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Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > My Cuttings are not doing anything!
 
 


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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #1 
Hey guys! I got about 20 cuttings at the beginning of January, and they have been bagged since then using the instructions here, but NOTHING is happening. Tonight I went and got clear plastic shoe boxes. I am planning on getting sphangnum moss. Or could I use the coco fiber -- I have quite a bit of that. Thanks, Donna
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Donna
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Posted Reply with quote  #2 
Chilly, they often take a long time to get started. I use sphagnum in plastic bags to root. What are you using with the cuttings in the bags now? Also, consider using good rooting hormone, not the powdered type. I have used Dyna Gro gel successfully. 
Rewton

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Posted Reply with quote  #3 
You might also tell us the temperature that the cuttings are at.  Ideally, they should be around 70-80 degrees F.
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Posted Reply with quote  #4 
Agree with Rewton, what is your temperature?  Also I have found that cuttings in damp spaghnum moss in a ziploc baggie take a couple of weeks longer for me (than cuttings started in 60/40 perlite/potting mix in a 32 oz deli container at ~75F in a Rubbermaid type container).
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #5 
They have been sitting on top of an oil-filled heater set on low. Thinking that maybe the light hitting them was retarding the process, I put them in a wardrobe to be dark about a week ago. I think they are warm enough. Thanks for letting me know that they still may sprout. I put each variety into a clear shoe box, and will look into the next steps tomorrow. Thanks you guys!
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Donna
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Posted Reply with quote  #6 
Donna,

Forgot to mention my ziploc baggies go in the dark while the very large Rubbermaid container is in a north facing window for some light.  Let us know in a week or two how the cuttings are doing.
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Posted Reply with quote  #7 
Donna, I have great success with this method....I put my cuttings in damp coco coir in clear plastic cups (with holes in the bottom of the cups). I then place those cups in a clear file storage container from Staples (nice height) and place the container on a seedling heat mat. The mat keeps the inside temp constant at about 80 degrees. I open the container every day or so (for about a minute) for circulation. Works great for me. Be patient :) They'll root for you.

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Scot
Saratoga Springs, NY
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hblta

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Posted Reply with quote  #8 
I also have a few that have been in spagnum since just after christmas.... no roots, no leaves, no rot..... just sitting there.
but that is better than the one bag  of cuttings that turned to mush from the inside out.
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DallasFigs

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Posted Reply with quote  #9 
I have 10 peter's honey cuttings that have been is sp moss for 12 days. (1st image)  I see no change in those yet, but I haven't given up hope.  i keep them on a heating pad just like the one in a previous post, but it's on a timer that only comes on for 15mins every 1.5 hours.  It stays roughly 70-75F.
(no scraping, but diped in Dip N grow about a week ago).

I have a couple of Ischia from a broken limb I saw on a Home Depot tree.  They are very thin.. 1/8" at best.  They have been in a bag wrapped in damp paper for 16 days. (2nd & 3rd image)  Today, on one of them, I see bud growth and I think tiny tiny roots.  But it has some mold too :(   Hopefully, I can get that one in a cup in a day or two.
(bottoms scrapped just enough for green to show, but not gouged by any means.  Dipped in Dip N Grow 1 week ago.)

Finally, all my cuttings from Jon are in a plastic bin with 100% perlite since Feb 9 (4 days) .  I've been spritzing them every day because every time I check them, the perlite feels dry again.  I think I just didn't dampen it enough and was starting to worry that the perlite would suck the moisture out of the cuttings.  So tonight, i took them out and added enough water to make the perlite sticky, then put them back in (4th image).
(1 score mark on each side above and below bottom node.  Score mark made with the tip of a 4 inch screw.  maybe 1/32" deep.  Just enough that you can feel it with your fingernail.  Dipped in Dip and Grow)

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James - Irving, TX - Zone: 8a

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Posted Reply with quote  #10 
Donna ,
I just felt the top of my oil filled heater set on low and I think it would be much too hot for cuttings to rest on.
They may be getting cooked if they are sitting right on the heater.
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FiggyFrank

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Posted Reply with quote  #11 
I agree with chrome.  After 3 weeks, they take off.
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Frank
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Posted Reply with quote  #12 
room temp should be around 70-80. light doesn't make much difference. slight moisture, but not wet. temp being too low, or too high will cause issues. if they have callus on the bottom end, i would just move it into cup/container/pot with soil mix.
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Pete
Durham, NC
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***** and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...*****
CTFIGS

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Posted Reply with quote  #13 
I would stay away from the additional heat if your house temp is in the upper sixties.
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DallasFigs

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Posted Reply with quote  #14 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jd_smith

I have a couple of Ischia from a broken limb I saw on a Home Depot tree.  They are very thin.. 1/8" at best.  They have been in a bag wrapped in damp paper for 16 days. (2nd & 3rd image)  Today, on one of them, I see bud growth and I think tiny tiny roots.  But it has some mold too :(   Hopefully, I can get that one in a cup in a day or two.
(bottoms scrapped just enough for green to show, but not gouged by any means.  Dipped in Dip N Grow 1 week ago.)



I guess I was wrong. what I thought were tiny roots coming out of the bottom hasn't changed.. BUT, there's definitely a root on this one now coming out of the side about .5cm from the bottom.  

I'm SO EXCITED!!!
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #15 
Hi Kerry, thanks, you're probably right.  I hope I didn't kill them. I put them into clear shoe boxes in damp sphagnum moss.

In the future, it would be good to have a summer driveway similar to yours :))).

Quote:
Originally Posted by drivewayfarmer
Donna ,
I just felt the top of my oil filled heater set on low and I think it would be much too hot for cuttings to rest on.
They may be getting cooked if they are sitting right on the heater.
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Donna
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #16 
Yikes! I'm hoping we will wind up with some little trees come spring, eh?

Quote:
Originally Posted by hblta
I also have a few that have been in spagnum since just after christmas.... no roots, no leaves, no rot..... just sitting there.
but that is better than the one bag  of cuttings that turned to mush from the inside out.
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Donna
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #17 
Duly noted, thanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CTFIGS
I would stay away from the additional heat if your house temp is in the upper sixties.
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Donna
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #18 

Thanks, I will keep you up to date. Especially with success.
Quote:
Originally Posted by omotm
Donna,

Forgot to mention my ziploc baggies go in the dark while the very large Rubbermaid container is in a north facing window for some light.  Let us know in a week or two how the cuttings are doing.
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Donna
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #19 
Yay James!

Quote:
Originally Posted by jd_smith
Quote:
Originally Posted by jd_smith

I have a couple of Ischia from a broken limb I saw on a Home Depot tree.  They are very thin.. 1/8" at best.  They have been in a bag wrapped in damp paper for 16 days. (2nd & 3rd image)  Today, on one of them, I see bud growth and I think tiny tiny roots.  But it has some mold too :(   Hopefully, I can get that one in a cup in a day or two.
(bottoms scrapped just enough for green to show, but not gouged by any means.  Dipped in Dip N Grow 1 week ago.)



I guess I was wrong. what I thought were tiny roots coming out of the bottom hasn't changed.. BUT, there's definitely a root on this one now coming out of the side about .5cm from the bottom.  

I'm SO EXCITED!!!
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Donna
Philadelphia Zone 7
ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #20 
Thanks Pete. Callus? Too advanced for the likes of me. They are in the shoeboxes and sphagnum moss for now. I hope I didn't cook them per Kerry's remark (too hot on the heater).

Quote:
Originally Posted by bullet08
room temp should be around 70-80. light doesn't make much difference. slight moisture, but not wet. temp being too low, or too high will cause issues. if they have callus on the bottom end, i would just move it into cup/container/pot with soil mix.
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Donna
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Posted Reply with quote  #21 
Donna you can try a few with dyna gro if you'd like. I'm just down the road.
ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #22 
Thanks Barry I am going to take you up on that. Happy Valentines Day one and all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BLB
Donna you can try a few with dyna gro if you'd like. I'm just down the road.
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Donna
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Posted Reply with quote  #23 
How helpful is to wound the cuttings before wrapping into the paper or putting into some moss? 
Is it better to just scratch the bottom or take off a thin slice? I read somewhere that this helps with roots appearing quicker. Is it true?..
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #24 
Update! It's a gray, grim, unpromising Chilly Philly day out there, but inside in here, the buds are swelling, some leaves are about to bust out, and I even saw a root! So Kerry, I did not fry your babies. Also, today I met BLB. He gave me a rooted and potted Sunfire, and gel rooter. Things are lookin' up thanks to everybody here but especially BARRY!
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Donna
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Posted Reply with quote  #25 
Great!  I'm sure that made your day!
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Frank
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Posted Reply with quote  #26 
ChillyNPhilly ,
Glad to hear the heater didn't hurt them.
Barry is a good egg and very generous. You are fortunate to have such an experienced member nearby.
Any tips he gives you are worth following closely.
Hope all the rooting goes well. 
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Kerry Zone 5 NH
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #27 
I got some roots on some of my fig sticks. 2 Atreano and 2 "fico Bianca." I had a brick of coco and some orchid bark. I mixed them together and planted in fiber pots. Here they are in my kitchen window.

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Donna
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Posted Reply with quote  #28 
You should really try my method in post #7. Its simple and it works. Check my posts to see how they are all coming along, and where they go next after they come out of the bins
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Scot
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Posted Reply with quote  #29 
And Chilly gave me delicious June berry jam and jelly awesome stuff! Glad to know your cuttings are growing!
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Posted Reply with quote  #30 
Chilly,

Hope Barry told you the story of Sunfire.  You are a very lucky person to have that variety.  To me it is a special fig since the mother tree is gone. 
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Steve
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ChillyNPhilly

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Posted Reply with quote  #31 
Hi All, thanks to Barry for his help and expertise. Juneberries. Not popular or well known but oh so good. Also known as serviceberries. Re the Sunfire: I know I know! It's doing great. As to pampering along my newly rooted cuttings, I am going to tent them in plastic bags as I cannot see repotting them etc. I hope it will work. Many thanks to all for the advice.

Donna
Philadelphia Zone 7(?)
Wish List: all my current cuttings to root and thrive!
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Donna
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