I took 8 cuttings two days ago, 6 died........just went floppy and keeled over. Two are looking ok, but I cant understand why the others died so quickly. They are in a heated propagator and all got treated the same ???
??? Were all the cuttings taken from non flowering stems?
Did you cut below a leaf node? and what length were the cuttings?
Did you use hormone rooting powder?
What type of compost did you use?
How did you water them?
I have asked all these questions because any one or all can affect your success rate.
Normally they root very easily.
Aghh....................yes sorry so much information not given!
They were non flowering shoots
About 2" in length
No hormone powder
Seed and cutting compost
Watered from the bottom
I always thought they were very easy, I wondered if I should add vermiculite or sand to the compost.
And anything else I have done wrong ::)
QuoteThey are in a heated propagator
Could this have got too warm e.g. is it in the sun or shade.
Other than that you have more or less done what I would have done.
Regarding the sand/vermiculite I would have thought what you had would have had an open enough texture.
Dare I ask :-\ did you water them again after the initial soaking?
I didnt water again Tee Gee, they were wet enough I thought. The propagator is in the window but I do shade it if the sun comes out.
I will try again when some more shoots are ready, just seems very odd :-\
Thank you for your replies ;)
when I took the cuttings from ours, it was into potting compost, in the greenhouse where the heater keeps it frost free, all of them took, I just kept taking the flowers off until now..just transplanted them into bigger pots
can't think what's wrong, star :-\
Then my next thought is;
If you are not growing anything else in the propagator leave the lid off.
Most cuttings only require a bit of bottom heat.
With regard to your surfinia cutting problem Star, I should have to say that the 'medium' I grow them in is 50/50 multipurpose/vermiculite. I get very good results with this combination.
You stated that the cuttings were 2" in length. This is far too long. For cuttings you only need the small growing tips. That is where all the growing activity is.
valmarg
Thanks everyone, I will leave the top off and mix compost with vermiculite..........I will try smaller cuttings too in a couple of weeks. :D