Tom's slack cloning guide.

[animal]

Nice guide Tom.

 

One thing I've noticed with cloning is that the cuts take quicker with a thin smearing of rooting gel with the stem in a tight fitting hole in the rockwool. Cuts with a thick layer of gel on them always seem to take a little longer. I must admit I have never done any controlled experiments on this just noticed it through observation over time.

 

I use a nail to make a hole in the rockwool the same size or a little smaller than the stem. I place a little cloning gell in the hole, and also dip the cut in it then most of the excess gel is scraped off as the cut is inserted so the cut is now in tight fitting rockwool with only a thin layer of rooting gel on it.

 

Also, if your mothers are not on 24 hour light, clones are stronger if taken at the beginning of the lights on period. Plants tend to droop in the night and perk up during the day and it probably has something to do with that.

 

Just my 2c on what works for me.

[Al B. Fuct]

Hey Tom, noticing some yellowing leaves in your cuts and your mention that it's taking you 2wks to get roots. You may be keeping your cubes a bit too wet. Think damp, not wet or saturated. A dry 40mm cube weighs 5g. A 'damp' cube weighs 25-30g. Heavier is too wet. I water cuttings by just dipping a corner of the cube in a clone watering solution.

 

You might also use a sterilised razor knife or scalpel instead of scissors to cut your stems. Scissors crush the capillaries in the stem where a good sharp scalpel won't.

 

If your rockwool cube collapses when you try to poke a stem in it, discard that cube and use another. Some cubes are not very dense and the rockwool won't fit tightly around the stem. The air gap from the stem wiggling around will prevent proper rooting. Forcing perlite into the hole may allow or worsen an air gap.

 

I prefer rooting powder instead of gel in rockwool. Powders form a paste which tends to stay put through several waterings, while gels wash away the first time you water.

 

Do you have a heat mat under your cubes?

 

If all is going well, you should be getting 100% strikes in 6-7 days with enough root development to commence vegging or flowering by day 10-12 after cutting.

[loylty gets u nothing]

hey guys

i use the water in a cup tecnique

once im in 12/12 i now take a few lats

leave em in the cup of water

change water daily,and in about 4-6 weeks

roots or white wanna be roots anyways

i then plant em out,give em some time to revege

i usually find that after ive flowered the next lot

these clones are ready for clonin

now honestly i cant find a simpler teq

thanks for sharing tom

bil

[Al B. Fuct]

change water daily,and in about 4-6 weeks

 

weeks or days?

 

4-6 weeks is far too long. The plant will be suffering pretty serious nutrient deficiencies by then and will take a long time to recover.

[loylty gets u nothing]

a bit of a foliar spray between

ive had no real dramas with any

from taking this style

i ofc also take the other way in veg

bil

[Pam]

Nice Job! This looks like something I did B.A.C. (before aero cloner) And I may just go back!

I'm out of Power Clone, it's a liquid, but I still have plenty of gel. I used peat/pearlite, small plastic cups with slits cut down the sides... and salvaged cake boxes as humidity domes. I have a Solatube (one of those tubular skylights that follow the sun) and it's perfect for the clones.

I'm glad you showed me this I thought I would have to shut down cloning when I'm away next month, But this setup can sit for 9 days without a problem! Besides the aerocloner needs a good cleaning. Thank you!

 

Pix of my sculptures...potheads!

Edited July 16, 2007 by Granny

[Pam]

I've been digesting a few thing while bug hunting... I was using the same scissors, I seem to have misplaced my blade and the scalpel tip makes perfect sense. I also found that taking the cutting and cutting it again under water prevents "air embolisms" Which I think might be why some just go limp after a day or 2. So perhaps cutting with scissors the first cut and then using the scalpel for the second will prove to be best. I still need the scissors to trim the leaves.

I have tried using the powder and have never had any luck at all with it. Is there a trick?

 

GG

[Tom]

I have tried using the powder and have never had any luck at all with it. Is there a trick?

When I was using the powder I used to wet the end of the cutting and swirl it around in the powder, I stopped using the powder when the gel came out as it is much easier to get an even coating with it.

 

[Shithappens]

Hey man nice method well done

 

might be a bit silly but i reckon ya wash your hands before hand it helps a bunch.

 

I say this as once i did some yard work (you know the weeding and such the woman nags about all the time) and then took some clones i dont know why but they all died when usually i lose 1 in 10 if unlucky. The only thing i could put it to was my hands and move on

 

Also do you just soak and get your clones in as I found its allways good to swing the rockwool about to remove the access at the start and then let them dry a little at the early stages.

 

This cutting under water is crap IMHO

[Al B. Fuct]

I've been digesting a few thing while bug hunting... I was using the same scissors, I seem to have misplaced my blade and the scalpel tip makes perfect sense. I also found that taking the cutting and cutting it again under water prevents "air embolisms" Which I think might be why some just go limp after a day or 2. So perhaps cutting with scissors the first cut and then using the scalpel for the second will prove to be best. I still need the scissors to trim the leaves.

I have tried using the powder and have never had any luck at all with it. Is there a trick?

 

GG

 

If you have cuttings wilting after a couple of days, either something's not sterile or the medium is too wet. Think damp, not saturated or wet. If you see clones wilting after about 2-3 days, check for stem-tip rot- usually caused by overwet conditions. You can re-cut stems which have rotted- gives you a second chance, as long as the nutrients in the cutting have not been depleted. If a clone hasn't set root in 12 days, I compost them.

 

A heat mat speeds things along dramatically as will maintaining correct air temps (26-27C) and not letting humidity run wild. 40-60% RH is fine for clones. If using a humidome, if there's water condensing on the inside of the dome, it's far too humid.

 

Recutting under water is a good florists' trick for cut flowers but unless the water is sterile (H2O2, 50% grade at 1ml/litre will work), not so good for cannabis cuttings- and not necessary, to boot. Capillary action works by osmotic pressure and the surface tension of water. Capillaries simply can't take in air bubbles. If you leave a fresh stem cut exposed to air for a long time (hours) the cut will dry and the sap will try to seal the wound. Immediately placing the cutting in a damp medium will stop any problems from the stem cut drying out.

 

Doing the stem cut with scissors has the unfortunate effect of crushing the capillaries in the stem. A sharp scalpel alone should do the stem cut job for you. Nothing wrong with scissors for removing excess foliage, tho.

 

I don't think your problem is related to the difference between gels and powders, although I prefer powders for a few reasons. When using powders, only a dusting is needed. Powders also form a paste which will stay put through several waterings. Gels can support pathogen growth between uses. If using gel, put a small amt of gel in a spare bottlecap and dip into that gel, discarding the excess and keeping the main container of gel in the fridge between batches.