Remove Brebas. The goal at this point is roots, not fruit.

Agreed with Jon, remove brebas as soon as you can identify them (I did that the other day with a Nazarti cutting that I'm trying to start, along with a few others from UCDavis). And I would partially tent, but leave box in bright shade and not in any direct sunlight. But more importantly, what was this deal with ICU? and are you okay? (did anyone else catch this? he glossed past it rather quickly) - please let us know, James!

I've decided to leave the cuttings untented. It is already fairly warm in Houston. I'm worried too much heat will prevent rooting. They are potted in 2/3 perlite- 1/3 vermiculite mix. I give them a sprinkling of water in the afternoon in hopes of achieving a bit more humid microclimate without excessive heat build up... if that makes sense.

I am fine. I had some problems with dehyration and a stomach bug which affected my ability to control my blood sugar and wound up in ketoacidosis. I don't feel as strong as I did before and I tire easily, but I am still able to keep up with my trees. Ineterstingly enough, I am a bit more emotional and seem to have differing priorities than I did before I went in. LOL.

I'm just curious on why you think you need a hothouse in Houston? I have a house in Aransas Pass (my winter home on south Texas coast, 205 miles south of Houston))and a cold winter day is in the 40's. A few days later it is in the 70's. I have never been in Houston in the winter but I imagine that it can't be that much cooler in the winter. My small trees in California responde well to weather in the 60's . I would think that a hothouse in the summer in Houston would be a living hell for small plants. Also, what varieties of figs are you growing?

I wasn't thinking I needed to retain heat. My thought was to retain moisture while rooting cuttings. The cuttings I have planted in the ground (about a month and a half ago) gave me about an 80% strike rate.

Also, the question of the brebas was more when to remove. Sherry, I have the same experience you have with UCD cuttings. The Nazarti have 5-6 each. Col de Dame and others have many on them as well. I went ahead and removed them as well as any side shoots (only on those that have the terminal bud)... and the wait continues. LOL

~james

James, am slow getting back (busy days) but was relieved to hear you're up and running again (and encourage holding onto those "differing priorities"!) - former neighbor's daughter across the street had something like that happen (blood sugar out of whack, was disoriented and hard to rouse her, they called the ambulance - scary moment for all but by grace she was okay). Sounds like your cuttings are prospering, mine seem to be also, at least the ones I'm doing in the "nursery" arrangement (six clear bottles with top portions cut off and then re-set over the figs but the bottle caps off, resting in a plastic shoebox with heating pad underneath, tented lightly with plastic but enough ventilation so there's no mold problems). I'm also trying two cuttings wrapped in damp paper towel/plastic bag, no roots yet, and one that I'd started that way, I opted to change over to seeing if it'll root in water. Once the rest of my already-rooted figs from prior years are repotted, then it'll be time to start a few more cuttings, as the weather warms up more. I'm definitely playing with methods, as the next group will be set as horizontal, just to see if it speeds anything up at all. Will let folks know what seems to get the best strike rate - btw, I'm impressed by your in-ground/outdoors cuttings taking off like that, and am almost tempted to try one or two in my garden closer to the end of April and see what happens - are your in-ground ones shaded, though?

Sherry

Hi Sherry,

Well I remember writing a response to this last weekend, but I must have forgotten to submit it. Here goes again...

First off, let me revise my figures for inground cuttings. About 60% of those that went into the ground have done something(they've been in for about 6 weeks). 80% have leafed out and seem to be growing. The other 20% have dried up and died. The remaining 40% still have very vibrant green buds, but don't seem to be doing much of anything (at least above the surface).

They are actually in a raised bed between mine and the neighbor's house. They get somewhat filtered sunlight in the middle of the day. Both houses are light colored, so the rest of the day they get brightly reflected light. I pulled two out of the ground to try to repot. One made it, the other did not. I figgered 50% was not a good enough rate (even though the roots were quite young). I planted nine new cuttings in the raised box, but this time I burried the bottom portion of 2L bottles with many holes melted into them in the ground. I filled them with the same mix that is in the raised bed and inserted my cuttings into them.

My thought being that a hybrid inground/potted rooting protocol may provide much of the benefits of both systems while eliminating some of the risks along the way. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

~james