To be continued...
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Single Node Cuttings Experiments
Love or hate me, experimenting is my hobby, no matter the subject. This particular batch of experiments began on 10/9/14 with the potting of one cutting of Armenian (smaller eye variant) that was sent to me from fig forum member.
Should have documented better with photo's but didn't foresee this turning into anything major and it still may flop, who knows? Here she is today...
This obviously was not a single node cutting, being there are two shoots. Best as I remember it had three nodes. The cutting was completely buried, very shallow, with only the leaf bud showing. It was kept on the kitchen table, uncovered and only sprayed every other day around the cutting with a couple squirts of water as the top of the soil appeared to be dry.
Why was the cutting buried? This cutting had root nodules already forming along the entire cutting. Didn't know how to proceed with it so just buried it!
Earlier attempts at rooting cuttings have only resulted in about 50% success rate on my first try with Celeste cuttings gifted by a generous fig forum member and 90% fail on my last attempt with purchased cuttings. Dang I hated to lose those! Mold with resulting rot has been the main issue and I since have figured that the cutting media has been kept too wet.
This little fig tree has done well so far in media that has probably only been kept barely moist and by barely I mean BARELY! If you pick up a handful of media, squeeze it as hard as you can and even get a drop of water, it is too wet for fig cuttings in my fig newbie opinion. That is about how moist of media I started out with.
Unknown Lake Spur (ULS) has provide an abundance of cuttings. Having done some research in fig forums about burying cuttings horizontally, the concept of single node cuttings was discovered and had to be tried.
This was done on 10/19/14 with twenty-four ULS single node cuttings, each being approximately 1.5 - 2 inches long, leaving about an inch of stem on either side of the node. Ends were dipped in molten food grade cheese wax @ 250 F and buried in potting mix, just trying to leave the nodes a bit exposed. They were stored in a large covered tote that was uncovered daily to allow air exchange and check for moisture. They only needed additional moisture about every 3 - 4 days and just a squirt each. Somewhere was read to water near the cutting and allow any excess moisture to be wicked away toward the outer edges. This made sense to me so was done.
Notice the surface of the mix appears to be dry? Well it is extremely dry compared to previous attempts. Kept just barely moist.
On 10/25/14, the first bud break was noticed. Photo taken after a squirt of water from the spray bottle.
As of today, 11/02/14, every cutting of ULS in this experiment has budded out. Not able to see any roots from looking at the container bottom yet but this next photo is a fairly reasonable indication that there are roots forming in the media, same cutting as above photo...
See that tiny root poking out on the edge of the leaf petiole scar? Cute eh! It was covered with a bit of mix and onward we go with a couple more leafing photo's...
Yes the color seems a bit weird. These are now residents of the bright room, illuminated with a 1000 watt Metal Halide, along with a hundred more new single-node cuttings, all done yesterday, 11/01/14. This light does some weird things with cell phone photo's as is more noticeable in some following photo's.
ULS cuttings not only provided ample experiment subjects of itself, several trades were done with fig forum members for different fig varieties, great folks who all share a passion for growing figs and are often very generous, above and beyond the set-forth trade agreements.
Ended up with Maltese Falcon, Galbun, Sicilian White, Unk Dark Portuguese, Preto, Bensonhurst Purple, LSU Gold, Petite Negri, Unk Sweet Diana, Kure Beach, Deanna, Flanders and a few more with more still to come as trees go dormant.
Some of these were made into single-node cuttings, placed into the bright room and covered with foil to keep the light off of them until some roots form, probably within ten days or sooner. The warmth of the room due to the light with ceiling fan circulating air is 82 F at the floor and mid height. This is about 10 degrees warmer than the kitchen where other rooting has taken place and is supposed to encourage faster root formation.
The cuttings were placed into a 50/50 mix of potting mix and fresh worm castings, same method as ULS were done except for the containers and castings. These are re-usable styrofoam bowls with clear solo cups as covers which were obtained at the local convenience mart deli. Each bowl has a drain hole, though doubtful they will ever need it any time soon and each cup has three air vents in the top. This should be enough to keep the castings biologically alive and help prevent any quick moisture loss. Thought it was kind of neat how the cups perfectly "snap" securely into the bowls. When and if watering is needed, some will be applied via syringe through a cup vent hole.
Now we wait for roots. Oh, that's not all, as if enough experimenting hasn't been done. I read that green cuttings do not last long in the refrigerator as compared to dormant cuttings which have hardened off. Don't want them to go to waste so this was done earlier today, 11/02/14.
The remaining Unk Lake Spur cuttings were all cut into single-nodes, ends dipped in hot wax and laid into a Sterilite container which had been layered thinly in the bottom with potting mix and worm castings.
These were then covered with a layer of mix and the rest of the cuttings laid on top...
These were also covered with mix, leveled out but not packed at all. The mix is barely moist with no additional water added. The container lid was put on and it all is now in the closet of the bright room. This is similar to the popular method of rooting cuttings in long sphagnum moss I suppose. Hoping in a week or so to see roots through the container bottom, at which time there will be a potting event.
Think I failed to mention that during this time since the horizontal Armenian cutting, I have not noticed any gnats taking any interest in any of this. Is it because of the less wet media? Perhaps. For awhile some weeks ago I did have gnat issues with cuttings in perlite, in covered quart containers and ziplock bags in the kitchen. That resulted in a 90% loss of that batch of cuttings. All I have left are one Sal's Corleone and three Sal's El, two of which are still questionable but they really seem to be enjoying their new bright room along with a gifted Dalmatie (the largest one) from a generous fig forum member!
When I say a "squirt" of water, it comes from that Wal Mart spray bottle. I also keep a quart of water sitting uncovered to allow any chlorine to evaporate out. Soon everything will be squirted with aerated worm castings tea.
Speaking of worm castings, aside from my own I have found a very good online source, the second best worm castings I ever used and a great deal from Larry Hall's. They are near to perfect as one can get them, kept in breathable bags, a must to keep them alive. There will be many more posts to come on the positive attributes of worm castings.
Will update soon as there is something worth recording. Thanks for looking! :)
Should have documented better with photo's but didn't foresee this turning into anything major and it still may flop, who knows? Here she is today...
This obviously was not a single node cutting, being there are two shoots. Best as I remember it had three nodes. The cutting was completely buried, very shallow, with only the leaf bud showing. It was kept on the kitchen table, uncovered and only sprayed every other day around the cutting with a couple squirts of water as the top of the soil appeared to be dry.
Why was the cutting buried? This cutting had root nodules already forming along the entire cutting. Didn't know how to proceed with it so just buried it!
Earlier attempts at rooting cuttings have only resulted in about 50% success rate on my first try with Celeste cuttings gifted by a generous fig forum member and 90% fail on my last attempt with purchased cuttings. Dang I hated to lose those! Mold with resulting rot has been the main issue and I since have figured that the cutting media has been kept too wet.
This little fig tree has done well so far in media that has probably only been kept barely moist and by barely I mean BARELY! If you pick up a handful of media, squeeze it as hard as you can and even get a drop of water, it is too wet for fig cuttings in my fig newbie opinion. That is about how moist of media I started out with.
Unknown Lake Spur (ULS) has provide an abundance of cuttings. Having done some research in fig forums about burying cuttings horizontally, the concept of single node cuttings was discovered and had to be tried.
This was done on 10/19/14 with twenty-four ULS single node cuttings, each being approximately 1.5 - 2 inches long, leaving about an inch of stem on either side of the node. Ends were dipped in molten food grade cheese wax @ 250 F and buried in potting mix, just trying to leave the nodes a bit exposed. They were stored in a large covered tote that was uncovered daily to allow air exchange and check for moisture. They only needed additional moisture about every 3 - 4 days and just a squirt each. Somewhere was read to water near the cutting and allow any excess moisture to be wicked away toward the outer edges. This made sense to me so was done.
Notice the surface of the mix appears to be dry? Well it is extremely dry compared to previous attempts. Kept just barely moist.
On 10/25/14, the first bud break was noticed. Photo taken after a squirt of water from the spray bottle.
As of today, 11/02/14, every cutting of ULS in this experiment has budded out. Not able to see any roots from looking at the container bottom yet but this next photo is a fairly reasonable indication that there are roots forming in the media, same cutting as above photo...
See that tiny root poking out on the edge of the leaf petiole scar? Cute eh! It was covered with a bit of mix and onward we go with a couple more leafing photo's...
Yes the color seems a bit weird. These are now residents of the bright room, illuminated with a 1000 watt Metal Halide, along with a hundred more new single-node cuttings, all done yesterday, 11/01/14. This light does some weird things with cell phone photo's as is more noticeable in some following photo's.
ULS cuttings not only provided ample experiment subjects of itself, several trades were done with fig forum members for different fig varieties, great folks who all share a passion for growing figs and are often very generous, above and beyond the set-forth trade agreements.
Ended up with Maltese Falcon, Galbun, Sicilian White, Unk Dark Portuguese, Preto, Bensonhurst Purple, LSU Gold, Petite Negri, Unk Sweet Diana, Kure Beach, Deanna, Flanders and a few more with more still to come as trees go dormant.
Some of these were made into single-node cuttings, placed into the bright room and covered with foil to keep the light off of them until some roots form, probably within ten days or sooner. The warmth of the room due to the light with ceiling fan circulating air is 82 F at the floor and mid height. This is about 10 degrees warmer than the kitchen where other rooting has taken place and is supposed to encourage faster root formation.
The cuttings were placed into a 50/50 mix of potting mix and fresh worm castings, same method as ULS were done except for the containers and castings. These are re-usable styrofoam bowls with clear solo cups as covers which were obtained at the local convenience mart deli. Each bowl has a drain hole, though doubtful they will ever need it any time soon and each cup has three air vents in the top. This should be enough to keep the castings biologically alive and help prevent any quick moisture loss. Thought it was kind of neat how the cups perfectly "snap" securely into the bowls. When and if watering is needed, some will be applied via syringe through a cup vent hole.
Now we wait for roots. Oh, that's not all, as if enough experimenting hasn't been done. I read that green cuttings do not last long in the refrigerator as compared to dormant cuttings which have hardened off. Don't want them to go to waste so this was done earlier today, 11/02/14.
The remaining Unk Lake Spur cuttings were all cut into single-nodes, ends dipped in hot wax and laid into a Sterilite container which had been layered thinly in the bottom with potting mix and worm castings.
These were then covered with a layer of mix and the rest of the cuttings laid on top...
These were also covered with mix, leveled out but not packed at all. The mix is barely moist with no additional water added. The container lid was put on and it all is now in the closet of the bright room. This is similar to the popular method of rooting cuttings in long sphagnum moss I suppose. Hoping in a week or so to see roots through the container bottom, at which time there will be a potting event.
Think I failed to mention that during this time since the horizontal Armenian cutting, I have not noticed any gnats taking any interest in any of this. Is it because of the less wet media? Perhaps. For awhile some weeks ago I did have gnat issues with cuttings in perlite, in covered quart containers and ziplock bags in the kitchen. That resulted in a 90% loss of that batch of cuttings. All I have left are one Sal's Corleone and three Sal's El, two of which are still questionable but they really seem to be enjoying their new bright room along with a gifted Dalmatie (the largest one) from a generous fig forum member!
When I say a "squirt" of water, it comes from that Wal Mart spray bottle. I also keep a quart of water sitting uncovered to allow any chlorine to evaporate out. Soon everything will be squirted with aerated worm castings tea.
Speaking of worm castings, aside from my own I have found a very good online source, the second best worm castings I ever used and a great deal from Larry Hall's. They are near to perfect as one can get them, kept in breathable bags, a must to keep them alive. There will be many more posts to come on the positive attributes of worm castings.
Will update soon as there is something worth recording. Thanks for looking! :)
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Bountiful Figs Forum
There is a new and really nice place for fig lovers to gather, learn, show & tell all about figs. You will find the link over there on the right. Bountiful Figs! Come join us and bring your fig pictures!
So here is a reply to one of my postings in Bountiful Figs by Susie. Will have to try her recipe...
"charlie , nice tea blog. which varieties smell like cat pee? i've never smelled that on figs.
i'll try your recipe, but i think you probably make it too strong if you need a sweetener.
for myself, i add some leaves to cold water n bring it to a bare simmer. then i remove immediately from the heat. i find this pleasant with no sweetening.
it's even better with a little green tea, added for 30 seconds at the end."
Now about some of my fig leaves having a cat pee odor. Others like Susie who lives in a dry, hot climate do not notice any cat pee odor. Others have written about the odor. Perhaps it is a humidity issue? I may never know.
So here is a reply to one of my postings in Bountiful Figs by Susie. Will have to try her recipe...
"charlie , nice tea blog. which varieties smell like cat pee? i've never smelled that on figs.
i'll try your recipe, but i think you probably make it too strong if you need a sweetener.
for myself, i add some leaves to cold water n bring it to a bare simmer. then i remove immediately from the heat. i find this pleasant with no sweetening.
it's even better with a little green tea, added for 30 seconds at the end."
Now about some of my fig leaves having a cat pee odor. Others like Susie who lives in a dry, hot climate do not notice any cat pee odor. Others have written about the odor. Perhaps it is a humidity issue? I may never know.
When I first was considering getting fig trees, my brother-in-law told me that his brother dug up a whole fig tree because it smelled like cat pee. I just figured some wild cat had been using it for a marking post. Seriously have doubts any cat could get close enough to my trees to do such a thing with Vader the wonder dog on watch...
Enough about cat pee fig leaf odors. Once they dry there is only a wonderful scent of vanilla-cinnamon like, best as I can describe them.
Oh I have to show my first ever ripe Hardy Chicago fig! This delicious little jewel was hiding under a leaf and I was very fortunate to have found it just in time...
Best fig ever! Well it was my very first ripe fig and I am most surely looking forward to coming years and many varieties.
This blog will also be about figs in case anyone thought it was only going to be about fig leaves for tea. That's all for now, fig-nite. :)
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Fig Tea Leaf Intro
Hi and welcome to Fig Tea Leaf
I'm Charlie Little from Mansfield, Arkansas. The fig tree in the above photo is, as of yet an unknown variety that was recently discovered in a local backyard. Its dry leaves are very aromatic in a pleasant way and make an incredibly tasty tea, hot or cold. Unknown Lake Spur is its name until a positive ID can be determined.
About the beginning of July, 2014, I became interested in fig leaves for tea, having been doing research on persimmon leaves for tea, it came up in a Google search. I love persimmon leaf tea and so the quest began for a few fig trees from which to harvest my own leaf. Really not much available.
As innocent as that may seem, the small quest has turned into a full blown fig fascination and growing collection of now over 40 fig varieties and adding more all the time. Not only do I want to have variety in ripe figs, a commodity not available much if at all locally, but also to have many different varieties to harvest tea leaf from.
Of my fig varieties, some have a distinct "cat pee" odor. This seems to be fairly common while some have no odor whatsoever. I have discovered though, the more they smell like cat pee while green, the better they smell when the leaves either fall off on their own or are removed and dried.
So far my limited experience with Fig Tea Leaf is with the above Unk Lake Spur but eventually my dream is to have as many varieties as I can fit into whatever area and to determine if there are even subtle differences in tea flavors from different varieties. Soon I will get to try some of my own leaf as the trees begin to go dormant. It is said by some that the leaves which fall naturally are void of sap in the Autumn, making for a smoother tea.
There is some info available on the possible health benefits of Fig Tea Leaf. I won't get into that in this post but perhaps in future postings. Right now I'm simply enjoying growing figs and enlarging my collection.
My Fig Leaf Tea recipe:
About 3 fig leaves, dried and crumbled to small particles. Add to water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Strain through a handkerchief into bowl. Add about 1/8 cup raw honey, stir to dissolve. Add water to get a "green tea" look.
I love it cold or hot. Also great as a blend with Persimmon Leaf Tea, made the same way.
Stay tuned for future Fig Tea Leaf postings. Right now I have very limited samples available so feel free to email figtealeaf@gmail.com to inquire.
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