I received two varieties of gooseberry cuttings from ARS today (Fredonia and Columbus). I’ve never propagated hardwood cuttings before. On hand I have 2 bags of perlite, some cocoa bean shell mulch, and some Miracle-Gro ‘Aerate’ soil conditioner (bark fines (45%) ; compost (35%) ; sphagnum peat moss (19%) ; gypsum (1%)). I also have some rooting hormone. I was going to try to root some in straight perlite and try some others in an even mix of perlite, cocoa shells and ‘Aerate’ soil conditioner. Any reason this wouldn’t work or other suggestions?
I’ve had success with hardwood gooseberry cuttings by making a light mix (pine bark, perlite, a bit of potting soil) and using liquid rooting hormone. I placed mine on a heat mat and they took off in a few weeks.