Hi,
sure hope not, please post a picture so we can see. A free service is photobucket.com
Karen B

July 11th - when I first potted the cutting
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Yesterday
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First of all that cutting was way too green to be sold. Secondly all the leaf stems and small leaf starts at the top should have been removed on July 11 as these started the rot. Next the area from the tag wire to the branching points is looking dark and is the area of concern. If it gets squishy or darkens any lower you need to cut near the tag wire and downward until you find clean, green and white wood. Keep the soil dry and do not water period. There still is a chance, but someone selling very green cuttings is not reputable. Bill

Thanks, Bill. I ended up cutting it down to the white wood. I removed a lot of the leaves that they were shipped with but I left a few of the smaller ones. I guess I didn't clip enough of them.

Thanks again.

astri- if you look at your first picture you notice that the stems of the old leaves are turning black. When you clip them you want to go back a day later and pop all the stems off flush to the surface of the branch. If you have a spot of black at the connection point take a small knife and dig it out. However, the main problem was this cutting should never have been sold as it is too young and far too green which makes it ten times harder to successfully root without rot. a good rule is if you do not buy a cutting in the early spring then buy from a well established grower- but it is always best to buy in spring when you get the pick of the litter cuttings. This time of the year look for already rooted plants. Bill

Thanks for the advice. I'm still new to this.

Bill - I had a similar cutting rot in my hands - 3 tip and very green like the above pics. I salvaged the only good tip a few days ago and grafted it onto seedling stock. I was wondering if you have any experience grafting a green tip? Do you think it will take?
Karen

Karen- I am the wrong guy for grafting. I have grafted maybe three times and all three eventually rotted. I think I tried in the spring when it is damp and windy and did not have a greenhouse to work in. I do know that any green tip has a very low chance of survival. I have rooted a few but using very dry methods and some good luck. I also have rotted my share trying to save some valued tip. It really bothers me that people sell green cuttings because they have a high percentage of doom. Bill