Research has shown that the cuticle is present, but not functional to the extent that exists on seedling or even cutting propagated material. Microcuttings must be acclimated to increased light intensity in much the same manner as acclimation to decreased relative humidity. This operation must be accomplished quickly, and care must be taken to fog or mist the microcuttings to water them in . Transplanted flats are carried to the mist bed just as soon as they are filled. The mist cycle is set for a duration of 4 or 6 seconds with the interval set at 4 or 6 minutes.
Bottom heat is beneficial.
Microcuttings usually begin a flush of growth near the end of the time in the shade house. Modifications of this procedure can be made for fog or poly tent rooted microcuttings, but the transition from high to low relative humidity and low to high light must be gradual. Microcuttings which are forced into a growth cessation by improper acclimation procedures have low survival percentages, and tend to grow out slowly and nonuniformly. Most woody species, however, do display seasonal differences in acclimation efficiency and subsequent growth in the greenhouse. Microcuttings acclimated between February and September establish well in the greenhouse and generally grow out rapidly and uniformly.