Steve Bishop

Again, no luck getting any cuttings to root even with experimentally treating a few pots using commercially available fungicides or hydrogen peroxide. They callus well, but never root.  I even took some that appeared somewhat healthy with good callus formation and placed them in various types of soil ranging from sandy and dry to dense clay with plenty of water. No luck. If I ever have any success, I'll post what I did that made the difference.

This batch of apple cuttings were done this morning and have been:
Cut to 9”
Soaked in fungicide for 2 minutes
Dried 20 minutes
Tops sealed with wax
Scarified the bottom
Soaked in a rooting hormone solution
Temporarily stored upright in perlite (filled to the top of the pot).
Set in an unheated detached garage.

Now what should I do?

ZONE 6 stem propagation suggestions needed.

For a decade now, I have futilely attempted to grow apples and pears from winter cuttings harvested in December, January, or February.  With 2-dozen fruit trees, I usually have 200 to 400 cuttings.

Same results every year.  Stems stay green up to spring. Callus forms on most pear and few apple stems. Roots never form.  
The indoor cuttings get moved outside to a north facing wall by May. All cuttings in coir or peat get pulled out and put in sand or perlite for drainage.
They get watered with a fungicide or with creek water every week or twice per week depending on weather so they stay hydrated.  
By June, they're all dead from one of three conditions. 1) Just dried out and dead (smallest cuttings generally), 2) bases are black, 3) covered in mold even with regular applications of fungicides.

I've tried:
           - new growth up to 2-year old wood
           - stored vertically and horizontally in substrate.
           - with and without apical meristems/buds still attached
           - ends and tips waxed or left natural
           - various length ranging from 3" to 14"
           - leaving all buds on stems or stripping all but 3-4 buds
           - clean bottom cuts and intentionally damaging the bottom bark to promote callus
           - no heat and bottom heat with electric mats
           - individually and mixes of damp (well drained) coir, perlite, peat, sand, & even a damp towel
           - treated and untreated with fungicides (sulphur, lime, various retail products)
           - treated and untreated with growth hormones (Woods, Clonex, Rootone, Hormodin, & willow extracts)
           - storage outdoors in partial sun to complete shade, as well as an unheated garage, a cellar, and in a small greenhouse
 



How can I get cuttings to grow?