I'll apologize for this being so long but I just had to explain it. Last year I had fits with mold and gnats. This year I started a few in baggies with sphagnum which work out with only a few with mold problems. I also started a couple in baggies with damp paper towels. That also produce some nice roots but still had too many with mold. I put a few in the little "Jon bags" and that worked also but not to it's fullest. I guess I just want 100 percent even though I know it next to impossible in such crude surroundings as I have. I think the biggest problem is to control is temperature and moisture, get them wrong and presto you have mold or rot.

Like it happens to all of us at times, I got struck by an idea. I toyed with it a couple of days and decided it made sense to I went for broke. I put all my cuttings at risk in an untried method, at least untried by me. As I have been reading everyone's ways of rooting and ideas for rooting, my mind put together a lot of little bits and pieces and came up with "The Plan".

Here's what I'm doing, and although I have only rooted a third of the cuttings involved, the others are well on their way. I only had mold problems on 2 cuttings and both had problem when I put them to root but just to see what would happen I put them in to root anyway.

I started like always by writing each one's unique number on the cutting to make sure I don't mix them up. Then instead of washing them with anti-bacterial soap and then rinse them in bleach, I didn't do either.  Instead I took each set of cuttings and laid them on a clean dry paper towel that I put it's number on and misted the cutting and paper towel with water with a little "Physan 20" which someone here introduced a while back. Now I didn't make the paper towel wet, I only misted the part touching the cuttings. After rolling up the cuttings the outside of the paper towel was still dry. As each batch was done I put them into a Styrofoam ice chest with very thick walls. When finished I closed it tight and sat it on a shelf in the corner. The damp cuttings and paper towel started bleeding the moisture into the rest of the paper towel. As all of them in the ice chest did the same, after two days all of the cuttings had the same moisture around them, definitely not damp but only the slightest sensation of moisture. The cuttings took on a feeling of being almost tacky as Dan describe the feeling when the moisture is just right. The insulated ice chest kept to temperature from fluctuating so no condensation formed anywhere. Every thing stayed constant. Best of all no mold period except on the two cuttings I mention earlier. I have since trimmed of the bad ends and the mold has not reappeared.

I check them every 3rd day and take out the ones with roots and cup them up. It's been so rewarding to see the progress of the cuttings from sticks to trees.  

Here are a few pictures of "The Plan". I hope I haven't bored y'all too much.

The ice chest


The cutting all wrapped up.


The magic ingredient.


Typical results.



Planted in inverted cups.


Snug as a bug in a rug.

Interesting approach--thanks for taking time to explain it! It sounds like I'm still keeping things too wet; maybe I'd better concentrate on air-layers instead of cuttings.

The physon 20 can be found on ebay relatively cheap. buy a small bottle as the mixture ratios are very small.  Also the physon 20  has a mixed shelf life of 5-7 days then it starts to become ineffective.  I mix mine as I need it in a quart spray bottle. You should also use it to moisten your media to kill mold spores in the mixes...

physon 20 staff has answered many emails from me with my concerns about its usage they are prompt and very informative.

Thanks for the info on the shelf life, but it does same strange that mixing it with water would shorten it effective life.
"gene"

I really like your technique Gene......especially that Styrofoam ice chest for temperature stabilization. The usefulness of temperature stabilization is still a misunderstood parameter by many rooters.


Thanks for sharing Gene..........

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Dan, hope you have time to tip us off on carbon dioxide affecting rooting. My main rooting regime is to begin this weekend. thanks.

Paully, I will send you a PM shortly.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Good practice, thank you for sharing it.