Taking a fig cutting

[Simpo Two]

There's a fig tree, about 10 feet high and wide, which I'd like to take a cutting from or propagate in some way. Variety is probably Brown Turkey if that makes a difference.

I'm not much good at gardening so hoped somebody here would have the answer

[Simpo Two]

Thanks folks - it's tomorrow morning or never.

So it seems to be:

Cut off a shoot and stick it in a pot of medium.

The current tree had an interesting birth. About 15 years ago it was very small, in a pot, and I fired an air pistol at the pot from about 30 feet. The pellet went through the pot and right through the stem, cutting the top off... a 'pellet cutting' if you like! The top somehow survived and made it to the current tree. But tomorrow the house is being handed over and I'd like a cutting for old times sake.

[Simpo Two]

Well I took three cuttings on Friday, about 5" from each of three growing tips, pulled off the lower 1-2 leaves to reduce water loss and stuck the lower 3" or so into potting compost. I then pushed the spare leaves + petiole into the compost as well, just in case. There was still quite a lot of leaf area on the cuttings so I made a little enclosure from sticks and cling film to try to keep the humidity up. (I hope any plasticizers in the cling film won't have a deleterious effect).

Two days on and the leaves are limp, but I suppose that was to be expected. Not sure if I should remove more leaves; maybe the shock will do more harm than good.

So now it's just a waiting game; the cuttings are in a west-facing window but don't get direct sun.

Didn't realise they needed a pollinator though.

[Simpo Two]

Hi Jeff,

As you seem to be an expert on this, what do you think of my cuttings? I'm concerned they might just wilt away and die... or do they look normal for 3 days in?



Should I cut off more leaves?

[Simpo Two]

OK, have cut a few off.

However some of the leaves are the petiole-only cuttings (which I doubt will work but worth a go).

Or should I cut all the leaves off and just leave a stick? Or doesn't it matter now?

[Simpo Two]

Thanks - I've cut all but the tiniest leaves off now. Hope they didn't suck too much water out of the stem part; we shall see... I thought they might provide some energy, so it was transpiration vs energy...


Seems like 'hardwood cutting' means 'from a bit lower down'. The terminology is not very good!