Your cutting is dehydrating. You need to try and control the humidity to reduce the moisture loss. At the very least, you should cover the plant with a transparent plastic bottle (cut off the top of a 2 liter soda bottle) or use cling wrap, but try to get a good seal. If you use cling wrap, prop it up with some sticks so that it's not touching the leaves or you risk mold forming. I'm not sure about curry plants, but for fig cuttings, most people remove the leaves or clip them in half to reduce water loss.

Best of luck.

Snip off the top of the plant, then snip each branch back to 1 leaf. The volume of foliage is to large for the damaged roots to keep up with. By reducing the volume of foliage you might head off the severe wilting or total collapse of the plant. Also, the plant usually roots more reliably if you include some of last year's wood at the base of the cutting.

Thank you Jason and tapla; I will try both suggestions and let you know how it went.

tapla: I assume in this case 1 leaf = 1 leaf petiole (which contains 7-8 individual leaves)?

I wouldn't poke any holes in it, you want to keep the humidity up. You can raise them a bit to allow some air exchange once a day.

Once the cuttings actually start to root, then slowly start to wean it away from the soda bottles. Punch a hole in it, or lean it to one side to allow a free exchange of air, then eventually remove it. Do not leave it on too long as you risk mold.

My dilemna right now is that I have a 1.5" seedling with another trying to open up. I want to keep the humidity up for the new seed, but not rot away the more established one. Phooey on me for trying to save on a pot by starting multiple seeds!

Okay thanks, I will do that. To check for roots, should I just try to pry them up a little bit from the soil once a week?

Good luck to you with your seedlings!

Don't 'pry them up,' you'll destroy the roots every time the poor things attempt to grow! If you really want to see the roots, then transfer the cutting to a transparent container so you can see the roots when there are enough of them. Alternatively, start the cuttings in water.

I see, okay. I will just wait patiently for new growth above the soil on the cutting then :-)

Also, for cuttings, keep it out of direct sunlight. Open shade is the best location.

Jason, I think your newly germinating seeds will be OK without a humidity cover. Again open shade may be your best bet.

One other thing, how deep did you plant them? I've found that with most cuttings (which excludes succulents because they'll rot), the deeper you plant the cutting, the better. Good luck :)

I probably have about 2 inches of the cutting below the soil.

ToC, thanks for the advice! I have them on a window sill where they get some strong morning sun. I will leave it there for a little bit as I do not have any good open shady spots in the yard. It's all or nothing this time of year, there is either perpetual shade in a certain corner of the fence, or brilliant morning or afternoon sunlight. All my shade trees died a few years back, but that just left room for more fruit trees! They are all still pretty young and do not provide much in the way of shade. But thanks again!

I do a lot of cuttings. You do need to poke holes in that bottle. you could do side holes as opposed to top holes to reduce the rate water evaporating.

Usually I prefer to use semi-green branch/stem (6 inches) to do your cutting. This dehydrates less I find.

Reduce the number of leaves to about 2 on top.

look for a leaf node near the bottom on the stem and remove the leaves with scissors.

Prepare your growth medium (soilless) or even grit.

Dip your stem in a rooting hormone (#2 for semi-green stem). Shake the excess.

Place it in the growing medium - 2 inches deep. (More surface for roots to grow) Top with sand or grit (to keep soil born pathogens at bay and to keep moisture steady) Cover with perforated plastic.

Place in a shade spot and wait for growth.

Thanks for the tips, ianna!

I would suggest doing a few more cuttings. It betters your chances to get a live plant. Cuttings do fail for a number of reasons that include rot or cell death, fungal infection. So the more cuttings the better the chances. It also helps if you nourish the mother plant well before making the cuttings. Cuttings should be done early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun is not so harsh.

Hi Everyone,

After following all of the suggestions in this post, I am happy to report to you guys that I am beginning to see signs of new growth on one of my cuttings (see below):

I was wondering if I should be making a change in the growing conditions moving further. I still have the cutting covered with a plastic bottle with a couple of holes poked in it. Should I leave it that way, and wait for more growth before removing the cover? Also, right now I have placed the pot in a shaded location on my balcony (behind bigger plants). Should I start moving it gradually to more direct sunlight?

Wait and keep it in the same place. Let a few leaves grow and mature. The buds swelling indicates it is alive and doing its thing but not necessarily means that any meaningful roots have formed.

leave it be. If you need a larger plastic cover then imbed 2 or 3 bamboo sticks and then cover with perforated clear plastic bag. You need to keep the hydration level up as it grows. The roots are still developing so you just need to keep the plant moist as much as possible.

Thanks guys, will follow your suggestions.

Cool, that's so exciting that it's getting happier now! My first thought would have been also to keep it in a bit shadier spot for a couple of days until it recovers from the transplanting....but I'm a newbie so that's just a guess. :)

By the way, do you have suggestions about where to get a curry plant or cuttings? I'm in the Northeast and would have to bring it indoors during the winter, obviously.

Manzanita: Richters in canada usually carries it. They ship to US. You can try Logees also. There is an Indian seed/plant webstore - I think it is called Seeds of India. I may end up with some seeds later in the fall. If you can remind me then (message me from my profile) I can send you some.

Aww thanks!! I appreciate it! :)

I read all the comments from everyone and its so nice to see that others who knows how to, help out others. I have been wanted to do the same but not sure when is the best time to re pot my curry leaf plant which is in big clay ceramic type of pot right now (i'll post photo later) and which is the best container to pot in? also i have small shooting at the bottom of the pot. Can someone help me. I live in new jersey. Thank you so much.

My curry leaf stem developed little leaves it looked fresh, suddenly i saw mold on leaves, removed that part. now the leaves drooping down, what could be the reason, what should i do next

Need more info. Was it actually a leaf stem? Was this a cutting? What type of soil is it in? Details and images will help us provide better answers.

Al