I have a few (varieties) cuttings that I would not want to lose and I am interested in the way you root your cuttings successfully. If you can explain  in detail from start to finish. What medium do you use do you water them after you place your cuttings in a cup and so on.

Thank you all in advance.

AS they say, I am torn between two options:
1. I love the baggie method for spiritual reason when the cuttings are wrapped in moist paper and placed in Ziploc bag. It is the ritual of periodic observing and airing the bag with anticipation of seeing the white worm like roots on the cutting that freshens up the face with a smile. I thought I will give up this method but then there was a rooted with other method  cutting but with  no fun!

2. I recently have added the no-fuss method like some others have been doing that is making the cuttings go through the baggie method for a week and then transfer them to one liter pot (like in deli stores) in a moist Pro-Max soil and keep them in a plastic storage box with light on top. I do not water until a few leaves have emerged because most of the time the soil stays moist until leaves emerge.

I take a clear plastic cup, heat up a nail over the gas stove and melt about 8-10 holes in  the bottom and sides of the cup.then i use probably 75% perlite and 25% miracle grow potting soil, dip the cutting in dip n grow and plant them in the mixture. Then I take another clear cup and tape it on top of the bottom one making a mini green house. to water the cutting I take bowl or cup with water and place the cutting cup into it, the water goes in the holes I put in it with the nail. it works about 98% of the time this way. I ordered and just got today some rockwool and will be trying that soon because I hear that the roots come faster with it.

Here are some pics. of what I have going on now. I have very high success rate. My favorite and quickest way to root is to take clear cups and drill 4 drain holes in the bottom. I mix perlite and vermiculite. Don't know at what rate. Probably 60/40. I do know that I see roots quicker when there seems to be more vermiculite. Holds more moisture. Then I place in a bin and just crack the lid. I also have clear containers/cups with sphagnum/peat moss. Looks like dirt. With a baggie over. 100% success rate so far. As you can see, I have very large cuttings that root. Last but not least are clear shoe boxes with sphanmum moss. Works good but takes longer.   I also use a powder style rooting hormone for the cups.

Thank you all.

Art how moist moss do you use?

There are many past threads on this subject. They are fun to read, if for no other reason than seeing all the ways people start their cuttings. When I was looking for them, I used a couple search terms - 'cuttings' and 'rooting'. I forget what else. Choose 'subject' in your search to find whole threads on the subject.

Here's my thread on the subject from earlier in the year:
  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/My-little-babies-(rooting-cuttings)-5793849

Sorry, for some reason, I cant get the link to post properly. Do a 'subject only' search for:
My little babies (rooting cuttings)

Pics are worth a thousand words.  Start with post #11 here:  http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/My-2011-cuttings-progress-....-5137445

Read the entire post - read the pictures - and what I would share with you is this:  You see the baggies with tons of roots hanging out of the corners?  I should have NEVER let them go that long before repotting - 90% of them died.  The root quantity and size shown in pic from post #29 are perfect state for transplant to potting in pre-wetted soil (then into bin, like I showed you on my porch).  Roots in post #29 are really pushing it to the extreme.  And man, post #30... I let those go way too long.

Towards the end of the thread (post #79 and just above) shows the potted plants, so you can see the amount of moisture - I pre-wet my soil (which I think is critical) to the point that it's like a slightly moist cake - if I squeeze it in my hand as hard as possible, no water will come out, but it will also clump.

I do not like growing cuttings in containers with a growing mix that is not the same (or very similar) to the growing mix it will go into when I pot up.  So I'm trying a method for next year (I was outside doing this while Eden was starting this post).  I put the cutting in a container with some moistened (not wet) growing mix, then sealed the container in a zip top baggie.  Instead of slipping the baggie over the top of the container (as in Art's IMG #2068 and 2074), I put the container into the baggie and zipped up the top. 

For the past few years, I have been starting the rooting process in baggies with SM.  After they began to root, I would move them to a container with my growing mix and store them in a clear plastic bin.  I had a few issues with this method.  One, I lost some of the cuttings during the transition between the moss and the container.  Second, not all trees liked the same level of humidity in the tote.  I'm hoping the method I tried tonight will resolve both of these issues.  This year, I also tried putting newly rooted cuttings from the baggie directly into the ground.  This worked well for me until about mid-March.  Most cuttings that went into the ground after that did not establish enough roots before the onset of heat.

I soak it in a bucket. Then I wring it out. It is fairly moist.

I've had pretty good luck taking cuttings in the winter and storing them in a ziplock in the vegetable drawer.  In the Spring ,when my in ground trees start to leaf out I put the cuttings outside in mix of potting soil,perlite and pine bark.  I use tip cuttings about 6 inches long and bury all but about 1 inch. 


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Since I am not as attentive to my cuttings as others are - I am failing quite extensively with the cuttings I have.   I admit to forgetting about them - I know everyone says to "forget about them" but for some reason I think that is just an expression to not be overly nosy.  I have taken that expression to heart and quite literally without good results so far.  On the other hand, I yanked out four suckers from my LSU Purple, cut the leaves off, threw them in some cheap nasty potting soil from Walmart (someone recommended the cheap stuff), left them in the shade for 2 weeks? I think.  One has a leaf the size of a half dollar, 2 have terminal buds, one (about 18") was droopy on the top 4 inches so I cut it off and moved them out to more sun. Are there roots on them??  I don't have a clue but I think it's  a good start.  Maybe I'll do that to the others to save them!!!

Thank you guys. I read almost all the threads about rooting, and I think Jason`s is one of the most detailed one and i want to say thank you Jason for a great job.

Man, you guys are pretty bold to root cuttings in October. Kudos, to those with great success. In the past I've rooted cuttings in long fiber moss, perlite/potting soil, plain perlite, perlite/vermiculite mix, water, and just potting soil. All of these have worked for me but the moist New Zealand spag moss seam to work best for me. But I also like using Jon's small straight up bag method. The weather in my zone is so unpredictable that I quit trying to root cuttings in the Fall. Two years ago, we had perfect fall weather. Last year, we had 25 degree weather in November.

I used the baggy method for my cuttings.  Wrapped each stick in damp newspaper and kept in a ziplock bag until I saw roots with progress like this:


Then, I place the cutting in a clear plastic cup with a 70/30 mix of perlite/potting soil.  Water until it drains from the bottom, then place in a tote, uncovered, with a fluorescent light several inches above the plant.  This is on a timer for about 13 hours a day.  I use foil to wrap the clear cups to prevent light from getting to the roots.  I also lined the tote with reflective material to enhance the lighting.  The temp is about 74°F while the light is on, and about 70.5° in the dark.  After I notice good root development in the clear cups, I transfer them to 1 gallon pots and continue to provide light.  I'll need to maintain this atmosphere until next spring, so hopefully it will go well.  I'm using two 4' shop lights with 2 bulbs per unit at 4100K, but I'm also lighting 21 plants in 2 totes.
Here is what the cuttings look like in just 5 weeks:

Figgyfrank, nice set up and the plants look really good.

I like your set up to Frank.

Thanks!  The plants really seem to love their current environment.  I swear you can almost watch the leaves grow before your eyes.  It's a noticeable difference in just a 12 hour period.
Forgot to mention that I water them about once a week.  Not soaking, but just so the water reaches the bottom slowly.  The soil mix dries quicker with the warmth the lights produce.  I can't imagine what they'll look like by spring.
Also, the reflective material is actually a sun shade I got from walmart for $3.50.  If you cut it in half, length wise, you have enough for two bins.  ;)