Hi All,

I just want to say that I started out last fall not being able to root a single cutting. After some help from some very generous forum members, I was able to root at around 90% success rate. I was in my glory until I lost a cutting by having it dry out. Soooo......I lightly watered. Then lost nearly half the cuttings because light watering was still too much. I just want to let newbies know how dangerous watering can be to new cuttings when it may not be needed.

For the first year, I still was able to get some very nice trees and am very happy with the results. Thank you everyone for helping me out. I see some brebas forming on my trees from last year and can't for this year's crop. 

Quick question: Does anyone have an average mortality rate after cuttings root?

Thanks again-

Russ
 

I learn new things everyday for this great group of people. I will try anything once if it works for me, I will do it again. If it works for someone else and not for me, I can say I tried. Isn't that what life is all about?

zone 8
South West TX

Pittsburgh:

That is a tough question. Success is inversely proportional to the number of cuttings you have, whether you can get more cuttings if these fail, how much you paid for the cuttings, and how badly you want a particular variety.

Some cuttings will probably never root. Not enough stored energy, or some other quality issue. Some look like the perfect cutting and nothing happens, or they root, but the buds were not viable. Others would root even if you turned them to wood shavings before you rooted them. Different varieties have different habits, needs, success rates.

When all is said and done, and you ave hit your stride in terms of your technique, I would expect 80-90%.

I had some Ebay cuttings that where I got 10%. A member sent me some Patrick's Super Giant cuttings, and it did not matter how big, how short, how fat, how few buds, or any other characteristic: they all rooted, and most in just 3 weeks. So go figure.

Russ,
I am glad that you had some success with your cuttings and that you learn some thing this year. We all learn from ours mistakes. All we can do is keep trying. Keep the good work up.

from the cuttings that i decide to put into the bags for rooting, i usually have 80-90% success rate. however, during the winter, i could not move the cuttings from stage to stage quick enough due to lack of space and other issues. winter cuttings had about 70% success rate.

from the UCD cuttings (spring rooting), i selected only the best cuttings out of the bunch this year due to lack of space. however, i was able to move them very fast from stage to stage. i had 100% sucess rate to the 1 gal. will see if they all survive at the end of the season and winter in my garage.

when i say 'stage to stage', i mean from baggie to cup and then cup to 1 gal pot.

Russ...keep up the good work...loosing cuttings is part of the learning curve...as you change and adjust your rooting techniques, your % will get better...most importantly, don't forget to have fun.  :)  :)

I agree with pitangadiego. My 2 rhone de Bordeaux cuttings did not survive the transfer to cups,, They were the most important I tried. ;-(

My move from new bag to 1 gallon pots success ratio increased when I pre-moistened the soil before potting it. If the soil clumps in your fist and holds its shape it is still to damp and the roots may suffocate, I add more dry soil until it barely holds its shape. I use a 1 gallon bag loosely fitted as a moisture dome and no direct sunlight indoors. I do not water the transplanted cutting in, maybe a week later I give a light drink and start opening the bag up more each week. Once the bag is off and it is in a 1 gallon pot for a month I give it a partially sunny window, morning sun only. a month later it gets full sun indoors. I am using a potting mix/ large perlite mixture 50/50 and am doing well, few casualties this year.

Hi Russ,

If it is any consolation, you have company here in the failure department.    Yep….. “been there done that”, also!  Looks like I started later than you, didn’t get my first cuttings out of the moss until end of February but, experienced the same joy followed by the dismay of failure you have.

Thought I was doing everything right, about 100% cups full of root and lots of leaves.   Then roots started taking on a brownish color.   That should have been my first clue things were going south.   Like you, think maybe I over mothered my babies, too little water, then too much, even had them on seeding heat pads for a while.   Way late in the game I realized I had rot issue, most likely caused by the “fine “perlite”, which had turned to a soggy mush at the cup bottoms.   About the same time, Jon posted his thoughts and remedy for this same malady.  Also, in hindsight, thinking maybe left the babies in cups too long.

Yes, a real learning experience for my first time.    Here’s what I am doing different,  1- Way more cup aeration, more/larger holes in cups.    2- Found a local source for larger perlite and using it liberally.   This will surely help eliminate the overwater possibility.   3- Think too, I will move cups up to one gallon sooner, not so compact, let those roots run.  4-Be a little more discriminating as to size of cuttings I root.  Short fat ones seem to have a lot more energy and hardier.  Tall skinny ones are fragile, dry out easily unless you have a greenhouse and I don’t.

Also, at least for the survivors, they are going outdoors at first chance.   I hung up a partial (50%) sunscreen on protected north side of house so; they get filtered sun part of the day.   They seem like it there, just by looking at leaves.  Figure I will move around the south side for more sun as they acclimate.   BTW…… our nights run 55-60 and days70-75 range, plus variable humidity of 50-75%.

Best of luck Russ

As always, thanks for all the helpful tips and ideas you forum members are so gracious in sharing.

I have the learning curve going on.  I would have had a much better success rate if I hadn't got the fig fever so badly that I acquired so many to root at once!  I need more space, lol.  We have a nearly finished greenhouse, but now we are discovering that even tho its warm enough and humid enough that it will be too sunny and burn the little guys! Arg!  The learning continues.  That's what matters.  That we have fun, and we learn from our experiences.  :)