Directions say spongy and moist, not saturated. How do you achieve and maintain that?

Sorry the search function came up blank. If already explained and you have a link many thanks!!

Steve, I go by the color of the cube. When it starts to dry out it turns a lighter brown. Also, after using them for
a while you can tell by the weight of the cube/cutting itself. It will be a trial and error for a little while. Before the
roots are visible, if I see that it is to wet, I "gently" squeeze some of the water out.

Hey Mike, thanks that's a big help. I hate to add on questions but have you lost some from being too dry or too wet? Which is better? And when do you transfer to cups or maybe 1 gallon pots?

Steve,

Too wet seems to be a larger issue. I used a spray bottle to mist the cubes. When they started lightening up (color or weight) I took them out of the tray and sprayed all sides just until it was moist, not wet. This part went great. My troubles started when they went into my growing mix. I could not find a balance between the moisture in the growing mix and cube. I buried most of the cubes a little further down in hope the trees would grow roots above cube.

James thanks for those tips. The spray bottle sounds like a great idea to add water without going too wet. So that sounds simple enough. Now to get the transfer right. Thanks again!!

I'm having a bit of the same trouble regarding the dryness. I know too well we don't want things too wet, but on the other hand, the cubes do seem to dry out quickly. I've been using a spray bottle to mist them, as well as a direct stream at the base of each cube when they look light in color. I have my cubes in a try in a large tupperware container (vented) on a warm plant mat. I'm seeing buds, and leaves, no roots rioting to get out, but I haven't been lifting them out to check.

Keeping the cubes happy is the Achilles Heal of Root Riot. In my case the humidity dome
I was using did not seal well and towards the end I was misting much more frequently. I lost mine due to them drying out. The root growth was quick and great. I will use them again with hopefully a better ending.

Mark sounds like you have a good setup for humidity. I'm more like Charles and in a dry climate. I think I'd better start building a better humidity dome. So far I've just used a plastic bag and it's not very handy. Thanks for the tips.

As I posted on Rafed's thread, my cubes got spray and mist and watering daily but the cuttings dried quickly and was a miserable failure. The humidity dome was sealed but still it only got up to 70% humidity under the dome, which I believe was too low.

I really believe in the RR Cubes

BUT

an easy system for post rooting care need to be defined. If I was retired I believe that mine would have made it. All of them produced roots and leaves but a four day work weekend prevented me from taking care of they and they dried up.

Steve, I have not lost any to dryness and that is probably because of  my attention and keeping them on the moist side rather than dry. As for
potting them up I go straight to the one gal pots. I do this when they get a good amount of roots similar to this     




and this




and here are some last years results pics

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/root-riot-graduates-6344507?pid=1278047175#post1278047175

Many people have rotted piles of cuttings using these expensive cubes. My experience has been that perlite and a temp controlled heat mat have produced very good results.

Mike: Thanks for the pictures!! I think I'll go to one gallon at that stage. I'm on the drier side I think but the cubes are dark not light brown.

Rich: I tried your method first. This is one of my backup plans. I bought the materials 6 months ago and might as well see how it goes. Thanks for your input!

Anything being expensive is all relative. Especially if it is successful.

Jed, may I suggest that you start your own thread in reference to the different subject matter of water crystals. You may get more
response that way as members look at the title of this thread as being about Root Riot Cubes.

Thanks for your interest in figs and being a part of this forum.

Rafed, thanks for taging onto my post. That is important especially
since this process is so expensive and some have apparently only rotted
the cuttings and have had no or limited success.

I appreciate you helping Mike,

Like any other method this works. It's proven it works.
And just like any other method, you have to do it right to make it work.

It isn't for everyone.

Rafed:

In regards to misting the cubes after potting up, can you elaborate? Do you plant with the top of the cube even with potting soil level and then mist the top of the cube so it stays dark looking?

fignutty,

You can either pot up and have the top lined up with the soil or you can cover with a thin layer of soil.
This is your personnel preference. But if you line it up with the soil you can at least peak at the cube to see if it looks dry or not. You do not want it to dry.

I have heard many complaints about the cubes drying out and the cuttings dying soon after transplant.
I think it has to do with people up potting and watering and forgetting that the cubes and the soil are two different matters.

It is very important to acclimate your rooted cuttings (in cubes) into the new soil.

Picture this in your head,
The cube from the top view is roughly on square inch. You planted it into the moist soil, I say moist because it is better to pre moisten the soil before you up pot the cutting/cube. That way the cube will not get wet and stay wet. This will avoid rotting.

Then continue to mist the cube for a couple weeks to keep it moist. Even if the soil feels moist there are great chances the cubes will be dry near the center.

Mist it for another week or two or even longer. But I think by the 2nd or 3rd week the roots would have grown into the soil and you are out of the danger zone.

Good luck

Rafed: Thanks for the detailed instructions. I think I can make that work. It's much like planting any potted tree just more demanding.

Glad to help Steve,

I want to add one more thing here and this is only my opinion.
I think the rooting gel or rooting powders play a roll in causing the cuttings to rot.

I say this because if you look at my original thread on this product you will see my setup was (if memory serves me) 100% success and I did not use any type of hormones.

And yes, I too used the gel later on and did lose a very small amount to rot.
The only thing I changed between the no gel and the gel method was well, "the gel".

Everything else was the same between the two methods.


Added: Mist the cuttings too.

I removed about 30 cuttings from Root Riots today. They have been in RR for 3 weeks. Not a single root or initial at all. I removed as much of the dead as I could and put them in a hot water rescue. I will do the new baggie method now and see what happens. I have found it impossible to keep them evenly moist because there is simply not enough medium. I used rooting gel and scraped the bottom as well. I want to cry. I should have listened to my intuition and put them in green moss like I did last year.

like any new approach to everything, RR should be approached slowly with few test samples. jumping into it whole sale with lot of cuttings might cause issues if you are not familiar to this RR. like any new way of doing things, you will need to understand the pros and cons and work it out. 

when i started paper towel baggie, i had lot of molds. but by working with it, now i rarely have molds unless the cutting is destine to die on me. i haven't used other system since i'm very comfortable with paper towel and ziploc and they will be around for long long time. RR is very interesting. those who figured it out has great success. very simple and good results. on other hand, some of the members have few issues. once my trees are all old enough for me to take spare cuttings to play with, i'll give it a go.