Advice on Misting Propagation

Hi all. I am a newbie to misting propagation and have been trying for months and have not had any success. Well okay have had 3 things root out of 100. I was so fascinated with the prospect of if I went all out (so I thought) got a expensive timer, in second increments, tried several different misting nozzles, ended up with brass ones rated at ½ gal per hour, after the pressure regulator (at 50 psi) was installed. Our water pressure here is 100+ psi. I have an auto drain valve at the end of my misting line. Nozzles are all on pvc pipe. I originally tried in full sun, have now decided that filtered sun is better. Cutting were all dipped in Dip and Grow Rooting Hormone and placed in straight sand. My problems. The auto drain valve takes approximately a minute or more to work once the timer (solenoid) has shut off, thus causing my nozzles to drip for that minute. So I just made sure that the misters are not directly over any cuttings. I still end up with leaves on cuttings end up rotting, the sand eventually turns green with algae, and needless to say no roots. I have tried not misting so frequently thinking I was doing it too often, then they end up burning up or drying out. My biggest question is when the misters are on, are the cuttings actually getting wet? From everything I have read it seems the mist is suppose to create humidity and maybe a very light film of water on cuttings, but not actually get them wet. Is this correct? Do I need to enclose my misting propagation bench to create a more humid environment? We live in Northern Texas, Zone 7b, it is somewhat humid. My latest attempt is I have added perlite to the sand for better drainage and semi-enclosed the propagating bench with sides of clear plexi glass. Any help on this would be sooooooooo appreciated. It sure would make my day, week, summer, if I could figure this out.

when dh made me a mister we didn't add a timer so mine ran all day all summer while it was super hot. i used regular potting soil and had 99% rootings. oh i do have a shade cloth too. now that the weather is cooling off i am running it for about 3 hrs a day during the hottest part. i put my seeds under the shelves so they miss all the wet.. it is still working pretty good but now i think the shade cloth needs to come down. the sun moved on me and is not getting all day sun the trees still have their leaves.
glad it is cooling off, do not want the cold or the short days lol.

That's a great success rate. Thanks for replying and the info. Sounds like you mostly use yours for seeds? Have you ever tried cuttings? I know what you mean about the cold short days, hate to see them come. Where is Hempstead? Actually we have only lived in TX for 6 months. Just moved from CA. Keep telling myself I need to be patient and learn TX weather and plants. I would love to get cuttings going of of every plant to to see what does well and what doesn't--lol. I always say "can never have enough plants or flowers"

i did all cutting this summer i only started my fall veggie seed late summer.
i am about 65 miles n.w. of houston. tx is a different world and it does take getting used to lol. the only reason we started with the misters is because my gh was getting to 120º with the shade cloth and the fans going. with the misters i can keep it at a cool 95º lol.

I live in zone 7b-8a so our weather is much the same with the temp & the humidity. You don't say what kind of cuttings you're trying to root & it sure makes a difference.Your bed of sand (river,coarse,construction) is just fine , nothing else needed, but be sure you have 6-8" min in depth to eliminate drainage & overheating problems. Each plant has a preferred depth you need to stick it to. Depending on the nodes,buds & etc along with type of cutting, softwood, greenwood,semi and so on.
I use pvc pipe for sprinklers & poly pipe for my misters. Let me clarify this about misters. It sounds to me like you're putting down to much water. You want your leaves to get wet but ideally you should set your timer for approx 10 minutes and at this time your leaves should be very close to dry but still have some dampness on them. You may need to time it @ 8 mins or 12 mins, set it where they will not dry out completely between the off-on cycle, but close. Keep adjusting & you will do fine. I believe your problem is in your misters & possibly the set-up but very easy to correct. It makes no difference with the supply line, pvc or poly pipe is fine. My lines are 3' off the ground, if yours are higher just adjust your spacing of the (misters)-sprinklers which is the problem,I believe. I have mine spaced at approx 12", some more, some less.
Even tho your using 1/2 gal misters your laying down to much water when it's on due to the size of the water droplets. The reason I said I need to clarify misters is because I went thru the same thing but it's very easy to correct.
Forget misters & sprinklers on this. You may have one problem due to the pvc pipe which I'll explain shortly before I have you confused.
You have to get " foggers" instead of misters. I believe you have a Home Depot store close by, they are the only store that carrys them around here. They are made by Toro Mfg & come in a bag of 10 for approx $5.00. The only way they come is the brad type, you may be able to find them threaded on the internet. If you need them threaded & decide to go with them let me know, I think I saw 2 companies on the net that carries the same brand but would have to look it up to see if they offer it threaded. The other way is to go with the poly-pipe, 1/2" at Lowes only, not Home Depot, they carry crazy pipe, it looks the same but it takes special fittings that will cost more than the pipe. The 100' roll of poly at Lowes is approx $13.00.
The FOGGER puts out a mist instead of the larger droplets. I can run my pressure at 30 psi or 60 psi & it works great.
If you can, give it a try & you'll be rooting everything you want. A little trial & error & you'll be on your way.
Good Luck! If you decide to go with it & need any help finding the foggers let me know. Fogger model # 53651 by Toro
Sincerely, Bud

Think you are right about the foggers. At one time I also thought that and so had purchased some foggers at Home Depot that were DIG brand. They were connected by 1/4" tubing but ended up putting out more water than the misters so I gave that up. I will definately try the Toro ones you mentioned. I am mostly doing softwood cuttings, and have the misters 1-2ft above the cuttings. I recently have added perlite to the sand for better drainage. I have set my timer anywhere from 4-10 seconds every 5-15 minutes. I shouldn't have a problem using poly tubing as long as I can get a hose thread fitting for it to go to my timer. I really appreciate all the info, and am anxious to give it a try. Do you have your misting bed enclosed? I recently have tried enclosing mine more since it gets windy here sometimes.
Will let you know how it works, and again thanks. If I can get this going you will probably get sick of me thanking you, it has been so frustrating for the last 4 months. You'll be my hero-lol. Dee

Dee, I have my timer set at 5 secs of on time every 10 mins and it is just right here in this location. I have not enclosed mine but have considered it many times. I got around it by adding more foggers & aiming them in different directions. Some waste but not enough to worry about. That's another thing I like about the foggers, you can add many more foggers to the line than most misters with no drop of pressure. I said that I had mine spaced at 12", give or take. I have quite a few of them that are 2" apart facing different directions due to the wind.
Since you are only 1-2' above ground you should be able to set your foggers much farther apart than I have. I know this sounds backwards but the foggers have quite a different action on their pattern. Start at a larger distance than mine, maybe 24", you can always fill in to 18" or 12".
The fogger you want even tho you have the model # may not be available there but it looks like a 45 cal bullet, just the lead part, with a leg that has the barb. I know other people manufacter it other than Toro so if it has the shape and says fogger it should be the one.
Don't give up , it will work out & you'll have so many plants you won't know what to do with them all. Best of luck, Bud

Hope to go to Home Depot tomorrow. Praying they have them. I meant to ask you if you have any problems with drips from the foggers after the timer has shut off?? Isn't there still water in the line that does not have enough pressure to come out of the fogger properly and therefore drips? I find without the pressure, water just sputters out, and then turns to drips. Are you using any sort of auto drain valve, though have tried 2 of them myself and they work except not immediately, which is when I get the sputtering and dripping. Will let you know how it all works out, and again thanks. Dee

ee, yes I have problems with a drip after it shuts off, I do what you did, moved the pots. My dripping problem is from the hole that was punched to insert the fogger in, not the fogger itself. I believe the best way to stop the drip is with lower pressure. If you can adjust your pressure drop it down & see if it helps. You can go with a much lower pressure with the foggers than the misters you were using. I know you changed your pressure before but try it again when you have installed the foggers. When I used a smaller punch than reccommended it took care of most of the drip problems.
Let me know how it turns out when you get set up.
Bud