Propagating arborvitae under lights

[indyhershey]

I took some cuttings from a arborvitae (either a nigra or pyramidalis) in December
(zone 6 Northern Kentucky) I dipped rooting hormone on the cuttings and placed them in peat pellets and placed them in tray with a humidity dome. I placed the tray and dome under florescents lights with a timer (16 hours a day) The set up is on a shelf in my basement.
I am new at the propagation game. Will this set up have a chance of being sucessful.
Any information or suggestions would be appreciated
Thanks.

[growest]

Arborvitae roots easily, so I suspect you'll be successful. Only catch might be that indoor temps could prod the stems to grow before there is much root to support them. This is why warm bottoms/cool tops is the propagator's motto.

Any way in which you could keep the room cooler, then apply some bottom heat under the trays, would improve the setup you've described.

[treelover3]

It sounds like your on the right track. My only concern would be using the peat pellets. The peat pellets may stay too wet for the cuttings and the cuttings may rot.

When I root conifers, I use a 50/50 mix of peat and perilite. This mixture stays moist, but not too wet. You might want to tug on a couple of the cutting to check and see if the bottoms of your cuttings are callousing or rotting. It's too soon to expect roots yet.
Good luck,
Mike