black currant hardwood cuttings shipped with some damp paper towel

black currant hardwood cuttings shipped with some damp paper towel around the base, creates the perfect moisture level and conditions for some quick rooting. this winter I experimented with several indoor setups for rooting hardwood for currants, gooseberry, grapes, figs, mulberry, elderberry. I found best results with: 1. no bottom heat 2. room temperature 3. deep pots of loose medium high in perlite 4. bagged tops with poly or opaque plastic grocery bag, to retain humidity while the top leafs out ahead of the roots. 5. 4000ppm iba talc 6. moisture is key, medium should be just minimal damp. in every case where medium was too damp, the cutting cambium would die and sometimes roots formed at the high humidity area above the medium. conclusion: my setups were initially too hot and wet. take this photo as an example, no bottom heat, no hormone, no watering, just trapped humidity. #propagation