Propagation of Rhodadendrons with cuttings

does anyone out there have first hand knowledge of the necessary items, and methods of useing cuttings? I have tried for yrs. now I have pete2's thread, lots of books. here in the nw, time is upon us. have gathered rooting chemicals, fungicide, green house, various heating methods, pots, perlite, peat, anyone?

I have a friend who starts cuttings in a can filled with sand & kept moist. She does this in the house over the winter & they are ready to plant out come spring. I started one this way but when I planted it out my DH stepped on it & broke it & it never returned. She had already put the rooting hormone on the cutting when she gave it to me.

ants

My friend propagates for larger nurseries. They use a mist system and are sticking cuttings now. They scrape one side of the bottom end about an inch up, dip it in rooting hormone and stick it in a perlite/peat moss mix under mist for 2 months. The rhodos usually take that long. They are then potted up and kept in the greenhouse over the winter. Here in NJ, without that first winter sheltered, the new cuttings wouldn't make it. Hope that helps!