I have several cuttings that are losing their leaves. They have good roots and are either in cups or 3x8 baggies. The leaves weren't very big, like the size of your thumb, but they are dropping off. Some parts are turning brown on the stems where the leaf was attached. Does anyone know why this happening?

This past weekend I moved the cuttings to a non heated bin and gave them a small syringe of water because the soil was drying up.

I am thinking they need more humidity? Any help is greatly appreciated! I have been going through the forum for hours with no answer in any past posts that I could find. Thanks in advance :)

Jen

more humidity, but not too much. they are very tender. without humidity they will dry out. but too much will rot.

Anyone have a good target for humidity at that point in the bin?  I'm having the same issue this year which I did not last year.  Cuttings taken out of the moss container and put into cups have stopped leaf growth and 2 of 15 has the small leaves dry up.  Humidity has been between 80% and 85%.  I just bumped it up to between 90% and 95%.  Only other difference from what I did last year (I had a better result last year) was larger cups plus I dampened the dirt before cupping.  Last time I planted in dry dirt than gave one good soaking.  Didn't give any water for weeks after that.

Are you measuring the humidity?

Are they getting enough light? I've noticed that some tiny leaves that are shaded by bigger leaves sometimes wilt and fall off.

but most likely, it's what Pete said.  Did you move them to a dryer spot?

I did put them in light but (south facing window) but I did crack the lid of the bin too because there was alot of condensation on the inside of the bin. I will close it back up and put a moist sponge in there to get the humidity back up. What percentage should I aim for at this point?

Thank you for all the replies!! Ya'll are awesome!!

Go up to whatever they were in before you moved them.  Then slowly reduce the humidity by 5% for a few days.. then another 5% for a few days. etc.

In the future, if there's good roots, get them out of the humidity before the leaves pop out.. if possible.

Regardless, as long as the roots are healthy, if it drops the leaves, it'll put out new ones.

Thank you James! That makes soo much sense & will make things much easier. Looks like I have some more moving around to do tonight :)

You're welcome. You'll find some cultivars don't care about changing humidity (Peter's Honey) and some can't tolerate any sudden changes (LSU Tiger, Panachee). At least that was my experience last year.

Hi Jenn42,
It could be that you left them for too long in the baggie.
How long were the roots when you moved them ? How long have the cuttings been in the baggie ?

The problem would be that you changed them from air-water to dirt-water and if the roots are too long they can't handle that change.
Do you use artificial lighting ? The light might have burned the leaves - how hot do the leaves get ? "Put" your hand near the leaves for 2 minutes... How was the temp ?
Were those days at your location too sunny - and they got sun burned - ?
Is there a heater at the window - and you bottom cooked the cutting ?

How about the temp of the room ? Did you open the window to air the room ?
Do you use a SIP ? if not does your cup have holes ?

A photo is worth a thousand words... But I could read thousand words as well :)

start out 5-10 min with humidity bin open. then increase it by 10 min every few days. if it looks like the leaves are wilting, then cover it back up. problem comes when you have younger and older rooted cuttings in same bin. soon, you should be able to leave the cuttings out for 1-2 hrs.. then over night. trick is not neglect them so you can cover them back up when they start to look droopy. some times, if the cutting is older, it will start to droop, then perk up again. monitor it and see what works for you. 

Jdsfrance,

Thank you for your response! I usually start my cuttings in moss or perlite/peat in either cups or baggies. I do not have any artificial light, only had a seed heat mat under them. The window was not open and they didn't have direct sunlight, which is why I assumed it was humidity since that & the heat was the only thing that changed. BUT, you gave me a great checklist for future problems that I could eliminate when I come across any more problems. Thank You!

Bullet08,

I will definitely start the gradual dehumidification process from now on. I guess I didn't think it would be a big deal since I had been propping the lid open for many hours to let the condensation out in recent weeks.

I am soo glad ya'll are such nice people that give great advice and don't mind helping out the newbies :)
I'm sure ya'll get asked the same questions all the time, but I really appreciate the time everyone has taken to help me out!

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

A related question. I have a Black Jack cutting that did the same. I has lost all of its leaves and the tiny young stems turned brown. Will it come back?

gene, depends on how far up it's dried up from live node/bud on that branch. since i use humidity bin, my problem is occasional bud rotting. when that happens, i just cut it off. after few weeks, the area i cut down to node below will dry up. but i still get new bud on the node below where i made the cut or one below that one.