Rooting fig cuttings

A fig cutting is a pencil-thick length of stem with everything a tree needs packed inside it. Give it warmth and a little moisture and it will grow roots from the nodes and leaves from the buds. Give it too much moisture and it will rot before it does either. That's the whole game: warm and barely damp, not warm and wet.

What a good cutting looks like

• Pencil-thick or a little more, 15–25 cm (6–10 in) long, with at least three nodes — the slight rings on the wood where leaves were.
• Cut fresh. We cut ours the day they ship, all year round. Winter wood is dormant and bare; a cutting taken in the growing season roots the same way once its leaves are off.
• Firm, with no soft or dark patches. Green under the bark when you scratch it with a thumbnail.
• Not in a hurry: a cutting keeps for weeks wrapped in a damp paper towel inside a bag in the fridge. Don't let it freeze.

The timeline

1. 1

   Day 0

   Prepare the medium

   Half perlite, half coconut coir (or a bagged seed-starting mix), moistened until it holds together when squeezed but releases no water. If water drips, it's too wet. Start again.

2. 2

   Day 0

   Set the cutting

   Bury the bottom two-thirds, at least two nodes under the surface, one or two buds above it. Optional: dip the base in rooting hormone first. It helps a little. It is not required.

3. 3

   Day 0

   Find warmth

   Roots grow at 21–27°C (70–80°F). The top of a fridge, a heat mat set low, a warm cupboard — anywhere steady. Light doesn't matter yet. Sun is actively harmful.

4. 4

   Weeks 1–3

   Wait, and don't water

   The medium started damp and the container holds the moisture. Check by weight or a fingertip, not by pouring. Buds may swell and leaves may unfold in this window. Ignore them.

5. 5

   Weeks 3–6

   Roots appear

   White roots show through the side of a clear cup or the bottom of the bag. Now, and only now, the cutting can drink. Water lightly and move it into bright, indirect light.

6. 6

   Week 6 onwards

   Pot up gently

   Once roots fill the cup, move to a 1-gallon pot of ordinary potting mix, disturbing the roots as little as possible. Keep it out of full sun for another two weeks, then harden it off a few hours a day.

Three methods that work

• The cup method — a clear plastic cup with drainage holes, so you can see the roots arrive. The simplest, and the one we'd suggest first.
• The fig pop — the cutting in a zip bag of damp medium, sealed, with the top of the cutting sticking out. The bag holds humidity so well you never touch it until roots show. Watch for mould if the medium was too wet.
• Straight in a pot — a 1-gallon pot of well-draining mix, set somewhere warm. Fewer steps, slightly lower odds, no repotting shock. Good if you have many cuttings and little time.

How cuttings actually die

• Too wet. Rot, every time. If in doubt, drier.
• Too cold. Below about 15°C (60°F) nothing happens, and the waiting invites rot.
• Sun too early. Leaves transpire, roots don't exist, the cutting desiccates from the top.
• Potted up too soon, tearing the few roots it had.
• A sealed bag with wet medium — mould wins.