Elder, as one neopbhyte to another, I have a limited amount of experience, and not a lot scienrtific study on this. What I have observed it this: 1) Ficus carica will grow roots most anywhere if the conditions are right, and you will even, ocassionally see air roots, like many other Ficus have. If I mound up some compost around a shoot near the base of a tree, and keep it moist, new roots will appear there, and I can cut it off and plant it. You can air layer figs, so they seemingly will grow roots most anywhere. So, why aren't these bumps root initials? 2) Most cuttings seem to root at the bottom end, but I have seen some that tend to root along the sides, rather than at the end, or on both the end and sides. I even had a couple that rooted at the top and bottom ends. Had to look twice to make sure I planted it right side up. 3) Are the white bumps root initials? Don't know, but that is what more experienced people tell me, and I know that roots can grow from all parts of the cutting. I suppose I could try some cuttings an take pictures each day and see what happens. In contrast, I have never seen a vegetative shoot come from the places where the "white bumps" are. That's my take on it.

Christy, Spring cuttings grow on well - no special problems. I usually take them a little later and they get outside faster (a good thing). But I got some bare-root plants in November that I kept in a minimally heated sunroom and some of them started leaf bud swelling, so I took all my cuttings on Feb. 20. I bought eight varieties: Black Mission, English Brown Turkey, Hardy Chicago, LSU Everbearing, LSU Gold, LSU Improved Celeste, LSU Purple and Sal's. The Black Mission were the first to show roots. I had started them horizontally in a box with sand (a variation of elder's technique) and there were very long roots showing on the bottom of the box on March 3 (11 days). I also tried some Black Mission wrapped in newspaper hanging upside down in my boiler room. One of those was rooted on March 2. I potted the rest of the Black Mission today (22 days). This is the first time that I've had this variety, and I thought that it must be an easy rooter! It was the variety showing the most green in the leaf buds and the fastest to root. The other varieties showing a good deal of green were LSU Improved Celeste and LSU Gold. The Celeste had roots on March 6 (14 days) and the Gold had initials on March 10 (18 days). Both are potted at this point. Of the other varieties above, none were showing green and none have rooted yet. A fig that I've had for a number of years, Alma, has also rooted. It was in the garage and I took cuttings at the same time. You could tell it was coming out of dormancy, but it wasn't as far along as the BM, LSU IC, or LSU G. I potted 5 of them today (22 days). This is intriguing. It seems worth trying spring harvested cuttings on hard to root varieties - if you can protect your plants so that there is no winter die back. I've tried several rooting methods: elder's, my upside down in newspaper, and Jon's. Elder's worked fine, but not knowing what was going on - not being able to see the cuttings - drove me crazy. Mine was OK, I could unwrap and see any problems (had to mist once with 50-50 hydrogen peroxide and water when some mold started) and root formation. But Jon's was the best. Much easier to keep an eye on what was happening - no need to unwrap - everything very visible. As for "other" cuttings - just about everything. The trick is figuring out the "window" - the period of time each particular plant is most likely to co-operate, and what part of the plant gives the best results. Propagation books usually have tables giving cutting times for various plants and which types of cuttings are best (tip, basal, etc.). Great fun.

I've had lots of success using the bag meathod. I've only need to rehydrate 4 cuttings and that's because I was rooting late in the season so it took a bit longer for them to root. I use moist coir in the baggies. No matter what rooting medium you use be sure to squeeze out the excess water. With bag rooting the heat will cause the water to want to escape, which leads to condensation on the baggie. This process draws water towards the outside of the baggie away from the center where your cutting is. In turn this helps decrease the chances of rot, while keeping the cutting hydrated, and forcing the roots to grow toward the outside of the bag. I use rubber bands to seal the baggies, because I find them easiest to remove when it's time to pot. I've seen people use electrical, masking, and grafting tape as well. If you use rubber bands be sure not to make them to tight or you'll cut off the plants cirulation and it will never root. My rule of thumb it to wrap the rubber band around 3 times only. You do have to be gentle when it's time to pot up your cuttings, but you need to use the same care and caution if your removing the cutting from a bottle. I cut the rubber band with a pair of suture scissors and gently cut along the seam of the bag. Then it's just a matter of peeling off the bag and potting your cutting. Don't worry if you break a root or two, as long as your cutting is healthy it will regrow. -Jennifer

Hi Chris, I read your other post about the bag rooted cuttings and I would say that it would depend on how well the root mass is on the cuttings. I like to see plenty of roots before I pot up, but that's just me because I like to know they are well established and then if there is any breakage, it wouldn't be a problem. You mentioned that you had a few rooting, so you could always do as DisneyHorse mentioned and test a few. If you only see a few roots, then I would wait until you see a mass of roots. That is my opinion. I'm sure you would be very gentle when you pot up, but they are in the process of taking off right now.. Congratulations on the rooting!!! It's a great feeling ... Im Sure others will give their opinion on what they like to do!!! Let us know how your cuttings are doing.!!! Take care, Laura This post was edited by loveplants2 on Fri, Apr 4, 14 at 0:32