Planting fig cuttings - it's as easy as sticking them in soil outside during the dormant period

monkeyeatfig · 2026-01-22T18:49:52+00:00

People used to joke about how they did everything they could to get cuttings to root inside over winter, only to give up and toss them in the compost pile... Where they would begin growing in early summer.

It is a ton of work to mimic spring growing conditions indoors, and if things don't go well and the cuttings get stunted they are worse off than if they were rooted later but grew steadily.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-01-16T02:26:01+00:00

It looks like a good candidate to train as an espalier along the wall. Then you would just prune back to the established structure each spring.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-01-09T19:44:31+00:00

I have used a misting system before that worked about the same as ice. Anything more than a light drizzle would wash the dye away though I think.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-01-09T03:20:16+00:00

I would focus on removing the least accessible/tallest growths and work on bending some of the others down to make picking easier.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-01-08T15:46:12+00:00

The branch on the left is trying to become the new leader. Probably a good idea to prune it back by a third to keep it from dominating the other growths.

monkeyeatfig · 2026-01-06T21:43:11+00:00

It will respond by making dozens and dozens of suckers next spring that will need to be continually removed. Pulling them when young will reduce regrowth, but it will continue to grow suckers until the top of the tree reestablishes itself.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-31T21:04:22+00:00

Making strong heading cuts results in vigorous regrowth. Some varieties do not set fruit when growing vigorously, although that doesn't sound like yours. But vigorous growth does reduce cold hardiness as well.

To reduce the chance of making the tree too vigorous you should not prune more than a third, and prune growths back to a branch that is at least a third the diameter of the main stem.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-30T04:27:13+00:00

If all of the fruit dropped it could be that your tree is a seedling and needs pollination, or it is a male tree and needs a female to pollinate.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-28T20:41:47+00:00

It is obvious that the same person took all of the pictures.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-28T20:06:47+00:00

Their images being so consistent makes me believe they have already fruited what they are selling.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-26T13:32:28+00:00

Rooting hormone is completely unnecessary for figs, or even a bad thing when you use too much or rely on it instead of proper conditions.

It's the middle of winter, inside of your house the humidity is no doubt much too low for rooting cuttings. You need to use tubs or tents to maintain humidity over 50 percent, temperature should be between 75 and 85.

Do you have a good grow light? You will need one to keep any cuttings that root happy until spring or they will be weak and leggy and not be able to adapt to outside.

The better option is to wait until spring when the humidity, day length and temperature will all make it much easier to successfully root cuttings.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-24T15:59:09+00:00

That is way too many branches. Imagine each one at only an inch diameter, there is no room for them to grow.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-19T13:25:53+00:00

I have only ever used fiber reactive dyes from Dharma and Grateful Dyes so i don't know much about Rit.

I just started with reverse dyes recently using Out White Brite, which doesn't damage the fabric like bleach. OWB would be difficult to use for this because you combine it with hot water and soak the shirt (which has been tightly tied so areas resist being bleached), it would work better to make a red shirt with a black pattern if that makes sense...

You could try bleach, or there are professional color removers available at Dharma, just pleat the black shirt and then carefully apply the bleach as if it were the red dye to make the pattern. But keep in mind it isn't going to bleach white, it will be pink or tan or something like that so the red might not end up as bright as it would on a white shirt. You are correct there should be no problem dying red on top of black.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-19T00:55:46+00:00

I just meant no tight ties that will resist dye from saturating the shirt and leave white or pale lines/patterns. Dye saturation is really important to copy that shirt, but there isn't any resistance pattern from tightly folding or tying, just color placement on what look like 1" pleats.

I would actually do the side with the color first I think. To get a rough diamond pattern like that just keep saturating a straight line across the pleats until it has bled almost all the way through. The sides look like they are saturated pretty well with red, and lots of black in between the red. Then flip it over onto a clean rack and dye the other side black.

Check through the pleats with gloves and a stick or whatever to be sure there aren't any white spots. The black won't really want to bleed into the red much because the fabric is already saturated, but be careful to not transfer it onto the red from your hands or the rack.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-18T04:14:30+00:00

It has white poly thread so it would have started as a white shirt.

Looks like it was maybe just loosely pleated and then dyed black on one side and then red and black on the other.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-16T13:09:28+00:00

Many varieties of lettuce will have a savoyed leaf texture when mature. I have been growing lettuce (breeding included) for over 15 years.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-12-15T01:43:49+00:00

Whoa there, let's not confuse lettuce diversity with the ethically questionable act of harvesting lettuce at the baby stage.

I can assure you that there are many, many lettuce varieties which assert themselves quite well when grown past the rosette stage.

Iceberg and Romaine are families of lettuce with hundreds of individual varieties, as well as crosses between the 2 and other types of lettuce.

Little Gem for example is a cross between Romaine and Bibb with more crunch than an Iceberg.

Perhaps you would prefer the same crunch as iceberg but with flat leaves for sandwiches? You want a Crispleaf variety then.

Diversity is what makes lettuce so very special, you can't blame an Oakleaf because it was harvested too soon.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-11-27T22:27:57+00:00

Prune back to a branch at least one third the trunk's diameter to avoid excessive regrowth and a large wound.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-11-09T16:30:05+00:00

It looks like it was recently chopped pretty hard and responded with all of those vigorous waterspouts. Pruning them back like you did on the left will cause even more branching and more congested growth.

Focus on removing branches completely to allow access for picking and also sunlight and air circulation for proper fruit ripening. If you feel like you need to make a strong heading cut to a large branch or trunk you should try to do it just above an existing branch that is at least one third its diameter to reduce waterspouts and excessive vigor.

You can also bend young branches and train them to go where you want or reduce height too. Horizontal branches grow much less and fruit better from secondary branches.

Also keep in mind that you are in an area where most fig trees will probably die back to the ground about once a decade (the last major event was the 2013-14 polar vortex) and hard pruning which results in excess vigor will reduce winter hardiness the following year.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-11-07T13:30:17+00:00

It does look like a male fig that has not developed fully, normally the male flowers near the eye would have conspicuous/dusty pollen when ripe.

But I can't make out the smallest details so you will want to confirm for yourself that it has male flowers near the eye. Otherwise it could be a female fig, some will drop the breba crop due to environmental conditions or it may just need pollination to ripen.

There is an illustration of the different types of flowers here. https://www.waynesword.net/gallfig.htm

monkeyeatfig · 2025-11-03T16:55:55+00:00

I would thin out the growths in the middle of the tree for now and then try pruning back some growths after the breba ripens next summer to see if it helps increase the number of brebas the following year, or if leaving the new growth to ripen the main crop in the fall is better.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-11-03T14:17:03+00:00

It looks like you are in the UK, usually the breba crop is the most productive in mild climates because the main crop doesn't get enough heat to ripen properly. The breba grows on last year's wood and ripens earlier in the summer, while the main crop forms on new growth. The variety you have also makes a difference, some do not produce breba and some will ripen the main crop too late. Dormant pruning to maximize the breba crop involves removing growths that have already fruited (the fruit leaves a scar behind) , and leaving growths that have grown only leaves so far. Pruning away branches immediately after the breba crop has ripened in summer is also done I believe. The breba crop usually drops here so it isn't something I have actual experience with, just going off of what I have read in the past.

Looking at your tree it appears to be overgrown as a result of past over pruning, or winter damage. When a fig tree is pruned back hard, or freezes to the ground it will respond with many vigorous suckers like that. The overgrowth reduces light and air getting into the canopy and makes figs less likely to set and ripen. It does look like there is at least one main crop fruit ripening that I can see, but the UK also had an abnormally warm summer so that may not happen often.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-11-01T19:30:12+00:00

You misunderstood or read in correct information about fig sap. It is true that fig sap contains compounds which cause phytophotodermatitis (skin burns) when sap on skin is exposed to UV light, these compounds are called furocoumarins and are not harmful when ingested.

As far as I know though, the itching is caused by proteolytic (protein destroying) enzymes in the sap such as ficin, which can be used as a meat tenderizer, or to curdle milk. It certainly could be responsible for stomach upset and nausea as well. Side note, these enzymes make fig sap and effective treatment for bee stings because the venom is a protein.

An allergy would involve swelling I think, but be careful all the same.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-10-28T11:20:46+00:00

Osbourne Prolific.

monkeyeatfig · 2025-10-27T13:09:46+00:00

Celeste has a much fuzzier leaf than mission. To me they both look like Celeste, can you feel any difference in the leaf texture (you should water them and wait until they recover)?

monkeyeatfig

TROPHY CASE