Cuttings

[Darkhorse]

I bought some perlite over the weekend and decided to give it a try today.  I bleached some plastic pots and took extra care to alcohol my pruners and blade as I was taking cuttings today.  I took cuttings of Illuminati, Sleeping Beauty, Space Oddity, Acapulco Gold, Saffron, and In The Mood.  We'll see what happens...


I did tent them with plastic bags, but I'm worried about mold.  Other than lifting the bag daily for ventilation, any suggestions to prevent mold growth?  I seem to be having that issue as well; I believe there are a good many mold spores floating around my house.  I have some major mold issues under my kitchen sink and anything that I leave out that gets wet starts to grow fur...

[Darkhorse]

Unfortunately, I'm still not having any luck.  Every cutting I've taken this year has rotted, and some have rotted rather quickly.  I was thinking it was because my plants had a hard winter and were still recovering; now I'm not so sure as cuttings I've taken from new plants have also failed.  I've just treated all of my stock with Actinovate to really give them a boost.

I'm down to one last variable:  rooting hormone.  I have been using Dip N' Gro that expired in January of 2011.  It worked for me until mid-winter early this year.  I haven't been dipping directly into the bottle, but I'm wondering if the solution has become too stale and/or laden with bacteria.  I'm ordering a new, tiny bottle of Dip N' Gro to see if this will change my luck.

Charlie, and anyone who has done their share of rooting, have you noted an increase of failure rate with old or expired rooting hormone?