Tried to root a cutting in a damp paper towel inside a ziploc... big mistake

I was at my kitchen table last Thursday, trying to propagate a philodendron cutting I snagged from my neighbor's plant in Denver. I put it in a damp paper towel inside a ziploc bag, thinking it'd stay humid. Three days later, I opened the bag and the whole stem was covered in fuzzy gray mold. Has anyone else had luck with a different method for rooting finicky cuttings?

2 comments

2 Comments

rose_young1mo ago

Oh man, that exact thing happened to me last year with a pothos cutting. I used to be all about the paper towel method, you know, thinking it was foolproof because all the plant blogs swore by it. But after losing three cuttings to mold in a week (horrifying), I totally switched to sphagnum moss. Just dampen it a bit, squeeze out the extra water, and wrap it loosely around the stem inside a glass jar with a loose lid. It stays moist without being soggy and I haven't seen mold since. The roots pop out way faster too, honestly a game changer. Hope that helps you save your next cutting!

ninal911mo ago

Wait, are you not even lightly wringing out the paper towel first, or did you just leave it sopping wet in a bag? I always thought the whole point was having it barely damp, but now I'm wondering if I've been doing it wrong this whole time and just got lucky.

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