Update: Winter '14/'15 Observations
- ProMix HP: Experimented with ProMix HP (high porosity) versus BX. Found no discernible difference in success rate. ProMix BX is easier to obtain here and cheaper so I'll stick with BX.
- Success Rate: Around 90%, with over 400 plants grown from cuttings. This is lower than last year but was somewhat expected that I'd lose a few more due to the number of plants.
- Don't give up too early: Some plants will push out a leaf or two only to drop it. Many of these recovered and pushed out more leaves with no intervention (humidity chambers, etc).
- Lighting: Position the lights as closely to the plants as possible, moving them up only as the plants begin to grow into the lights. We use cheap T12 shop lights (around ~$10 at a home improvement store) and hang them from adjustable chains. We use daylight bulbs (5000k) but I'm not certain that it really matters. We look for the highest lumen output per bulb. Lights are on for 16 hours a day.
- Pomegranates: We rooted a number of pomegranate cuttings using the same method and found that they had a hard time pushing through the parafilm. We rooted several in the spring outdoors with no parafilm at all and they did very well. Next year we'll either avoid wrapping over the bud or wait until late spring to root them.