My grandmother's notebook had the answer for stubborn cuttings
I spent months trying to root a rare fig cutting from a neighbor in Portland. Bought rooting hormone, tried different soil mixes, even built a little heat mat setup. Last month I found her old garden log and she wrote about cutting the bottom at an angle and letting it sit in plain water for two days before planting. Three cuttings took root in less than three weeks after I tried that simple trick. Has anyone else gotten results from old family methods that beat the modern stuff?