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Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > Has anyone tried waxing top part of the cutting to avoid desiccation?
 
 


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OttawanZ5

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 

Bare-root rose plants often come with waxed stems. Has anyone tried waxing top part of cuttings while the basal end is without wax in the rooting medium to avoid desiccation (when not using humid environment)?

I am asking this knowing that some cuttings can be easily rooted with bag method without any mold for weeks and weeks. However, some cuttings under the similar circumstances in bag method show signs of mold within days and the mold will recur within 24 hours (or less than) after cleaning, and with all the daily diaper changes these mold susceptible cutting will ulcerate or the bark will become soggy or separate.

So I thought if the mold susceptible cuttings can be waxed at the top part and the bottom placed in perlite-vermiculite mix, it should help. Will the mold form under the wax too if the cutting is the culprit or absence of external moisture will inhibit it? If it works, what kind of wax is needed?

 

Someday I may try the peroxide gel as described here and it may inhibit mold:

http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/hydrogen-peroxide-gel.html
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Bass

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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
I've tried it with hard to root cuttings, or on rare cuttings. It keeps the cuttings from drying out in the rooting process. I don't do it on all cuttings, I probably should. I've somewhere the ucdavis gardeners dip the fig cuttings in wax to protect them from mold.
As far as what kind of wax to use... I recommend grafting wax. The cheapest way to go is with the wax ring that goes around the toilet seat.

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
I know these steps are not necessary for all but may help those who do not have easy access to fig cuttings and/or sometime get small number of mold prone cuttings.
Of course the bag method has worked for me in majority cases but some cuttings give me very early indication that I have one at hand that will love to be moldy no mater how I clean it (with the cleaning/disinfecting stuff that has been mentioned on the fig forums).
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Posted Reply with quote  #4 

I've never tried it but would WIlt-Pruf work on cuttings that are stored long term?
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Posted Reply with quote  #5 

I've read somewhere that Joereal tried it with Parafilm around pomegranate cuttings with great success.

So I've decided to try the same thing with my fig cuttings. It's too early to judge the success as they are in the rooting
process for only two weeks now. But there are no signs of dry out or mold so far.
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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Recently I saw a few posts regarding apple grafting and remember reading that different people used either white glue or grafting glue or latex paint to cover scion wood to prevent drying.  This might be applicable to fig cuttings though I wouldn't dare to assume so since I haven't tried it. 
 
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Posted Reply with quote  #7 

OttawanZ5

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
Ingevald
You used blank cartridge.
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Ingevald

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
Hello,
     I think that this is a very good topic and am looking forward to additional comments.     I used Wilt-Pruf once on fig cuttings, but due to some unfavorable circumstances with my propagation system at that time, I can't report any reliable results.   Wilt-Pruf is supposed to protect new transplants from loosing excess moisture.     The toilet sealing wax is an interesting idea.
    The ideal result would be moisture retention and strong mold resistance.

 Bass - with the cuttings that you waxed, how was your success rate?   Was it higher than normal?

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
I just saw this page on a website but there were no futher details as to what is painted on the grape cuttings and what solution they are placed in with basal end down and the tops pianted (& probably bunches of roots showing...or is it something else!):
http://www.garryoakswine.com/vines/grapes.php
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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
Ottawan,
What a great thread. In my rooting experiment, the bag method is working well but where I am not happy with results is when they are moved to rooting media. I have a high loss rate due to the cuttings dessicating even when they are in a humid environment. I have WiltStop but have not used it on the cuttings yet. The wax idea is a good one. Do you think the wax could inhibit foliage growth or will it push right through the wax?
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OttawanZ5

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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
StevNJ
I have experience with wax on rose stems that it does not inhibit the shooting and the young shoots come out through wax by cracking it because it does not have tensile strength to resist. The wax can crack easily when pushed by new emerging shoot. I am not sure how parafilm will behave when shoot try to emerge. Also, because of irregular surface of the cuttings may leave some small pockets of air with some consequences.
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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
The irregular surface of the cuttings is no problem - the stretching ability of the parafilm is great.
I've tried both - some cuttings were wrapped completely except the part in the perlite without any pockets of air.
At the other cuttings I left small pockets at the buds.
I'll report about the success or failure.
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Posted Reply with quote  #14 

Thanks Ottawan & German-figfriend. I think I might try the wax on a few future cuttings to see how it works out. The "toilet ring" suggestion is a good one as they are relatively cheap. Does one melt it first and dip the cutting or rub into on to it at room temp since it is very pliable?
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OttawanZ5

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 

Bass may probably be able to answer about the wax used in the toilet seat. He mentioned it. Transparency or translucency of the coat will be a good feature to make sure one is not waiting for a mold rotten cutting.
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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
Hello,
I did some quick research on the use of wax to seal and protect cuttings. Most of the wax related information pertains of course to sealing a grafted union.

Several references point to the importance of sealing the apical end of the cutting (the top end) to prevent desiccation. I realized that this particular aspect of protection might be very important. For example, when preparing a log for future processing into lumber, it is absolutely essential to seal the ends since the ends are where the greatest volume of moisture is lost and lost very rapidly. It is likely that this is very true with the small cuttings. Here is a reference - http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/plants/technotes/pmtechnoteMT51.html

I did find a few other comments on the web referencing the use of toilet sealer wax, mostly for grafting, but also to seal the ends of cuttings. The low melting temperature is very desirable.

I also did a brief search for the various commercial antitranspirants and antidesiccants. Having not tested them, I will just mention them and an associated website. The literature for these products claims that they prevent moisture loss, provides winter moisture loss protection, protection during transplantation, may offer some fungus protection, etc.

Moisturin - http://www.gsihorticultural.com/shop/
http://www.greenworldproject.net/seedling-care-products.htm
        http://www.gsihorticultural.com/moisturin/index.php

Transfilm - http://www.triturf.com/itemimages/TRANSFILM_LABEL.PDF

LeafGuard MC3 - http://www.valuegardens.com/allpro/labels/337801.pdf

Leaf Shield - http://www.the-scotts-exchange.com/_documents/tech_sheets/H4593_Leafshield.pdf

Wilt Pruf - http://www.wiltpruf.com/

I also found a few reports about propagation and the use of antitranspirants. The first report found that the old fashion misting worked best in their test of chrysanthemum and ligustrum cuttings. The second report discusses the rooting of various ornamentals using antitranspirants.

http://fshs.org/Proceedings/Password%20Protected/1974%20Vol.%2087/474-477%20(BAGGOTT).pdf

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:s0B00cTJkdwJ:www.pubhort.org/members/showdocument%3Fbooknrarnr%3D176_17+cuttings+antitranspirant&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=us&client=safari In case this link does not work - look up 'Rooting of Some Ornamentals With an Antitranspirant Substance' by L. Martinetti. Look for the 'View as html" version since the PDF file requires payment.

Lastly, I found a recent very interesting article (2.8MB pdf download). It starts on page 207. They experiment with rooting cuttings with and without humid conditions. - Improvement of Propagation by Hardwood Cuttings with and without Using Plastic Pavilions in Fig (ficus carica L.) by Narongchai Pipattanawong, Sawitree Tiwong, Benjarach Thongyean, Rungtiwa Darak, Pornprasert Thamin and Wet Techa from Kasetsart Journal, Natural Science - Thailand vol 42 no 2. April - June 2008 page 207 - http://www.rdi.ku.ac.th/KU_Journal/Sciences/doc/KU42(2).pdf (You will have to copy and past the entire text of this link into your web browser since part of it is being left off as a live link)

Hopefully there will be future postings on our techniques and experiences using some form of an antidesiccant. I would like to hear from Bass on his techniques and if possible, a reference to the U.C.Davis gardeners that dip fig cuttings in wax. My preliminary conclusions, based on what I have read, are that sealing the top end of a cutting may be very helpful. Maintaining humidity ‘the old way’ seems to be very reliable. The toilet sealing wax may be practical. What an interesting topic!
Ingevald
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Posted Reply with quote  #17 

Great work Ingevald. I was unable to retrieve the pdf from Thailand. Anyway you could post it or email it?
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OttawanZ5

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 
Ingevald
This is a very in depth research and interesting information. Good material to read thoroughly during the snow storms.
Based on the information and keeping (retired's) economy in mind, it may not be a bad idea to start by dipping the top cut in the molten candle wax for sealing the top end (until a good solution is found for the whole cutting). I can't think of any side effects.
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Ingevald

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
Steve,
Thanks for catching the problem. The link for the Thailand document is not complete for some reason. I would suggest copying and pasting the entire text "http://www.rdi.ku.ac.th/KU_Journal/Sciences/doc/KU42(2).pdf" since the "(2).pdf" part is not showing itself on the live link.

Ingevald
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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
Ingevald
The suggested mod link worked for the pdf. It is a 206 page document (but you did mention the relevant pages.. thanks).
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Posted Reply with quote  #21 

I was able to download with the corrected link - thanks. Seems that their results show that the augmented humidity improved the production of buds and roots (as we all expected). Nice to see some quantified data backing it up. Nice find Ingvald.
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Ingevald

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Posted Reply with quote  #22 
I just came upon another interesting article. This one is in Portuguese and is called Formas De Acondicionamento a Frio E Sua influencia No Enraizamento De Estacas De Figueira (Ficus carica L.) by Francisco Goncalves, et al.
http://www.ufpel.tche.br/faem/agrociencia/v10n2/artigo18.pdf

In English it translates to Effect of Cold Storage Systems in the Rooting of Fig Tree Cuttings (Ficus carica L) The google translation is here and it is a bit of a mess - http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://www.ufpel.edu.br/faem/agrociencia/v10n2/artigo18.htm&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=8&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522ficus%2Bcarica%2522%2Bbag%2Bstoring%2Bcuttings%26start%3D60%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN (click on the bottom link to get the entire piece)

The Google translation is about %85 good, but I had to take some time with a Portuguese dictionary to figure out alternate meanings for words that were obviously not working. There are very few scientific articles on this topic of cutting storage and I think it is pertinent to add this one to the mix. I'll give you my best summary at this time. There are still a few things that are not clear, but I think that I have a general grasp on the concepts.

This experiment took place at the experimental Station EPAMIG in Brazil. The goal was to verify the effects of various methods of treating cuttings that are kept in cold storage to maintain good viability until a favorable time is reached to plant them. They used eleven treatment combinations including: wrapping in newspaper, a polyethylene bag around the newspaper wrapped cutting, a polyethylene bag by itself, sand, sawdust, newspaper + sawdust, paraffin/wax treatment, paraffin/wax treatment + sand, paraffin/wax + sawdust and a control which was not treated. All of the cuttings, except for the control sample, benefited from these treatments that conserved moisture and provided proper aeration.

The cuttings were about 15 inches long and subjected to a disinfection treatment for five minutes and were treated with a fungicide (quintozene aka pentachloronitrobenzene) (listed as carcenognic). All samples were put in a cold chamber at 46 deg F and humidification was added in alternating days by spraying a mist of water on them. While under cold stratification conditions, it appears that the samples were placed horizontally in cardboard boxes within layers of sand and/or sawdust.

After 120 days the cuttings were planted in a roughly 1 gallon sized black plastic pots with a mixture of two parts soil, a portion of sand and cattle manure. 180 days after planting, the cuttings were examined to determine which treatments produced the most roots and biomass. There is a chart that shows how well they did. I think that I also am reading a statement that is saying that without proper treatment under storage, viability is lost in about 15 days.

They also tested the amount of amino acid and protein content of the cuttings at different intervals of their storage. When these values were best preserved, there were more roots and more biomass of the roots. Although all treatments, except the control, were effective, the treatments that resulted in slightly higher biomass of roots, # of roots and % of rooted cuttings were: 1) Treatment #4 - polyethylene bag 2) Treatment #3 - Newspaper wrapped cuttings in the polyethylene bag 3) Treatment #2 - wrapped in newspaper.

The paraffin combinations were lower on the list (my assumption is that the paraffin stops moisture inflow. Although not clear, they may have dipped the entire cutting in wax but did it quickly in a 140 deg F bath. Until we have further clarifying information, dipping the top may be helpful and all that is needed during this stage of the process. Also note that they do not mention the 'baggie method' as we know it for starting initial root development - they are just preserving moisture and proper aeration with this test.

Overall, not counting the 'control sample' they got an average of %70 of the cuttings to root. They also say that a good potential for successful rooting can occur for up to a four month period of storage.

So, that is what I know. This seems to confirm what I think many of us know and are practicing. Perhaps it offers some things to think about.

Happy holidays!
Ingevald

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Posted Reply with quote  #23 

Hmmmm
Now the question is why placing only in polyethylene bags showed better results than "placed in moist newspaper then placed in polyethylene bag?". My guess is that the presence of newspaper makes less moisture available for the cutting to keep its turgidity.

Also, it appears that the experiment has more to do with retention of (or loss of) vitality of root during cold storage rather than comparing the rooting processes.
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Posted Reply with quote  #24 
Ingevald,

Great find, again! I am a little confused with your statement regarding the "baggie" method - isn't this basically the same as the damp newspaper and polyethylene bag that they used? Only difference might be if they seal it or not as we do with a ziploc. But even with the ziploc, it is important to occasionally let in some fresh air. As Jon has conveyed, providing moisture & fresh air are what is important during rooting - the variations on the method are less important.

I am intrigued by the relationship between amino acid and protein retention and the root production and mass. I thought that stored "energy" in the form of starches was an important characteristic for rooting success. I wonder what processes during storage resulted in loss of protein and amino acids. Were they broken down within the cutting? Did the loss of water (moisture) in the cuttings somehow cause a leaching of proteins? Interesting but beyond by ability to explain.
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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
I have used tree pruning sealer before, but I cannot say whether it was beneficial
or not. After reading this thread, it does make some sense, specially for those
more fat than usual fig twigs.

I am currently experimenting  with rooting some fat fig twigs (3/4 - 1 inch).
I have two garbage bags, one for the long twigs (2 foot plus)
and the other for short twigs (1 foot minus).

After reading this thread, I opened both bags to apply (grafting) wax

on the fat twigs apex as recommended in that thread.

I started with the bag containing the shorter twigs,
Wala, roots!!! Now, I already potted some.

The shorter ones were just sitting loosely on a moist
newspaper inside the bag - success.

The longer ones had some moist newspaper wrapped
around the bottom - no roots. Actually after
removing the newspaper, I noticed some (mushy) rotting.
This is also consistent with later posts in this same thread.
I cut off ~2 inch from the bottom and put back in the

bag with similar conditions as the shorter ones had.

I'll see what happens now...
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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
Hello,
My statement on the "baggie method" simply means that they did not mention (from what I could tell) any use of their bagged cuttings to promote initial root growth. I am sure most of us use plastic bags to store our cuttings in the refrigerator (with a slightly damp paper towel or newspaper inside).

The "baggie method" that has been discussed on the forums is a way to generate initial roots - cuttings wrapped a bit in slightly moist newspaper, kept in a 70 - 80 deg F location under not so bright lights and check for mold.

So that is the difference. Bags for storage, bags for root generation. Someone else will need to answer the question about amino acids and protein. I am rusty on that topic.

Ottawan - You are correct. This paper is about maintaining cutting vitality prior to starting the rooting process. Since they addressed waxing the cuttings, I thought it would fit in with the topic. The paper did not have any extensive discussion on why the various methods worked well or not so well, except that the 'control' failed due to lack of moisture, which is obvious.

I’ll try not to get carried to far on this topic, but I have two other interesting research papers that are unfortunately not on line. I would highly recommend two publications that contain a wealth of information. These will be found only in special science libraries but could probably be borrowed through a library loan.

The ISHS I and II International Symposim on Fig from 1998 and 2003. These are from ISHS Acta Horticulturae publications #480 and #605. There are two papers in volume 605 that come from researchers at the University in Lavras, Brazil.

The first paper is ‘Rooting of Fig (Ficus carica L) Cuttings: Cutting Time and IBA by N.N.J. Chalfun et al. I’ll try to be suscinct and brief. In this experiment cuttings were taken at 15 day intervals between April and August. One group was treated with IBA (indolebutyric acid - a root promoter) and the other group of cuttings for each of the dates was not. They were planted in a 3:2 ratio of soil and sand. The best results came from the early cuttings taken on April 15 - %92 rooted without IBA and %100 rooted with IBA. This decreased over time - for example, cuttings taken on July 30 and not treated had a %37 rate and with IBA %55 rooting success. Obviously the early cuttings were taken closer to the period after dormancy had set in. One other factor was evaluated and that was the above soil vegetative growth - there was greater leafing and budding later in the season which is dependent on heat and was absent earlier in the season. Humidity as a factor was not discussed.

The second paper is, Factors Affecting on Rooting of FIgs (Ficus Carica L) Cuttings by L.E. C Antunes, et al. In this experiment they evalated three factors - stratification period, amount of IBA and soil used. They took dormant 8” cuttings for this experiment. They found that a combination of no stratification time, a sand soil mix 1:1 and an IBA concentration of 100 mg/l got %100 success in rooting. After a 15 day stratification period, this was reduced to %91. They made note that how well a cutting is stored affects this rate of success. Factors such as attack from pathogens damage stored cuttings over time.

They did not discuss factors such as improved cold storage methods, humidity. So that is it in a nutshell. More details are discussed in the papers, but due to time and space limitations I thought that the basic successful principals would be most interesting. If you have a method that works, stick with it. Otherwise, there might be something interesting to consider from these research papers.

Ingevald
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Posted Reply with quote  #27 
Gorgi
Can you elaborate on your statement " The shorter ones were just sitting loosely on a moist newspaper inside the bag - success. ".
Do you mean the cuttings were just lying on top of the newspaper inside the bag and the newspaper was not wrapped around the cuttings? Were the cuttings exposed to any light?
Wala, if it works without the newspaper wrapped around the cutting then it makes it a lot easy to watch for the mold signs (without opening the bag frequently to unwrap the newspaper other than letting the air in) and the "mold can be nipped in the bud" to save the buds on the cuttings.
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Posted Reply with quote  #28 
Ottawan,
What you understood is correct.

Elaborating:
No light; the garbage bags were the black kind.
The roots I got were about 1" long, on the basal part of the twigs, and
sticking up in the air (perfect!) - AND not to the moist newspaper below!

The whole thing kind of reminded me of once where Jon
showed a garbage bin (lined with a garbage bag) full of
randomly thrown (normal sized) fig twigs...

Ingevald,
Now I do see your original intend of your thread as
'Bags for storage'  rather than ' bags for root generation'.
Sorry; and to help this thread from morphing as such
(there are many, many  threads about rooting figs),
this will be last comment about rooting (at least) here
(in this thread).
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Posted Reply with quote  #29 

Gorgi
How long were the short ones sitting on moist newspaper (unwrapped) in the Ziploc?
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Posted Reply with quote  #30 
Ottawan,
They took the average 3 week to root.
Also they were not in a Ziploc, they were in a 32 gallon garbage bag.
BTW, I had sent you a private email; if you did not receive it, contact
me (using your standard email server) at
gorg2[at]att[dot]net
[at] = @
[dot] = .
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Posted Reply with quote  #31 
My trial of using molten GRAFTING wax was a disaster!
It just acts like glue that tends to stick everywhere (very bad for the baggie method)
(just ask Peg).
Probably the 'tiolet' wax will perform much worse.
Regular-normal candle wax will do just fine (Ottawan proved it);
and it makes sense, as it hardens very well.

Thinking hard, as somebody mentioned, latex paint may be good.
Not sure about the 'deck-sealer'; I have experienced some damage
on GREEN leaves while spraying it on my deck - not sure if same
is applicable on DORMANT wood.

Thinking harder still, I will try some SHELLAC stuff. Shellac
is an insect derived (protective cover) substance, soluble only in alcohol.
It is used mostly as a woodworking finish and electrical insulation.
Also some STAIN-hiding primer SEALER paints exist.
The  solvent alcohol  may be also somewhat disinfecting;
dries very QUICKLY, and the left over shellac coat
should be hard within a few minutes. --- perfect?!!?
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Posted Reply with quote  #32 
Gorgi said "The  solvent alcohol  may be also somewhat disinfecting;
dries VERY quickly, and the left over shellac coat
should be hard within a few minutes".
Does it mean the alcohol will be used as a solvent for dissolving the the shellac to prepare the coat material?
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Posted Reply with quote  #33 

Be careful with some of the alcohol-based products. I have seen some damage from desiccation by alcohol on some of my cuttings. Ethyl alcohol definately does some damage.
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Posted Reply with quote  #34 
Shellac only dissolves in alcohol.
I have read that some fig people use alcohol to combat mold (rather than bleach)...
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Posted Reply with quote  #35 
I just stumbled onto an interesting article about wax while researching the various types of waxes and the temperatures at which they melt. This article is titled, 'Antibacterial and Antifungal Effect of high pH and Paraffin wax Application on Tomatoes, Oranges and Peppers.' This is interesting because it discusses the antifungal effects of wax. They used a wax that melted at 122 deg F which is nice and low.
Anyway, there are certainly other articles of this nature. I just had not thought about searching for a paper on this particular aspect before.
http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB/PDF/pdf2007/19Mar/Magashi%20and%20Bukar.pdf

Take care,
Ingevald
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Posted Reply with quote  #36 
Wax Research -

I decided to do some research on waxes and got in deeper than I expected, as usual. Commercially prepared wax is just fine - there are grafting waxes, the toilet seal wax, paraffin and other options. I explored formulas for grafting waxes which should be safe to use and likely will be antifungal. There are three sections of this note - 1) A list of basic ingredients and sources 2) Recipes and their sources. Lastly, if you do any mixing or heating of materials, it is at your own risk. Be aware of the dangers of heating up materials that can burn, and explode. Read all of the texts and seek additional assistance if you attempt to make any of these formulated waxes. Learn about double boiling, etc. Feel free to correct me if anything got screwed up.

There are different types of waxes for different purposes. There is the soft wax that is pliable at room temperature. There is the wax that needs to be melted and can be brushed on or with cuttings we could probably dip them.

While doing this research I also learned that there is now a soy based wax that is a low temperature melt wax. I could not find any data regarding its potential horticultural use.

First - The ingredients and where they might be found        
       
a) Resin, rosin, pine rosin, colophony, lump rosin - pretty much the same stuff. There is some variation in purity and source - it basically comes from pine trees. It can be found at artist stores, science supply outlets, violin supply, sports stores or ballet supply, etc. I actually had a difficult time finding it and finding inexpensive options. Here are a few scant links. http://www.danielsmith.com/products~sku~284120003.asp, http://shop2.chemassociates.com/shopsite/Chemassoc2/PAS-rosin.html http://www.somaluna.com/prod/colophony.asp?m=18
and an article from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colophony

b) Paraffin - this is the easiest material to find at hobby stores, candle stores, etc. The wax comes in different melting temperatures from 125 deg F and up

c) Linseed oil - this can be found at health food stores. I would not recommend the material from hardware stores since the boiled linseed oil and related products usually have heavy metals added that are toxic.

d) Lamp black & powdered charcoal - artists supply store or make it yourself

e) Tallow - make it yourself or substitute linseed oil per the recommendations of the authors


Second - References and formulas

The Nursery Book - 1912 page 135
http://books.google.com/books?id=djFjAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=resin+beeswax+tallow+propagation&source=bl&ots=Y-mFxfxIAv&sig=g5oHEwSgX-Te5FXG0xcgtPJL5v0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA135,M1 Interesting assortment of recipes.


Modern Propagation of Tree Fruits 1916 page 82
http://books.google.com/books?id=stxEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=%22grafting+wax%22+soft+wax&source=bl&ots=TYlWhPAkmn&sig=qgc4hw9U3j4zKuaxqV-9MoLJ7-A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA82,M1 Interesting standard fomulas

Modern Fruit Production, Joseph Harbey Gourley 2007 page 475
http://books.google.com/books?id=bgJRabNfspAC&pg=PA475&lpg=PA475&dq=%22grafting+wax%22+soft+wax&source=web&ots=8kqG6g1N2d&sig=9Xsm2-CEcx0gjjy6kYfIW8W1oqg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPA475,M1 A very good list of recipes.
Hand or soft wax - at room temp
rosin 4 parts
beeswax 2 parts
tallow 1 part or linseed in cold weather - increase rosin to harden
Brush Wax - thiner coat than hand wax ‘Parapin’
Neilson recipe
Rosin 1lb
linseed oil 3 fluid ounces
paraffin 5 lbs
Prior to Paraffin - brush wax forumla
rosin 5 parts
beeswax 1 part
linseed oil 1/4 part
Lamp black or powdered charcoal 1/2 part

Practical Woody Plant Propagation for Nursery Growers by Bruce MacDonald 1986
http://books.google.com/books?id=bdp2J-9E2EkC&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310&dq=waxing+%22hardwood+cuttings%22&source=bl&ots=iuxKX0gqWV&sig=Fy2G0vT1vcbs3uPXJHNE0AGTnNU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA190,M1 This is one of the best resources since it does a thorough job of categorizing the waxes starting on page 189.

Pecan Culture in Florida 1911
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/docs/p/pecan2.htm "Good grafting wax may be made according to either of the following formulas:"
1) Resin 6 pounds, beeswax 2 pounds, linseed oil 1 pint.
2) Resin 4 pounds, beeswax 2 pounds, tallow I pound.

After reading through all of this I have an idea where I might start. If that fails, I will use either some variety of commercial grafting wax, plain paraffin or the toilet sealing wax which I have already discovered sticks badly to plastic bags!

Ingevald

heirloom

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Posted Reply with quote  #37 
quoting gorgi,
"The whole thing kind of reminded me of once where Jon
showed a garbage bin (lined with a garbage bag) full of
randomly thrown (normal sized) fig twigs..."

I was thinking the same thing about lots of cuttings jumbled in a garbage bag.  Is there any chance that fig cuttings, like apples, off-gas and that the off-gas (whatever gas it is) promotes rooting, in the same way ethylene gas promotes ripening of apples?  Now I need to get a garbage bag full of cuttings and try it out. :-)  And maybe put some in with some apples to see if that has any effect :-).  Ok, maybe kidding about the apples.

Seriously though, I wonder if the high volume of air, dark, moist, sealed environment and number of cuttings makes a difference.  If ammino acids are breaking down, then there must be some off-gassing of some sort, unless the amminos are going to form other things, like initials, roots, leaves, buds, etc... 

Anyone with lots of cuttings up for an experiment?

One last thought about wax, does anyone know anything about the wax they spray on apples/fruit to extend storage life?  I would think a spray applied wax would be good, as it would not require heating, and would not damage the cutting.  I think it is a food grade wax of some sort.  Here's a link:
http://www.usapple.org/consumers/wax.cfm
I see it is a food-grade parafin most of the time...
Which led me to consider food grade mineral oil (won't go rancid).  Read about it here: http://whatscookingamerica.net/CuttingBoards/AllAbout.htm
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Ingevald

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Posted Reply with quote  #38 
Heirloom -
Thanks for your posting. I can't answer your questions about the effect of ethylene gas on rooting. Perhaps someone else has an answer.
Your thoughts on wax are interesting. When I was researching waxes I was trying to find out about how fruit waxes are applied and how they are made. I likely did not look hard enough, but only seemed to encounter industrial processes or extremely large quantities of the material and did not find answers to my questions. I would assume that the thin fruit waxes would be excellent for application on fig cuttings - just my untested opinion based on what I have read so far.
The mineral oil is also another interesting idea that needs some research. I did run across this material as I was researching waxes. It is 'safe' but I was looking at it as possible additive to paraffin, to bring down the melting temperature and not as a stand alone application. You would need to determine if the liquid mineral oil penetrates the cutting and causes damage. Sorry I don't have any more answers at this time.

By the way, I made a batch of 'grafting wax' from one of the formulas above using paraffin, resin & linseed oil. So far it seems to work pretty well, but need to wait till I have successfully started some cuttings before I can truly report on the success or failure of this project. One good thing is that it does not stick to plastic bags like the toilet sealing wax! I can always use the left over product for grafting!

Ingevald
KyleW

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Posted Reply with quote  #39 
I really liked this old thread.  Last year I decided to try waxing cuttings and painting cuttings as a way of preventing mold.
I used latex paint at various dilutions.
I also used a candle wax called "glass wax" and a wax used on cheese rounds.
While I had some success, I still do better using moist long-fiber sphagnum moss.
Sorry I did not get this info out prior to the great Encanto cutting release.  Likely noone else was fool enough to try these ideas anyway.

Kyle
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Posted Reply with quote  #40 
Since I sometimes get a few cuttings at a time, so instead of preparing wax for sealing the terminals of a few cuttings, I have started using (school) wood glue on the cut tips. I do not know the porosity of the wood glue but it seems easy good solution.
I am planning a few clef grafts on smaller branches of plums this summer and I will try the wood glue as sealant just because of its ease of use.
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paully22

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Posted Reply with quote  #41 
Toilet wax seal is economical and easy to apply. Just drop the wax ring into hot water from the tap. Walla, it is soft in 5 minutes.
Just rub the cutting end(s) on it or used a putty knife or a flat head screw driver to apply a coating of wax to the exposed end(s).
ValerieEden

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Posted Reply with quote  #42 
I was just wondering about this subject this week.

I am also wondering about using coconut oil.  It's a solid, but as soon as the temps reach about 72, it liquifies.   I could see dipping entire scions in coconut oil, just warmed to liquification, and throwing them in a lined garbage pail together, snuggly fitted with a lid.

Coconut oil has antibacterial properties, and coming from a plant, would be more likely to contain beneficial things for plant life....   Just thinking on things here, no scientific experiments to back them up. 

I hope to try this next year. 



pitangadiego

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Posted Reply with quote  #43 
I have used parafilm (wax strips) on a couple partially rooted suckers, to keep them from drying out till they were fully rooted. That worked well.
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