I am moving from my house in southern California, back up to northern
California. When I first moved here, I bought a white fig tree and planted
it in a place of prominence in my front yard. It has done wonderfully, and
it produces wonderful, tasty figs, so I hate to leave it behind. Is there
any way I can take a cutting and propagate it? If I can and do, will the
figs taste the same or do they revert to some earlier gene pool?

Thanks!

I've not done this with woody plants before, but I would take some new growth,
maybe with a bud on the end (2-3" long). Skin a little bark off the botton
1/4" or so and dip in rooting hormone, then put in moist potting soil. Out
here in AZ I keep my cuttings moist by inverting a clear plastic cup over them
(careful with sun though). Hope this is of some use.

--
The US government wants the power to read citizens' email, but refuses to
defend the nation's borders. What's wrong with this picture?

"Anonymo421" wrote in message
...
I've not done this with woody plants before, but I would take some new
growth,
maybe with a bud on the end (2-3" long). Skin a little bark off the botton
1/4" or so and dip in rooting hormone, then put in moist potting soil. Out
here in AZ I keep my cuttings moist by inverting a clear plastic cup over
them
(careful with sun though). Hope this is of some use.

I had never done it before but used this same process this with 7 cuttings
from a friend's tree. Three of them survived and flourish. I put all seven
in one big pot and put it in a shady spot by my garage that never dries
out. My sticks were about 10" long and I made sure two buds were coated
with the hormone and under soil level. It did take a long time. I thought
they'd all failed until one day I noticed three were leafing out!

h-

Well, I guess it is worth a shot. I'll try to take several cuttings, just
in case my success rate is equally low! g

Figs are pretty easy to propagate from cuttings. Here is some info from the
Fig Fruit Facts from the California Rare Fruit Growers (check out the Fruit
Facts on the site for many many other fruits too!), crfg.org.

"Propagation: Fig plants are usual propagated by cuttings. Select foot-long
pieces of dormant wood, less than 1 inch diameter, with two-year-old wood at
base. One-year twigs with a heel of two-year branch at the base may also be
used. Dip the cuttings in a rooting hormone and allow them to callus one week
in a moist place at 50-60° F. Summer cuttings may also be made, but they do
best if defoliated and winterized in a refrigeration for 2-3 weeks before
potting. Leafy shoots require a mist bed. Particularly rare cultivars may be
propagated on rootstocks, or older trees, topworked by whip, cleft or crown
grafting, or chip or patch budding. Rooted cuttings should be planted in 22 to
30 feet squares, depending upon the capacity of the soil and the ultimate size
of the tree. Keep roots moist until planted. Never transplant or disturb a
young tree while it is starting new growth in spring, as this is likely to to
kill it. Cut the tree back to 2 ft high upon planting and whitewash the trunk."

"Tuckermor" wrote in message
...

"Propagation: Fig plants are usual propagated by cuttings. Select
foot-long
pieces of dormant wood, less than 1 inch diameter, with two-year-old wood
at
base. One-year twigs with a heel of two-year branch at the base may also
be
used. Dip the cuttings in a rooting hormone and allow them to callus one
week
in a moist place at 50-60° F.

Does this mean to not plant them immediately? If not, what is considered a
moist place? Just leave them exposed to air, but under a cover?

Thanks! This is a great excerpt!

In article ,
says...

"Tuckermor" wrote in message
...

"Propagation: Fig plants are usual propagated by cuttings. Select
foot-long
pieces of dormant wood, less than 1 inch diameter, with two-year-old wood
at
base. One-year twigs with a heel of two-year branch at the base may also
be
used. Dip the cuttings in a rooting hormone and allow them to callus one
week
in a moist place at 50-60° F.

Does this mean to not plant them immediately? If not, what is considered a
moist place? Just leave them exposed to air, but under a cover?

Thanks! This is a great excerpt!

I have rooted many figs and found them to be among the easiest of plants
to root successfully. Your best bet is to take cuttings from a dormant tree
Stock about 1 cm diameter is ideal. Cut just below the start
of the past seasons growth so that you have a foot or so of new growth (now
hardened off and defoliated) and a couple inches of the previous year's
growth, Rootone may help but is not essential. Take a pot about 8 inches
tall and put the cutting (or several not touching) in the pot all the way to
the bottom and fill with a good soil that has enough organic matter to hold
moisture well. You should end up with about 8 inches buried and 8 to 10 inches
above the rim of the pot.Put the pot where it will stay cool and get some
light. It would be best to do this in the Fall when the parent plant has just
gone dormant. In the spring the odds are 90% or so that the scion will make
a few leaves. It should stay in that pot and not dry out for a full season and
can then be transplanted when it goes dormant again. Some people bury the pot
in a cold frame. This relieves you of needing to remember not to let it dry
out.

"Jerome R. Long" wrote in message
...
I have rooted many figs and found them to be among the easiest of plants
to root successfully.

Okay, but you are talking to a person who has yet been able to get an
avocado pit to sprout!!

"DH" wrote in message ...
"Jerome R. Long" wrote in message
...
I have rooted many figs and found them to be among the easiest of plants
to root successfully.

Okay, but you are talking to a person who has yet been able to get an
avocado pit to sprout!!

I have propagated everything from succulent to softwood to conifer to
hardwood.
Being allergic to instruction manuals, I did it the wrong way, by
trial and error.
It is really not difficult if you adopt some golden rules.

1) always take cuttings in the dormant season
2) some of them do require callusing but my guess is that fig will do
without
3) a mist bed can be done cheaply and effectively with a plastic bag
over the pot. I usually get extra sticks, longer than the ones I use,
and that I plant at the pot edges. They keep the plastic up and away
from the cuttings
4) give them 8 weeks in cool but not cold shade for rooting
5) once new shoots start appearing, wait another month then VERY
GRADUALLY expose to increasing amounts of sunshine.
6) give them morning sun only throughout the first season.
7) transfer them to final location in the fall

"DH" wrote in message
...
"Jerome R. Long" wrote in message
...
I have rooted many figs and found them to be among the easiest of plants
to root successfully.

Okay, but you are talking to a person who has yet been able to get an
avocado pit to sprout!!

I have propagated everything from succulent to softwood to conifer to
hardwood.
Being allergic to instruction manuals, I did it the wrong way, by
trial and error.
It is really not difficult if you adopt some golden rules.

1) always take cuttings in the dormant season
2) some of them do require callusing but my guess is that fig will do
without
3) a mist bed can be done cheaply and effectively with a plastic bag
over the pot. I usually get extra sticks, longer than the ones I use,
and that I plant at the pot edges. They keep the plastic up and away
from the cuttings
4) give them 8 weeks in cool but not cold shade for rooting
5) once new shoots start appearing, wait another month then VERY
GRADUALLY expose to increasing amounts of sunshine.
6) give them morning sun only throughout the first season.
7) transfer them to final location in the fall



Will this work for plumeria? I have the same problem. I am moving and am
leaving a veritable tropical garden behind -- cherimoya, plumeria, star
fruit, pummelo, figs, bananas. :-(

/z.

(Zphysics1) wrote in message ...

1) always take cuttings in the dormant season
2) some of them do require callusing but my guess is that fig will do
without
3) a mist bed can be done cheaply and effectively with a plastic bag
over the pot. I usually get extra sticks, longer than the ones I use,
and that I plant at the pot edges. They keep the plastic up and away
from the cuttings
4) give them 8 weeks in cool but not cold shade for rooting
5) once new shoots start appearing, wait another month then VERY
GRADUALLY expose to increasing amounts of sunshine.
6) give them morning sun only throughout the first season.
7) transfer them to final location in the fall



Will this work for plumeria? I have the same problem. I am moving and am
leaving a veritable tropical garden behind -- cherimoya, plumeria, star
fruit, pummelo, figs, bananas. :-(

/z.

I have no idea what plumeria is, but all those above are standard
instructions. The only things I have found that really require
callusing are pineapple and sansevieria. I do know that bananas are
easy to propagate but have no idea how you do it.