We just discovered that the beautiful Ficus carica 'Corky's Honey Delight' green fig tree we bought at abut 3' high several months ago has had most of its root gnawed off by a gopher. We can see the teeth marks. It had already begun to lose its leaves, and as this is the season when our big old fig always does so, for a while we thought nothing was wrong. Trying to rescue it, we took one 1' long branch that had a few roots left on it (the only branch that did), and replanted it in the garden, surrounded by gopher spurge. Another fig we bought at the same time, which has striped green figs, is nearby and may have been protected by the gopher spurge plants that had sprung up here and there from last year. (1) Did we do wrong to replant this branch outside? Our garden is in So. Cal; the night temps, when cold, at present reach the upper 50s. The garden is protected to the north and has our house and the neighbor's giving it some shelter as well. The old fig tree has been very happy there, which is why we figured it would be good to try other varieties of figs, as we have not had success with peaches and plums. (2) We took several other cuttings, some around 6~8" long branches, as well as the main stem/trunk, which had no roots left at all, so we cut it off, salvaging the 22" long main stem with a few twigs growing out of it. Are we unwise to try to salvage such a big portion of the main stem? If it is feasible, what method should we use? It is about 3/4" wide where we cut it off. (3) There is also an 8" twig we took by cutting the main stem (about 3/4" in diameter at that point) about 3/4" above and 3/4" below where the twig was growing out, thinking maybe more surface for roots to form on is better. But would this twig be better off being cut by itself, where it is only about 1/3" across? All of the cuttings we took have tiny buds at their tips. It hasn't gotten cold enough yet for the trees to go dormant, so I'm afraid this is not a good time to try to root cutting from a damaged tree, but we have no choice. As you can see, I know nothing about propagating fig trees, so any comments will be welcome. Having read some of the comments here, I know I can stick the thin cuttings into baggies, and will put them on top of the fridge until I know better what to do. Thanks.

For the ultimate in geekiness for propagating from cuttings, the cutting edge (no pun intended) is tissue culture, growing plants out from meristem cuttings in sterile laboratory conditions. Because you're taking the cutting from the tip of the plant growth, any virus or disease has not had time to travel to that part of the plant yet, and you get a clean start. It used to be the domain of laboratories only, requiring laminar flow hoods and autoclaves, meaning growers had to send out their mother plants for propagation. But guess the one industry that doesn't want to send out their mother plants? That's right, the pot industry! So industrious (and stoned) minds spurred on the development of plant preservatives that help make up for the non-laboratory conditions and now home tissue culture kits are widely available. The plantlets are started in a gelatin-type medium with plant food,hormones, and sugars. Since this medium grows bacteria and fungus much better than it does plants, everything still has to be sterile with lots of alcohol and bunsen burners; a pressure cooker sterilizes your tools. A rubbermaid tub serves as your clean hood and baby food jars holds the medium. Since the sugar is feeding the plants, low light is needed as opposed to the high light needed for hydroponics. It is a way to propagate clean plants quickly, especially on difficult to propagate plants like blueberry and orchids. WSU has been investigating tissue culture of the G series rootstocks since they do not root well in the layer bed. You'd still have to graft to appropriate rootstock, but it would be a way to cheaply clean up viruses in both. Kits run about $250. Here is a link that might be useful: Home Tissue Culture Group

Have not tried olive but I have done lots of cuttings. I would say that right now would be an excellent time. Select branches that grew fast, and all this last year. (one year old wood.) I like to prepare the cutting before I actually cut it. In this case, remove all but 3 to 5 leaves, leaving only a very few at the tip. Do this a day or 2 before cutting. This way the tree can provide the sap to help heal the leaf breaks, instead of taking strength from the new cutting. If you can find some really vigorous growth that grew all last year, (all in one year, usually a lighter or more green color) you can do the cuttings without leaves at the tip and will probably have better success. Nice thick stem branches are the best. Take cuttings about 8 inches long. Be sure that you will have at least 2 (3 is better) nodes below ground and at least 2 above ground. Use a rooting hormone, like Rotenone (not sure I spelled that right) and lightly powder the part that will go in the ground, about 4 inches worth, with at least 2 nodes. Plant in good potting mix. I like to plant at a little angle, not sticking straight up, as this seems to give the cutting a better rooting start. Give a warm sunny place, making sure the potting soil does not get soggy or dry out. When days are a little too hot, sprinkle with cool water to keep them from scorching. Let us know how it turns out, and good luck.

Hi, I'm new here, wishing I had read this before I pruned my Jiro persimmon tree about three weeks ago. I couldn't bear to throw the large branches I cut off the tree, so I stuck several of them into a bucket of rain water. Is there anyway to get new Jiro persimmons from these salvaged twigs and branches? I've never grown or propagated anything except from seed and little plants from the store, or else transplanted from another garden. The tree was dormant when I pruned it a few weeks ago. The main tree is just now starting to leaf out. It is growing in the mid-atlantic region zone 7. Our temps here are between 40-70s'F. The tree blossoms are finished and now starting to leaf out. Would these prunings be treated as hardwood cuttings? Any advice/suggestions for a newbie will be greatly appreciated. Could I use similar techniques to propagate my fig tree? Thanks!