I'd say that if all 99 died it was probably that soil! I mean, the odds of them ALL dying are pretty slim otherwise. I'd read the label on that soil really closely and see what's in it. Maybe a fertilizer? Or, and I've seen this, a seed germination suppressant of some kind (like Preen) to prevent weeds?

So sorry about your babies, and I do know exactly how you feel. I have cried when one of my favorite seedlings bit the dust! Don't let it stop you though! Go buy the stuff you usually use and try again. I'm sure you'll have better success this time!

oh bummer! All that work. I did another half dozen at the weekend. Although the photoperiod tips on September 1st (in Cambridge) - the days start to get shorter - it is still worth having another crack at it if you feel up to it. I think the issue was definately the potting soil. I use the water or soda bottle method, I push the clear bottles deep into the mix so it makes a self-enclosed mini bio-dome: there is always a high level of moisture. Anyhow, I find that the less organic matter in the mix, the better to avoid rotting(stems start to go black and it's game over). I go for a third horticutural sand, a third John Innes seed compost (loam with very little base fertiliser) and a third vermiculite, perlite or even grit - whatever comes to hand. I could probably root them in pure sand but, yah know, intuitively, it just doesn't feel quite right.Still time.......

thanks for your sympathetic responses.

I think my courage has returned, I'm about to ask my neighbor if I can take cuttings from a couple of her Old Garden Tea roses.
I read the label on the bad potting soil and all it listed were soil components; peat et cetera, no fertilizer. I don't know if U.S. law compels listing of all ingredients in packaged soil mixture, I believe that even some dairy items are exempt from total disclosure on labeling, or used to be.

Lux.

One year I used a different brand of potting soil and lost more baby plants to rot. It didn't drain as well as the other soil, and the plants that didn't die grew more slowly. Now I stick with my favorite Miracle Grow Moisture Control formula..it does have food in it but never seems to harm cuttings even when newly rooted. I'm sure you'll have good results again with your usual soil.

It's possible that there was a problem with the soil, but to really know you'd have to look at ALL the variables that were different; the time of year, the temperature, the state the plant was in when you took the cuttings, water levels, etc.

I don't know how much the temperature/climate varies in Oakland, but certainly in December you still have less light just as you would in any other mid-latitude location when you compare it to June daylight.

That might have an impact on cuttings; I would think that if a mature rose plant would not be able to grow in a certain location because light levels are too low (such as in a window or shaded spot), a cutting, which is in an especially traumatic situation trying to live without roots, would not be able to live with such little light either, because it has the same requirements plus the additional need to grow quite quickly to be able to put out roots before using up existing nutrients and dying. The short days/winter light levels might have created too little light.

My sense is that with cuttings, too much intense light + heat is bad, but you can compensate for low light levels by increasing daylight hours. That's why a cool, shady place in May or June when days are very long is really ideal; "full-sun" plants can deal with shade when the days last so long. Meanwhile, in fall/winter (the closer you get to December 21) they can't get enough energy from shade, so you have the tougher situation of having to put them in full sun where they can scorch.

That's just a guess. For all I know you were using artificial light and everything I am suggesting is meaningless. My sense is that 100% loss is pretty intense and something like diseased soil would kill some, but not all, cuttings. I don't know, but all I can say is keep trying. I have had really awful luck with rose cuttings so I am trying new things as well.