2023-02-18: Serendipitous Fig Cuttings

Saturday, February 18, 2023

High: 72.7

Low: 39.8

Sunny

Big temperature jump today.

Today I drove by the Euclid fig tree. I had my Japanese handsaw with me. When I approached the tree I noticed that some of the branches had fresh cuts on them. I thought maybe someone else discovered the treasure that I did and wanted to get some cuttings. But I realized it was the neighbors who cut off the branches that were creeping into their driveway space. And they left the cuttings on the ground by the tree! So I picked up all the ones I could find and cut a few myself. I took them home and snipped them into pieces for propagation, then washed them and put them in a baggy for storage.

I also took some cuttings from the Celeste tree in the River Arts District. I think I got about 80 cuttings in total and my plan is to try to root them in the tree pots I got from Greenhouse Megastore and then sell them in the summer.

It was a really nice moment to sit shirtless in the sun, pruning the fig branches while Oslo eagerly chomped on the ones that didn't make the cut.

I also used the cultivator to break up some of that soil mound by the greenhouse. It's pretty flat now, but I'm not sure what to do with it. I am going to ask Deanne when she comes for our consultation on Monday.

I moved the eight water jugs into the greenhouse in an attempt to create a heatsink. The idea is that warmth from the sun is captured in the water during the day, then released at night. Hopefully that can create a little more warmth for the figs in there during the night. It got over 100 inside today, so I opened the doors wide. I'll close them in the evening.

I also got some good inspiration on how to build tables for the greenhouse when I went into Belle Decor today (by the tool library). It's a cool design made from 2x4s, and I'm sure I could put that together.