Cloning

[Kimba]

So you've worked hard and grown the sickest crop ever! Luckily you cloned the girls before (or short after) they went into 12/12 so you can do it all again. Or did you? A lot of people have problems keeping their stock alive. Heat, fungus, flies and spiders to name the biggies tend to find the weak clones easy prey. Where is a healthy plant can overcome a lot of stress clones need it easy. Well you could race out and buy a cloning bin or some cloning wax. The first one keeps the humidity high so the plants don't dehydrate easily. The Wax slows leaf transpiration to a similar affect. But why? Remember house wive's are always swapping plant cuttings? They just place the plants into a glass of water, no hormones or powders, but the plants usually started to root, to be transplanted to soil successfully. So why using expensive additives can't we do the same?

So what you ask? We use rock-wool and hormones for a higher strike rate! Not tap-water. Ok so I hate that scratchy yellow stuff r.w so I used Coco in small seedling pots.

 

HOW TO GET a %100 Strike RATE by KIMBA

 

I was told that by taking the clones from the lower %30 of the plant, two weeks into flowering, opens risk for genetic drift that could potentially wreck my crop. Yeah well I don't. As the lower %30 has to be trimmed back anyway I prefer to save the branches to use as clones. It's only my eighth gen of clones, but hey they're T2's and they are thriving with huge yeilds. This saves me having to keep mum's also as I'm updating the clones from their clones.

So I cut the lower branches and leaves. Each branch tip with at least two leaves is cutt to about 50-60mm long. Another stupidity (wives tale?) is that a node is not as good as a tip to clone. I would bet that after a month rooting you couldn't pick the differences between the two. A node is the point on a branch where a leaf grows out of each side. These can be cut into idividual clones with a branch about 4 to 5 cents. Very small clones can be done but they're more open to failure. So long branch can yeild dozens of clones but you'd usually leave any long branches behind.

Only taking the branches that would die from lack of light.

Ok your cutting the clones. Place all the clones directly into a glass of water. Each clone shouldn't have to many leaves as they're a drain on the clone and will die about three/four leafs would be great. O.K place about six/seven clones into a glass. Do as many clones as you need, but remember they'll keep on growing until you flower them! Now put the glass under a cool 24/7 blue light. (to sex an immature plant a cutting can be placed under a 12/12 red light in a glass for about a week to exhibit the sex glands) I have been placing a minute amount of liquid plant hormone in the water with the clones.

After two to three days small lumps can be see growing on the clone's stem. You can plant them now. Even left for a week wouldn't hurt. I wet the coco in PH bal H20 and plant the clones into their little pots.

Rooting them in water saves the plants from the stress trying to hydrate after being cut up as they are in H20 constantly. The small Coco pots I then fed 1/2 strenght nutrient for day six onward. After nine days the clones have rooted to the bottom of the pots. In a month they're over a foot tall and need re-potting.

Also another thing to do: The 1/2 strenght nutrient contains Bio-Bugs which helps stop the clones being eaten by the scarid fly larvae, which until recently cost me %10 of the clones, Bio-Bugs breaks downs the larvae's green mould so they have little food to eat.

 

To sum up:

Clones from sexed clones or flowering young ladies.

Use pruning to produce clones before/during flowering.

Clone in a glassof water under 24/7 cool blue light.

I didn't say before but take cuttings when the lights are on

When and where you take a clone of the plant makes NO difference to the finished clones DNA and potential. (Well mostly, cloning late into flower and a plant may not grow any bigger or ever re-veg)

Nodes and Tips: see last point

NO cloning bins or wax needed

NO rock wool is ever used

Plant hormone lasts forever as you need so very little.

Use Bio-Bugs on all your plants constantly. Have a look at Canna's Trichoderma Mould http://www.canna.com/langselect/index-en.php

and ask why we can't get it here, and so what to use? Bio-Bugs is better, yoy!

 

Also TIP: 48 to 72 hours of dark for the girls induces male grapes to grow. Place a branch into dark to get grapes (pollen- billions of potential seeds in each grape that will destroy a yeild before you can say 'What the F%^&?') and never leave the lights off to long. This is a trait. Each species displays different traits. But usually..

 

So I ain't McMull but I'm having great success with these lights.

Edited January 7, 2004 by Kimba

[italian_gardener]

Sounds alot easier then all the other ways! I'm going to try 2 or 3 clones that way , for shits and giggles! One question, What is coco? Keep in mind I'm Canadian, if its a aussie term! Thanks for passing it on! oh plant hormone, could rooting gel be used in its place?

Cheers mate!!!!

bella bella!

[Tom]

could rooting gel be used in its place?

Cheers mate!!!!

Yeah, cloning gel contains rooting hormones.

[italian_gardener]

Cheers TaZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

I just took a cut from mommy and put it in a glass ph balanced at 5.5'

I mixed some rooting gal in the water also, this is not i do it normally but mommy is pretty thick right now so why not try!

Love from Canada!