I usually look for leaves but also give the cutting a small tug. If the cutting does not just slip out, then there are some roots.

As for how many roots you want before you can know to transplant a stronger plant, that part is harder to tell without pulling the plant up entirely.

Transparent container is generally not recommended since the roots are better off in the dark.

Obviously, for a short term it shouldn't matter, otherwise maybe wrap a paper around, or use a cache pot.

Foliage grown on a cutting is not a reliable way of gauging root growth. If these are growing in mist or tenting to control humidity, removing the mist for a few minutes and if they wilt, they usually have no roots. Fig are often grown with out mist in a protected area and probably do have roots, but I would not be in a hurry to fertilize and then only with a very weak solution, providing your foliage looks healthy. Calistoga Al

Thanks for the comments everyone, I forgot to mention in the original post that I put soda bottles over them to keep the humidity up. Al - if I remove the soda containers for say 1-2 hours and observe and initially don't mist and if after 1-2 hours uncovered they don't wilt does that suggest they have roots and that I should fertilize with a weak solution? I just don't want to take a chance of killing them because the cuttings have used up most/all of the reserve energy in the cutting to get to this point (i.e. the number of leaves they already have). Also, I have them under 1000 watt metal halide and 1000 watt sodium lamps for 16 hrs per day, I have done this for about 1 month now. I alternate the cuttings under the lights every couple of days so they all are subjected to each light source, Leaves on some cuttings look good ie, darker green but some leaves on some cuttings are a lighter green - wasn't sure if that was a light factor or a nutrient factor as I have not given them any fertilizer to this point. If they don't wilt in the 1-2 hrs or so I can put them next to a window so they can get a little sunlight,

Thanks for any additional comments, Brian

If you remove the bottles, don't go away, the foliage could collapse in as little as 30 minutes. I don't have your location, or the area you are using to grow, so the amount of light you are using, may not be excessive, but it seems to me, it is. Sunlight may also be too strong for new foliage. Al

The first generation of leaves isn't a reliable indication the cutting has struck, because the leaf is already formed in the bud, and the energy to push that leaf is contained in a carbohydrate 'stash' at the base of the bud. Growth beyond the first generation is an indication the cutting has struck. I withhold nutrient supplementation for cuttings until I'm sure the cutting has struck, and then I fertilize at low doses - not because the new roots are 'tender/ delicate', but because it encourages more roots and root colonization of the soil mass.

Algae grows in the soil when you use translucent pots, and algae competes with the plant for oxygen and adds unnecessary CO2 to the soil gas mix, so I avoid translucent cups. I like to start single cuttings in used medication bottles, but I always wrap the bottles with duct tape when using them to propagate.

Al

Thanks Al and Al! I am near the Saint Louis, MO area and the cuttings are in my basement under the previously mentioned lights in a mix of 60% perlite and 40% horticultural vermiculite in black nursery pots that are probably a gallon or so in volume. Several have added leaves beyond the first generation of leaves so I will start to fertilize them since it seems the cutting has struck.

Al T: should i fertilize at 1/4 strength? 1/8 strength? I am using foilage pro 9:3:6 and Protekt.

Thanks Brian

I hope follow-up questions are okay. "Growth beyond the first generation is an indication the cutting has struck."

What if you put a cutting in, and it made leaves/shoots in a place you hadn't expected, and in which you did not previously notice whether there was a bump/bud or not? A place I didn't notice at all?

How do you know what is first v second generation new leaves?

Thanks in advance!

What if you put a cutting in, and it made leaves/shoots in a place you hadn't expected, and in which you did not previously notice whether there was a bump/bud or not? A place I didn't notice at all? This commonly occurs. Buds that occur other than in leaf axils or immediately above a leaf scar are called adventitious buds as opposed to axillary buds. The branches that occur from these buds would be called water sprouts or suckers. There are also accessory buds behind axillary buds in many or most branching plants. They serve as a back-up in case the first axillary bud is damaged or doesn't produce a branch when appropriately stimulated. Occasionally, extra axillary buds will form opposite of nodes that don't form leaf pairs (alternate leaf arrangement).

How do you know what is first v second generation new leaves? Buds have a reserve of starch and/or saccharose at the base of the bud that can be metabolized to produce energy enough to allow the first leaf on most branches to open. Once that is depleted, the propagule will fail if a connection hasn't been established between roots and the plant's vasculature. Even if a connection is made, it can still fail because of poor cultural conditions or an impatient grower giving the cutting the old tug test to determine whether or not it's rooted.

Al

Thanks, Al!!!

So, if I see a second leaf on the same tiny little stem, I will know it has struck?

I love it when I understand the answer!!! (if I did...)

That's right, though there are some exceptions for plants that push buds containing a number of leaves within a single bud. The Fagus genus (beech trees) can have as many as a dozen embryonic leaves within a single bud.

Al

Thanks!!! This little friend got his first feeding today. Unfortunately the part where I have to drain it afterwards was not well thought out. I hope it will all work out. If it survives, I will give it a haircut, there is about 2 feet of possibly dead tissue up top.