I hope it is one of the 'Schick hybrids' Its' a little yellow, I would take each of those out one by one, remove the soil and replace it in what ever England uses for cactus. Call Warren Withers phone # 1788 571900 a cactus grower, so is Gordon Rowley. You have excellent cacti growers in England. After you take them out wash off all of the soil. Start them in slightly damp soil and don't water for about 2 weeks. Use chicken grit,I think it was a #5 mixed with cactus mix of 10% only. Now top dress to keep the soil away from the body of the plant. If hot an dry (low humidity) water in the summer once a week, I have never seen Mamm. grow well as in England. Call Harry Mays he was our cacti repsentative in England for years. All of my regards to my friends in England, here is a product that may be still available in England Seramis www.seramis.co.uk this product was suggested for houseplants and has been tested on Haworthia, that lose their roots. Great for starting new cuttings, leaves, etc. I give up, it's too late to continue. Norma

Here's my experience from rooting lilacs. New green stalk growth from this year, and hardwood stalks of lilac all failed for me. By accident, I had stuck some lilac leaves... yes, leaves, in pots. They took! They stayed green a long time, I thought it was funny, but then, the sent up a little stalk from the ground, and I've grown several lilacs that way. Use leaves.

1. 2 of the 8 cuttings that I transferred to cups and vermiculite had a very small amount of mold on one spot. I gave it a good wiping with a damp paper towel and continued. Is that ok or should I be throwing them out? Or separating from the others? You did fine, choosing only perlite to root in. Vermiculite is too water-retentive for my taste. I'd have dipped the cuttings for a minute or so in a 10% solution of unscented household bleach or a 10% solution of 3% H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) to eliminate mold concerns. As Al noted, F carica is a very genetically vigorous plant and very easy to root, as woody plants go. 2. How much should I be watering these since they are 100 percent perlite? I know the key is to keep them moist, but with all perlite they seemed to just drained 100% with little to no retention. Plants most effectively absorb moisture from the microscopically thin film of water on the surface of soil particles, and from water vapor trapped in soil pores, so you want your rooting medium to be damp - not wet ..... and you NEVER want your cutting stuck so deep that it is below the upper limit of any perched water your medium supports. Cuttings need gas exchange, too. You might consider screening & rinsing your perlite, and employing a wick at the bottom of your container. Damp, not wet or soggy is what you're striving for, and 80% humidity with some air movement is a worthy goal. 3. Do they need any sunlight at this point? I don't have them near a window. Technically, they don't need light to root, but the cutting WILL be able to carry on some degree of photosynthesis in the green stem tissues, which will contribute food to what is already stored in cambial tissues. Also, it's best to have any foliage that emerges preconditioned to the photo-intensity that will be the norm for the cuttings. I wouldn't have planned my adventure around the idea I was going to maintain these cuttings indoors for the winter. I'd have timed it so they struck at or just after last frost, so they could go outdoors. Root temps of 65-70* with air temps about 10* cooler are ideal for figs, and eliminate the bottom heat as soon as they strike. If I take fall cuttings, I bury them upside down to callus until figs/mulberry starts to leaf out in the landscape, then I dig them up and pot or plant. I get near 100% success every time, and don't have to fuss with them and watch them decline over the winter. There's soo much more that COULD be said ...... Any questions? Al

Thanks for your input. We're on a smallish mtn at about 1600-1700 ft. Soil has pretty good drainage (I'm going by the rest of the flora around)...I think it would be on the acidic side...lot of moss...though I know some moss can like it alkaline...haven't tested soil so I really don't know the pH. I would describe the area as a rich cove forest. A friend of mine lives in the western NC mtns and she has all kinds of plants in the Ericacae family but it seems as though most of those prefer shade....arbutus, azaleas, rhodies etc. I haven't seen any of those species growing in this area though I did nick a few seeds and hope to plant them around when/if they ever get big enough...they are TINY! Anyway, I'll check out the sand myrtle...sounds interesting!