The bananas continue to stand guard over the fig cuttings we're rooting this winter, but their leaves are yellowing a bit from temps getting down to around 40F near the roof during a recent 0F cold spell outside.
This Hardy Chicago is around 7 and a half weeks old, and looks like it's ready to start getting some fertilizer. I root the cuttings in ProMix HP without any additives.
Mare de Deu in center, Kure Beach on left:
This Black Madeira isn't as old as the others, it was just recently potted up. But it's got one nice root and a greening tip, so it's off to a good start:
Petite Negri:
This whole tub is Conadria. (There are some cups in there with different names on them, but they're all Conadria--since this is a designated 'Conadria tub', I'm re-using some old cups in there that have other names on them.)
The two tubs in the back are the most recent. The tub with the most growth was filled first, the one closest to the camera was filled about 10 days later, and the two in back were about 10 days after that.
Due to the extremely high humidity and the intermittent 'rain' from water condensing and dripping from the roof, the potting mix is absorbing a lot of moisture and is wetter than ideal for rooting cuttings. It looks like the cuttings that were already starting to grow at the time they were potted have continued to grow, while many of the 15-20 cuttings that were totally dormant when potted haven't done much.
So to play things safe, all pre-rooting will be done indoors in humidity bins like we've done in past years. When their buds break and their roots are pushing up against the edge of their clear 16oz cups, we'll move them out into the brighter and wetter environment in the greenhouses.
Stay tuned for pics of Bin Mountain, it's holding 300 cups of impending figgy awesomeness :)