...and just like that, POW! We're finished week 3 of my propagating fig trees in water experiment. So let's get to it, shall we?
The budding leaf growth on cutting #1 in the left living room window from last week has continued! This cutting now has three leaves coming from the top, and the two leaves from last week have grown in size.
Nothing new to report in terms of root growth on cutting #1. The root nubs look about the same to me after comparing last week's root picture to the currents nubs.
The little bud that was forming close to the water line last week has now sprouted two teeny tiny little leaves.
The tiny little budding area mentioned last week is sprouting little leaves, two to be exact, despite being submerged in water and amongst the root nubs...
...but like cutting #1, nothing new to report in terms of root nub growth.
However, what cutting #2 lacks in root growth, is more than made up for in leaf growth. This is a huge difference from the leaves that were just starting at the top third of this cutting last week!
Moving on to the right living room window: look at all those roots on rockstar cutting #3! I thought last week's root growth was significant, but wow! Not only have the thicker roots grown significantly in length, but they also have a ton of little thinner roots growing off the main roots now.
Not only have the roots had a big week for growth, but so have the leaves. Last week these two leaves were just a bud, and if you look to the left of the leaves there is another little green bud forming.
Cutting #4 also has more root growth, with the thicker roots becoming longer and the start of some tiny roots coming off of the main roots.
The buds of last week have given us several little leaves...
...with a new little bud starting on the side.
And last but not least, lonely little cutting #5, all alone in a la Parfait half liter jar by our bedroom window. Nothing new to report as far as root nubs are concerned...
...and not much to report on leaf growth except that the two leaves from last week are a little bigger.
And what about that "control" cutting, you ask? I know I haven't talked about it at all since the beginning but...
...there wasn't anything to report up until now. If you remember from my first post concerning this experiment, I started one cutting in soil (the manner in which I typically propagate fig trees) to serve as a control element of the experiment. I was curious to see which would get leaves first, the cutting in soil, or the cutting in water. Unfortunately when you plant a fig cutting in soil you can't see it's root growth, but it's easy to see that this cutting has some big leaves on top, and some smaller ones forming further down the cutting. This cutting was placed outside from the beginning (though under the protection of the roof), and began to bud from it's uppermost tip after 2 weeks and 3 days. Typically when I propagate figs in soil it takes 3-6 weeks to show leaf growth, but I think the heat that can possibly be attributed to the rapid growth on the cuttings in water could also be applied to the cutting in soil.
How things went down in week 3:
29/7/13: Increase of leaves on cutting #2
30/7/13: Control cutting in soil: uppermost bud is opening.
31/7/13: Cutting #3 is getting tiny side bud
1/8/13: Cutting #4 is getting a tiny side bud
Observations:
1. Due to the amount of root growth and the start of leaf growth, I'm planning on planting cutting #3 in the next week or two, with cutting #4 shortly thereafter. I'm afraid that leaving them in the jar of water for too long after such significant root growth could lead the plant to die from lack of nutrients (ie not being in soil). At the earliest I would plant it next weekend at the conclusion of week 4.
2. I'm wondering if the lack of progress of cutting #5 has something to do with the fact that we are now running a portable air conditioning unit in the bedroom. It has lowered the temperature of the once "greenhouse" by 8-10 degrees Celsius.
For a review of this experiment and what I'm trying to do, click here.
For the week one update, click here.
For the week two update, click here.
Make sure to check back next Monday as I'll be sharing my week four update!
A la prochaine friends...
Honey
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