep them in small pots (a gallon) you can winter them inside. Introduce them to sun slow as everyone recemmended but when you have good foliage developing, put them in a sunny window. By spring you should be able to repot in a larger container or put into the ground. Doing this worked for me but it wasn't until the following season before I got figs.

Thanx Martin & Steve
I have been putting my cuttings in the baggy method, then in cupped UPM potting soil as soon as I see one or more roots 3/8" long, then I put them in my humidity tub until they show pretty good leafs.
Steve you said use a good mix of perlite & compost ?What %/50/50?
What kind of compost?, I do not do the compost thing here, I have "cottonburr" and cow manure compost, will that work?
Thanks
Cecil

Not sure of what the best compost is but I think the important thing is the high organic matter. I've used 2/3 potting soil and 1/3 perlite (worked well). I guess the important thing is the high nutrient value of the organic matter and the moisture retention of the perlite. I think 50-50 would be good too. I'm sure manure would work. My father used horse manure from a neighboring stables on everything which worked extremely well too.

Thanks for all the advice. Any tips on how I should store the tiny tree for the winter? Is it ok to be in total darkness until spring or will that kill the tree?

inurb,

Is it ok to be in total darkness until spring or will that kill the tree?

Only if a plant's gone into dormancy would you want to keep it in the dark, and as young as your "baby" fig is, I don't think it'll go into dormancy easily (I wouldn't push trying to coax it that way). If you've got room inside near a bright window, and can provide some extra lighting after dusk (as with a fluorescent bulb fairly close to the plant), I'd definitely over-winter it inside and keep it "awake" until next spring. I did that with many little figs over the past years, with good success. But I *did* lose some smaller figs this past winter by letting them go into my unheated garage when they were too young to handle the cold (really bugged me after I'd brought them through the previous winter in my living room's south window, after starting them that summer like you did yours). Hope yours does well - I've got new "babies" this year which will stay indoors for sure (attn George - #2GT seems to be a really easy fig to get going when started horizontal; it's my precocious one of the mid-summer batch so far).

Sherry
(reappearing after being too busy to post for just about forever, it seems!)

I have had much much better sucess in removing suckers that grow from the root trunk of the fig tree. As soon as they get 4 inches in length I take a long sharp knife and cut the sucker away from the trunk root, then I plant it in moist soil. So far I have done 7 this way and they are all thriving. I never even thought to do that with the root suckers. It's much easier then trying to root hardwood cuttings from scratch.
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when you use suckers do you have to cut root matter with it?

americangifboy:

Since I wait til they are 4 inches in length or longer, by that time they have some root development. When I cut the suckers away I try to stay as close to the trunk as possible so whatever little roots the sucker has made come away with the sucker. Each sucker I cut away had some rooting on it. All the suckers I have cut away and planted are doing well.

I was so surprised I never thought about doing it this way before.