elderberry cuttings

I'm impressed, and pleased, with the growth of my first elderberry cuttings. Of course they seem to root easily, just like willow!

I took these cuttings on Feb. 15 and just dropped them into a jug of water. On Feb. 17, I dipped them in rooting hormone powder and stuck them in a mix of half sand and half potting soil. The photo above was taken March 23; that's 34 days from the start.

2 weeks later, I cut the rest of the elderberry branches I had brought home, and did the same treatment for them. They are still in their "tent", along with several other trays of various fruit cuttings. I probably won't peek for another month, but the leaves from the cuttings in the tray above were pushing up against the tent so I opened it. I can see a bunch of roots along the edges of the container!

According to the Biodynamic calendar that I am faithfully following this year, the next time to transplant these cuttings (and anything else) into individual pots doesn't start until March 29, and runs until April 9.

Update 4/2:
On 4/2 I transplanted most of the first tray of cuttings (from the top picture above). 14 out of 18 rooted nicely although I left 4 in the tray to develop more roots; only 4 were duds. That's probably because I didn't leave enough nodes when I sectioned them for rooting! Some of the ones I transplanted into individual pots are in the soda bottle planters sitting between the 2 trays on the railing above.

The second tray is lagging behind, or maybe I'm just impatient!