Hello there,

Sorry to disturb you all with some amateurish problems, but i didn't have any idea whom else to ask.

The problem is the following. I am from the Balkans in Easter Europe. This year i tried to dabble into propagation from cuttings for the first time in my life, as I wanted to keep some remnant from my old family house that got sold. Took about 20 cuttings with me, most of them softwood cuttings with about 4 buds on each one. Planted them in a good soil with about 50% peet, 10% perlite and 10% coconut bits, while applying root growth powdered agent on the bottom third of the stem. Watered them well, put them under plastic bottles to preserve humidity and put them in a darker place, in a room where the temperature is about 15-22 degrees celsius.

However about 1 or 2 weeks after planting there was a sciaridae problem in the room that probably came out from a new plant that we bought with infested soil not knowing about it. A friend of mine told me that these flies were harmless, but that their larvae are sometimes dangerous for the roots of the plants....so i sprayed the cuttings' big pot with some insecticide called Mospilan diluted in water. The flies vanished, but the soil got really soggy after this. Those cuttings that had one or two leaves left wilted shortly after. And so far only one showed new growth.

To save this survivor i planted it in a new pot away from the others, taking only some of the old soil, fearing that if i break it while soggy, it will damage the roots. Now one day after, i checked if the soil was dry enough and it was. And against my better judgment i tried breaking it off to see if there were any roots left viable. And sure enough, there were two about 1 inch each, not pure white though, a little cream-white looking in colour. I left the cutting in the pot and went just to get some potting soil to add. When I returned however and picked it up the two roots fell off. Not knowing what to do, I improvised...cut the lowest 1cm of the stem, cause that part was looking to be brown, scraped the bark on two sides a little with desinfected carpet knife, dipped it in a root growth powder agent, and returned it in 100% new soil, watering a lil' from the top and putting the plastic bottle over the soil again.

Now however I dont know where to put it since it still has leaves and green growth, but no roots. Somewhere shady or at a place where there is sun during the day? And at what temperature it should be? Can you help me, if there's someone here that has dealt with similar situation? I dont want to lose it because of my incompetence and its shape is not looking great as it is:(