Are the "new growth" clippings ones that have already bloomed? Usually from what I hear it is better to take clippings from stems that just finished blooming. Those are the only clippings I take. And cut them right down where the stem you are cutting meets the stem it comes off of. I usually use the pop bottle method. I put the clipping in a clear plastic cup with seed starting mix and place that in a pop bottle without the cap. Don't for get the drainage holes in the cup and just make the soil moist not wet. I just place my cutting, once they are all bottled up in my cold room on a shelf directly under a regular 100wt bulb.

Hope that helps.
Angel