I tried rooting about 24 unknown cuttings from a friend but aside from the first little white spots in the sides, the mold has seemed to take over. :( Not heavy, but it's there and they seem to be at a stand still.

I spoke to my friend today and she's more than happy to give me a few more branches and will also look some plants under her tree that already have roots. Gotta love friends....but this leads me to something she told me.....

When I explained how these cuttings failed, she said "Why don't ya just plant some in the dirt?" Spoken like a true farmer. :D

I was truly at a loss when I actually started thinking about a reply! Like, why not? So tomorrow, I'm going to mix up some potting soil, and pearlite, earthworm castings and maybe some azomite and toss a few in some small pots just to see what the hell. I got nothing to lose at this point so why not throw caution to the wind.

I told hubby that these may actually take knowing my luck.

Any advise or moral support (lol) would be considered and greatly appreciated. TIA

I'm with ya Sophie ! I've put some cuttings in potting mix , earthworm castings & perlite also , in 1 gal pots. They are in a very sheltered area - no winds or sun. I watered sparingly and each has a plastic cup on top( the ones I had are clear ). Sooo now we'll see if they start to root. Keeping my fingers crossed for these and for yours !! ツ

Sophie, many old timers use to cut off a limb of a Brown Turkey or
Celeste and stick it in the ground. Not doing anything to the dirt but
breaking up enough to get the limb in the ground. Wahli, a new
fig tree.

its worked with branches for me when trying conventional rooting techniques hasn't...still need practice? or a belief in mother nature knows best? Have to do some serious thinning this year so lots of practice material.... have about and 85% success rate in going with Mother Nature.

sticking into the soil works for some people. it never worked for me. there is way to prevent mold on the cuttings. check daily. wipe away moisture on the cuttings. if mold shows up, clean it with moist paper towel. doing that few times will get rid of the mold in most cases.

edit: make sure to wash the cuttings before start rooting with AB soap and toothbrush. this loosens up anything that's stuck on the cutting that might start mold from growing. another tip.. move it fast. meaning, from baggie to cup.. and cup to 1 gal. sooner you have the cutting out in the sun and fresh air, better chance the cutting will survive and win against mold. make sure roots are good at each stage before moving tho... :) 

Pete, sorry for my ignorance but what the heck is AB Soap? I'm seriously drawing a blank on that one. TX

Good luck, Sophie.  Sometimes the simplest method works the best.  =)

Sophie,

Are you sure what you are seeing on the cuttings is mold?   The cuttings will get a white covering on them when they are in the moss.  Perhaps post a picture.  

Hi Sophie, are you rooting hardwood cutings or softwood cuttings? For hardwood cuttings, I use slightly damp, not wet paper towel inside ziplock bag.I open the bag and check every day. That helps to "air" out the mold somewhat. If there is mold, just take clippers and snip the moldy part only, if it's along the edges. For softwood, I use Bass's technique that on his Trees of Joy blog section. Instead of using black pot, I use clear plastic cup . And I place it inside of a 2 liter soda bottle, that's cut in half. You leave the cap off for ventilation.It should root with minimal watering. For soil, I use 1 bag of Miracle Grow Seedling mix with 2 bags of perlite, all mixed. Hope that helps.

Yep

I bury all but the top in very coarse perlite.  I use a trash bag with plenty of drainage holes in the bottom and a few on the sides if I have to.  Sometimes I sprinkle a little peat moss on top.

Sophie, check out this video of Ray Givens cutting a branch off of a non-dormant fig tree and planting it in potting soil.  He uses a cut-in-half soda bottle as a humidity chamber:

Rewton, that vid was very helpful, thank you! It takes all of the mystery out of propagating doesn't it? lol

Maybe my friend was correct in her assertion to just put it in some dirt... LOL

I'll keep you posted as to my hopeful successes or dreaded failures! :O

That's one thing I love about this site.  Everyone is more than willing to help each other in anyway they can.  A great bunch of folks!  =)

yupe, antibacterial soap. some people go extra mile and soak the cuttings in 10% bleach solution for 60 sec or so. i used to do bleach, but found out that doesn't really help. sometimes, peroxide spray helps.. but if the mold already took hold, that won't help much either. best way to deal with it is.. simply wipe it away with moist (almost dry) paper towel on daily base. 

Thanks Pete.... I'm beginning to think that maybe it's best not to over think this propagation. Maybe that's where I failed to begin with. I've been wiping the cuttings down but the mold seems to pop back up within a day or two. Lets see what happens in the next few weeks. I plan on transplanting these molded cuttings tomorrow morning into my potting soil mixture and I'll just leave them out on my covered back porch and see what happens.

I'm not much of a gardener although I do try, but my thinking is that some things like me and some things just don.'t. Much like people, I've noticed. The ones that do, seem to thrive on semi-neglect and the ones that don't pass to the great garden in the sky.

You win some, you lose some. C'est la vie!

If the cutting is green, I dip the top end (providing it is not the terminal bud) into some hot candle wax. Doesn't matter if it is scented or not; it still seals it to keep moisture in and bugs out. I then crush the other end under my foot on the sidewalk (beating with a hammer works, too). I then stick the cutting into a pot of well-draining potting mix (I add orchid bark and extra Perlite to the regular mix) and place the container in the shade. I water it daily to keep it moist. In a couple of weeks, you should see new growth beginning. Works here in the SE. Other areas may require the dome as shown above. Hope this helps.

In summer, plant woody branch in soil works for me. It's best under shade.