Macky, I have attempted to research the potting mix issue both online and in the many clematis books that I have but I keep running into the fact that most of the books that contain any information about this are written by British or European authors and they keep mentioning things like John Innes potting mix number so and so or a potting compost. Being here in the states, I have no idea exactly what those mixes are and what they contain. There is a poster who frequents this forum named gardengal and she has worked in a nursery for quite a few years so perchance she will see this post and chime in here and can shed some light on the best potting mix to use for your cuttings. I have contacted a friend in England who grows many plants by seed and have asked him his opinion of what to pot up your cuttings in and to see what he thinks about keeping them growing over the winter in your basement with grow lights. I will let you know when I hear back from him. I do know that most info about taking cuttings say that it is best to use bottom heat to get them started. The same is true when growing most plants from seed but once the seeds have germinated, most commercial growers will move the new seedlings to a cooler environment to encourage root growth since it mimics the cooler soil temps. in the fall. That is often the reason that in my gardening zone anyway, fall planting is best for most plants--the roots have a great chance getting established before winter arrives and they can continue root development until the ground temps. reach some critical temp. and the root growth in essence stops or comes to a very slow crawl. I would strongly advise against using regular garden soil since it will be brimming with microorganisms that could cause your cuttings to die and or damp off. I know that I have seen quite a few references talking about spraying young cuttings with fungicides to help prevent damping off. I would think that what you would want for the young cuttings is more or less a mixture that you would use for seed starting perhaps with grit or sand mixed in to help with the drainage. You might be able to use a commercially available potting mix as long as it was not chocked full of fertilizers, although I am unsure what exactly you need to use to fertilize them. I know in my area they sell something call seedling fertilizer which is higher in phosphorus since it helps with root development. I will copy and paste what information my friend offers when I hear back from him. That Jackmanii plant that your grandfather had must have gotten huge in all those years. I would bet a dollar to a doughnut that it has probably layered itself in the area around where the stems exit the ground and that when the plant was dug up (or if it is as I couldn't really ascertain this when reading the post) that there were probably many different crowns present that could have been separated. Clematis can take a good amount of abuse when they are dug up and still survive. I have moved several of mine after them being in the ground for a few years and although I broke a bunch of roots, they have still managed to survive. I do understand your hesitation about loosing the plant however due to sentimental value. As far as buring the nodes that sprout, this is sound advice. In fact when I plant any clematis that I purchase, I always plant it several inches deeper in the ground as it was in its original pot. This buries dormant nodes that can help the plant resurrect itself should it be cut back by wilt, animals, weedeaters, etc and can give rise to more vines. This is something that you can do to your cuttings but I would wait until they got further along to do so. Perhaps in their subsequent potting up while they are being grown out. Hope this has helped somewhat and I will be back in touch when I get any info to pass along to you! :0)

This years UCD cuttings were disappointing. Being new at this with only one unknown tree, last season I received cuttings from Jack. Just so you don't think I'm a complete klutz this is the result of last years cuttings. 3 Qtr.lb. healthy excellant growth no figs 1 Nice red 2 figs 1 Alma/BT/or nice red 5 figs 1 " 7 figs 1 " 2 figs 2 " no figs By contrast, This year's cuttings UCD Received 4 Brown Turkey cuttings: 1 small, few leaves 2 died 1 doubtful, one small leaf, Received one Celeste cutting.... dead Gene's Sal's. Received 10 cuttings 6 healthy growing nicely one has 1 fig 1 doubtful, has one small leaf. It is interesting to note that when Gene's cuttings arrived, I planted 5 of them upon arrival. These flurished and are now growing well. The remaining 5 I kept in the refridge for a month or so. These did not do well. If it were not for Gene's generousity in giving me the Sal's cuttings I wouldn't have had any success this season. Good luck everyone. Peg

It sounds like you may have had some fungal disease problems in the baggies (stems turning black). You might try removing the baggies at night, as the plants are not transpiring then. That would give the leaves a chance to dry out a little and reduce the likelihood of disease problems. If you are not averse to using chemicals, you might also try spraying the cuttings with an all-purpose fungicide (such as Daconil) prior to covering them. Roses in particular are very susceptible to fungal diseases. I also agree with stressbaby that later cuttings might be more successful. Firmer wood is usually more disease resistant.

Propagating is a sit around and wait sort of thing but if you give the branch a slight tug and it doesn't come out of the dirt easily I just leave it. I have cuttings in my garden right now that were placed at the same time and one is growing new leaves everday and is nice and green. but the other four are almost all brown but the branches are nice and firm without wrinkles and they are very tight in the ground. Just remember till there are roots which takes a long time they won't be needing any fertilizer. I still can only get cuttings to grow with a mixture of cactus supersoil and regular supersoil potting mix. Didn't have any cactus mix left and those cuttings just in potting soil and perlite aren't doing as well and yet one where it was a nice branch with four nice arms a perfect purchased rose and still; a cutting is still sitting there green after a couple of weeks. So you see that propigating is a matter of trial and error.. debbysunshine@hotmail.com