The cuttings I obtained thru a GW trade have initials and some slender roots. 

How long do you wait to pot them up (into cups)?

Some still have no initials or roots, but good callus.  No mold (yet!).

I'm rooting them horizontal in sterile seed starting mix, completely buried.  Some are begining to break bud, too.  It's always exciting to see something come to life.

Also, when I put them in cups, does it still need to be as warm as the furnace duct on which I keep them currently?  If I move them to a window, it will be much cooler...like 65F to 70F instead of 80F to 85F...

heirloom,
 
about how long have you had the cuttings in the seed starter, the reason i'm asking is, i have some Alma cuttings in a baggie, they have leafs but not initinals or roots, they have been in the baggie for 3 weeks! @ temps of between 70 and 80 degrees.
 
I musta did something wrong (imagine that )
 
Cecil

Cecil,
from what I read on this and other forums, it is not unusual to have some cuttings root faster and some slower, especially from one variety to another.  So it does not necessarily mean you did something wrong.  Just be patient (patient-what's that!?). 

Anyone else have experience with Alma being a slow rooter?

To answer your original question, the cuttings have been in the starting mix for 13 days, as of today.  Some still don't have any roots or initials.  I have two unknown varities, so it will be fun to try to ID them later if they grow into producing plants.

Mark

Mark,

I move my cuttings to 16 oz. cups of 50/50 perlite/potting soil as soon as I see roots.  However, I think I've heard Jon say he has left rooted cuttings in vermiculite for a year.  I just like to get the rooted cutting away from that environment that is most likely to produce mold - as soon as possible.  After potting into cups you will still need to keep the newly rooted cutting in a humidity controlled environment, but it isn't necessary to keep the temps that high.

Henry

Thanks Henry.

I am going to pot a few of the best rooted ones up then, and put in a window.  I am going to put some in regular potting mix, and some in Vermiculite or Pearlite (I have to go shopping!) 

I read once about some people using crushed concrete--we have literally tons of it about three blocks from here--I am going to try one with that, too.

Hi Cecil
As mentioned in one of the posts, you did not do anything wrong. Your temperature environments are the same as mine. I did some cuttings using the baggie method. It was the first time ever for me so I was literally watching them every day in the baggie. Some of these showed good initials or very small roots within the first ten days so I put them in 50/50 Perlite/Vermiculite for further rooting. The rest of the cuttings refused to show any sign of roots for the next 3 weeks except callus in the form of fat circles where the bark was cut at the bottom (& I was told that something was happening & the cuttings were alive). So to put myself in forced patience with these, I potted these in clear plastic glasses (with holes) in 50%/50% Perlite/Commercial Soil Mix and placed them in 75F~80F temperature and around 70~75% Rel humidity (thinking that they may need something more than just the humidity and temp). This also,forced me to be less impatient with these cuttings in watching start of initials or roots (because I could not see through soil anyway). Now almost 6 to 7 weeks later all have started showing roots and leaves, some vigorous than the others.
Concluding from my first experience, it is all in the cuttings; some start rooting early while others take their time and test our patience.

Thanks Mark & Ottawanz5

Ok, now the horizontal-rooting-in-soil method has presented a new twist:
one of the cuttings has 'decided' to root along its entire length. 

Any suggestions on potting it up?  Do I cut it into smaller lengths?  Will it send up a shoot at each node or will it 'decide' to send up a shoot wherever it wants?  (By a shoot I mean the above ground portion that will eventually fruit).  I am considering cutting it so each node has a portion of roots, which translates to 3 cuts, resulting in 4 rooted pieces.  Will this create a problem for mold/bacteria infection?

I have successfully cut these in half and had two trees instead of one :).

-loslunasfarms

loslunafarms
I opened the box last night and the one with roots along its length is budding out a green shoot in the middle.  It has roots like crazy, so I am going to cut it up into a few pieces and pot them up.  Glad to hear you are successful this way.

Many indicate trouble with mold, and I often read about people's prunings sprouting in their compost pile or buried in soil, etc.  Do y'all think that the compost/soil provides some extra incentive to root, and some sort of mold inhibitive properties?  Just thinking out loud.  I do not have enough experience to consider myself an expert at all, in fact, I have not even rooted in the baggie.  I realize that 100% success is not realistic, just thinking....