First Vivarium!

Awesome. Any pics of the gnat carnage? As far as the cutting goes, as long as it isn't wilting, leave it in the water. Occasional wc will reduce the possibility of the stem rotting, but as long as it looks fresh and healthy, leave it in. Once it starts wilting, you know that it's not gonna put out roots. Otherwise, just let it do its thing. Some woody plants can take an inordinately long time to put out roots. Others would rather root in moist soil than in water. If the glass of water method doesn't work, experiment with your other cuttings in different methods. Rooting hormone is readily available at home depot (at least around here), and might be a good aid if you decide to try in soil rooting.
 
The gnat is down in the pitcher and even with a light shining through the pitcher all that can be seen is a little floating blotch and another, larger one at the bottom that I can only assume are onther gnats as they all (but 1) have disappeared.

The pictures aren't showing what I'm seeing and the camera is going crazy.

As for the cutting, I cut it just under one of the nodes and then put it in soaked peat. The camera worked long enough to get these two pics but then the photography became a complete failure!

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I'd be worried that the soaked peat might go anaerobic. Perlite works great for starting things that want it really moist but still need a bit of air around their feet. If you're planning on keeping the cutting in the viv until it establishes, just moist potting soil might do the trick as well. The warm humid conditions in there are exactly what establishing cuttings need. Good call on cutting just below a node. That probably will give you the highest chance at rooting success.
 
Aralias actually respond pretty well to harsh trimmings/bonsai training. Mellowvision has a ming aralia in his 15 gallon palu that he's managed to keep really small for a few years now. Might be worth tracking down that thread if you wanna check it out.
 
Thanks for the tip!
Would it happen to be this thread?
 
That's definitely the tree in question.
 
Very interesting. I've looked up how to keep bonsai trees awhile back and think this technique might just work for this plant.
 
I took a few more clippings off so I could get the plant a little shorter and have set up 3 new rooting experiments so I can figure out how to best root a clipping.

I'll get pictures up in a minute.
 
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