Sounds like you got the root issue sorted out. I wanted to add another little tip for any one else who might stumble across this thread. PH is a big issue to plant health like the thread creator found out. One big issue to PH swings is the presence of bad bacteria and fungus in high amounts. Odd or bad smells and slime on the walls of the reservoir and on the roots is a sign of this. It is very important to get the natural beneficial bacteria and fungus to colonize before the bad ones. I use General Hydroponic's Subculture B to Inoculate the roots and to get new systems set up on the right track. After the beneficial microbes have taken a firm root in the system the PH will no longer rapidly swing and the smells will go away. During water changes leave a little of the original water in the system to help keep them colonized. If you find your self with bad odors, slime, and root rot add some 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to the system and let it flush for 24 hours then change the water. Let the system run for a couple more days and repeat the process. Do this a few times then flush the system to get rid of the hydrogen peroxide residues that might be present. Then mix up a new water batch with out the hydrogen peroxide and add some Subculture B. Hopefully then the ecosystem within the hydroponics system will become symbiotic to the roots of the plant. Good luck and happy growing!

OK, good info, thanks! I don't use regular potting soil any more. I found it did retain too much water. I use SEED STARTER soil now. It's much finer and drains better. I also don't use that big of a pot. I got 16 oz. clear plastic cups. Punch a good size hole in the bottom of the cups for drainage. Fill the cups about 3/4 full with the starter soil and wet it. I wet it a couple of times until I see that the soil at the bottom is damp. You can tell by the color. It will darken when it's wet. Then I let them sit over night to drain any excess water and for the water to distribute itself evenly. Then I take my cutting and very gently scrape off the green outer bark to expose the white layer just under the skin. Some people also will just slice the bottom at a very steep angle to expose that inner layer. Dip it into some type of rooting hormone. Before sticking it in the cup take a pencil and make a hole in the soil first. Then you can stick the cutting in the soil without rubbing off all the hormone. Pat the soil firmly back around the cutting. Now you can water them in fairly well and let them drain. I put mine right out in the sun, uncovered, in my little seedling nursery. I keep a close eye on them for water. With the clear cups you can see all the way to the bottom so you can see when the soil looks dry down there. Like I said the color will lighten as it dries out. Keep them evenly moist all the time but not soggy. Outside it's hard to give you a specific time table of how long that will take because the heat and humidity will play a part in how long they take to dry. I usually water at least every other day here (unless it rains) in the summer even though it's humid here by the lake. But I only water them a little bit at a time. After the initial soaking at planting time I let the top of the soil get a little dry before I water again, like maybe and inch down. The other really nice thing about the clear cups is that you can see when they have rooted! You don't have to tug on them or disturb them in any way to know if they have rooted or not. Surprisingly the roots seem to head for the light at the sides of the cups right away. I let them stay in the cups until the bottom of the cup looks pretty full of roots and then I transfer them up into 1 gallon pots. Hope that helps and if you have any questions please ask! Don't feel bad about not having much luck at first. I killed dozens of them before I found this method that seems to work pretty well for me.

why wouldnt it??? so you are trying this on old wood.. last years ... is that proper for this??? .. or are you supposed to do it later in the season on new wood ... i dont know.. just asking ... ken

Sarah Choi It appears your principle concerned is getting good fruit as quick as possible and perhaps growing some in a different location. If correct the quickest way to good fruit is to tend the trees you have. Unripe, overripe and loss to pest are likely management issues in my opinion. I don't know what zone you are in but if those trees produce even a moderately they can be managed to produce decent fruit. By decent I mean something that you would enjoy as opposed to what your pest will consume which is anything. If they are too close to the patio or you prefer them in another location for any reason. I'd suggest using soft wood cuttings (not green), five inches long at least half inch in diameter with three or four nodes each. There are so many vids on youtube of how to do this, but I simply bury them half way in moist potting soil in a clear (to see root development) plastic disposable cups then place those in plastic bags to retain the moisture. Place them in a warm approximately 75 degree low light location and wait a couple weeks until they have roots and leaves. Check them every other day or so for mold and to let them get fresh air. Keep them moist and when they have good roots slowly harden them off to dryer air. You of course you won't be able to place them outside until they are larger and its warmed back up in mid spring. My 2cent.