What's Growing in My Bathroom?

This year I decided to try taking cuttings of some of the rhodies in the yard. There are a couple plants that are not doing well and I fear they will die in the next few years. While I hope to revive them before that happens, I thought I'd also try growing new plants from cuttings.

I've listened to a couple talks about how to propagate via cuttings and decided that the worst that could happen is having a bunch of dead cuttings to dispose of in a few weeks. I may even get lucky and end up with a couple baby plants. I had all the material, so what's to lose?

I started off by gathering up all my small pots. I thought I had a collection of 2" pots, but it turned out that they were all 4" size. So I decided to use a few 6-cell packs with 2" holes that I had kept from the annuals for the patio containers. I rinsed the packs and washed them in a 10% bleach solution, then lined the bottom of a large, transparent plastic container (my own, hopefully, smart idea for housing the cuttings).

 I then made the cutting mix following Terry Henderson's formula (with some modifications). I used 50% hemlock bark, 40% pumice and 10% sharp sand. Terry uses 40% fine fir bark, 40% pumice, 10% sharp sand and 10% peat. I had hemlock on hand and no peat (I personally don't like dealing with peat). I don't know if it will make any difference, this is all an experiment for me.

Next I soaked the mix until it was spongy wet and filled the containers. Now for the fun part! I had 36 spots to fill in my box. I started off with the plants mentioned above and then took cuttings off of some plants I'm 90% sure will root and a few that I'm just curious to see what happens. I ended up with eight varieties:
R. adenopodum, 'Jingle Bells', 'Carolyn Grace', 'Avalanche', 'Golden Gate', 'Blaney's Blue', 'Rainbow' and 'Yamimoto.'

I chose cuttings with leaf buds instead of flowers and ones with eyelets at the base of the bud. Leaf buds are smaller than flower buds, although on some plants it is difficult to tell which is which. I looked for healthy looking new growth with as long and as straight of stem as possible.

Initially I just cut off the stem of interest and placed them in a marked ziplock bag. After I gathered all the cuttings, and got the kids to bed, I was ready to prepare the cuttings. I started off by rinsing them to get rid of any dirt or pests that may lead to disease down the road. I also rubbed off any indementum, because this is also a great growing medium for disease.

 Next I cut the cutting at 45 degrees leaving a stem a couple inches long, or as long as possible for the shorter varieties.

Then I scrapped off about a 1/2" section along the stem, cutting diagonally into the growing layers. I only scarred one side of the stem. I also left the leaf buds on. Some experts say that removing them only opens up more wounds for disease to enter.

 Next I made a leaf sandwich and removed about the top half of the cutting's leaves. This helps the cutting root by not having to put as much energy into maintaining large leaves. It also helps reduce the size of the cutting so it'll take up less area in the box.

 Next I dipped the stem into rooting hormone. There seem to be many opinions on what hormone is best, I used what my local nursery carried.

Then I used a pencil or stick to make a hole in the pot and gently slid the cutting in. This helps keep the rooting hormone on the cutting instead of sliding off into the potting mix as you ram the cutting into the pot.

Using a spray bottle, I then generously misted the container before putting on the lid.

The box is in my upstairs bathroom which stays very cool during the winter (65ish). I've kept the cuttings under a grow light (the regular light bulb type), turning the light on in the morning and off at evening. Once again, this also appears to be a topic of debate among the rhody community, but since this is my best lighting option, we'll have to see what happens. I've misted the box every couple days and so far things are looking good. I'll keep you posted.