JOLLY TIGER FIG CULTURE
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As you can see I am redoing this entire web page. There are many viewers who do not have English as a second language and I feel their need is best addressed more as pictorial essays.
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FIG TREE CUTTINGS
All variegated plants have a genetic disease called chimera. It effects the plants ability to produce cells that have chlorophyll. Reproducing plants that have desirable variegation can often be challenging. One of the most difficult is the JOLLY TIGER fig. Let us look at 5 chimera examples that I have found on my farm.
Virginia Blue Bell Japanese Wine Berry Pachysandra
American Spicebush Wapsipinicon Peach Tomato
Jolly Tiger figs present a number of difficulties in propagation. First it is not like other figs. If you have a cutting of a Hardy Chicago with just one bud and it sprouts you will get a Hardy Chicago. However this is not true with Jolly Tiger. The chimera disease is spaced unevenly through out the stem and any single bud can sprout as green, albino, poorly variegated or highly variegated. You want cuttings to have as many buds as possible, this gives you more chances. If it sprouts albino just cut it off and let another bud sprout till you get a desirable result.
Starting Cuttings
I have a preference to the baggie method. It is simple and almost foolproof.
There are two ways to wrap the figs depending on which season you have taken your cutting. If they were taken in full dormancy you wrap the stem from the bottom edge to an inch from the top. If the figs are in an active growing stage and they have leaves, cut the leaves off and then wrap the cutting with 1/2 inch of the bottom showing and leave 1 inch at the top exposed. Place bagged cuttings in refrigerator and let cuttings callus. Remove to warm place (NOT SUNNY) till roots start and pot in loose well drained medium.
There are two ways to wrap the figs depending on which season you have taken your cutting. If they were taken in full dormancy you wrap the stem from the bottom edge to an inch from the top. If the figs are in an active growing stage and they have leaves, cut the leaves off and then wrap the cutting with 1/2 inch of the bottom showing and leave 1 inch at the top exposed. Place bagged cuttings in refrigerator and let cuttings callus. Remove to warm place (NOT SUNNY) till roots start and pot in loose well drained medium.
Here are the cuttings I have callused using the baggie method and will pot up. These are small scraps from trimming figs that needed pruning.
This is all ten cuttings, 8 are thinner than the pencil. I have found that small cuttings have a higher % of success at rooting than longer thicker ones. Larger cuttings also have more of a tendency to sometimes develop leaves but no roots or develop roots and no leaves. It is not common but will cause occasional failure.
Very important to note are the large number of leaf scars on shorter thin cuttings, the one the left of this photo has 16. Should the first bud to sprout be albino or green you just cut it off and let the next one sprout till a well variegated branch is achieved. Often larger cuttings have just 3 leaf buds, just 3 chances to achieve variegation. Also if at any time in the future there is a need to cut the whole top off the latent buds will sprout and probably give you a multiple trunked tree. **Good for cutting stock.
Very important to note are the large number of leaf scars on shorter thin cuttings, the one the left of this photo has 16. Should the first bud to sprout be albino or green you just cut it off and let the next one sprout till a well variegated branch is achieved. Often larger cuttings have just 3 leaf buds, just 3 chances to achieve variegation. Also if at any time in the future there is a need to cut the whole top off the latent buds will sprout and probably give you a multiple trunked tree. **Good for cutting stock.
You will need to keep 100% humidity. I have terrariums but a pot with sticks around the edge and a clear plastic bag will do just fine. Here in my colder climate I use a seed heating pad. The ideal temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees.
It is of the utmost importance that the pots never be in standing water!!! Also you should not over water the cuttings, that is the leading cause of failure. Below is the terrarium fitted with wood slats to keep pots well above the standing water.
I cut the bottoms of nursery flats to fit and support the pots above the standing water.
The standing water will create near 100% humidity.
The standing water will create near 100% humidity.
Place the cuttings in the terrarium mist them and cover. I keep the spray bottle handy and often mist them through out the day. The thermometer is a good idea. And remember do not let standing water touch the bottoms of the pots.
Below are the cuttings one month later. I have numbered them 1 through 10 in the order they leafed out. All of these cuttings were trimmed from plants and would have been discarded but instead I sprouted them to see if they could be used as examples and show how you can work inferior stock and hopefully get some good trees with a little effort. We shall start with plant #1.
#1 upper bud all green. Top view. Cut green branch off.
Note the lower branch is more albino on one side and may need to be trimmed to a
well variegated leaf later on if it does not self correct.
Note the lower branch is more albino on one side and may need to be trimmed to a
well variegated leaf later on if it does not self correct.
#2 top view. Small lower branch is albino. Cut it off and your done.
#3 top view. This cutting sprouted green but did have a lightly variegated leaf, the fourth one, so I cut off the green leaved top that formed above it. The leaf bud that sprouted was
fully variegated. A successful recovery back to variegation.
fully variegated. A successful recovery back to variegation.
Have a great now. JIM
