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gift of fig cuttings...

 
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Location: Suffolk County, Long Island NY, Zone: 7b (new 2023 map)
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Greetings all!

I received a wonderful gift: some cuttings from a fig tree.  A close friend's 97 year old father sent them along to me, with a video of him instructing me how to care for it.  

The video really grabbed my heart and filled me full of joy. It is so clear to me that this gentleman has propagated many a fig tree, and that the process is as familiar to him as washing his hands. I wish, wish, wish I could share the video, but we all understand why personal, unvetted videos can't be posted here.  Besides, to people with no emotional connection to the giver, the video would not have the same impact.  It probably seem like just an old dude sitting in a chair talking.

In any event, in the journey from his memory to speech, something got lost in translation. His instructions were as follows:

"Keep 'em in a sunny-shady place.  Not shade, not sun either.  Make sure they got plenty of water.  And in the wintertime, in the fall, you put it in the garage and you just leave it there until next spring.  And in the wintertime you don't water it.  You don't plant it in the ground yet.  You have to wait a year or two until those trees develop a root system.  Nothing else you should know."

They are currently residing in the bucket they were delivered in,.  It looks like they were put in plain old Long Island dirt.
So, my permie friends: how do I propagate my fig cuttings?
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That's a wonderful gift!
Some of the cuttings have too many leaves that you may want to remove some as they are wilting already. Keep the bucket in the bright shade as the gentleman suggested. Figs are easy to propagate so maybe all will root just fine as is. When a cutting successfully roots, there will be new growth showing and you can gently tug the twig to feel the resistance. Or put the cuttings in individual small pots then you can check the new roots coming out of the draining hole.  It will make later transplanting easy too as other plants won't get damaged.
 
Susan Mené
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May Lotito wrote:That's a wonderful gift!
Some of the cuttings have too many leaves that you may want to remove some as they are wilting already. Keep the bucket in the bright shade as the gentleman suggested. Figs are easy to propagate so maybe all will root just fine as is. When a cutting successfully roots, there will be new growth showing and you can gently tug the twig to feel the resistance. Or put the cuttings in individual small pots then you can check the new roots coming out of the draining hole.  It will make later transplanting easy too as other plants won't get damaged.
[/quote

Thank you so much! And when I permanently plant it, should  it go in part shade or full sun?

 
Susan Mené
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May Lotito wrote:That's a wonderful gift!
Some of the cuttings have too many leaves that you may want to remove some as they are wilting already. Keep the bucket in the bright shade as the gentleman suggested. Figs are easy to propagate so maybe all will root just fine as is. When a cutting successfully roots, there will be new growth showing and you can gently tug the twig to feel the resistance. Or put the cuttings in individual small pots then you can check the new roots coming out of the draining hole.  It will make later transplanting easy too as other plants won't get damaged.




And what about  his advice  of "don't water it in the winter"? Seems to me that will surely kill it.
 
May Lotito
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If they successfully rooted and grow a bit before the first frost, their root systems will still be weak. After the leaves dropped the little trees will be dormant throughout the winter. Keep them indoor like in tge basement with moist soil but they don't need excess water or fertilizer. Plant them outside after any risk of frost in a sunny spot with slightly acidic soil.
Do you know what the mother tree look like? That will give you an idea of a mature tree. When a fig tree takes off, it can grow very fast.
 
Susan Mené
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May Lotito wrote:If they successfully rooted and grow a bit before the first frost, their root systems will still be weak. After the leaves dropped the little trees will be dormant throughout the winter. Keep them indoor like in tge basement with moist soil but they don't need excess water or fertilizer. Plant them outside after any risk of frost in a sunny spot with slightly acidic soil.
Do you know what the mother tree look like? That will give you an idea of a mature tree. When a fig tree takes off, it can grow very fast.



Thanks again, May!
 
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I just saw this thread with some discussion of using an aquaponics system to propagate cuttings for fruit trees. They talk a bit about figs so i thought it might be interesting: https://permies.com/t/217851/Aquaponics-Build-AC-homestead-system
 
Susan Mené
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Mercy Pergande wrote:I just saw this thread with some discussion of using an aquaponics system to propagate cuttings for fruit trees. They talk a bit about figs so i thought it might be interesting: https://permies.com/t/217851/Aquaponics-Build-AC-homestead-system



Thank you for the link!  Just started reading,  Aquaponics...hmm.  
I believe there's something new I need to learn
 
May Lotito
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Figs can be propagated in many ways: softwood cutting, hardwood cutting, layering, air layering etc. Good for beginners to learn about growing trees.
Here are my hardy Chicago figs from hardwood cuttings. I started in early spring and they are quite leafy.
20230609_074604.jpg
Rooted figs from cuttings
Rooted figs from cuttings
 
Susan Mené
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May Lotito wrote:Figs can be propagated in many ways: softwood cutting, hardwood cutting, layering, air layering etc. Good for beginners to learn about growing trees.
Here are my hardy Chicago figs from hardwood cuttings. I started in early spring and they are quite leafy.



EEK! I am such a novice at this!  I had better get to reading!
 
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