Janet wrote:

I find that Perlite is good for encouraging rooting on semi hard and
softwood cuttings, but for hard wood cuttings they seem to do better on
gritty, sandy compost. Perlite doesn't seem to encourage them to produce
roots.

Fully agree Janet - I take very few hardwood cuttings nowadays and
therefore forgot to mention that for them, a denser compost seems to
be better. Its down to ensuring that the cut surfaces are in good
contact with compost so that as the sap starts to rise into the buds,
moisture can be easily drawn into the stem.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November