i have been bad. last two weeks have been very busy. being sick with cold/flu, work, family. i neglect to air the cups. three of my cuttings developed mold on the top of the soil. some of the leaves and branches also have mold and one of the branch looks like it has mold/rot and it's eating into the tissue. 

what do i do? i really want to save these. 

i aired it out today and it looks little better. will physan 20 on top of the soil help? should i just pot them up to 1 gal? there are enough roots. if i pot up these, they will go into garage and will be allow to stay there till spring. 

I have sprayed some with peroxide which killed the mold and they survived.  I left them uncovered after spraying them

Danny,

Did you apply straight out of bottle or dilute the peroxide?

We have low humidity here, but when I leave my cupped cuttings capped for to long, we get mold even here.  For mold I spray with a very dilute bleach mix.   As in...a table spoon to a gallon mix.  I spray the cutting and the ground on top...anything showing signs of mold.   Then I wash or spray the cup tops/caps in the dilute bleach mix.

Then I expose cuttings to sunlight and air. for several hours.   With those that wilt back and begin to shrivel and rot, I cut the moldy part off and throw it away.    (Had to do that with two yesterday).

I have found the best way to combat mold is to air cuttings out for an hour or so in daylight every day, then re mist and cover.

But that's easy for me to say.  I only have 19 cuttings and, being retired, I have waaay too much free time on my hands.

dave,

i like rooting in spring. even if they have mold everywhere, if i leave it outside in fresh air and sun, they usually go away. but this time of the year, that isn't always possible.. i might leave them outside when the sun comes up.

it's been just unsually hectic last few months. i would have done better job at keeping the mold away once they are in the cup, but i guess i just didn't get around to it. i think they have enough roots to be moved to the 1 gal container now. i'll probably up pot and see if they will stay stable till the spring.

everything i'm reading is indicating removing the top 1-2" of the soil and clean with bleach/peroxide and see what happens. i'll probably do that tonight.

Understandable, Pete.   Like I said...being retired...I have lots of free time to mess around with stuff.  Most of you do not.  And I have a big south facing sliding glass door/window.  That's where my cuttings are at the moment.   Direct sunlight is best, if you have it.

As for your "fix."

that's what i read.. 1 - 2". but i think they are talking more about grown plants in larger container. since it's in the cup, i doubt i'll be removing more than 1/2". maybe i'll spray it with physan 20. just that i have the thing, but not sure how safe it will be. what i give to the cutting, will get sucked up and will remain there...

I agree.   I would just spray on top of your rooting medium and spray all the mold with dilute bleach solution.  Bleach is a wonderful disinfectant.  It was pretty standard everywhere untill the EPA got all crazy a couple decades ago.   It's effective and it is cheap.   And it hasn't hurt my cuttings any that I can tell.

Funny thing though.   All the trees I grew from cuttings are kind of a colorless white.  The leaves, the branches, the figs themselves...everything.  

(Just kidding). 

Dave!  That cracked me up!  Bleaching your figs!  :-))

Suzi

Bleach can do that...

(Glad SOMEBODY caught it).