Take Fig Cuttings at the Right Time of Year

Q. I tried to start fig trees by cuttings taken from my big, sturdy tree and putting them in water or soil. Not much luck. How can I start new fig trees?

A. Figs are easy to start from cuttings provided you take them at the right time of year, the cuttings are the correct age and they are placed in a soil or medium that drains water and free from disease. They can also be started by air layering or rooting suckers at the base of the tree trunk. Placing cuttings in jars of water or using garden soil can lead to drainage and disease problems.

Suckers growing from the base of the trunk can be covered with soil, kept moist and they will grow roots. These rooted suckers can be potted and put in indirect light until fully rooted and then planted.

Air layering or marcottage can be used to form roots coming from damage done to stems on many different types of trees. Just do it at the right time.

            Cuttings taken from new growth in the spring are 6 to 8 inches long and range in diameter from pencil sized to as big as your thumb. With a sharp, sanitized pruning shears remove a length of new growth. Cut this new growth into pieces just below a node on the bottom and just above a node on the top. Include at least four nodes on each cutting and remove any leaves present on the cutting.

Cuttings don't have to be from large stems.

            Push these cuttings into perlite or sanitized potting soil in a clean container that drains. Stick these cuttings upright, a couple of inches apart, so that two of the nodes are beneath the soil or media and two are above. Use a rooting powder for a larger number of roots that are more vigorous.

Wine grape cuttings stuck in an amended soil and rooted.

            Place this container out of the direct sun but where there is plenty of indirect sunlight and keep it moist. Rooting occurs first followed by leaf development. Leaf development is a sign rooting has occurred.

Grape cutting forming roots at its nodes.

            Figs can also be started from the suckers at the base of the tree or by air layering. The base of the tree is mounded with soil around the suckers and kept moist. Damaging the sucker before mounding encourages root development. Traditional air layering methods can be used but keep them in the shade of the canopy so it is not damaged by direct sunlight.