"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
The message
from (Kerry) contains these words:

Ten days ago I took some cuttings from a rosemary bush and put them in
a pint glass of water on my kitchen windowsill. I didn't add rooting
powder to the water as the pot I have says not to be used for edible
plants. According to the instructions (which I found on the web and
can no longer locate), in six weeks, the rosemary should have rooted
and be ready to put into soil.

It has since occurred to me that I don't really know what to look for
(spot the clueless newbie). I was vaguely expecting something that
looks like roots in a biology textbook. However, the ends of the
cuttings are becoming covered in a fine cotton wool-like substance. Is
this mould? Should I rinse it off? Should I give up on this batch and
take more cuttings?

If it will wash off (I don't mean scrub off) they aren't roots.

You should have seen small white filaments growing out at right-angles
to start with. These may branch out and form lots more filaments to
resemble cotton wool, I don't know, I've never tried that with rosemary.
I just poke the cuttings into the ground and keep them shaded and well
watered.

Putting small cuttings directly into the soil and inverting jam jars over
them is quite successful

Franz