Interesting I thought some might enjoy. Propagation article. 

It is an interesting article, thanks Charlie.

Thanks Charlie, I have used course sand/perlite in the past with great results. Gonna have to get some sand and use this method again.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Thanks for sharing, Charlie. Something new to try and see what happens.

Interesting article thanks for sharing!

I hate working with perlite and I can't find any long fibre sphagnum moss in my area so I will try this for some fig cuttings later this year.

I've had really good luck rooting other green cuttings in pure sand... hardy kiwi and blackberry ... though I've never tried fig cuttings. I think sand makes it easy to keep the correct moisture level for the cutting since it drains so well.

I did a few cuttings in just sand last year.  I think most of them rooted o.k. but I left them in the sand to long and they died before I noticed them.

I still have pomegranate, mulberry and kiwi cuttings in the fridge. I'd like to try to root some in sand and have some questions.

1. Is it necessary to screen the sand?
2. Do the cuttings stay in a high humidity chamber?
3. How often do you water?
4. Do you pot up as soon as you see roots, or wait for advanced root growth?
5. How are gnats as compared to other routing media?

My first batch of fig cuttings were in 100% Perlite. They did very well and many we're ready to be potted up when the gnats struck. I was gone for a few days and lost all but 4 of the 78 cuttings.

James as far as I know, coarse grade sand is what you want and yes they will need humidity as any other.  Watering frequency I do not know.  The only experience with sand I have is some years ago while rooting blackberry cuttings that caused me to do some research now.  Don't know about gnats or when to pot.

I have done a lot of reading about propagation with sand and mist over the years. The secret is in fact coarse sand, I bought mine from Lowes about $3.00 a sack. I also bought a misting kit from Lowes for about $15.00.
The most expensive and hard to find part is the timer. Very few timers have the capability to control misting by the second. The ideal setting is a 7-10 second mist every 10 minutes. The timer I bought from Amazon is about $60.00. There are a few people on the internet making a living selling their plans for this setup. As advertised with this combination of mist and sand, you can propagate almost anything. The science behind misting is, when you mist the leaves at the above setting it allow the evaporation process to pull moisture from the bottom of the stem up through the stem and out of the leaves, about the time the water fully evaporates from the leaves it gives it another quick mist to replace the water but it doesn't beat the leaves down with heavy drops and also allows air to get to the leaves. The coarse sand doesn't hold water so it's less likely to harbor bacteria and insects. Another benefit is, you can root hundreds of cuttings in a fairly small container with just 4-5 inches of sand. I currently am rooting citrus, mulberry, and fig all in the same container under mist and things are going very well. When the roots are established about 2 months later, I will pot them up into potting soil and mist them every 4 hours in partial sun until they grow to the pot. Another benefit is you don't need individual humidity containers that harbor fungus. If anyone is interested in more, just ask.

I have always used sharp sand that was cleaned of the finer particles, as well as course perlite. The root systems always looked very good in the 50/50 mix.

Randall, that is good information you shared, I recall working in a greenhouse with a propagation bench that had a mister. I also would be interested to see your setup if your able to post it. What is the mister you bought called? The timer is important, a bit of an investment, but probably well worth it. I remember algae growing under the mist in the greenhouse, but no mold. Are you using rooting hormone on your cuttings? I have some mulberries I'd like to root, but have heard mixed results, I'd like to not waste the few good shoots on the plant.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Mike,
If you have access to a growing mulberry tree that you are looking to propagate try air layering the branches. I'm currently air layering several branches of a young Illinois Everbearing and an established Russian. Here's an example posted on the web, http://oliveinthehouse.blogspot.com/2013/10/tut-air-layering.html .

Speaking of mulberries, does anyone have air layers of a white mulberry that is suitable for zone 10? Please PM me.

Thanks Pete, I may try that instead. I too have an Illinois Everbearing, the best tasting mulberry I've tried. It's in a somewhat shaded area and has mosly been growing short branches, but I like the large air layer possibility shown in the link you posted. I could get a nice sized plant rooted and put it in a better area of the yard.

Mike in Hanover, VA

I don't have any pictures of my setup right now because it's just rigged up until we move to our new house in a few weeks then I will setup something more permanent. I can take pictures and post them afterwards, there are a few really nice youtube video's that show the same setup I have, just search "Intermittent Mist System"

I did a thread called most table propagation about 2 years ago with pics.

Anybody do any sand propagation since this post was made a year ago?  I just happened to get a free 100lb sack of coarse sand today straight from the sand plant on the Arkansas River.  It's the kind they call filter sand, pretty coarse.  Way more coarse than play sand.

I'm thinking of trying some sort of like the single node experiment and bury them horizontally, but not single node and feed them hydro nutrients instead of organics through the winter.

Don't want to plug the 1000 watt bulb in again though, probably look for some fluorescent or LED setup.  

I'm still propagating with sand and mist. I've had success in the 90% range.

Not sure what happened to the video above. Try this link if anyone wants to watch it.

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