Zone 6 plants that are just coming out of winter normally aren't exactly just bursting with energy, and the amount of stored energy in cuttings has a huge influence in how quickly or in whether or not they root. Be patient. As long as the plants haven't yet collapsed, they will probably root. Change the water every few days, though.

It would have been better, however, if you had stuck the cuttings in a well-aerated and sterile medium (like perlite or screened Turface) to root. Roots that form in water are different and more brittle than those required to grow in soil, so water roots often break or make the transition to soil poorly, which means that you almost start over from scratch when you transition plants to soil. Roots generally appear faster in a well-aerated medium (over water) and there is no transitional shock, which normally puts the plant started in soil weeks ahead of those started in water.

Al

Al,

Thanks for the help! You are correct plus when my friend gave me her plant I should have waited a few weeks before taking the cuttings. She kept it in a low light area. I keep mine in almost direct sun. There probably wasn't much energy in the cuttings.

I typically do water rooting since I've never had luck with the soil rootings. I know soil rooting is better for the transplant but I compensate by being pretty careful in the transition process and until I know the new plants have successfully taken to their new home.

Again, thanks

I took a cutting off a "tree" on Christmas Day and put it in water. After 2 months of nothing happening to it, I was going to throw it out. I looked and now have 4 roots. Small but they are roots.

You might wish to consider very gently moving it to a damp, well-aerated medium at this point in time ..... unless you intend to maintain the plant in some form of water culture.

Al

Should I wait until they are a little longer?

I'd do it now, but - your plant - your call. You might find information that will help you make up your mind in something I wrote (see below). Tissues that form in an aquatic environment are very different from those that form in well-aerated soil.

Rooting
in Water

Though
roots form readily and often seemingly more quickly on many plants
propagated in water, the roots produced are quite different from
those produced in a soil-like or highly aerated medium (perlite -
screened Turface - calcined DE - seed starting mix, e.g.).
Physiologically, you will find these roots to be much more brittle
than normal roots due to a much higher percentage of aerenchyma (a
tissue with a greater percentage of intercellular air spaces than
normal parenchyma).

Aerenchyma
tissue is filled with airy compartments. It usually forms in already
rooted plants as a result of highly selective cell death and
dissolution in the root cortex in response to hypoxic conditions in
the rhizosphere (root zone). There are 2 types of aerenchymous
tissue. One type is formed by cell differentiation and subsequent
collapse, and the other type is formed by cell separation without
collapse ( as in water-rooted plants). In both cases, the long
continuous air spaces allow diffusion of oxygen (and probably
ethylene) from shoots to roots that would normally be unavailable to
plants with roots growing in hypoxic media. In fresh cuttings placed
in water, aerenchymous tissue forms due to the same hypoxic
conditions w/o cell death & dissolution.

Note
too, that under hypoxic (airless - low O2 levels) conditions,
ethylene is necessary for aerenchyma to form. This parallels the fact
that low oxygen concentrations, as found in water rooting, generally
stimulate trees (I'm a tree guy) and other plants to produce
ethylene. For a long while it was believed that high levels of
ethylene stimulate adventitious root formation, but lots of recent
research proves the reverse to be true. Under hypoxic conditions,
like submergence in water, ethylene actually slows down adventitious
root formation and elongation.

If
you wish to eventually plant your rooted cuttings in soil, it is
probably best not to root them in water because of the frequent
difficulty in transplanting them to soil. The brittle "water-formed”
roots often break during transplant & those that don't break are
very poor at water absorption and often die. The effect is equivalent
to beginning the cutting process over again with a cutting in which
vitality has likely been reduced.

If
you do a side by side comparison of cuttings rooted in water &
cuttings rooted in soil, the cuttings in soil will always (for an
extremely high percentage of plants) have a leg up in development on
those moved from water to a soil medium for the reasons outlined
above.

Al

Any suggestion on soil? I usually use miracle grow, but not loving it. Or size pot? Type? I want to have a green thumb but it's only sort of turning green. I do awesome with just add ice orchids

Your soil choice plays a very large part in how much of it's genetic potential a plant will ever be able to realize. While nearly every factor that affects plants has the potential to be it's undoing, by far the highest % of problems for which people are here in search of remediation are a result of poor root health. The triangle formed by soil choice, watering habits, and nutrition probably has the most impact on your plant's root health (along with light), so if you have to shortchange yourself when it comes to learning about growing proficiently, try your best to make sure it's not by ignoring soil science or just learning the difference between good/bad soils and how much impact water retention has on root health.

This, has a lot of info about soils, and provides an outline/overview, conceptualized, that can help you get to a place where confidence in your ability to keep plants happy leaves you freer to experiment and broaden your understanding. If you find it of value and want to learn more about soils and container growing, this should help a lot.

Al

I wish I lived someplace where we had a club or classes. So, after reading the links....can you suggest a soul that you like?

When you root in water you put the stem down right? I have been looking it up and I see alot of posts about cutting the leaves from a stem in half and putting them down in water stem up in the air. I'm confused and new to propagation. I took a clipping from an umbrella plant at work and want to see if I can start my own. Pictures would be great tia

I took a piece of "tree" and put it cut side down in water. It took from December 25 until February 26th until I saw anything. And then within a week it has all sorts of roots. During that waiting period I also took a leaf cutting and tried the same and nothing happened. I kept that in the water for another month or so after I planted my original just to make sure it took and still nothing so I threw it out.

The plant is flourishing and huge. Patience is the key to that method for this plant.

Good luck