IÂm a little new to figs but from all the posts I have read IÂm beginning to think that successful rooting is 50% art/skill and 50% luck. One person finds it hard to root a variety and another has no problem. George was very generous with me and I am forever indebted to him. However he said that Italian Honey was hard to root and all three rooted just fine for me using the same method (plastic bag). For me the biggest problem is mold. I have heard others say once they mold just toss them out because you will not be able to get rid of it. I kept my cuttings in as near total darkness as possible and the cuttings were dipped in bleach and a number of them still developed mold and were tossed out. My rooting success rates SalÂs 100% Italian Honey 100% Italian Everbearing 66% Violette de Bordeaux 100% Petite Negra 100% GeorgeÂs GM#1 (unkown - I will probably call it Malta Purple Red) 0% do to mold Blue Celeste 0% do to mold Brown Turkey roughly 50% did not bleach these and had a mold problem. Black Mission roughly 50% did not bleach these and had a mold problem. Hardy Chicago still to early to tell. I could be wrong but I feel like they all would have eventually rooted if not for the mold problem. Good luck to all with the BM and other varieties. I hope to get better at rooting cuttings this year and try my hand at air layering too. If anybody has a sure fire way to prevent mold other than darkness and bleaching the cuttings please do to tell as it is my rooting nemesis and I believe I could achieve nearly 100% rates if I could just get a grip on this one issue.

Herman your very right, i have talked to someone in Italy and what they told me was that name is not familar to anyone he knows and perhaps it goes by another there. Only other way and its almost impossible for us gardeners but has been experimented with is to cut the smallest emerging bud, they dissect the inside and capture what they call the meristem barely visible to our eyes and propagate it thru several process and the end result is a plant that grows free of the virus until reinfected by another. This was all done in a lab enviorment and all the steps are very sterile, tools used petri dishes, extracting equipment etc,etc. It was found that that part they extracted has yet to be infected as it grows fast and the virus moves more slowly and has yet to infect it . But thats basically for someone that has a lab and knows what there doing. I mention this as it is possible but not for the average person to do. What scares me and i doubt if i live to see it is that viruses perhaps mutate into something much worse not only in fig trees but in other areas of crops as well. Thanks for your input and knowledge. Best Health Martin

Anyone who has ACTUALLY READ and tried to understand my posts on the fig cutting cleaning & storage procedures and who has actually read the "details" of my writings on rooting methods ....should already know WHY it is important to clean cuttings. I have absolutely no desire to repeat any of the details again for the sake of argument. Anyone who really desires to know why......perform a search function on my GW user-name and Clorox and you should find my posts on this matter. Those posts will lead to other good posts written by other forum members. Too, I don't really care what the so called professional rooters do. I know what works very well for me and am working on propagation methods that may well be of interest to them. Funny how some people want to criticize and seek fault rather than try to really understand alternate methods that achieve very high success rates.......with success measured in the number of fully harden off fig trees and not simply measured by the number of cuttings that manage to grow some roots. What I have suggested is practical, very simple (requires no special equipment...like those terrible heating pads, or expensive green houses), and consistently yields very good results. What I have posted is sound and easily reproduced by anyone. Anyone who desires to reduce or completely eliminate mold problems during fig rooting, should consider doing some of the things that I have suggested......simply because THEY WORK real well. Temperature, atmospheric pressure, absolute humidity, relative humidity, moisture, air (oxygen), cutting quality, and rooting environment are some of the variables that affect rooting success and potential molding issues. Most of these parameters are quite easy to control or manipulate to your advantage..... if you know how. It really is not that complicated. At least, I have been kind enough to share some of my thoughts,ideas, experiences, research data, methods, and techniques....we sure can't say that about everybody. Dan

Yes:Very Good question:Antonio. And I am glad to answer on this Forum,so other people see it,and if they want,they will do so. Here they are: Fig I fruited and found excellent tasting but not cold hardy. Needs to be grown in container here in New Jersey,or colder climates: Beall Col de Dame(all) Violette de Bordeaux (EL) Gipsy Fig (Zingarella) Adriatic Barnisotte(From UCDAVIS) Black Ischia Black Mission Sicilian Black (James Robin) These are all super high quality tasting figs,and container growing is needed for two reason: 1.These cultivars are not cold hardy 2.In container they can be placed in the sunniest spot in the yard,and so insure that they will get ripe every year here,because they are larger size fruitting figs that need more heat to get ripe compared with others. Vasile S