Now it's almost exactly five weeks since I took the first set of summer cuttings and it's time for a little summary. I tried to say to put them directly in pure perlite. One half of the cuttings I put in my incubator, the other half of the pots that I pulled plastic bags over. As I wrote in last post it is important to keep a fairly steady temperature and airing cuttings regularly.
What happened is that the incubator was overheated - even though I covered it with dark blankets. The cuttings showed clear signs of stress and most importantly stick parts of the grapes with their large leaves succumbed rather quickly. In the individual pots, who all stood in a dark corner of the kitchen, it was not overheating, but lack of regular aeration who asked for it. I had put the plastic bags with a rubber band over each pot and I could not equivocate rubber band so often that it had been necessary for good aeration. Here was the buckthorn and exciting varieties of Ribes aureum started moldy after a few weeks and then it was just to throw everything.
Halfway into rotningstiden I changed strategy and therefore put down all the pots in a clear plastic box with lid. Then it immediately became much easier to aerate and återbefukta leaves with a spray bottle, which really can not be done too often. Moreover, it was easy to move the box to a slightly brighter place when it was time for a little more light and it was just as easy to move it back when it got too hot. Speaking of natural light, I wrote in the last post that the light can be admitted only when the cutting has rooted itself. In retrospect, I have learned that the amount of light can be increased gradually from 4-6 days after you have pressed the cutting of rotningsmediet [1], for it is already after such a short time that root growth is initiated and continued root growth is favored by the blades increase production of carbohydrates.
Despite sub-optimal conditions, it was quite a few seedlings that survived the first few weeks and now it is time to move them in pots with proper grounding. Best was for once kiwi plants where the entire 80% the cuttings have rooted. Now it's also time to take the next set of summer cuttings - this time they are halvförvedade and you can treat the same way as the herbaceous cuttings.
References
[1] Hartmann, H. T., FROM. Kester, F.T. Davies, and R.L. Geneve, Hartmann & Kester’s plant propagation : principles and practices. 2014.
Hi Phillipp! Rooting cuttings is a blast…especially when it succeeds! The thing that they rot away because of dense plastic bag…I started wood plastic bag from underneath and leave it open at the top. The humidity around the leaves become adequate, and it will be a little more self-regulating.
Do you trim the leaves (i.e. halve them) on cuttings?
Smart tricks! I usually cut down really big leaf (half or one-third), such as from. mulberry or grape and it makes a big difference, I think.
Brilliant idea with transparent box. Will try to find one that is even deeper. I run the kitchen knife through the bag in a few places for ventilation. Pulling some of it with two hands, breathing. Cuts of the big leaf in the middle to reduce transpiration.