AusBonsai

Wat is the best way to mass produce figs
I've got some ficus at the park nearby with 10 ficus benjimana or something similar thatare two meters plus tall and tried cuttings but failed
So I need some help
Do I use honey
And as I live in the NT and it's raining mostly every day now as it's the wet season do I need to water everday
Thanx

Nope you should not need to add more water unless the soil drying before it starts
you should have no trouble growing figs from cuttings there so long as they do not dry out.

I put my cutting ins a larger pot with a course mix, ( Sharp propagating Sand and coir peat), and cover with a plastic shopping bag. ( make a little wire frame to hold the back up.
Place on a Tray that will hold about 20mm of water and the cuttings and mix stay moist and not dry out.

You could purchase a special cutting grow box thing from the green shed will do the same thing.

Ken

Ficusboy101 wrote:Wat is the best way to mass produce figs

Definitely NOT from seed!

Decided I needed to get some seedlings for fusion grafts so this year I purchased seeds of various types thinking in a year or so all would be good. I know the germination rate is low, but I was expecting more than I got. Must have been about a thousand seeds I planted. So far only 15 have popped over the last week or so - 7 Morton Bay & 8 Small leaf. None of the other varieties at all yet. Still hoping for more but not counting on too much. Getting set up for mass cuttings instead over the next few weeks, if I can find enough.

Cheers

I propagate benjamina from tip cuttings only or airlayering.

Definitely NOT from seed!

I find this astonishing. Whenever i plant ficus seed I get exceptional germination - thousands sprout in a few weeks. I was once told that ficus seed, being subtropical, should not be dried or its germination reduces to very low. I have only ever sowed fresh seed, almost straight out of the fruit. The other thing i was told about ficus seed is that it needs light to germinate so I never cover the seed- just sprinkle (or spread with a knife if its still sticky) onto the surface of your seed raising mix.

Ficus boy - Ken's advice is good. You can buy some Propagating Mix (which is the mix of sand and peat that Ken mentioned) at the nursery or Green Shed. Honey is said to stimulate roots but I prefer to use the commercial rooting 'hormone'. Doesn't matter what sort, they all work. Again from the propagating shelf at the nursery. You can grow cuttings of many plants without but rooting hormone does make a difference to the time taken and number of successful cuttings, especially with hard to grow species.

Cut pieces of branch with 3 to 6 nodes (leaves). Cut the leaves off the bottom 1/2 - 2/3 of the cutting leaving 1 or 2 at the top. Cut the base just below a leaf node. Dip the base into rooting hormone. Make a hole in the propagating mix and insert the cutting so that 2 nodes are below the surface. Repeat until the pot is full then water well. Put the pot of cuttings into a covered box or cover them with a plastic bag to keep humidity high (it is possible that ambient humidity might be high enough in Darwin at this time of year to get away without a cover????)
Misting the leaves a couple of times a day will probably help. Water whenever the mix needs it, probably daily?

Good luck

shibui wrote:

Definitely NOT from seed!

I find this astonishing. Whenever i plant ficus seed I get exceptional germination - thousands sprout in a few weeks. I was once told that ficus seed, being subtropical, should not be dried or its germination reduces to very low. I have only ever sowed fresh seed, almost straight out of the fruit. The other thing i was told about ficus seed is that it needs light to germinate so I never cover the seed- just sprinkle (or spread with a knife if its still sticky) onto the surface of your seed raising mix.

The age of the seed is probably the issue for me, purchased these off ebay & the probably weren't as fresh as needed. May have to see if I can source some elsewhere & try again. Everything else I do is the same but no help.

As for cuttings, I don't usually do anything special, most of the time I even forget rooting hormone & plastic covering while still getting very good strike rates. I just ensure they go in a very free draining mix. Without roots to soak up some of the moisture I find most normal potting/seed raising mixes are too wet & the cutting rots quickly.

Cheers

I just use river sand for all my cuttings. Most other figs you can grow from truncheon cuttings. I just take long sticks (60cm) and stick them in the garden. They all come up. But benjamina I have failed with large cuttings. Just do the tip ones.