All,

I have recently transplanted 3 cuttings from rooting media (vermiculite/perlite) to pots with a recommended mix of pine bark, turface and granite. I added some lime and osmocote. Watered well initially. I am keeping them at 76-78*F and 70-80 RH. I attached a pic of one of the cuttings before potting. Within 3 days of potting, they lost their leaves and the foliage is soft. Has anyone experienced this and is there anything else I can do? Should I just wait it out and they will recover?

The small amount of lime is added to counteract the acidity of the pine bark mulch and is mixed in ahead of time (same with osmocote). Would you think this is a cause? Or is it better practice to delay these treatments?

Steve let me horn in for a short!
 
Hi Dan,
I just re potted my LSU Gold a week ago, the thing is really growing a heck of a bunch of roots, since I re potted it, it is putting on new leafs on every tip!
I plan on putting in-ground next spring.I will keep it in the house this winter.
Thanks Steve.
 
Cecil

No problemo Cecil.
But to everyone else .... need some advice on my poor wilted cuttings. Thanks.

Steve,
 
I have had the best luck using good potting soil (I was turned onto Ferti-lome UPM by Loslunasfarms (JBS)
 
I just got through re potting one that I had mixed some different things in, it was a UCD Kadota,  it didn't do near as good as the one in UPM.
 
If that little plant was mine, i would put it in potting soil now!
 
I have read where Herman has said if someone can't get all of the stuff Al recommends, it is better to go with good potting soil.
 
My 000.2 worth.
Good Luck
Cecil

First of all, when I first transplant very newly rooted cuttings, I make sure to
transplant with the original rootball as intact as possible. To me, any disturbance
of the tender roots has "bad" results; others have had better luck, and may think
otherwise. I am not sure what you did.

Second, I had undisturbed new leaved  rootings, with the new leaves
very suddenly going limb and then the whole thing dies. On close examination,
the old hardwood cutting had just rotted somewhere between the roots and
leaves, thereby breaking the "plumbing" link between the two. Very rarely, I
managed to salvage such a cutting, by topping with more soil around the
the still healthy  top part of twig  together with a vented moisture dome..

Good advice Gorgi. The wood of the cutting looked like it was in good shape and the roots and leaves were growing vigorously when I transplanted. My gut feeling was to try to leave the root ball alone also but when you pour out the rooting media, it just falls away from the roots. I expect there was some root damage during the process (I think it is inevitable). Just looking for some experiences where they bounce back (to make me feel better). It sounds like I am doing the right thing with the added humidity.

I welcome anyone else's advice/experience also. Thanks to all in advance.

Sorry Cecil, overlooked your post at first. I also thought about that but I would think anymore trauma at this time would be bad. I managed to get Al's mix ingredients very closely, so I feel good about that. I have been watching the watering closely. The mix drains well and holds on to moisture pretty good. I think I just gave the poor guy a good body punch and hopefully it recovers.

Steve,
That stinks :( Dont feel bad, that nice DK I showed you pics of, I repotted yesterday and its drooping today.  I think it knows its Fall.

Steve,
when i root something i just use miracle grow potting soil, i premoisten it make a hole with a pencil or something like that and stick the stick in there. Some places have clear plastic cups with a dome lid on them when you buy those fancy shakes at dunkin donuts i believe and have tries one and it works pretty good, what im trying to say is useing that type of mix that you use cannot let you transplant when so young that you disturb roots like george says rootball intact when tranplanted is ideal. Maybe then can you use your soil mix when going into new pot, just something more for you to consider. When i transplant the type of tree we talked about in email i just cut a stick and put in mother tree's container and they usually grow several months later then i dig out.
Either way good luck on yours now i hope it makes it for you let us know .      : )
Martin

Thanks Martin - I've in the past went straight into potting soil but lost about half of my cuttings to rot and mold as the potting soil either stays too wet or if it dries is hard to re-wet. So I went for a better soil per Al's recommended mix to try to increase my cutting yoelds. Also, I can't stand those little gnats fro the potting soil (my wife always complains about them more than me). I like the &-eleven Slurpee/Smoothie cup idea. I'm in a wait and see mode on these cuttings and I'll keep you all posted on this little experiment!

Kim - stinks when our little figs are not feeling well ;) 

When moving up the the one gallon pot, it is important to continue to have very, very good drainage. Changoing pot size doesn't change the plant's requirements. After they outgrow a 1 gallon pot, then it becomes less critical. I use only perlite and compost - heavy on the perlite. Fertilizer is not required, and more than likely harmful till they are well established on a 1 gallon pot. Shade and humidity are important to reduce stress till the rootings stabilize.

Thanks for the tips. I probably should have skipped the fertilizer. But for drainage, the mix I'm using drains quick but holds good moisture (per the extensive posts by Al). I have them out of the sun with increased moisture. I hope they pull through. I already have a lot of time and TLC invested in them.

Ok all, I learned my lesson the hard way. I unpotted the 3 cuttings I had in the turface/granite/bark mix. The roots and leaves had wilted and fallen off. There were still some roots and initials but not very healthy looking. In an attempt to save them, I moved them to 50/50 perlite and potting soil. Maybe they will pull through. They are in my "nursery" on intensive care. Say a prayer ;)    

So, I think in the future I will use a more "traditional" mix. I do think the "special" mix has merit but I think it wasn't good for the delicate roots of my cuttings. In comparisson, I used the special mix for a crab apple seedling I have and it is doing well. The difference is certainly that for the seedling, the root ball stayed mostly intact so there was less trauma. I think after cuttings are well established, the special mix could be used.