Ok So this season I have lost atleast 70% of my cuttings due to mold on the roots I have been extra carefull to not over water them and have even been using 80% perlite & 20% potting soil.

Yet cuttings will root and grow very nicely for so long then from one day to another I start noticing mold on the roots and eventually they just wilt and die. One of the main issues I have found this season is the amount of humidity in my office during the day as high as 90% and in the morning when I arrive its down to about 45% could this be an issue that would cause the mold?

At this point im ready to throw in the towel with rooting.

Aside from the mold, I would say the varying degrees of humidity may also be a factor.

My cuttings are in bins with a constant 90 to 100% humidity. I do have problems with mold on top ends but nothing that has constantly killed my cuttings. I would say to date I have lost about 10% of the cuttings to all sorts of maladies, including mold on roots but I can only think of about 5 included in that category. Most just didn't achieve strong, thick roots.

My biggest problem has been when I tried peat pots inside the plastic cups. I probably made them too wet and the air space between the two created a haven for mold.

The one thing I did they may have helped me was that when I bought the perlite, I strained as much dust and fine particles out as possible with strainer out of a salad spinner ( wife loved that one).

My recommendation would be to make holes in sides of your plastic cups.  I don't think your room humidity is the issue because your cuttings are inside of minigreenhouses (plastic bins).  I think your peat pots need to breath more.  You may also try misting with Physan 20 and see if that helps.  cheers and good luck,

Nelson, sorry to hear you ran into this nasty encounter. It does happen and it it took out almost all my newly potted one gal plants one time. Even this rooting season it took out all my new bag method in a container and I lost over 20 prize cuttings from Europe in one GO. Also results do vary from year to year and you can only do your best. BUT you can count on me. You know what I have and I will gladly help with exciting variants. I should have some spare cuttings  and I can send them to you. I still have to send you Noire de Caromb cuttings(4) and I will include the spares or newly rooted ones and trees that I have promised.

Just thinking aloud & picturing in my mind the environment you have the newly rooted cuttings placed. Consider :

1.  Placing newly rooted cuttings on the floor or closer to the floor.
2   Keeping temp. down or cracking window open during the day in office.
3. Not placing these newly rooted ones together with other  plants.Crowding.
4.  Starting cuttings later in the season. I have a buddy here that starts them in May and have almost 100% success.

Paully

Are you re-using your cups from previous years without sterilizing them first?

Nelson, your problem is an easy one to fix. Stop using papertowels, period. I havent used this method in 2 years. Get any good potting soil, I use UPM, and mix it with 50% perlite. I dont screen, didnt matter. Then stick your cuttings in, leave the top node out, and cover with a plastic cup or tup with small holes.

I have a near 80-100% sucess rate, and my cuttings once rooted are ready right away to up-pot.

I also never wash my cup or pots any more. I rinse them out, that is about it.

Jose, do you use peat pots inside of plastic cups?  Or do you just add soil straight into your 16oz cups?

Hi Guys, and thank you for all the warm words. I cleaned all cuttings with water and toothbrush when I received them some had mold right from the get go and those got water and bleach treatment.

I used the new improved baggies on most and some in plastic cups with holes on bottom and sides and I never re-use the cups. My office does act like a greenhouse as it has a big windows and lots of sunshine bringing temps during the day as high as 90+ degrees during the day and as low as 70 during the nigh this is during winter ofcourse.

Jose you did mention something that rang a bell in my head, all these cuttings that failed I used Miracle grow potting soil as that was all I had at that time. The ones that rooted well and are growing fine I used Pro-mix BX all had the same treatment in Plastic tubs with lid a little opened right from the beggining and aired out daily.

Another note is that even though I was not watering them, I noticed the condensation on the baggies was there for 3-4 weeks even with no water added and I even cut a few little notches on the sides of the baggies.

I eventually took 4 cuttings home to try my luck at home and what I noticed was very strange. Cuttings that I watered more frequently are doing better and no signs of mold yet cuttings that I didn't water as often both have mold on the roots. The mix is the exact same as I mixed a batch of perlite with a little marble & Pro Mix and put in cups the same day.

I use my 50% mixture in my cups. It works great. NO PEAT!

Also, miracle grow by itself is a terrible rooting medium. Dilute it to 50% using perlite and it works much better.

Paully raised a couple good points.

1) Floor temps, Many things are rooted by using bottom heat. Doesn't seem necessary for figs. However, after you pot them up, if you place them in a colder environment and/or on a cold floor, you have supplied bottom cold and not bottom heat. I figured out that even in my greenhouse, the floor and/or lower levels were considerably colder than the upper shelves, and had to isolate newly potted cuttings from the floor, and install a fan to better circulate the air to the lower portions. Cost me $10 at Walmart for a 3" fan. This has made a huge improvement. If you need to isolate your pots from a cold floor, a quick way is to put the pot inside a same-size pot, or maybe even 2-3 pots, which adds a 1/2" of airspace under the pot, for each pot you use. Admit, you have extra pots, so this is a free fix.

2) Air temp. If you take you newly7 rooted cuttings from a warm environment, pot them up, water them with cold water, and put them in a cooler environment, what are they supposed to "think"? It's colder, more like Fall or Winter, so it's time to slow3 down metabolism, which is the opposite of what you want.

So mine get less water (as explained elsewhere in "Overwatering, we've all done it", and they go back into the warm greenhouse for a couple weeks till they are over transplant shock, stabilized and beginning a new growth flush. Then outside to filtered shade for a few weeks, and then increasing sun.

I did have problems with peat pots molding on the outside and therefore inside, but this while they were rooting I had kept them very wet, never went to the roots, but I'm not so happy with the peat pots, the only good thing is when I'm done they go to compost and they are cheap.