Hi guys, please share your experience or asumptions on this question:

How does the complete and total covering of cuttings with wax affect the callusing and rooting process?

I'm curious because I read of many ones having their cuttings waxed for very long storage. But now are courious about the monets theese cuttings go into the rooting medium.

I completely waxed about 30 varieties last winter for storage in the crisper. I had mixed results. I think the bottom line was that the ones that did very well would have been fine without the wax. The ones that got black mold and died in sphagnum moss would have done so without the wax. This winter I'm just wrapping in plastic wrap and then in zip lock bags until March.
I have noticed that some cuttings arrive a little dehydrated. Those go in water for 8 hours or so to rehydrate. Then they are dried off w paper towels and wrapped in plastic wrap and ziplock bags.

It seems like if the cutting was totally sealed in wax that it wouldn't get the hydration it needs to trigger rooting.  I'm surprised any worked.  I know some people wax the cut end(s) and that seems like it could work.  But I'm not getting the advantage of totally waxing them.

I don't see any reason why you would wax the entire cutting either.  That is the barks job, no need to double up. 

Sealing the ends probably is not necessary with the manner in which fig cuttings are typically rooted. It's not like open air grafting on an inground or potted tree that the scionwood has a non terminal tip that must be protected to prevent dehydration.

However, sealing the ends "should" prevent the transfer of disease from cutting to cutting, assuming that you sterilized your shears in between each cut and that the bark is not compromised anywhere on the cutting.  If there is a scratch or nick in the bark, then it would be prudent to seal that damaged area for disease prevention.   That is assuming you might be rooting cutting from different trees and or sources together.  Not all of us have the space to quarantine every variety and source separately while rooting. Must of us have probably never even thought about quarantine cuttings while rooting and in early stages of development. 

Hi my experience is the same as that stated in post#2

I seal only the cut ends, to prevent drying out of the cutting during storage.  I store wrapped in plastic wrap in a ziplock in fridge with no added moisture.  I had others stored with moisture and they molded quite quickly.  I just started waxing so I am just hoping it works better as I have some cuttings I won't start until May.

Edit - PS Plastic wrap and ziplocks (even the freezer bags) allow the transfer of water vapor, so long term storage will allow cuttings to dry out.

drphil69,

ok, my 2c:
I wouldn't but if it's been completely waxed, it will still root.
Rooting needs right weather conditions (warmth), Once the root penetrates wax then it can search for source of moisture, until then it uses the cutting's stored energy to break the surface and wax.
I use end dipping only and seen how roots penetrate wax with no problem.
I am, only, talking about Paraffin wax which I have used.

Hey Aaron!

Are the cuttings in rooting medium just with the waxed part or can it reach moisture with some part of it being directly in contact with the "naked" surface?

magnificco,
I find wrapping, the moist Paper towel or cloth or anything that provides moisture, around the cutting but leaving the top and bottom 1 inch parts exposed (in zip-lock) somehow helps the cuttings to root faster. Most of the time the roots penetrate the wax..
This is before they go into Pelite ...for roots to grow longer, this is when they will search for moisture source . If they don't find, they would dry one by one.

     
So, as you see, the roots have NO problem penetrating wax (Paraffin in my case) as long as they are kept warm (72-82F) and NOT in dry environment.

Those look great Aaron. I have recently started waxing my cuttings after I received some from a member and saw how well they did. It seems to keep rot and drying out at bay.

Thanks Gloria, indeed wax helps.

I can't emphasize this enough! :)

I waxed both ends of a lot of my cuttings this past year so they wouldn't dry out while rooting. Roots pushed through the wax fine as well as leaves.

The only problem I had was during the summer months something ate all the wax off the top of the cuttings into the bark. And it only happened to the waxed ones. I don't know what ate it, but I could also tell in our HOT Texas heat it looked as if it had melted off, and then was eaten past the bark. Just my experience though. I'm sure it doesn't happen to everyone.

Jenn,
did you, by chance, use flavored was or Bees was?
Interesting....

I never seen any wax eaten off of my rooted cuttings. Food grade or canning Paraffin is the one that I use.

No it was paraffin wax. But I had like a bazillion of those roly polys everywhere & all around my trees. Its just weird how the only part eaten was the waxed part. No other damage. And the ones that didn't have wax weren't eaten. I would definitely wax again because I truly believe that it helps though.

but doesn't the bag method have a higher chace of mold 

I wish you could further investigate what is triggering this unusual choice of taste.

Lol me too Aaron. I tried several times to try & catch something in the act of eating the bark. Checked them at all times of the day & night (up until midnight) and I never could see anything doing the damage.

I have tons of Roly-polies in my composter box, i just hope they don't decide turning against me, altogether. Scary!  LOL