Bad batch?

spllogics

spllogics

Well-known member
I am wondering is it possible to get a bad batch of cuttings.

ABout 2 months ago I ordered a few cuttings (from a known dealer) around the same time I joined the forum. After two months about 20 out of 25 of those cuttings look dead. I pulled a few out to check and not a single root. Some still pass the scratch test but others look like the bark is changing color so they might be dead dead.


I would really think it was something I had done wrong,but I got several cuttings from two members on the forum around a month after and like 90% of those are leafing out and several already have roots and look health.

As for method. I used clear cups, covered the tops with baffies but had a hole in the top for venting, hearing pad on 85 at night and during warmer days they were in the greenhouse, during cold nights i brought them inside.

I could get some pics tomorrow.

Any thoughts on what to do or should i just wait and see? I know some varieties take longer than others but it seems odd that several varieties have done nothing in batch one but several varieties in the other are doing great, even a few of the same varieties.
 
If you were quite experienced I would say yes but if you’re fairly new to rooting I would err on the side of user error. It’s quite easy to over do the moisture and under utilize perlite. It usually takes a few failures to learn what you’re doing wrong and correct it.

The other side is after years of failures and having a good track record then it’s possible to get a bad batch. I’ve had may different purchases and trades over the years, many were obviously bad on receipt of the cuttings but others you had to wait a few weeks to see the cold damage show up.

Usually if they are green under the bark and healthy looking when you pot them up, I assume user error which is just part of the learning process. Even now after thousands of cuttings I still have batches I kill off a large portion here and there.
 
Heating mat is way too high, by almost 10° depending on air temp. Rooting mix and rooting hormone can also cause issues. Also, how many nodes are planted can make a difference. How low the cutting is in the cup can affect it as well if too low.

But yes, that said, cuttings can definitely vary in rooting ability.
 
RosyPosy said:
Heating mat is way too high, by almost 10° depending on air temp. Rooting mix and rooting hormone can also cause issues. Also, how many nodes are planted can make a difference. How low the cutting is in the cup can affect it as well if too low.

But yes, that said, cuttings can definitely vary in rooting ability.
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I agree on the temps, with my cold Iowa basement I purchased heat mats with sensors and try to hit 76-78 on the root zones or bottom of the cuttings. Much higher I’ve found the cuttings get cooked rather than speed up rooting. Hormones tend to speed up rooting but I haven’t had any problems with it as long as it’s liquid like dip n grow, I could see one moldy cutting spreading the infection to cuttings dipped after it though.
 
It is not that uncommon to get some bad cuttings, but like said above...you need to check everything before you say it was the cuttings.

Having said that, I have seen with my own trees, ones that I purposefully neglected in pots but chose to grab cuttings and try to grow a new tree...they failed miserably.
But what do you expect from trees that were not fed and dumped in the grave yard.
Healthy trees = Healthy cuttings.
 
RosyPosy said:
Heating mat is way too high, by almost 10° depending on air temp. Rooting mix and rooting hormone can also cause issues. Also, how many nodes are planted can make a difference. How low the cutting is in the cup can affect it as well if too low.

But yes, that said, cuttings can definitely vary in rooting ability.
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I should note that i have the sensor between the pad and a seedling tray that the cuttings are in so the soil definitely isn't 85 and nights in the greenhouse might be upper 50s airtemp. A lot of good information. I did use rooting hormone. Ill try to make some adjustments and see if any survive
 
spllogics said:
I should note that i have the sensor between the pad and a seedling tray that the cuttings are in so the soil definitely isn't 85 and nights in the greenhouse might be upper 50s airtemp. A lot of good information. I did use rooting hormone. Ill try to make some adjustments and see if any survive
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The powder hormone is notorious for rot because it can be applied too thick easily and retains moisture on the cut end. Clonex is much less problematic as a gel but dip n grow is the hardest to over do.

What hormone did you use?
 
Bofig said:
The powder hormone is notorious for rot because it can be applied too thick easily and retains moisture on the cut end. Clonex is much less problematic as a gel but dip n grow is the hardest to over do.

What hormone did you use?
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I have limited experience with the others, but dip n grow for sure gets my vote. A couple times due to laziness and the urge to experiment I’’ve straight used it undiluted on cuttings and still had success. Roots and leaves both popped. Not saying I recommend doing that, but for sure hard to overdue.
 
Bofig said:
The powder hormone is notorious for rot because it can be applied too thick easily and retains moisture on the cut end. Clonex is much less problematic as a gel but dip n grow is the hardest to over do.

What hormone did you use?
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Hormodin 3. Which I use for everything else. Lightly dust, blow off excess, plant. Has always worked well with other plants. But again the 2nd batch seems fine with the same root hormone.
 
I came here to comment on the temp - way too high imho. I set mine at 78 degrees.

Also, I suggest a different probe placement. Since you’re using cups, then make up a dummy cup with all the same stuff, just minus the cutting. Then put the probe inside the rooting medium down at a depth where the roots would be. That should give you a more accurate temperature of what your roots/cuttings are experiencing.
 
spllogics said:
Hormodin 3. Which I use for everything else. Lightly dust, blow off excess, plant. Has always worked well with other plants. But again the 2nd batch seems fine with the same root hormone.
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ive hard bad luck with hormodin, but even then still had a pretty high success rate. just a few rots.
what time of year did you get them? any chance they sat in the cold for a bit on the way to you?
 
snarfing said:
ive hard bad luck with hormodin, but even then still had a pretty high success rate. just a few rots.
what time of year did you get them? any chance they sat in the cold for a bit on the way to you?
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It was early February. They did come from a colder northern state so they could have went thought some colder temps. I think the temps here in SC were 50s day and 30s night.
 
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