Mould on hardwood cuttings

Rivian

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I just took trident cuttings 2 or 3 days ago and theres already bits of visible grey mould on some of the buds, which also have started greening up.
I have them in a see-through plastic container with a plexi glass sheet on it in the living room. Substrate is perlite with bits of vermiculite and sand, nothing organic.
I watered on the day I made the tray, then havent interacted until now. It does have drainage holes
I took it outside and sprayed some antifungal on it that I use for my maples

How do you avoid mould and keep humidity fairly high?
Also can those buds still survive?
 

eryk2kartman

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You need to provide some ventilation, or take off the plexi glass couple of times per day, get plants vented and put back together, that way there will be air exchange.
have a look at propagators ventilation system
1617870706085.png
 

penumbra

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I have the propagator as shown above full of crepe myrtle. I saw a tiny bit of mold after a week or so and sprayed entire batch with peroxide. Seems to have worked. BTW, be careful when you take the lid off to let it breath. I left it off yesterday all day and a few cuttings went flaccid.
 

Bonsai Nut

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A little larger and more expensive, but for cuttings and seedlings I use a cold-frame that has a gas-activated panel that starts to open at 65F. (The panel operates without electricity - the wires you see in this photo are for heat mats under the seedling trays).

cuttings.jpg
 

Rivian

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I wonder about the humidity in that thing when it has to open so wide because of heat
We have one that doesnt open on its own and it gets really hot, I never used it
 

penumbra

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A little larger and more expensive, but for cuttings and seedlings I use a cold-frame that has a gas-activated panel that starts to open at 65F. (The panel operates without electricity - the wires you see in this photo are for heat mats under the seedling trays).
That is a pretty cool unit. How large is it and where did you find it? I know I would have a use for it.
Thanks.
 

penumbra

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I wonder about the humidity in that thing when it has to open so wide because of heat
We have one that doesnt open on its own and it gets really hot, I never used it
You can buy an opener on Amazon that will work the same way. I think it lifts 15 pounds. I have one that will go on a cold frame eventually.
I understand your concern about losing the humidity but a unit like this could have many uses.
 

hinmo24t

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ill be posting a pic but i have seen those grey tips and wonder if its necessarily even bad or mold because i have successful (im thinking) cuttings that had those tips and are now leafing out. i stuck with keeping them moist and semi/covered and its looking good for some ginko, sweetgum, maples, and a cypress out of my batch. i know theyre not 'for sure' yet but its looking promising. might have got crimson king maple to prop as well.


good luck w your maples - using a tupperware and 60% organics soil btw
 

Rivian

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ill be posting a pic but i have seen those grey tips and wonder if its necessarily even bad or mold because i have successful (im thinking) cuttings that had those tips and are now leafing out. i stuck with keeping them moist and semi/covered and its looking good for some ginko, sweetgum, maples, and a cypress out of my batch. i know theyre not 'for sure' yet but its looking promising. might have got crimson king maple to prop as well.


good luck w your maples - using a tupperware and 60% organics soil btw
Thing is I have no idea if the mould was feeding on live tissue, the sugar etc in the buds or just little bits of organic dirt on the outside
 

hinmo24t

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Thing is I have no idea if the mould was feeding on live tissue, the sugar etc in the buds or just little bits of organic dirt on the outside
maybe even just normal drying of outter bud layer that moves on before the leaf
 

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All you need is a pot, medium, and a bag with a hole..........you need the hole to vent out the excess humidity. No hole will result in the cutting failing by either overheating or attack by fungi. Also if you do the bag method try your best to keep the leaves from touching the bag.
thumbnail_20200630_201654.jpg
 

Rivian

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I have in the past used water or soda bottle with bottom cut off and lid removed. It seemed to be just right for a single cutting.
I have 3 plastic bottles turned greenhouse going right now
1 is a sturdy wide volvic bottle which is excellent, and 2 are normal size
If the cuttings succeed ill post pictures
 

Rivian

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maybe even just normal drying of outter bud layer that moves on before the leaf
Now that some of them are leafing out, I think I can see on which ones the mould went inside the buds because some outer leaves are brown. Not dried, my guess is it was the mold. Anyway many buds are fine. About a dozen cuttings remain as of now, 3 weeks after start. I am airating them several times a day now and havent seen mold since. Interesting how much damage the fungus did in the first 2 days without taking the lid off. One more day and I might have gone from 1-2 lost buds to 10, add another day and it might have been complete failure
 

hinmo24t

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Now that some of them are leafing out, I think I can see on which ones the mould went inside the buds because some outer leaves are brown. Not dried, my guess is it was the mold. Anyway many buds are fine. About a dozen cuttings remain as of now, 3 weeks after start. I am airating them several times a day now and havent seen mold since. Interesting how much damage the fungus did in the first 2 days without taking the lid off. One more day and I might have gone from 1-2 lost buds to 10, add another day and it might have been complete failure
good call. i noticed a bunch of the buds fell off the maples. strike rate on the maples is less than cypress, ginkho and sweetgum in my batch. i think i got a crimson or two and a jap maple or two, but its a small percentage. well see as things warm up here coming up
 

Rivian

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Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled the best looking ones out, finding zero root, which I expected, but also zero callus.
I put them back and watered them in again.
Callus is needed to defend against pathogens invading the cut area and to produce roots. Actually not that important for water uptake.
Seems like all the energy stored is going into the buds/shoots and none was used to produce callus.
I should probably have waited until late May to take cuttings
 

eryk2kartman

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Let them be - they need to bud out in order to grow roots,
my taking on cutting is - i do take them, i do plant them in regular compost soil(i dont even cover them with the bag) and i leave them under the bench, and i do forgot about them....
water once for a while if soil gets dry but thats all
come back in 3 months and see - ohh these taken off nice, some other died.....

i found if you looking to much and go around them, checking etc - you can actually do more damage
 
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