I think tenting is unavoidable in your system. The holes in the plastic should certainly be larger. Al

Has anyone had any success using this method for roses? I'm still using the baggie method. This seems much easier.

Lori, I tried the easiest rose to root that I knew of and it rotted in the foam...even without standing in water. I had it in a humidity chamber, also, so I know that it did not dry out. It was still soggy when I dumped it. I have seen fuschia plants that had the foam still in place, so I know it is used to propagate them.

At least a couple posters in the original "Great new method" thread reported success with rose cuttings in wet foam, and no one that I could see reported failure.

I'm guessing that there are several variables that need to be taken into account. To me the critical variables seem to be that 1) water uptake match water lost through the leaves in the pre-root stages, 2) the leaves get enough "fresh air" to avoid molding/rotting, and 3) the "stuck" parts get enough air to avoid rotting (these last two are different problems in practice). For non-hardwood cuttings, you have to add 4) there is enough leaf tissue and light for the plant to support itself. Of course, these often work in opposition to each other!

My hope for the wet foam method (or any propagating method) is that it would reduce the conflict between 1 and 3 by providing both lots of air and lots of water to the "stuck parts," and perhaps do it well enough to dispense with tenting (thus helping with issue #2) and even leaf trimming (thus helping with issue #4)! I don't have the space or funds for the usual best ways to deal with these issues, e.g., a greenhouse or automated misting system.

I wonder if, at least for leafy plants, the pre-rooted "stuck" cutting is simply physiologically incapable of sucking up water from even an optimal medium fast enough to replace water lost through normal leaf transpiration under normal humidity conditions. Anyone know about this? Do cuttings pull water in strictly through the cut end, or can they pull some in from the buried stem itself?

I'm sorry, I'm a newbie and trying to learn how to propagate plants. Do you stick the transplanted cutting completely through the foam into the water or not?

I think it also depends on bacteria and fungi present in water and foam. While it won't be completely sterile, I see rotting cuttings as a race between roots forming and rot setting in. I think simple steps like wiping pruning shears with bleach before making cuttings makes a big difference. I used clibanarius' idea about wicking water into rooting chamber, but used half peat/perlite in top chamber. I thought this would work great, but everything died, and I must have tried 2 dozen different plants. I have the best luck with 4 " of half peat/perlite in a 10" deep container with very smal drain holes. I mist to water. I am also having some success with oasis cubes standing in a little water for lantana and geranium. I am beginning to believe that it is more art than science.

So far, I have rooted 18 out of 20 cuttings of Concord grapes, and a musk rose in this method. I love it and think it workd great. Also, this was my first ever attemp to root anything except houseplants in a glass of water. I also got some phlox to take root, and a lilac to take root. I still stuck my willows in water as I did not see any reason to try this with something that roots so easily to begin with.
I want to thank the brillian person who posted this way back when!

Respectfully, Tina

Do you remove the foam after the cuttings take root or leave it in place and plant the whole shebang? I'm trying it on some Lantana right now and the first batch rooted just fine. I put the saturated blocks with cuttings on an aluminum pieplate and set that inside a plastic grocery bag with the top loosely closed. I've had good luck using a little dash of pool algaecide in the water and I also wash my equipment with the same water. It seems to help control the rotting. Also use it when planting seeds in the cold frame to control damping off.

I'm jealous. So far none of the Viburnums in the above photo have shown any sign of rooting, although none have died either! They've been outside in slash pine shade, and most seem happy enough. All the Styrax and Halesia were dead in a week or two. I stuck one sad crossvine cutting (sole survivor from a failed attempt to root in superabsorbent crystals) in this setup, and it's hanging in there, but again, no roots yet. I sense that the foam would work better, at least for woodies, with a somewhat greater air-to-water ratio.

Have greeat success with root cubes of rockwool or oasis with my clematis, geraniums and rose of sharon cuttings. Just under lights in basemenbt in winter and outside in spring and summer in shaded patio. No tenting. Don't let stand in water, just go by weight, when getting lightweight, add water. Get flats of cubes from hydroponics stores.

I think everyone will have by far better results if they don't let the foam sit in water. the foam will stay wet for a day or two I just wet it every day and let it drain.You'll be surprise.

Just started a bunch of achillea and mock orange cuttings yesterday. Right now the foam is sitting in about 1/4 inch of water (or it was when I left for work this morning) but from what others have suggested above I think I'll pour the water off and just make sure that the foam is always moist but not in standing water. I did not tent the tray, I also didn't sterilize my shears or the tray that the oasis is sitting in, we'll have to see how that goes.
I did semi-soft or soft cuttings, cut just below a node and used rooting powder. I also cut the large leaves in half just to avoid them touching each other. For most of them I pre-poked a hole but for some I just slid them in. The tray is sitting on my kitchen table near a window but not in bright sun.
Everything seemed to go ok overnight. I really hope this works - I've never had any luck with any other method. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Neesie

It took about two months, but so far 4 of the Viburnum cuttings in the picture above have rooted and been potted up, two have died, one looks to be dying, and two look okay but no roots have poked out yet. So I'll end up with between 44-66% success, after a couple of months. Don't know if that's good or not; I have absolutely no information on the ease of rooting this somewhat atypical viburnum species, but I'm willing to try it again, perhaps under more controlled conditions.

The crossvine is hanging in there as well (i.e., green but no roots showing).

A couple of things about Oasis: It is the nursery industry's standard method of propagation, and can by purchased in sheets already pre-formed with a hole in each square. I found some on eBay after learning I had to buy a case of sheets from nursery suppliers. You can also buy big blocks from any florist, and I like it better because it's deeper and the cutting is more secure.

Oasis is designed to wick moisture up to cut flowers, and I think it's more important to make sure the foam never dries out than worrying about it standing in water. (Of course, I live in the desert, so nothing stays wet for long.)

Different species are willing to root at different times of year, according to the hormones in their systems, which is why some refuse to root when they're blooming, but will root (from woody cuttings) when their dormant, and others root anytime (soft cuttings, tip cuttings). You can experiment till you want to cry, or look up the specific plant and see how and when the professionals propagate it.

My greatest discovery is Tea Tree Oil, a fungicide and bactericide, available in health food stores. A few drops in the water ABSOLUTELY prevent mold, fungus, and other diseases. It works on humans; I figured it would work with plants, too, and I haven't seen mold or damping off since.

Good luck!

My most successful plants were on the oasis which was on a pot of sand and perlite which got wet occasionally. The roots actually grew into the sand mixture. I just planted the whole thing.

I was in Japan in October and there are plants of all types growing in oasis stuck in the mouth of a small container with their roots extending into the container with water in the bottom. I have yet to try this myself.

Lavender for me was the most successful plant to grow roots.

Penny