Hello everyone, cuttings are starting to leaf and root in past few weeks. I'm at about 80/120ish showing signs of activity, probably a dozen or so varieties in all. How is the rooting going for you??

After starting off with a 50% success rate last winter, I think I have it finally figured out. Now I'm happy to say it's about 90%. I rooted about 25 different varieties and have many more baby trees than I was expecting to have. Ended up with around 65 rooted cuttings. Now I need to figure out what to do with all of the extras. Good problem to have I suppose..

What did you do differently to get a better success rate?

Not good, lost another rooted cuttings with three leaves last night. Watered it for the first time in almost two weeks and this morning it is completely wilted. Might give up on cuttings and just buy 5-6 trees this spring from Brugmansia or Adriano

Last year I was using the paper towel method. This year I went to spagnum moss and coco choir in plastic tubs. Also using a very light potting mix when I pot them. There was a little learning curve as far as the lighting was concerned. I'm using a 105w cfl and it was only 2 feet away. Burned some of the young leaves. Now they are all looking great since I moved it to 4 feet away.. This warm weather is helping also as I can stick them outside in a spot where they get 2-3 hrs of sun a day.

I swore I wouldn't start any cuttings until after the new year, but who can resist the allure of starting a new variety.  I've got nine new varieties potted, some with just a few roots, some ready to be up-potted.  I've got more cuttings in damp paper towels that should be ready to be potted in the next couple weeks, which is after the new year.  Last year I had a whole bunch of Hardy Chicago cuttings, so I've got a bunch of that one variety.  With gifts/purchases of cuttings this year I'm looking forward to having a bunch of different varieties.  It's like card collecting with a tasty byproduct.

Edit: Byproduct is not spelled biproduct ;-)

So far so good


 

I got cuttings of Randino, White Marseilles, VdB from a forum member in Ukraine at the end of November. Only VdB rooted, all others got moldy, rotted and had to discard them. I just up-potted one VdB today to a 2L pot and cut back to first bud, hoping it will push some green. Another VdB is well rooted and growing leaves.
Got some Panache, Michurinska10 and Kutfej Black from fellow Hungarian collector, all 3 are rooted and doing fine.
Here is a pic I took a few days ago of the cuttings in cups.

brandon87: "Now I need to figure out what to do with all of the extras."

I know what I'll be doing with some of mine.  I found out today that one of the people I gave three fig plants to "forgot" to bring them inside.   My mother-in-law who had one of the two that I gave her branch out nearly perfectly with three 1-foot scaffolds.  That one even made figlets that didn't get a chance to ripen.  I saw them still in the planters on the porch last week.  One guy planted theirs in-ground but in a sheltered area.  I'll probably be doing at least a couple repeat giveaways. 

I have 5 Greek Church, 1 Violet de Bordeaux, 1 Florea, and 1 that I think is Brown Turkey in pots. This is my very first try at growing cuttings so I'm very happy with the results so far. I also have two large aluminum pans that I'm trying starting them horizontally. There are about 20 cuttings in there, and 8 varieties. Those are going to need potting soon, as they are sending up leaves and roots all over the place. Not sure what the heck I'm gonna do with all these plants, because most will have to be in pots, and brought in over the winter, and I have limited space.

Mine are still in the fridge :/

Mine are doing great. This is my first season trying to root without air layering. They are in a cold room about 50-60F and most of the light is blocked. They almost all have very pale buds and tiny leaves but are putting out great roots. Their soil/coco fiber/vermiculite is dry and bagged and the air in the bin is humid so no dried out cuttings or soggy roots so far. I think the lack of light and cool temps is helping them. I have a few in covered containers over a heat mat (wouldn't fit in the other container), some light blocked but not much and those are not putting out roots like the ones with no heat but they did put out weak leaves. The one farthest from the light put out roots. It is also farthest from the heat.

*They've been in the dark, cold bin for about 5 1/2 weeks.

Things are going well. My first go at rooting cuttings started this past September. It was touch and go for a while as I got my method down.

Round 1 - was 17 cuttings, of which 10 are now stable with good root and leaf development.

Round 2 - started in early December with 6 CH and 6 UKN Italian white. Lost only one of these.

Round 3 - another 15 UKN of five varieties. Started second week in December and all looking very good. very aggressive growth.

Round 4 - 12 Ciccio Nero from Pino. Started two weeks ago. No roots yet but they all look strong and healthy.

My method of late is a variation of the cup-in-cup. I just use water bottles with holes punched in the bottom.

   

I don't hide them from the light. The sit in the window sill or on a high shelf where it's warm.

For mix I use straight out of the bag Fafard Agro Mix. Nothing added.

Upon seeing roots I've been watering with a half strength liquid fertilizer however as of late I've had to switch to watering with 3% hydrogen peroxide. Gnats have become a problem and I couple of cuttings are in jeopardy as a result. I haven't seen since using the H2O2 but I'm keeping a vigilant watch. I thought I had them beat before using Diatomaceous earth but they came back. Everything was clean when I started. I can't imagine where they came from.

 
 
 
 

I think my biggest problem moving forward is space. I probably started too many to do indoors over winter. If these outgrow their bottles before spring I'll have to pot up...and I don't know where I'll put them all.