Scott, I used newspaper for years in a similar bag method. This method called for disinfecting the cuttings, then wrapping in damp (not wet!) newspaper. The bundled cuttings were then put in a plastic bag and hung upside down in a warm spot. I didn't use separate bags for each variety - I twist tied each variety together and wrapped as many as would fit in my plastic bags in a thick sheet of newsprint.
It worked very well and I don't see why using newspaper wouldn't work as well as paper towels in Jon's bag method.

Scott, fignut has it right.

I use papertowels because I can see mold thru them when it is present (because they are kind of transparent when slightly wet and mold shows up pretty good).

I can also spritz my papertowls with bleach solution, with a quick rinse and then wrap it around the cutting. Papertowels for seem to work easier.

Scott:
What do you mean by "hung upside down in a warm spot".
Do you mean 'upside down' in relation to the sides of the cutting that will be burried later or up in the air? Or, you are using it just as an expression not meaning a specific end of the cuttings.

ottawan, I mean the top of the cutting (with the terminal bud) is pointing down. The bottom of the cutting that will be put in the ground is pointing up.
This is how I was told to do it by Mr. Paul M. Starnes, a man who had grown figs his entire life, and knew a great deal about them.
I had been trying to root in soil-less mix, and had all my cuttings rot. This method worked very well.
Don't ask why the cuttings were upside down - I don't know. I didn't ask (unfortunately), and have been trying to figure it out myself ever since.

Yes, Newspaper will work. The important thing is moisture control.

Here is a link that might be useful: Figs 4 Fun

Thanks fignut. I started them a few days ago and it sounds like I did it exactly like you specified. I even had them upside-down but it was by mistake, and I "fixed" it yesterday. After I started them I got worried that newspaper may be bad thus the post. My first round of cuttings is now in the trash thanks to mold but I bleach-soaked these guys much more thoroughly and scrubbed with toothbrush so I am more optimistic on success.

Scott

I seem to remember seeing somewhere a method of burying a bundle of cuttings in the ground (or in sand) over winter. The bundles were laid on their side or upside down in the ground.

I think it would be interesting to know why. Perhaps when the cuttings are upside-down, they are not so likely to produce vegetative growth and all the stored energy goes to root production. This phenomenon might explain why many claim to have greater success with the "horizontal method" of rooting cuttings.

~james

James, fignut et el
Here is the article that deals with the issue of putting the butt end (rooting end) of the cutting up with respect to the terminal end. The article demystifies the fact as to why the root end up and the other one down. It is about the the heat i.e. providing heat to the rooting end during storage. This upside method is done when the cuttings are stored for the winter outside in the ground upside down with rooting side up) deep enough that the top of the cuttings is just 6" under the soil so the sun can provide heat for callousing. In the author's words "Over the winter the cuttings will develop callous and possibly some roots. Placing them in the hole upside down puts the butt ends closest to the surface, so they can be warmed by the sun, creating favorable conditions for root development. Being upside down also discourages top growth".
The full article can be seen at : http://www.freeplants.com/hardofdecid.htm
If it is just heat then, probably, its helping during the Ziploc storage of cuttings may be just a matter of perception since heat is available in Ziploc whether up, down or horizontal.
Where is Taplas to help?

Ottowan, fignut,

I did read/hear about upside/down fig twigs buried OUTSIDE
tend to root better due some heat differential.

However, and I no expert, I also very recently heard
(at an RU/MG class), that at least for regular LIVE
plants, certain plant nutrients do tend to go to the
top, e.g., if one cuts the main leader tip, other
leader(s) will grow from the top (not bottom).

Not sure what is happening when a twig is dormant
though. Though the tiny tube 'plumbing' may be
inverted, it may also function same way, aka, push
'energy' up for new critical growth (stem or root).

I will inquire some more on this subject from my instructor.

And yes, where is our good Dr. tapla?

George(NJ).

I've made several posts on GW, maybe even all of them on the fig forum - not sure, about the extremely high % of success achieved by the propagation method of over-wintering dormant deciduous plant cuttings upside down to promote callus and subsequent root formation (also retard shoot development from existing buds), and then lifting the cuttings & planting them with the correct polarity after danger of frost has passed.

Ottowan - you asked me to look in on this post, but the article you posted covers most of the recent conversation fairly well, so no need for me to repeat. Was there another question you had? ... or did you want me to reply to the OP?

Al

Thanks Taplas
One question is still open and that is if we put fig cuttings with some moisture in a Ziploc and keep it at temperature (say around 75F), is any one orientation of the cuttings (i.e. with the rooting end up or rooting end down or horizontal) better than the other position for callusing/rooting while all other ambients being the same?
In the article, the cuttings are buried upside down so that the rooting end is up and closer to the surface for sun warmth for the storage period. In the Ziploc the whole cutting is at the same temperature irrespective of the orientation, so is there any reason that the keeping the rooting side up will accelerate callousing or rooting. Is there a botanical reason?

I can't think of a single reason that orientation would affect root formation when initially starting cuttings in a bag, but its affect on polarity could be very important for cuttings stuck/planted-out in beds/soil/pots, etc.

Incidentally - callus formation is neither a precursor nor prerequisite to root formation in Ficus c. Though roots frequently emerge through callus tissue, the formation of roots and callus are quite independent of each other in easy-to-root species like carica. That they often occur simultaneously is attributable to the fact that their cell divisions depend on similar internal plant and cultural/environmental conditions.

Roots are actually more apt to emerge from secondary phloem parenchyma cells than callus. They can also emerge from sites like vascular rays, cambial tissues, and lenticels.

Al

Tapla: Thanks for the informed input specifically the input on independence of callus and root formation. Visually one will think that root is just elongation of the callus but it is not as you explained (& as I understood).