Normally people don't have that many leaves because it causes the energy to go to leaves and not the roots so you know.
Thanks for the tip, but I'm the kind of person who likes to do this arse-backward and find out where I went wrong than to listen to good advice. These two cuttings are doing well so far, despite unconstant temperatures and being in flower.
The amount of leaves to keep is a balancing act. Basically we want the cutting to do as little as possible until it gets the message to create new roots, before that energy goes to new leaf growth. Do this with low light, and removing leaves.
But, after the roots start growing, extra leaves provide energy to the plant not just from photosynthesis but also break down to provide NPK. Energy goes both to the roots and the leaves, and the clone grows at both ends when you reintroduce stronger light.
In my picture the lower leaves have sacrificed themselves for new growth. If I had pruned them to begin with they'd be dead anyway. Maybe a store of plant-available NPK makes it worth the metabolic cost of keeping extra leaves?
