Here are some cuttings I am rooting.  Most are growing leaves and have roots starting to show.  I went to a presentation that Jon from Encanto Farms did at ASU last year.  He explained how he roots cuttings.  Hearing it explained in person helped me a lot.  The way I root cuttings now is I go straight to a plastic cup and skip the baggie all together.  I use mostly perlite with some potting soil mixed in.  I punch a bunch of holes in the bottom of the cup so water can drain.  If the water cannot drain the cutting will die.  I keep it tented with another cup or with a baggie.  Works pretty good for me.

Thanks Joe. They look good.

It looks as if you have one cup set inside another. Is the inside cup split down the sides? I've seen Jon do that in one of his tutorials.

Where do you guys find 24 oz plastic cups cheap?  I went to Smart & Final today and they only had 20 oz clear. 

Suzi

I agree Suzi , I can't find that size here either? Not in our Costco , BJ's or supermarket. Nice cuttings !!

Anyone have any links to good video tutorials? I've been disappointed w/ the ones I've found on you tube. BTW your cuttings look great joe.

I got those cups at Walmart.  They were cheap.  I think they are 16 oz.  I had to cut up a few of the larger cuttings to make them fit, but it works.  When the cuttings leaf out and need more space I switch to the 1 gallon ziplock bags.

Gina, I do have one cup inside of another.  I do that so the water doesn't drip out and make a mess.  I use a toothpick inserted into the outer cup as a spacer.

A lot of the gas stations, and starbucks, and other coffee shops sell iced coffee drinks in these cups.   Our local station (where I also get my coffee grounds) sells them.  

The good news for us is that...over time...we have managed to accumulated quite a few of them.  The bad news is that I think my wife has become an addict.  

That's the biggest clear cup I can find. 16oz.

Greetings,

not as easy as the clear plastic cups, but I have found that I can easily use plastic soda / pop bottles to perform the initial rootings.
I take a large quart size bottle, cut it in half with sharp kitchen shears, and have a relatively stable, clear, rooting container.
I drill a few small drainage holes, fill the container with perlite, vermiculite, some potting soil, and place my rooted cuttings
Inside (wrapped in a glass wool cube). I place either a plastic ziploc bag over the top, a longer bread bag, or, cut the plastic
soda botle so it fits inside. In the end, I end up with a mini-greenhouse, that is easy to monitor and water!

I've got a box full of them.  Some of which are:

Large McDonalds ice coffee cup..........28 oz
Jack in the Box frappe cup...................24 oz
jcx generic gas station ice drink cup....24 oz
McDonalds other unknown cup............22 oz
McDonalds large frappe cup................20 oz
Large Wendy's ice tea cup..................20 oz

(Wendy's 10 oz frosty cups make nice caps.  They fit inside the larger cups, rest on top of the growing medium, and provide a high top for the upper part of the cutting).

Now if I can just find a way to wean my wife off these things after I'm done with all of this......

Dave,

Think of how many fig trees you could have bought with the money from all those coffees! 

I found mine at Cash n carry here in Olympia WA. Cash n Carry is in WA.OR,CA,NV  and ID. .  the UPC code for the cups 2402400407 . hover your mouse over the little arrow thingy below and it'l take you to the product page.

Joe,

Do you have a preference for potting soil?

Steve

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/fabri-kal-alur-rd32-32-oz-clear-pet-plastic-round-deli-container-50-pack/999RD32.html?utm_source=Amazon

Link is to 32 oz clear plastic deli cups 50 cups $13.49

recycled from Starbucks coffee and tea.  I even found myself doing 2 and 3 different cuttings in one cup. Since their lives in cups are short, it really does not matter.

Get a good coffee maker, and make your own coffee!  This is nuts!!  You pay $5.00 for a cup?  Maybe we should all go dumster diving at Starbucks.  This is really the most idiot thing I've heard in a long time! 

We even roast our own beans!  But that entails the cost of a roaster, and off topic!  Still, I think we need to learn to dumpster dive at Starbucks, and, really, I'm not up for that!

Suzi

Steve,

I went to my local garden center and got a good quality potting soil that has no fertilizer in it.  I avoid the MiracleGro soil and any soil that has fertilizer.  I mix it about 75% perlite and 25% potting soil.  Make sure it can drain.  Keep it moist but not soaked.  Keep it tented.  Don't remove the tent until there are lots of roots.  I've had good results with that method.

I be-friended a lady that works in a location, and I told her what I do. She gave me a bag full and I brought her a little coffee plant... she was delighted.  I also get their grounds for my compost.  they are FREE.

Joe, the method that I use for rooting is very much like yours. I also use mostly perlite but I mix in a little seed starting mix instead of potting soil. I works pretty well but I do have a problem rooting up because the perlite is so loose that the root ball tends to fall apart when I am up potting.  -  Your cuttings look great and so do the trees outside!

FrozenJoe, what a name for someone in Phoenix. What is the name of the soil you found?

Here is the potting soil I have been using.  I guess it does have a small amount of organic fertilizer in it.



Here are my cuttings today.  I started 15 cuttings.  4 died.  7 are growing strong and no longer need to be tented.  4 are doing good but still need to be tented for now.

Susan,

Sometimes it's best just to cut the cup open so that you don't break any roots trying to pull the plant out.  But usually if I squeeze the cup gently first it loosens everything up and it all pulls out in one piece.

Joe, I do cut the cups but the perlite just doesn't hold together - it just falls away from the roots. Not every time but often.