I don't know what is going on with my trees (some were last years plants) and my new cuttings. They grow great, lot of new growth, then bam, they wilt and lose the their leaves. What ever it is it's spreading, it happen to one tree Saturday, wilted leaves, Sunday it lost quite a few leaves and ok on Monday. Now Monday, the tree next to it, same thing happen, today it is very wilted. On some of trees that this has happen too, they pushes out new leaves. I do water when dry and I don't have gnats flying around at, I tread for that a while back and I have the yellow sticky cards around just to make sure. Any Ideas? Thanks Frank

Hi, Sorry about your cuttings but I think everyone will experience this at some point.  I'm no plant physiology expert but I remember someone explaining that just because you have leaves and you have roots does not mean the plumbing is completely working yet.  The cells that created the leaves are doing there thing and the cells that created roots are, well, creating roots, but they then have to get working together.  If I have an old boat that needs a bilge pump to keep it a float and I under size it, it will eventually sink.  It will sink even faster in rough water.  So when you have the leaves and the roots created in a nice humid environment where not much is being asked of the two and then you change that environment suddenly so the leaves are evaporating more moister and the roots exist but aren't up to speed yet. or they are also dealing with shock of a transfer,  the plant is loosing more moisture than it can replace.  You might then think I need to water this to save it but it's not that it needs water, its that the roots can't supply the water yet.  When the cutting is just sitting in overly damp media the risk is then that the outside bark will rot around the cuttings and the plant is basically lost at that point.  In 2010 I had a batch of cuttings that were doing great and when I transferred them I lost them.   If they get any direct sun in that window you should probably move them.  Cooler soil temps also reduce the efficiency of the roots too. 

Frank, what medium are you using?  It doesn't look like soil/compost.

If it's an inert medium, are you just watering or are you also feeding?  What's the PH?  How often are you watering/feeding?

check water. too much or too little can do that. i water mine very little water to see if they will perk up if the container/cup is very light.

Most folks here have talked about cuttings, but you mentioned 1 year old plants.  They look they've been in leaf for quite a while?  What sort of light do you have them under?  Just in that small window?  That won't be enough to keep them going long term.  How long have they been leafing?  In a northern climate, just stuck in the window, they will slowly starve for lack of sunlight.  They look a bit "leggy" too, which is what happens when plants don't get enough light, they try to grow upward, long and skinny, looking for a light source.

But before you go and stick them outside, if they have been in this condition for a long time, then a sudden exposure to sunlight will burn the leaves.  So you have to do it gradually.

Just a thought.

If they are one year old plants, and the soil has enough (and not too much) water, then they shouldn't wilt like that.

This what I tried last night, I just fill that pot with water and let it sit in water over night. It perked up, before I watered, I checked the bottom of the pot and it was damp. I said what the heck, drown baby if you don't make it your going outside and freeze to death. So this morning I took all my pots and gave them a big drink plus I let them sit in a tray of water for about half hour, then removed them and back on there trays. As for my little cutting cuttings, they have so many roots when I pot them up and some just don't make it. Iam have a problem for sure with my kings. I did notice as I dump out the cuttings anything with small fine furry roots never made it. As my HVAC classes my teacher would say, " it's a learning process". I will keep trying till I get this right. Frank 

learning process indeed. death by overboarding cannot be good, poor misunderstood figs...