Done with rooting cuttings

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NaturesFinest

Well-known member
The titel tells the story, i love figs but im absolutely done with rooting cuttings, last year i had 60% succes with an easy set up, this year i fully upgraded everything to follow the notorious fig guide 2.0 bought every single thing i needed for that even the rooting hormone and this year i only have 30% succes, rot or mold is not the problem but it seems to be root related and i do not understand why maybe someone can identify based on the pictures attached.

So last year i lost the 40% based on mold mainly and this year i lose 70% based on roots starting to develop but they then flat out and the cuttings dries out and dies.

Losing 70% is very painfull since i bought very high quality cuttings and very good varities lost over 1000 euros on cuttings now😅

Little extra information, i have them on a heating math with temperature controler set on 25 degrees celcius, i have 2 extra temperature controllers and they all give me the same degrees they are off by 0.5 degrees but thath should not be a big deal. Only other diffrence this year is that i used ferteliser on my starting medium, at 1/4 strenght of the houseplant strenght.

Personally i feel like its either the warmth of the heat mat or the ferteliser.
 

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387PETE said:
The temperature sounds right, the small amount of fertilizer shouldn't have hurt . How much did the pots weigh?
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Pots weight was between 650 en 675 grams and kept around that weight, when i squeezed really hard on the mixture barely any water came out maybe a very very tiny droplet😅
 
GoodFriendMike said:
How moist is your medium?
I agree with Pete. The fertilizer should not be a problem. I used to add some to my cutting medium with out an issue.
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I would say perfect moisture, very hard squeezing needed to get a very tiny droplet of water out of the mixture, i used 60% peatmoss, 40% perlite.
 
I don’t add fert until second watering and it’s like less than 1/4 strength via syringe in the corner…I leave the bag intact. I also get them under lights and mist with very diluted fish emulsion every couple days. Misting them is different than I did before and I believe it has helped. My plan is to leave them longer in the pot as most of my attrition before occurred during uppot.

Sitting close to 95+% but haven’t uppotted yet.
 

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Did you dissect the dead cuttings? My guess is you are too wet and rot got them after they rooted.
I dont water the medium until the cutting takes up all the moisture from the pop/cup. and then its a few CCs of 100ppm fertilizer water. the next time it dries a little, its time to up pot.
 
I would start by simplifying your process. You don't need to score the side of your cutting, and you don't need to use rooting hormone. Also, what soil are you using? I would use a peat based mix like promix ( are you using coco?). I would also wrap at least a part of the top of the cutting with parafilm. You should be getting at least 60-70% success unless something is wrong with your process. Overwatering is usually most people's problem too
 
I'm sorry for your loss and frustration.

I agree it looks like the soil was too wet. I measure my water when mixing soil so that it is 5 part soil to 1 part water by volume. I also weigh my cuttings when I first set them and then water from the bottom till I replace the amount lost. I usually don't need to water for at 4-5 weeks after they are set (wait till they've lost 100 gms).

I use heat mats and also added fertilizer (like 1/8 of a normal houseplant strength) and haven't had any problems. I use parafilm too because I root indoors where the air to very dry because of the heat. I don't use rooting hormone either. Direct planted, bagged treepots is my favorite method of rooting trees.
 
9ah-figlet said:
I'm sorry for your loss and frustration.

I agree it looks like the soil was too wet. I measure my water when mixing soil so that it is 5 part soil to 1 part water by volume. I also weigh my cuttings when I first set them and then water from the bottom till I replace the amount lost. I usually don't need to water for at 4-5 weeks after they are set (wait till they've lost 100 gms).

I use heat mats and also added fertilizer (like 1/8 of a normal houseplant strength) and haven't had any problems. I use parafilm too because I root indoors where the air to very dry because of the heat. I don't use rooting hormone either. Direct planted, bagged treepots is my favorite method of rooting trees.
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I literally do this methode, weight by volume 1 part water to 5 parts mixture. Weight the pot afterwards, and keep it within 100 grams reach.
 
@NaturesFinest you know I have the greatest respect for your Horticultural abilities, and intuition. That being said I feel like many members stated above your using too much moisture. I weigh about 320 lb. I have had a 180 lb grip most of my life. When I prepare the soil for a fig pop, or a cup, and lid propagation method there is no squeezing a drop or two of moisture out of the soil. You just can't do it because there's not that much moisture in the mixture. Also scraping is counter productive a lot of under the lignified bark rot starts right there scraping, or exposing the Cambium layer. Also I love using heating mats, but I don't trust the thermostats at all. I don't care how many thermostats you employ they're the likely fail point. Use a timer 20/30 minutes on, or off that way you don't really even need a thermostat. Which always fail.
 
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NaturesFinest said:
I literally do this methode, weight by volume 1 part water to 5 parts mixture. Weight the pot afterwards, and keep it within 100 grams reach.
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Good tip that I was missing. I did the 5/1 ratio and didn’t water again for 6 weeks. This year has been really warm in the garage and I watered at 4 weeks because 1. They felt light and 2. No more humidity on the inside of the bag. So I shot them with 30cc fert/water. I’ll have to remember to weigh next time. Thanks for the tip.
 
I see alot of responses stating a 5/1 ratio. Medium to water. I go by feel, and Im probably more in the 7/1 range, I think 5/1 is the absolute wettest you want to be. Its important to point out that the 5/1 only holds true if your medium is dry to start with. Many bags are torn or open and get wet or absorb alot of atmospheric mositure which will throw your volume measured ratio off a good bit.
 
NaturesFinest said:
I literally do this methode, weight by volume 1 part water to 5 parts mixture. Weight the pot afterwards, and keep it within 100 grams reach.
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I score the sides and use clonex . I apply a very thin layer with a small brush. Mine usually weight around 550 to 600 grams. I mix 5 to 1 water by volume not weight. With the bag closed around the cutting I usually don't have to water until I get some leaves. Did you have any fungus gnats?
 
DCallahan said:
I see alot of responses stating a 5/1 ratio. Medium to water. I go by feel, and Im probably more in the 7/1 range, I think 5/1 is the absolute wettest you want to be. Its important to point out that the 5/1 only holds true if your medium is dry to start with. Many bags are torn or open and get wet or absorb alot of atmospheric mositure which will throw your volume measured ratio off a good bit.
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Yeah i make my own mixture of 60% peatmoss and 40% perlite that mixture is bone dry😅
 
387PETE said:
I score the sides and use clonex . I apply a very thin layer with a small brush. Mine usually weight around 550 to 600 grams. I mix 5 to 1 water by volume not weight. With the bag closed around the cutting I usually don't have to water until I get some leaves. Did you have any fungus gnats?
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Yeah i also apply the clonex with a painters brush, 0 fungus gnats either thia year, maybe its still to much moisture with the 1/5 ratio for me ill probally go 1/6 or even 1/7 and give that a shot.
 
DCallahan said:
Have you checked the PH on your mix? Some peat moss can be very low in Ph. Premade products like Promix are Ph balanced
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I was going to say the same. The biggest difference between making your own mix and store bought mixes is...promix has a balanced ph, a wetting agent, and usually mycorrhizal. I wouldn't mess with making my own mix, until I got results I was used to and happy with first. I still don't think making your own mix is advantageous even when you have done this many times.
 
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