watering cuttings

Should I be watering cuttings I have taken of
begonia bonfire & angel trumpet or should the rooting mixture be sufficient?
Bill

 

Cuttings need plenty of water as well as hormone powder Billy. If they are in compost it is usual to put something like a polythene bag or a cut off plastic bottle over them as well to create a humid micro-climate.

 

Billy - I don't know anything about begonias or Daturas. But I suspect all cuttings need similar treatment. I do water cuttings when I first make them. I do this as much to settle the compost down and remove air pockets as to wet it. But don't wet it too much.

Remember that until the cuttings grows its roots (not for several days) it cannot absorb any moisture from the compost. So a very wet compost only encourages rot. With cuttings you need to keep it alive for the 10 or 15 days that it takes to grow some roots, so the general rule is cut off some of the leaves and put it in a propogator or cover it with a polythene bag (with a small amount of ventilation) to prevent loss of moisture as Sarraceniac said.

 

Yip ... don't over water cuttings until they have developed roots to use up that water, otherwise they will simply rot

 

Thanks for the info everyone,
plastic bags do have a use after all