Help with clones

[HR PUFFINSTUFF]

Where am i going wrong, i took clones 10 days after starting 12/12 light cycle and they didn't do anything the leaves stayed green but no roots. They were treated with clonex and put in rockwool cubes that were dipped in 25% nute then squeezed out,and nothing happened for 2 months.Now i have 2 beauties 10 days into 12/12 light and i want to get some clones going from one of these.If anyone can offer advice on where i maybe going wrong that would be great.Thanks in advance.

[pipeman]

some tips for cloning:

 

1. cloning from a vegging plant is easier than cloning from a flowering plant. light cycle for clones to be vegging (min 18/6)

2. if cloning in rockwool soak them in PH adjusted water only. don't start to add nutes until the clone is well rooted.

3. mist clones regularly and/or provide humidity dome.

4. clones do better under weak light. maybe a fluoro or two. if cloning under a HID keep it at least a metre away.

5. some say flushing a vegging plant for a week or giving it a dose of flowering nutes makes it easier to clone

[Brainstorm]

What pipeman said

 

another couple of tips though:

 

6. make a diagional cut on the clone.

7. after making the cut, put the cut end in cloning gel or powder immediately to ensure as little air as possible gets into the stem of the clone.

[ScuzZ]

Take a cutting off the plant in which you're wanting to clone, remove the two or 3 lowest leaves then dip that cutting into diluted root hormone solution 15% - 20%. Then with very sharp scissors make a diagonal cut across the stem to give a greater surface area.

 

Then from the diluted solution, dip the new cutting into dry root hormone powder. Don't tap the root, place it into the powder and keep pressing it down gently and moving it side to side.

 

Then place your new cutting into a chamber where it can receive a minimum of 18 hours of sunlight whether natural or artificial. After 7 - 8 days you should see some improvement in the strength of the plants root ball. Gently rocking side to side will give you that indication.

 

Keeping the plant in a moist area, but not too moist to encourage mould.

 

This gives the plant the greatest chance of survival.

[Guest Wilderbud]

I hate to promote one thing over everything else but I have had great success with peat/sphagnum moss [with no rooting hormone even - a plant Im growing ATM rooted with nothing but peat/water in a coke lid! - I was trying something new hehe] and suggest you try this great medium as rockwool tends to stay damp and cold in my experience and its impossible to remove it from the root mass [leave it for seeds in a constant flow system - its suited to this style of grow IMHO].

 

My version of cloning: Chop a stem off which has at least 3 nodes, trim the leaves off the lower 2 nodes close to the plant, dip the stem an inch into rooting hormone, cut through the lowest node on the main stem at an angle, put this striking into your moist medium and push it down a little bit to make sure all the stem touches the medium, cover with plastic wrap to promote condensation and mist when theres no condensation or moisture. <-- you probably know all this if youve read anything about cloning as everyone prepares them this same way and Im sure the Clonex comes with almost exactly the same instructions [i had only heard you use Clonex to grow clones and knew almost nothing about cloning when I first tried it - I tried powder first because Clonex seemed expensive at the time].

 

BTW, youre not supposed to squeeze water out of rockwool as it leaves the centre dry and you definately dont want that, just lower then raise the cube quickly as you do with boiled vegies and 'excess' water will pour out. Also, give it a week to start rooting or two weeks if its not a warm medium. Finally, I tried clonex and powdered rooting hormone with rockwool during my first grow and never rooted a single clone out of about 10 tries but I get about 50% success with peat/sphagnum without rooting hormones [ill buy clonex again when I can afford it].

 

PS. I just made a cloner using aerated water in a container and I am not happy with it [im removing it from my sig now] - my cuttings are in peat now although I doubt the bent/hardened stem will root. Im a peat/sphagnum fanatic although I know expanded clay in a bubbler, flood and drain or constant flow is best for fast/healthy growth when you get the watering/feeding/etc right.

[Chronicon]

this is really good for a cloning demonstration http://www.crrh.org/hemptv/docs_cloning.html

[Luke Skywalker]

One more thing for prospective cloners. Make sure you clean and sterilise everything you use in your cloning.... I mean, not the lamp or nuthin, but make sure you soak the humidicrib, inner and outer trays and even the cubes themselves if you think they may be contaminated. H202 is better for the growool cubes because plants don't like bleach, but the containers and tools should be cleaned with a 10% bleach solution and thoroughly scrubbed before use, then rinsed liberally under fresh water to get rid of any traces of bleach.

 

IMO, the first cause of most failing clones is a non-sterile environment. Organic cloning, using a peat or other soil type media is a bit different, but cleanliness is still going to give a better strike rate. Not sure how you'd sterilise a seedraising/cloning mix tho... unless you use it straight from the pack...

 

Just thought I'd add that for you all...

[Guest Wilderbud]

Organic cloning, using a peat or other soil type media is a bit different...

Peat/sphagnum moss mix; is usually Ph 6, is totally inert [doesnt react to other material], stays warm easilly, holds 10 times its weight in water, drains easilly and is an aerating medium so think of it as poor mans hydro until you mix it with soil - the more you use the longer it stays wet also and repotting it is best [its easy to do without shocking the plant as it holds its shape until crushed after roots are growing through it].

Edited August 28, 2003 by Wilderbud

[dazza]

Something that can be used when trying to root clones is Weeping Willow. Get a few new growth branches off a willow tree(just over 1 inch in diam.) chop em up and leave em to soak in water. Then use that willow water to place your cutting in after you have taken the clone. Helps em root quicker...