Avoid Cutting Losses by Prioritizing Sticking

Lower leaf yellowing and senescence of problematic
species can be reduced or prevented by prioritizing
sticking and updating your cultural procedures.

As shipments of cuttings are now arriving weekly, we are
beginning to see poor rooting, lower and upper leaf yellowing
and senescence, and ultimately losses of some problematic
species (Figs. 1A, 2, 3, 4, and 5) during propagation. Lower leaf
yellowing is most often a sign of ethylene or temperature stress
and/ or low carbohydrate levels during shipping and storage (For
more information on how to reduce geranium lower-leaf
yellowing view e-GRO Alert 3:14; https://e-gro.org/pdf/3-
14.pdf) and upper leaf yellowing is a symptom of micronutrient
deficiencies during propagation. Although you may not know
what environmental stresses the cuttings experienced prior to
you receiving them, there are several cultural procedures such
as the use of a rooting hormone that can help reduce losses.
Therefore, we will review the procedures on how to prepare for,