Thank you all for your support and suggestions. I have heard about willow water and the association with a hormone that is in the bark of the willow tree. I grew up in the Virginia Appalachians and have always lived in zones with moderate temps. However, now that I live in the desert, coaxing stem cuttings to root have to be approached from another angle. I used to simply place any cutting in a glass jar of water on the window ledge and it would root while the temps usually remained in the 70's or 80's with plenty of humidity. Here, the window is just way too hot for me to place the cuttings there. We have the drapes drawn 24/7 since the temps range anywhere from 90's to 120 F or more during most of the year. Hence the T5 light and dome. I have been taking the entire tray outside for the first hour of sunrise so that they can get some real light and they seem to benefit from that really well. But if I leave them out there more than that, they begin to droop.
I will wait until summer temps are below the 90's and then attempt to root stem cuttings during the beginning of fall.
Thank both of you for your suggestions!
Charlton
