i haven't been rooting for long time. just few yrs. at first, there was certain joy in nursing a struggling cutting to health. sometimes it works and sometimes, they just end up dying anyway.. but the process was fun.

now, i don't really bother. as long as i have duplicate, i don't waste my time on them. i leave them alone to die. now.. if the struggling cutting decide to make a change and start growing again, i'll take a look at it now and then to see if it's coming along.

how many of you still try to make every single one of your cuttings to root?

Pete,
If the cutting is struggling and the growing mix has some moisture, I leave it alone (let it ride). getting the cuttings to root has not been a problem, 99% produce roots, getting them to the 1 gallon stage is another problem. I have a tendency to over water and this is where a lot of the failures happen, but I'm trying to control myself, and a fast draining mix helps.

Its a matter of pride (bragging rights) to say that you have a high success rate, and I try to get every one of the cuttings past the one gallon growth stage. This year I purchased a lot of cuttings, and I plan on getting every last one there, but I know its unrealistic.

I am also currently rooting several found fig cuttings, the  goal is to get a few plants established and actively growing before fall, and these are carefully tended to keep my bragging rights intact : )

like ascpete says... i have about 99% success on the rooting and even cups, but lost nearly half going to pots.  I think weening from humitidy bin was my biggest problem.

Next year I'm going to skip the humidity bin altogether and use 32oz cups instead of 16oz.  Also going to use fast draining potting mix instead of vermiculite/perlite in the cups.  After that they'll go to at least 3 or 5 gal pots.

i don't think "rooting" was right word. what i meant was getting to a 1 gal and keep on growing. rooting is the easy part. almost 100% gets there. but the failure comes from cup, and 1 gal. last yr, i had very good result. this yr, i did winter rooting for first time. rooting was fine, cup.. i had to keep the cuttings in cup for over 4 months. humidity control was main problem. some died due to underwatering.. few due to overwatering. then there was 1 gal and fast acting lime. followed by repeated flushing of lime.. which leached out all the nutrient and leaves turning really spotty and ugly..

but there are some that came out fine, and others just didn't do too well. last yr, i went out of my way to isolate them, check them everyday.. make sure i put wick into the bottom, make sure the soil will drain well.. but no more. once they are in 1 gal, they are on their own. i water them, feed them, and if they don't want to grow, they will go to other end of the porch to either prove to me that they want to live or just dry up.

I don't have that problem. Once they go into gallon sized pots or larger they usually take off. I don't add lime at this stage though, don't mess with lime at all the first year of growth. 

I now start mine off in small trade pots.  2.3 liter to one gallon size, with anywhere from 30-50% pearlite (depends on what I have on hand) , a bunch of  compost, and sometimes a little potting soil.   If it's humid (which it is at this time of year), I put them outside under one of my in ground trees, if not, under a humidity dome, either in the garage, in the house, out on the porch, or, again, under one of my other trees.  Depends on humidity and outside temperatures, which can sometimes be extreme here in Arizona.  I now prefer to use green cuttings, because  with green cuttings, I know in a couple of weeks if they will survive or not.

I don't lose any trying to transfer from cups, because I no longer use cups, except as humidity domes.   (I am too clumsy and inept to root in cups).    This method saves a me lot of time and effort babying and then  transferring what may appear to be a viable cutting only to have it die later.

Anything that isn't making it goes into the compost heap.  With dormant cuttings, those relegated to the compost heap would occasionally make a comeback.  With green cuttings...nada.

I haven't had any problem going from cup to pot either. I have had some that were just weak rooters though and never made it in the cup, they would just add a little more thin roots to the cup and swell a bud a bit and then kaput.  All of these were cuttings that took 2-3 or more months to root anyhow. The vast majority however sprouted roots at just over a month without any help and never had problems.

I avoid the humidity bin....had to many mold issues.....I place a plastic bag to get some humidity maybe for a
few days...but I take it off and on for some hours to avoid mold.....

I poured coffee into a good size cutting in a 1 gallon pot and it got back into growing.....