Fig Cuttings 2006

January. Cuttings started in yogurt cups, in seed starting soil.

April. Now they have been moved up into larger containers, and are outside under the grape arbor. It's too chilly at night to keep them outside, so each night I brought them back indoors, each morning returned them outdoors.

July. Moved up again into larger containers. Now they are in the vegetable garden all day. There is some shade from the strongest sun.

September. This melanzana has a little fig. This is about the final size this year.

These are chronological photos of fig cuttings from last year. They are not necessarily the same ones in progressive photos (I didnt have that as my intent when I took the photos) but they are representative, and most grew at similar rates. The Melanza and Hardy Chicago had one small fig each by the end of the year, but I don't think that they had a chance for the best flavor development.

Nice Hydrangia

What a large hydrangia. Postcard mailed Dec 25, 1938 from Berkeley, California.

Moved rose bush. Rhubarb is sprouting. Pruned Cherries.

This rose is "Jane Austin". It resulted from a cutting-grown plant. The shrub is about 3 years old. In 2006, it bloomed sporadically, but the flowers were fragrant, I almost never watered it, and it was disease free. Unfortunately, it was encroaching on a tree peony and would also compete with the tomatoes this year, so I dug it up and moved it. The top was pruned back to compensate for substantial root loss. The original plant, about 5 feet tall, is now about 18 inches tall, but I think that it will recover.
This rhubarb is starting to sprout. Maybe this year I'll actually make use of it? It's been fed with lots of coffee grounds. Will do the same this year too.

This cherry is a miniature. I pruned back the longest branches, cleaned out the middle a bit,. I wanted to keep it to a "bowl" form, but that would have required removing too much potential fruiting wood this time around. It is in its second winter.

The fig trees are pruned.

Actually I pruned them a couple of weeks ago. Here they are today.

Fig Cuttings: Desert King

After I mailed some cuttings from the Vancouver fig, one gardenweb member mailed back some Desert King cuttings. Despite my resolution not to start more than I can grow, here I go again (is this a sign of addiction?).

The original intent was to store them in the fridge (in a zip-lock bag) for a month or two, to start them in late winter or early Spring. However, these generous-sized cuttings were too big for a zip lock bag. So, I pruned a few inches from the bottom of each cutting. Each new section was then trimmed, leaving about 1/2 inch of twig above the top node, and 1/2 inch below the bottom node. Each has 2-3 nodes. They were then placed in small containers (for some reason I like the yogurt cups, which have several holes drilled in the bottom) which have been filled with moistened seed-starting medium. The seed starting medium is peat moss and perlite.

The remaining portions (the top part, which are now about 1 foot long and have the apical bud) are in a zip lock bag in the fridge, for more traditional treatment later. I don't know if there is any advantage to using a larger cutting. The little ones that I started last year did as well (often better) than the larger ones, resulting in trees that are about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall, now.

Others have used vermiculite, peat moss and sand (that worked well for me in the past), pure sand, and even paper towels (placing the cutting in a moist paper towel in a zip lock bag). Fig cuttings are usually fairly forgiving. Last Spring, I stuck left-over cuttings into the soil in the garden, and some of those also struck and grew about 1 foot of new growth.

I've used rooting hormone, and not used rooting hormone - I don't think it makes much difference. This time I did not use any.

These are in a sunny window. Last year I placed them on a heating pad, set at low, but I'm not in a hurry. I might take one to work which is warmer than home. It will be a way to get a head start on Spring, watching new little fig trees take off and grow.