HI Frogleg
yep, fuzzy, moldy icky happens to me too, so don't think I'm any whiz LOL.
Not every cutting strikes!

Hints and gleanings------

Leave the cutting out of water for several hours to let the stem seal.

cleanliness is key, a dip in a very mild bleach solution can stave off the
bacteria. Change the water every day or 2 and wash the glass in hot soapy
water at the time.

No direct sun, use colored/tinted glass

dissolve a teensy bit of rooting hormone powder in the water, or use floral
preservative.


Watch the cut end of the stems very carefully and recut if it looks soft
and slimy, change the water, wash the glass.

Hedge your bets, try hormone powder ( Rootone or the like) and stick
cuttings in FRESH potting mix in a 3.5 inch pot, cover with a plastic bag
and keep warm ( top of fridge unless you have a cat who objects).

Use both methods at the same time ( take lots of cuttings).

Hard woody stems of tender plants don't root well, neither do soft new
growth ( and this is a broad generalization!) Try 'em all, see what works.

I believe the hormone that stimulates rooting is an auxin ( ???) and
depending on the plant, the hormone may be more plentiful at some times of
growth than others.

Fer instance, I do NOT have good luck with late fall cuttings of
Pelargonium ( geranium). If I want to bring in plants I've learned to just
hack them back to stubs and let them grow out.

Everything is worth a shot, more than once.

best o luck

Breeze


"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:31:34 -0500, "Sue"
wrote:

Like many of the square-stemmed tender perennials, it strikes pretty
handily
from cuttings either in water or loose moist potting mix, you can take
cuttings now and overwinter the resulting plants.

I'd be safe and try cuttings from various stages of growth.

I'm a pretty casual cutting-starter -- plop it in a clean, small glass
of water on the kitchen windowsill, and wait for something to happen.
Success rate is probably close to 65%. I snipped a 5" stem of some
purple-leafed sage from next door (with permission), stripped off the
lower leaves, and put it in The Glass. And it went all
fuzzy/moldy/icky. The neighbor recently pruned this plant way back,
and I have a big branch in a holding pattern in a larger cup of water,
intending to try and root some more cuttings when I get a round tuit.
Any hints for success?