Modified Shoebox Rooting Method

[Opiem10]

I want to give quick summary of a modified shoebox rooting method I have used in the past.

Supplies:
Plastic shoeboxes (4)
Plastic lids (2)
10 X 20 seedling mat ( no thermostat)
Rubber mat
12 x 24 inch ceramic tile
Razor knife
Diluted Clonex gel
Small chip brush
Fig cuttings (5 per box)
Coconut coir (just barely moist)

Process:
1) Fill a shoebox about 1/3 the way with coconut coir. Push coir up against one small side of the box. The coir might mound up to about 1” from the top lip of the box.
2) Make two shallow slits on the sides of old leaf nodes, up about 2 inches from the bottom of each cutting.
3) Brush the diluted (one part Clonex, 1 part water) Clonex over the bottom, both slits and over any old nodes which will be inserted into the coir.
4) Insert the cutting into the mound of coir, about halfway up from the bottom of the box. Space cuttings within the mound of coir and compact the coir so cuttings are securely in place.
Cover the shoebox, label with cultivar(s) being rooted, and write the date you performed these steps.
5) in another, empty shoebox, fill with about 3/4 “ of water. The water acts as a buffer with the heat mat.
6) place the shoebox with cuttings inside the shoebox with water and set these boxes on your heat mat. The mat may hold up to two shoebox setups.
7) I open the shoebox covers every day or two. Any moisture accumulating on the cover is allowed to drain onto the coir. As long as there is moisture seen on the plastic top, the media is moist enough.

You might see signs of roots developing along the side or bottom of the shoebox. BE PATIENT. Cuttings usually have an advanced root mass after 1 month.

We’ll check on the Battaglia Green and I-258 cuttings near the end of the year and hope for up-potting during the first week of January.

 

[ETXfigs]

Do their roots get tangled up with each other?

 

[ETXfigs]

This is interesting. Is the mat on top of the tile?

 

[TorontoJoe]

Tested and true method. Hands on.... it works very well

 

[ktrain]

This is how I got started.

 

[DianaNE]

I like the water bath idea !

 

[Opiem10]

The water buffers any excess heat that might kill cuttings if the media was heated with a mat that has no thermostat.

Roots will often intertwine. I limit the number of cuttings being rooted to five, for that reason.

When potting the rooted cuttings, I also shake off as much coir as possible as it would hold way too much water around the new roots as they develop.

 

[Opiem10]

This is interesting. Is the mat on top of the tile?

Rubber mat is used to protect any surface the setup is placed on. Tile protects the rubber mat from exposure to too much heat and potential melting. Heat mat is then placed on top of the tile and will make direct contact with the water-filled shoebox.

 

[GeauxFigs]

Can you give more info on separating the roots? I did a similar method last year (JSacadura). They grew awesome and had great root systems. Someone recommended a water bath to separate the roots which I did by filling the container. I was able to separate with just a bit of damage but the roots were hanging down and clumped together due to the weight of the water. I lost about 1/3 of my cuttings at separation/up-potting.

 

[Opiem10]

To separate intertwined roots, I gently lift the connected cuttings from the shoebox and slowly, very slowly and gently, begin to twist and pull the two entangled cuttings apart. I don’t use any water as detangling goes so much better in a barely moist media and with drier roots. When separating dry roots they don’t droop but rather stick out sideways, and mostly from the slits previously made down the sides of the leaf nodes.

After the cuttings are separated, I tap off as much of the coir as I can, using the side of the shoebox.

I plan on making a video showing how I separate the roots, provided my cuttings root the way they usually do.

 

[GeauxFigs]

Makes sense - thanks. I'll so some small trials this method this winter......

 

[ClayFig]

I’ve done this one time and had 90 percent success rate, however when I took the cuttings out of the coir and put them in soil, they pretty much all died. Now I’m very anxious about doing it again

 

[Opiem10]

I’ve done this one time and had 90 percent success rate, however when I took the cuttings out of the coir and put them in soil, they pretty much all died. Now I’m very anxious about doing it again

The up potting step is the one where I also have had the most failure. Consider the rooted cutting going from near 100% humidity and constant mid-70s temperature to a changed environment. We all know how such changes can be killers of young rooted cuttings.

 

[Figjake]

I use sand like this method. I find the best way to deal with them is to uppot at the end of week three when they got a bunch of roots and before they get too settled in. You wet the promix down a little more when doing the uppot since the sand is more moist.

 

[superdave336]

The up potting step is the one where I also have had the most failure. Consider the rooted cutting going from near 100% humidity and constant mid-70s temperature to a changed environment. We all know how such changes can be killers of young rooted cuttings.

Up potting is where I have the most failures as well. That’s when they are moved outside, sort of a sink or swim moment for them.

 

[Opiem10]

12/20 update: 13 days in the coir. No roots seen yet for the I-258 cuttings. However, roots are visible along the bottom of the shoebox for the Battaglia Green cuttings (photo of bottom corner of the shoebox).

No signs of green buds yet on any cutting.