Since it might not be clear to you, what Dave is saying is that CM's flower on the ends of the growth from this year - one of the reasons people get away with, and perpetuate the "crape murder' which is what you get told NOT TO DO by members of GW - which is why he suggests waiting until after flowering or doing your trimming in spring so as not to lose this summer's flowers. You might by now be able to see flower buds forming at the branch tips and be able to decide if you want to remove the most wayward branches even so, losing the flowers. If the branches aren't too much in the way, my inclination would be to wait 'til they flower and then deal with them. IF they ARE in the way, shorten them back until they aren't, or, if you want a tree-form, take them off at the trunk. As Esh Ga says, you can grow either a tree-form or a bush-form CM. Some of the newer, dwarf cultivars can, and should, be grown as bushes and look very nice. If you know, and tell us what cultivar you have, you can get more directed advice as to whether to trim up the trunk, or leave it as a bush. In any case, you can grow most cultivars as bushes and/or in pots for several years, so there is no urgency, other than your expectations of what you want this CM to look like. If it isn't one of the dwarf cultivars, then eventually it may outgrow the pot and the space on your deck, and need to be planted in the ground. For now, though, it looks to be quite happy and healthy where it is.

Thanks for your great input. I set up a shop light (2 "sunshine" fluorescent lights) over a shelf this weekend. Then tested this out by placing a new potted AV I purchased randomly at Home Depot under the light. Window blinds closed so no sunlight was hitting the plant. After leaving the plant under here for two days (12 hours of artificial light each time) there is no sign of any damage using this method. This turned out to be the perfect solution. No dying or wilting AVs now! If that plant is doing fine right now, I think I can actually move forward with indoor lighting. So this is all great news. I had no idea there was a Phoenix AV club and I will investigate this. Maybe they have a show or sales. Though Phoenix is still a 3 hour drive from me! Kind of easy scanning eBay for the huge selection and convenience of shopping at 3 a.m.! What an addiction.

1. 2 of the 8 cuttings that I transferred to cups and vermiculite had a very small amount of mold on one spot. I gave it a good wiping with a damp paper towel and continued. Is that ok or should I be throwing them out? Or separating from the others? You did fine, choosing only perlite to root in. Vermiculite is too water-retentive for my taste. I'd have dipped the cuttings for a minute or so in a 10% solution of unscented household bleach or a 10% solution of 3% H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) to eliminate mold concerns. As Al noted, F carica is a very genetically vigorous plant and very easy to root, as woody plants go. 2. How much should I be watering these since they are 100 percent perlite? I know the key is to keep them moist, but with all perlite they seemed to just drained 100% with little to no retention. Plants most effectively absorb moisture from the microscopically thin film of water on the surface of soil particles, and from water vapor trapped in soil pores, so you want your rooting medium to be damp - not wet ..... and you NEVER want your cutting stuck so deep that it is below the upper limit of any perched water your medium supports. Cuttings need gas exchange, too. You might consider screening & rinsing your perlite, and employing a wick at the bottom of your container. Damp, not wet or soggy is what you're striving for, and 80% humidity with some air movement is a worthy goal. 3. Do they need any sunlight at this point? I don't have them near a window. Technically, they don't need light to root, but the cutting WILL be able to carry on some degree of photosynthesis in the green stem tissues, which will contribute food to what is already stored in cambial tissues. Also, it's best to have any foliage that emerges preconditioned to the photo-intensity that will be the norm for the cuttings. I wouldn't have planned my adventure around the idea I was going to maintain these cuttings indoors for the winter. I'd have timed it so they struck at or just after last frost, so they could go outdoors. Root temps of 65-70* with air temps about 10* cooler are ideal for figs, and eliminate the bottom heat as soon as they strike. If I take fall cuttings, I bury them upside down to callus until figs/mulberry starts to leaf out in the landscape, then I dig them up and pot or plant. I get near 100% success every time, and don't have to fuss with them and watch them decline over the winter. There's soo much more that COULD be said ...... Any questions? Al

Ugh just had a long update/ coment eaten by the posting gremlins. Will try again with more info later. Later, with added commentary. Le Vesuve. This rose (by tape measure, not by eye) is 4ft 9 by 4ft by 3 ft vertically. So far, no signs of mildew! I'm very happy with it size wise for a first year rose - there are supposedly much hardier roses in my garden that have done less with more, so as to speak. General Schablikine This one has stayed a small hummock, but with one comical 3ft cane. According to "Tea Roses For Warm Gardens," this is it's habit when it's immature so I'm not too worried. It is paler than the others, almost chlorotic looking, and I wonder if it might want an iron/seaweed tonic dose. Mme Anoine Mari. I begin to understand the accolades this rose has; although a little lopsided, it's slowly, gracefully branching out to just under 3ft in all directions, all the while clothed in glossy dark foliage. Mutablis Best freebie EVER. It blooms and grows and blooms and grows, staying shapely and well foliated. Gruss I haven't a new picture of. It's spotlessly healthy and about 4ft tall, but only 18 inches wide. very much looking forward to it becoming established. Both the Ladies H, truck on serenely. They bloom and grow and bloom and grow, more or less continuously. The potted climbing version needs a bigger pot and a less lacksadaisical waterer, but carries on regardless. I do see the plaint about the dead blooms, but it's nothing like the mummified horror that is Alchymist so I can overlook it easily. Also the are both spotless, huzzah, a non sprayed yellow rose in England in September that is NOT imitating a Dalmatian. Leonie Viennot is HUGE - 6ft of growth on every cane. However, it's shown some tendency towards mildew, BUT it's potted and immature. I really need to make a call on a permanent home, but the potential mildew is making me hesitate. Not that it actually is mildewed, just the leaves are crumply like it's GOING to mildew, but never quite gets powdery. It's a dilemma. Latest garden addition (bit scruffy, I haven't finished planting!) Based on how happy I've been with my experimental roses, I'm going to push the boat still further, and try some more teas, chinas and maybe a tea noisette or two. Blush Noisette is bidding fair to be one of the best roses in my garden in a quiet sort of way. Really charming. I'm hoping it's not an outlier! The Perle D'Or I mentioned up thread will be ready this autumn, (although Arethusa is apparently not wanting to play) and I am contemplating Duchesse D'Aerstadt as replacement for the horrible Alchymist, which nothing I can do makes happy. Mme Jules Gravereaux/ Celine Forrestier for the arch, Alexander Hill Gray, Anna Olivier, Clemetina Carbonieri, for the yellow /orange beds and last but not least, Homere and / or Hume's Blush/Odorata to replace Eglantyne. Any thoughts? Guesses as to sizes? My baby Vesuve is already about as big as Beales thought it would top out at, so much for that estimate!