PJ, The leaves falling off really has nothing to do with the rooting process which takes several weeks by any of the methods you described above. The best results I have had so far is with the bag method. Take all the leaves off, cut an 8-10 inch woody cutting (aka "stick") wrap in damp not wet paper towel leaving 1 inch protruding. Put in a ziplock in a warm place away from the sun. In a week you'll get root initials (white bumps) in another week or two small roots will form and begin to grow. Search the forum regarding rooting in a bag for more detailed instructions. Works like a charm but takes time. Best of luck.

PJ,
steve_nj8 method works for me as well only thin i might add is when i take the brown woody branch i cut one that has a green bud on its tip and do like steve.Mine take long as well when i see tiny roots i carefully put in potting soil in complete shade and mist it once in a while. Sometimes the bud tip will turn brown but it will shed that as there is green under it,eventually the bud opens for me. Some types of fig trees seem more stuborn to root,usually in about 8 weeks i know one way or other if things worked out this is why i try more than 1 stick also a stick with as many little knots i call em seems to have a better chance.There are other ways to root em them as well, i once just put the stick in a tabletop fountain and it rooted after several months also. I know some that have put stick in a bottle in the complete sarkness for a while and they rooted too. Some lay stick sideways in different types of soil depends on who you talk too and after a while they root.While others root them right from a growing limb on the tree which i find interesting . Many ways.
Best Luck
Martin

Pj, also if you go to the search button and type in rooting fig trees or something on that type of subject you will find a lot of good information to help you as well.

I have a stick in a plastic bag and I have a stick in perlite (I threw out the other sticks).

They were established on the August 21, so it has been 12 days. It looks like I need to be patient.

Thanks for all of the great help dieseler and Martin.

PJ

Pj, it sounded like you tried many methods but NOT air layering, which is well described on this site in other posts.
In your case I would have taken cuttings, put them in barely moist towelling in a zip-lock and put them in the vegetable crisper of the fridge for a week. This puts them into dormancy. When they come out of the fridge, I would forget the baggie method for rooting and put them into a very well drained light potting medium (barely moist) in 16 oz plus clear plastic cups with drain holes. Put them on a warming tray covered with a plastic dome to keep humidity high. Your climate may already do both of these 'warm and moist' stages for you. When I do this method, I can usualy see good root development in a couple of weeks as well as budding and leafing out. Don't be in a rush to transplant, and remember that excess of water is a killer at this stage.

Air layering works fine too, you just have to be patient, but you can do it anytime. However, it may take months for the branch to throw out roots, or just weeks. You could also try ground layering too if you have branches close to ground and can pin or weight them there for some time.

My two cents...

John.

I just bought 3 air-pots over the internet and I am waiting for them to arrive. I will definitely be trying those. That the cuttings can be taken at any time is exactly what I wanted to hear. I was hoping to not have to wait until next spring.

I donÂt have a warming tray covered or a plastic dome and I donÂt want to buy anything more. But I think I will continue to take care of my 2 sticks and see what works best.

Thanks,
PJ

Totally agree with Joe Pepe.....I've air layered only a handful of times and I don't think I've had a failure yet. I wish I can say the same about rooting cuttings, I tend to have 90% success with getting them to root but I have a helluva time getting them to stay alive up to the 8 wk point to up pot them. Extremely frustrating when I'm buying cuttings for 20-30 and they fail. Grrrr!

I watched a guy on TikTok do an air layer SUPER EASY a few weeks ago. He fills a zip lock bag with moist soil, zips it shut, slices bag with knife on one side, from side to side, then wraps it around the prepared limb, uses 2 zip ties to hold bag in place, then wraps it with foil.....done!!! I swear I rarely done air layers because of the hassle of doing them in the past, when this guy shows up on TT making it look easy peasy!!!! I did 2 using soda bottles about 3 weeks ago and I used his method today, we'll see how they go!

And this was only 14 years ago?