Hi Zach.  I'm not doing anything other than the initial wrap of BuddyTape (Parafilm).  My air is probably at 20% RH, I'd guess.

Although I've not had an issue with the dreaded fungus gnats, I thought by switching to some form of bottom watering would help ensure against that.

Ok thanks Harvey, I haven't tried the buddytape- I will have to try that and see if it helps. I ordered some tree pots today and I am going to try this with some cuttings.

From and Orchid website....

BTI - Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies Israelensis

There is a naturally occurring soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies Israelensis (BTI) that kills the larvae of fungus gnats, mosquitoes and black flies . When BTI is eaten by these larvae toxins are released into their gut which causes the larvae to stop eating. Without food the larvae die. This interrupts the life cycle of these pests and the population then dies off.

BTI is not harmful to humans, birds, fish or mammals. Deemed Fit For Organic production by the USEPA in accordance with the USDA's National Organic Program.

• You can get BTI in "Mosquito Dunks" and use it in your watering can. They sell them at Home Depot and Lowes.
• "Yellow Sticky Traps" are supposed to work well also on the adults

Has anyone tried this type of method but instead of using promix, use loose coir?

Zack,
I tried Burpee Coir Seed Starting mix last year and it was successful. I also did a 70-30 Coir-Perlite mix and that worked quite well (very high rooting rate with very healthy looking roots). That's what I'm planning to use in my mini SIPs this season for rooting cuttings, a Coir-Peat-Perlite mix. The coir product is sometimes called "Coir Fines". I was also able to purchase larger bricks to make my own mix. My experience of rooting with Coir was documented here starting with post # 57... http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/fig-rooting-hormone-and-none-a-comparison-6155695?trail=100

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Pete,
I actually pre-wet the cutting rooting mix with MG general Purpose Fertilizer at 1 teaspoon/gallon of water, after noticing that all the seed starting mixes have a low fertilizer content. It definitely has not harmed the cuttings.

Thanks Pete, thats really helpful, I am thinking about doing the same and trying it in the tree pots this year

last 3 yrs, i have been using MG seedling soil, and medium perlite at 50/50. seems to work just fine. and same mix is used for 1 gal. used to use MG perlite too. but they have too much fine powder. changed to one of those large bulk package perlite from one of organic/brewing shop around here. 

i think this goes back to jon's new baggie method. using something other than just water and paper towel/s. moss seems to get the root going faster. i know MG products come with fertilizers in them. there was another post about growing cutting in the water with fertilizer in it. maybe something we are missing about fertilizer and the cuttings. maybe at low level, fertilizer might actually help and doesn't burn up the cutting. 

i've been bottom feeding fertilizer at very low dose on my cups for last few weeks. it seems they are very happy. 

Where do you get your ProMix HP, Harvey? Is it available in local stores for home gardeners? I usually only see JungleGrow and MG in the local stores.

Rick, I've bought a smaller bale at Lowe's before but then I bought a larger one at a very large soil mixing plant in Sacramento.

Redi Gro: http://tinyurl.com/RediGro

Rick, If you get over to Atlanta area you can pick it up at Atlantis Hydroponics or on their website http://www.atlantishydroponics.com/

Thanks for the info, Harvey and Mike. Right now I'm mixing MG potting mix, yard dirt, and perlite in haphazard ratios until it 'feels right'...not that I know what right should feel like :) Would be nicer though just to find a trusted pre-mix. "Trial and error" is fun when you have plenty of free-time, but I'm working 6 days a week now so convenience and reliability have become much more appealing. I've had issues with Coir-based seed starter...either it would hold NO moisture, or once finally saturated, would never dry out. Actually found Alabama yard dirt to be a fairly good moisture balancer---just have to add the others to keep it from compacting. Though there's that issue of bugs/gnats or whatever issues outdoor soil might bring inside with it. 

Rick,
Promix-HP...

Had bad luck with Promix indoors. Worst is MG potting soil. Big problems with fungus gnats. Maybe it
is just my luck.

I find Sequioa taste too ordinary. Maybe this is due to its young age & I kept it in the green house.

Pete, here is my first existing pot on it's way to a SIP.

I cut a strip 7" long and folder it 1" over and stapled it and inserted a dried up pomegranate cutting to aid inserting it into a pot already containing ProMix and a rooted cutting:

 

The first one went in pretty easy, see the wicking material that made it to the bottom of the pot:



I inserted a second one into the same pot but am not sure it made it all the way to the bottom.  It felt like it hung up on some roots.  I think I need a different stick that is smoother and less likely to tear through the bottom of the wick.

Harvey,
Thanks for the update.
I don't know how you could apply this to mass production, but its an easy way to determine the the maximum required amount of water for your SIPs. IMO, your idea of flood and drain may be the best approach for large quantities of cuttings in standardized planters.

Thanks, Pete, I was thinking along the lines of something such as that.  When I irrigate my chestnut orchard (main orchard is 226 large trees, irrigated with microsprinklers), I have based the amount of water on the existing moisture of the soil.  For instance, if soil has become more dry than I plan due to a vacation, I might want to apply 6" of water to replace 1/3 of soil space down to 18" in depth, figuring 7.5 gallons per cubic foot, and applying 125 GPM, I determine the hours I need to run my system.  It's going to take some trial and error on this but I'll probably only apply enough water to replace 20% of pot volume on my first run.  One concern I have is that some pots will be drier than others but I'm also hoping that those pots will wick up the water faster.

I attempted to find trays I could use, ideally something 15" x 25.5" so I could fit two trays of pots in each tray for watering or 25.5" x 45-48" for six trays (one shelf).  I could maybe do that by constructing something out of metal and soldering the corners, etc., but that got to be more work and pricey.  Yesterday I bought a 10' x 25' roll of 6 mil black plastic and will use that to form a basin under my trays and see how that works.

Late last night I also experimented and think I'll melt the folded seam of the wick instead of stapling.

I ran out of ProMix HP when I started a tray back in mid-January and used the Sunshine mix.  I don't think I'll use that any longer for starting cuttings.  It stays wetter and I seem to have started getting some fungus gnats about 10 days after starting that tray.

I just started another tray of cuttings (mostly cuttings that are a little bit immature and more green than I'd like).  I bought more ProMix HP last week so I'm set to go (cost was about $32 for 3.8 cubic feet weighing 60 pounds).  Here is a photo of the new tray along with a tray of cuttings that I started on 12/8/2013 which was shown previously in this thread.  One cutting appears lost but the other 19 are doing great.

 

I attempted to convert some of these to SIP but it was too difficult with plants that are already so far along.  Instead, I'm picking the entire tray up and putting the tray in a tub of water that is about 4" deep and soaking them for about 5 minutes. That seems to be doing well.

Thanks for sharing the picture they look great. How often are you doing the water then from the bottom treatment? I started some cuttings yesterday using what you did and I also started a few with a mix of coir and perlite.

Looking good Harvey!

Yeah, those plants look great Harvey, well done sir.

The promix HP is drying out too fast for me so I'm mixing it with ~5% small pine bark chunks and ~3% Napa Floor Dry.  So far so good.  I have my indoor green house fairly warm.  Everything seems to stall if I don't heat it.

Thanks for the kind comments.

The plants at this stage have been getting watered once every two days, soaking for about 10 minutes.  But this morning they were a little bit more dried out than I liked so I think I'll need to go to about every 36 hours.  I plan to sell some of these and was hoping to keep them in small pots to make it easier to ship but may move them up into a larger size.  I don't like the results from 1 gallon pots being shipped much of the time so will probably stick with tree pots.

Great job Harvey! They look very good.

Harvey,
Thanks for the update.
What's your current fertilizing schedule? The plants look good.
Thanks.

Harvey……. Thanks for all the progress reports on your original post.   A super discussion you have initiated!

I’m curious, are you applying any water soluble fertilizer or any other additives in your watering or soaks?  If so, what kind, how much?    Thanks