Grafting vs rooting cuttings

[SFswiss]

In my previous life I did many avocado scion grafting, so it was obvious that I would also graft fig cuttings. New to me, however, was rooting cuttings. I prefer grafting if there’s a rootstock available. There’s a stark difference between cutting growth!
With grafting you have to be careful not to break the graft union and stake it well; whereas with rooting you have to make sure not to disturb or break off new roots when it’s time to up pot.
Look at the example below of a graft and rooting I did on 9/20/2025 - they’ve been growing under the same conditions.

 

[WhiteCliffsFigs]

So the one in the white pot was grafted ? Correct?

 

[SFswiss]

So the one in the white pot was grafted ? Correct?

Yeah sorry forgot to specify - the one on the left (white pot) grafted on a BlackJack rootstock and the tree pot one is a rooted cutting.

 

[WhiteCliffsFigs]

Yeah sorry forgot to specify - the one on the left (white pot) grafted on a BlackJack rootstock and the tree pot one is a rooted cutting.

What type of graft did you do?

 

[SFswiss]

What type of graft did you do?

I did a cleft graft. I prefer to do a cleft or modified cleft graft. Harvey @Figaholics has a great demonstration on YouTube!

 

[ohiobruce]

That's pretty interesting. What do you do with inground trees that get cut back for winter? Graft really low and prune above the graft, I assume, but does it take on the cold-hardiness of the root stalk?