Seems like I grow mold pretty well,I clean it with 10% bleach, new paper, new bag, and 2 days later, there it is. I threw one bag out, got too bad another I took out and put in a glass of water after treating and put it in the nursery tub with the rest two days later they got mold again, whoooh, took them out of there.I wonder if it is just that BT is more prone to mold than others? The ones I just stuck in 50/50 perl/MG are doing fine no mold, getting small leafage on most but don`t see any roots, only roots I have is on the one that I started in water and put into 50/50, they are growing all around the cup, they are not fat roots though, but many. The ones that are horizontal in the hot dog containers, nothing yet, mabey I should stop looking so much, "like boiling water". I gave my 10 yr old Neice a handfull of cuttings out of my frig to take home and try. ( I got her hooked on the fig this summer) I hope it works for her. I`ll never hear the end of it if she gets rooted before me. But I`m sure ROOTIN for her!When she comes here she logs on here and reads the posts and goes through the pics, Lil Figlet.

Some cuttings just get moldy easier. Most mold issues seem to be related to not enough fresh air. I have taken to  blowing up my bags, liike a balloon, to increase the amount of air in the bag, that seems to help. I also tend to think that too warm an environment also leads to easier mold formation. I tend to like a temp range closer to 70F, rather than 80 or 90.

I have had similar experience and I keep them around 70 or so also. Also, if the paper is very wet that would lend itself to more mold. I use "new" newspaper, wet it and then squeeze out the water. I wrap them loosely and leave both ends open to the air. I have also seen that some cuttings just are "cursed" with mold - it is likely due to the conditions before it was cut (like a shaded area of the tree maybe).

I concur with what Jon said. Most often I have no problem with mold in bags.
But once it starts --- watch out --- no stopping....?!

Also, I would like to add, that recently I have received some fig cuttings.
They were treated "normally" including the initial 10% bleach treatment.
Some DID mold badly. Thinking hard; one other possible reason may be
because the fig-twigs were (somehow) previously damaged (say, a real  freezing).
Once the healthy fig tissue is damaged, it could only do DOWN, and
(nature) mold does take advantage of that...

I took pretty much all the cuttings from the tips, do you think I would have better luck taking them from lower down the branch, I mean cut on both ends ? They seem to get moldy around the nodes and tips. Should I be useing cuttings with bark? I wish I had a camera to post pics with. The woodi part under the cambium layer is kind of shriveling up into the cutting like it is drying out or something, itis not flush with the cut any more, like the ones I see here

SteveNJ
You mentioned "I use "new" newspaper, wet it and then squeeze out the water". Unquote.
I had read a post by Gorgi (if I remember correctly) where he suggested to put the wet newspaper on top of a dry newspaper to let extra moisture be absorbed by the dry paper. This way you don't have to squeeze the paper (which can tear off). When I do it this way, it gives me uniform wetness (depending on how much I let the dry paper absorb from the moist one).

The origin and history of cutting is one big factor, in addition to some other factors, in showing tendency to mold despite all the precautions, and also for the vitality to root. I have seen marked (big) difference in percent rooting success in cuttings received from different sources at the same time and treated the same way for rooting.
I will confess that I have not been successful with a cutting which I had to clean two times for mold. I also should mention that many cuttings never show any sign of mold while some (those bad ones) make the whole brush and sink blue! But we still keep on doing it because for many of us that first sight of a root is a sight to behold for a while. Probably those doing it by the dozens may not get the same feeling.

Ottawan,
I recall reading that post about the dry paper as well. I haven't done it personally but it sounds like a viable way to do it. I seem to be OK with the squeezing thing. Most of my cuttings do not have much of a mold issue, but you are right - once it shows up, it's hard to get under control. I have noticed the condition of the cuttings is also paramount to success. A little damage is all it takes to start problems.

Oldiron - I have seen the same thing about nodes and tips having more mold issues. I think it is harder to clean there - many places for mold to hide. I also think that the smooth "bark" provides more of a barrier (protection) and nodes and tips have less protection (moisture transfer, latex secretions, easier entry for pathogens, and so forth). But, in the great balancing act, tips seem to root faster.

Two practices I used last winter that got the mold factor to near zero were:

1. Treat them this way:  Thorough clean the cuttings with a toothbrush and dishwashing soap (and rinse) at the time I got them - followed by a dip into the 10% bleach solution - then allow them to "air dry".  Then I put them into the refrigerator (properly stored).  If the cuttings stayed in my refrigerator for more than a couple weeks I would repeat this immediately prior to "bagging" them.  Of 8 or 9 dozen cuttings I treated this way I bet I didn't lose more than half a dozen to mold.  This includes some cuttings that never rooted after as long as 6-7 weeks in the bags.  The cuttings never rooted, but they also never developed mold.

2. Open every bag every other day and allow fresh air in.  I had my bagged cuttings divided into two groups, and I opened roughly half of them each night.  It was a nightly commitment of most of an hour opening each ziplock and carefully unwrapping each cutting - then re-wrapping them and putting them back into the drawers I kept them in.  I used newspaper last year too.  Leon told me he that newspaper is exposed to very high heat in the manufacturing process - making it virtually sterile.  He also told me he had heard or read that the ink used in newspapers contains chemicals that may actually retard the growth of mold.  It is also easier to roll and unroll when allowing in fresh air.

It's a good bit of work to do this when you are rooting a lot of cuttings, but it will certainly make mold much less a problem.

Henry

Nubs of leaf stems, or other dead material clinging to the cutting often leads to quicker molding.