I recently bought some Gino's Black cuttings from a member and was gifted additional cuttings including Nero 600. I will maintain the members privacy, but would like thank them again for their generosity. Both have rooted and sprouted shoots. It is interesting to see the difference in leaves even at such an early age.

Very nice, i like the use of the zip snack bags. very inovative.

Dave

Womack, very nice. What is your rooting medium make up?

Vince. same here. I have 995 bags left but went to the 32 oz inverted cup. Actually I like this better than the bags. Saves a step and you
can leave them for a longer period of time.

Womack,
    Beautiful cuttings, best of luck with them.  Do you have any trouble getting them out of those bags and into the cups.  I always botched that step, so I switched over to another method.

Mike,
   Do you root the cuttings right in the 32oz. cups, or use spagnum moss in a zip lock bag first?
That's what I converted over to after having problems with the bags. Will continue to use this system from now on. It works the best for me...never have to touch the roots again !!

Mike,
   Another trick that I learned the hard way was when getting the seedlings out of the 32oz. inverted cup, I used to soak the cup in warm water to release the roots from the side of the cup. This works well, but, it also saturates the root ball with water which could damage the roots later on ( eg. root rot, mold, etc. ).
So what I do now is wrap the 32oz cup with a towel that has been soaked in hot water (tap water). This releases the roots from the side of the cup without flooding the root ball.  "We learn as we go..."

When I first started working with these cuttings I used to be so hard on them, doing much damage in the process.  Then It dawned on me what the Medical Doctors say when they take their oath: "First, do no harm".  So I have been stumbling around trying to find the method that ,for me, will do the least harm. I think I'm on the right road, but I'm not there yet.

I like the New bag method developed by Jon so far, but have not rooted hundreds of cuttings.  This is how I handle the process.  I am only providing this info so people will know my approach.  I am not advicating that this is the best way to do it.

Since I don't root large numbers of cuttings (I currently have around 40 going which is more than I have ever done) I opted for the snack bags instead of ordering bags from Uline. 

I use a mix of roughly 70% Fafard perlite (It seems to be more coarse than MG) to 30% home made 2 year compost

Cutting goes into the bag right off the bat. 

I place on a seedling heating mat with about a half inch spacer (I use a canning jar lid) between the mat and the container.  This keeps the temps around 70 degrees.   

I watch the condensation on the interior of the bag to see when to water which is not often.

When it comes time to pot up I have a scoop I made out of a milk jug that I slip down one side of the cutting.  I unzip the snack bag and cut the oppositte side with a razor.  Then using the scoop I transfer into a pot.

I love your soak a towel in hot tap water method, because when you soak the cutting, the whole thing comes out of the cup easy, and the dirt falls everywhere!  I will try soaking a towel in warm tap water, and see if I'm successful.  Got a ton of cuttings to pot up!

Suzi

Vince, after I discontinued the Uline baggies and switched to the 32 oz deli cups I started rooting most of the cuttings directly into the cups. I use about 60/40 perlite/Promix. I am also rooting
some by scoring between the last two nodes and using Hormex  and putting some in baggies with Sp. moss. I am still in the investigative stage trying to determine what works best for me. I do
like the 32 oz deli cups inverted with a cap on the bottom with drain holes and a 16 oz cup on top with vent holes.

Looking good Womack. Wish I could say the same. I am having a tough time with some of my cuttings. Trying to be patient but it is so hard.. The only successful cutting so far that I have is a celest. Witch i have already. Go figure.Hopefully I will be more successful.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.
Jeff,
Just give them time. Each cutting is an individual and roots and sprouts on its own time. I still have many that haven't sprouted, but a few are showing some bud break.

I really enjoy messing with these cuttings through the winter. I still have some vegetables in the garden but they aren't actively growing like my cuttings are.

I've got one with dozens of roots, and no shoots!  It's a 1/2" cutting with no visible node above ground, HOWEVER, at the top there is a tiny green bud.  This will become a shoot and with all those roots, no doubt it's a survivor!

Suzi