I recently received some rubber tree cuttings in a large glass of water and was told to keep them submerged for a few weeks until they develop roots. I've never used the water method before so I'm not sure what the developing roots look like, which is what my question is about.
It's been about a week now and I noticed at each of the submerged nodes (areas where branches used to be) there seems to be very fine white hairs or fuzz growing. Is this a type of fungus or is this related to root development?
I think it's better to root cuttings in soil, or in something like perlite or sand, rather than water. But that's JMO. 
You can root starts from a rubber tree in water, but it's really impossible for us to tell whether your cuttings are rooting successfully or not. It's been some years since I propagated a rubber tree, but as I recall the roots start as little bumps on the stem. I air-layered my rubber tree, rather than rooting a cutting.
About the best I could suggest would be to remove your cutting from the water and see if the end of the stem feels soft and mushy. If it does, then it's rotting.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
You can root starts from a rubber tree in water, but it's really impossible for us to tell whether your cuttings are rooting successfully or not. It's been some years since I propagated a rubber tree, but as I recall the roots start as little bumps on the stem. I air-layered my rubber tree, rather than rooting a cutting.
About the best I could suggest would be to remove your cutting from the water and see if the end of the stem feels soft and mushy. If it does, then it's rotting.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
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BewilderedGreenyO.o
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Having some experience in successful water rooting I can give you some ideas/tips.
when I first started out rooting things in water I had no clue what I was doing. I lost a few plants and researched why. Many websites or people will tell you to just stick a cutting in water and leave it there and it will root just fine. In some cases this is true but not all cases. So here is what I've figured works the best for me.
1. find a cutting.
2. fill a clear container with water so that no leaves submerge into the water.
3. Put cutting into the water and place somewhere with light but not direct sun.
4. Change water daily. ( If you leave the cutting in the water just sitting there film and gooy fungus junk has time to form which will eventually kill your cutting.)
5. Wait. ( It may take many weeks for a cutting to start showing roots, my bougainvillea took 5 weeks if I remember rightly so just be patient.)
6. When your cutting is starting to root you should be able to notice little white bumps where the roots are planning to come out of the plant, which is a sure sign your plant is doing well and it on its way
7. Once you have roots give them a couple days or so to develop then prepare some soil in a pot only fill it half way place the plant hovering the area and ever so gently sprinkle soil over the roots until the plant stem is completely covered and secure. (The reason you want to be gentle is because it has been said that water roots are very fragile and may break off during potting.)
And thats it! I can't guarantee this will work for your tree cutting because I've never actually water rooted a tree cutting before.. (all mine have been vines or shrubs) but it worked really well for me and all my water rooted plants are doing great and are still growing strong.
As far as wondering if it is fungus growing on your cutting.. take an overall look at the cutting. Is it still healthy looking? green? If so perhaps it is roots forming.. but in most cases you should see the white bumps before seeing roots I hope this has helped you a bit and I wish you the best of luck on your tree
when I first started out rooting things in water I had no clue what I was doing. I lost a few plants and researched why. Many websites or people will tell you to just stick a cutting in water and leave it there and it will root just fine. In some cases this is true but not all cases. So here is what I've figured works the best for me.
1. find a cutting.
2. fill a clear container with water so that no leaves submerge into the water.
3. Put cutting into the water and place somewhere with light but not direct sun.
4. Change water daily. ( If you leave the cutting in the water just sitting there film and gooy fungus junk has time to form which will eventually kill your cutting.)
5. Wait. ( It may take many weeks for a cutting to start showing roots, my bougainvillea took 5 weeks if I remember rightly so just be patient.)
6. When your cutting is starting to root you should be able to notice little white bumps where the roots are planning to come out of the plant, which is a sure sign your plant is doing well and it on its way
7. Once you have roots give them a couple days or so to develop then prepare some soil in a pot only fill it half way place the plant hovering the area and ever so gently sprinkle soil over the roots until the plant stem is completely covered and secure. (The reason you want to be gentle is because it has been said that water roots are very fragile and may break off during potting.)
And thats it! I can't guarantee this will work for your tree cutting because I've never actually water rooted a tree cutting before.. (all mine have been vines or shrubs) but it worked really well for me and all my water rooted plants are doing great and are still growing strong.
As far as wondering if it is fungus growing on your cutting.. take an overall look at the cutting. Is it still healthy looking? green? If so perhaps it is roots forming.. but in most cases you should see the white bumps before seeing roots
I hope this has helped you a bit and I wish you the best of luck on your tree -
BewilderedGreenyO.o
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Here is a photo of the white bumps I'm talking about on my Bougainvillea I'm sure they've probably got some kind of scientific name lol but I think little white bumps should work for now ;p they start out small and eventually continue to swell until you see roots.
[img]https://bewilderedgreeny.weebly.com/uploads/4/7/3/2/4732886/4246435_orig.jpg[/img]
They are usually pretty evenly spaced out and uniform
I'm glad to hear that you think your cutting is doing well
I'm sure they've probably got some kind of scientific name lol but I think little white bumps should work for now ;p they start out small and eventually continue to swell until you see roots. [img]https://bewilderedgreeny.weebly.com/uploads/4/7/3/2/4732886/4246435_orig.jpg[/img]
They are usually pretty evenly spaced out and uniform
I'm glad to hear that you think your cutting is doing well