My Success Rate is very high around 90 pct. You may want to experiment with your extra cuttings. I have been using this method for about 2 months, inspired by a topic started by Gloria Ramaley. She was using water in bottles at a school, that helped children root cuttings in their classroom. Also, yes I have rooted expensive cuttings, the second photos has an Abeberrera Cutting.

It looks as if you are putting them under lights. Are they on a heat mat too?

Armando
What kind of success in up potting?

I grow my herb cuttings this way with almost a near-100% result. I leave them in the water bottle for about 2 weeks in my kitchen or until such time as as the roots appear healthy or until my wife becomes edgy about table top space. I shall experiment with fig cuttings now and see! Thanks!

They are not under any lights, or a heating mat, they get diffused sunlight from a window.  On up potting, I wait until I see a lot of healthy roots, don't want to keep them in water past 30 days. I put them in a 1 gallon pot with a mix of perlite, dirt and potting mix....the ratio of the mix varies, will need to fix this...LOL   I also put a plastic bag over them to keep the humidity up and mostly because of those darn Fungai Gnats,    So far been having 100 pct up potting success (due to waiting for a lot of roots).

Note: I leave a gallon water out over night, so the chlorine/fluoride can evaporate. (using water from the faucet).

Armando I read you should change the water daily with this method, are you doing that?

Here in Athens Ga, a gallon of distilled H2O cost .87 cents. It best for water rooting cuttings.

Aloha, Armando!  I tried this method also with BT cuttings and had tremendous success.  I waited for roots to grow about 2-3 inches, then up-pot to cups.  Worked awesome!  Then I tried it with, I think Monstreuse?, and not so good results.  I think I may have neglected changing the water weekly.   I wonder if only certain varieties can be propagated using this method?  What other varieties have you tried, Armando?  Mahalo.

Nate

lot of things that work for others don't work for me. rooting in water didn't work for me at all.

the main factor: temperature... it is not fair! why california? oh to compensate for the quakes?

Armando,

As I read you post, I recalled that I left some cuttings in a bottle under a sink in total darkness a while ago.
I just checked them.
Two cuttings (Black Mission), both have roots!
I think they rooted because I forgot about them :)
Remembering they are there would make me do some ‘improvements’ that eventually would hurt the process.
Needless to say, the water has not been changed for about 6 weeks.

Armando...Congrats!! Looks like you are doing a great job! You got me thinking about trying this also! :)....You Da Man!

There are some cuttings that may take a long time to root, like Early Violet, Gulban ( you may have a good or bad result from these varieties ...????).....I have great results from fast rooting, Celeste, Kadota,Mission, and a little slower Abbererrera, LSU Purple.....Would like to try a Panache, but all I have are green branches (new growth).....Note: I have a green cutting of Celeste that is rooting
Thanks Frank, I was wondering today about all that knowledge that Jon has, I wish I could spend a few days walking around in his head...LOL

Armando,

Thanks for the photos and trial details. I have wanted to try this since Gloria uploaded those pictures but was afraid too since the moss was working. This looks like a fun easy way to root and I have a couple longer cuttings that I will give a try.

Also, many folks have warned that water roots are very different from regular roots, and that they are easily shocked by potting medium. I have had mixed results with water roots, i had initial success but later in winter I lost A LOT of succesfully rooted cuttings, even when I pre-wet my potting medium.

Thanks Rafaelissimmo, just showing people another rooting method. I have done real well, and this is only to experiment with. On shocking the roots, could of been maybe ???? in the mix.  Also winter is a tough time to try to keep these cuttings alive.   Also, the potting mix should be moist not to wet. Try again my friend....

Armando,

Thanks for the cool post, always looking for a new way to root a cutting.   Maybe even beat the dreaded fungus gnats out of a meal!   Those damn things are a relentless battle for me this year.

I accidentally created a water root cutting last year.  It was about a 2 inch diameter Celeste branch, about 24 inches long.   I had tossed in a bucket with a about 12 inches of water to keep it from drying out, then kept putting off doing anything, other than adding water, for several weeks.  This was out in full sun!  Walla…… to my surprise, about a month later I noticed roots growing.   I had heard water roots were difficult but, potted up anyway.  It took and now growing like a weed.

Armando - looks like a very interesting alternative.  I gave some of the cuttings I got this year to a friend who is a 'Master Gardener' but had never grown figs.  Her cuttings she started in just water are doing great also. 

It looks like you are just using a few oz of water in the bottom of the bottle - any reason that putting more water in the bottle should not encourage rooting from a larger area of the cutting?

Also, I wondered about putting several cuttings in one bottle, then separating them out to individual bottles when they start rooting, just to be able to keep closer watch over that one bottle at the start (and because of space limitations)

Are you using wax or paraffin or anything on the ends of the cuttings to prevent dehydration or rot?

Thanks for sharing this!

I don't understand how you guys manage to get this to work. My mother uses the water method for every thing she tries to root. She has a huge success rate.
When i try to do it this way all i get is rot, mold, and cuttings that turn black.

What's the secret ?

This post with the plastic bottles gave me 'vu ja de' with respect to a long (and loud) Rooting Summer Cuttings thread. The bottle in water method has been effective for me (9/10 root growth rate into 1GPs) but it requires more time and attention than other methods.

I think, that healthy looking cuttings is the key. Also, I soaked the cuttings for about 2 hrs after cutting/or receiving them in water. A small bucket with a drop or two of bleach, hopefully killing any mites and mold........... I basically look at the bottle as a humidity chamber and that's why I put only about 3 oz of water. Maybe adding more water would help...????  I don't know...??? LOL   I would think that the water would turn yellowy and may get moldy faster.

I'm going to try this method again with my next set of cuttings. I'll follow your advice Armando and add only 3 ounces of water.
I'm also going to use store bought water to try this. I have a feeling the additives in the water are what's killing the cuttings.

Not using wax or paraffin or anything on the ends of the cuttings to prevent dehydration or rot?  Still new to all this rooting cuttings stuff...????  My 3rd year...LOL
I am not sure about one thing, do I cut the bottom of the cutting, to have the cutting drink from it...????   I have success, whether I cut the bottom or not......I look at the water bottle to the baggie method, in trying to keep the humidity up and letting it have some air to avoid mold. The difference also is that it gets fresh air around the clock.

@Armando, thanks for bringing back the easy method and remind us to keep it simple!
Several weeks ago I was visiting one of my friends in DownTown LA  where those old lots are huge cuts and have old growths in them, anyway, as I was driving away I noticed he had a fig variety at the corner hillside at the exit, it looked very bushy and thinner branches, nothing I had seen before... so I asked him by calling back  and he said it was a black fig variety and has almost black , deep red insides... so I pulled and cut a long branch , with leaves and all... when I brought it back home I noticed it was heavily infested with MVD, so I got disappointed and threw it away from all my plants. 
A week ago I was cleaning the corner of our Tool Shack and I see the branch placed in a tiny ceramic pot with no hole underneath which had an inch of water which had turned into dark swampy smelling, moldy and full of mosquito larvae concoction. Must've been either my 3 y.o son or my friend 87 y.o who lives upstairs... With a disgust I pulled the branch out of it and was going to toss it further down the back goalie where deers are but I froze with awe. The roots were all over the bottom tip of that cutting and all old leaves had been replaced by new ones and NO MVD... I was shocked! Go figure!!!