What am I doing wrong?

18 years ago

2-2 I put the cuttings of six different bushes in a mix of perlite and seed starting soil in peat pots, put them in baggies, and set them under lights. Sprayed them with a very very diluted solution of fungicide, and have had to blow up with bags every 3-4 days. They leafed out beautifully, and are now dying.

Am I handling them too much by having to blow up the bags so often? Was the fungicide too harsh?

I still have quite a few cuttings, and am considering another method when the weather improves here. This is not going well.

Holly

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Comments (5)

mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
18 years ago
Try again in June. Some cuttings are pre-programmed to send out leaves and not roots and there isn't anything you can do about it. Proper timing can help.
ondrea_carina_leaf
18 years ago
Try again! I don't know if this is your problem but when I
used peat pots I had a very hard time keeping my medium at the moist but not wet level.

Mine were always drying out and I could never keep the soil moist. The peat pots worked like a sponge and would suck out the moisture out of the soil. Could this possibly have happened to yours? Stick your finger in the soil. Because it may appear moist on the top layer but dry as a bone inside.

Handling and blowing up the baggies should not have been an issue.

I use clear disposble cups now. Plastic keeps the moisture in the soil and I can see the roots.
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woodroid
18 years ago
You are not doing anything wrong. You are learning. I'm new at this myself, but if they start to leaf out, let 'em breathe. I use pint sized pots that a 2 litre coke bottle with the bottom cut out fits into snuggly and take the cap off after three or four weeks. Using Sta Green potting soil and a sharp sand core for the stem. rooted lots of cuttings over what we call winter here. Had a few leaves roast inside this contraption during 80 plus days but still rooted.I've never used fungicide on cuttings till rooted and new growth appears. Method too hot for full sun during warm months and will cheap misting setup.
jont1
18 years ago
I just use a 2-liter coke bottle and cut the bottom off of it and leave the cap on. I place that over the cuttings that I have dipped in rooting hormone and stuck into very moist potting soil. I set them in the shade of a big oak tree where they get mottled sun and I just LEAVE THEM ALONE until they take root. I had almost 100% success this way when I did it last September. Previously, I discovered I was loving my cuttings to death by messing with 'em all the time. Now I leave them alone til they root and they seem to do fine.
John
michelle_4466
18 years ago
I agree with John.I am fairly new at rose propagation.The only success I have had thus far is if I do leave them in indirect sunlight outside in baggies or with bottle over them.I just leave them alone till they sprout new leaves.
michelle