I know Root Riot works well to root cuttings but I've heard that it tends to rot them once transferred to pots. I use 50/50 Pine Bark Fines / ProMix HP. Should I be worried? I hear that the answer is, as always, don't overwater. I'm pretty careful when I water. Am I just being paranoid, or should I not use them? I think I'll be rooting 300 cuttings. More or less. Has anyone had good success with RR? I've heard enough horror stories. What kind of mix did you use to pot into?

I've been wondering this too.  I did several RR cubes last year, and I know I lost some of those after up potting to 2gal.  There's still one twig lying next to my deck that still has the RR cube on it.  But I can't remember what all I used them on, so I don't know if any of my "survived" trees were from RR cubes.  And I'm not curious enough to bare root them to find out..lol..

I may have to trial a few this year with unknowns and keep notes.  So far, I haven't used them this year.

I have roots pushing out of my cubes now and need to pot them up. I wonder if you could tease the RR off of the cutting? I have some longer cuttings and on those I may barely wipe on some Clonex and then bury the cube deep. I really believe the cutting will then produce more roots above the cube which will come out in the mix and not rot. The original Roots will feed the cutting until the new ones emerge and if they do not rot there will not be an issue.

I don't think you can get them off the roots.  I made a mistake and planted citrus seeds in them.  I was not aware that citrus seeds often have 2 - 4 embryos inside.  I was shocked to see one little tree and a couple days later another one a quarter inch away!  We did surgery, and split the cube, nestling it next to an unpopulated split cube, and it worked fine, but getting all those roots free without breaking them would be pretty tough!
Suzi

Thanks Suzi!

What about the deep plant method to get around any RR cube caused rotting?

I rooted about 75 in RR Cubes last winter. It took me a little while but what I started doing at planting time was not to water at all.
I sprayed the cube and put it into Pro Mix/Perlite 50/50 or straight in to Fertilome Ultimate Potting Mix. I did not water them
until they begged for it or wilting appearance. My success rate was about 90% then.

Last year I used both the cubes and sphangum moss and had pretty good success with both.  The downside of the cubes is (1) you are limited to working with smaller cuttings and (2) there does seem to be greater problems with rot as mentioned above.  The upside is if you want to start a large number of trees this is a no fuss, no muss way to do it.  It's really easy to have a large number of cuttings organized in a grid and check on them every day.  Rooting success is extremely high - greater than 95% for me and I've never had a mold issue with cubes.  The percentage seems a little lower with moss and once or twice had a mold issue.  So even if you do lose a few more during the potting up phase with cubes it may still be worth it.  It's also worth mentioning that the chances of damaging the roots when you pot up are less because they are protected by the cube. 

By the way, this year I have taken the cube off of 3-4 cuttings.  If you catch the cutting just as the root breaks the surface of the cube there is a good chance (if you are careful) of getting the cube off without damage to the roots but it's not for the faint of heart!

I had over 80% sucess rate with Root Riot in my first year. I found that when moving the trees to pots, I left about the last 16th of an inch and the entire top of the cube exposed. It seemed to help in the rotting department a lot. My potting mix is a 50/50 of pine bark fines and ProMix HP.

I think I'm going to try root riot with the cuttings I have a lot of. For the ones that I have 3 or less, I'll do the sphagnum moss. I'm going to experiment with choir and soil moist crystals this year as well. (Soil moist only to root, no crystals transferred when potting up.)

I would not bother with Soil Moist.  I tried it about a month ago and got nothing.  No roots and it eventually got mold.

I was thinking of soil moist mixed with something or just laying the cuttings on top of the soil moist. If cuttings only need humidity, then some combination should work. I think it would be easy to remove and transition to pots.

Last season a friend gave me his spares -- rooted hard to get variaties grown in root riot cubes. Upon up-potting all died. Believe too much water retention was main cause of death. Would not use it & would not recommend product. Will stick with trusty spaghnam moss.