Cloning

[Kelly_J]

gave up on cloning for now, was a real shame, they were starting to droop like mad and really look strange. 2 weeks went by and no signs of roots at all. i noticed bugs were inside the humidcrib and the lid wasn't on properly, so my fault, but next time i will get it going for sure.

 

not complaining though because i had no where to put the clones once they were rooted anyway, my grow boxes were full so to speak,.

 

thatswho - no worries mate, hope they work out for you and good luck!

[Luke Skywalker]

Your clones are starting to root thatswho, they're cannabilising the chlorophyll and nutrients in the lower leaves and using them to grow roots!

 

You should start to give them a mild nutrient solution, perhaps as low as 1/5 of the manufacturers full strength recommendation, or if you're using a truncheon, no more than 0.6 or so on top of your base e.c. level. (i.e. if you have a base e.c. of 0.8 then + .6 = 1.4 e.c. maximum starting e.c.) As the plants grow, you can slowly increase the nutrients, I usally work on how the plants appear, although .1 - .2 ec each week is pretty much the way things go.

 

Over the coming growth period, you'll need to transplant them up to larger cubes, or into another medium. This can be to small pots as well, for growing on for a week or so and then transplanting out the best into the final position.

 

Clones need to be slowly acclimatised as they develop, the usual process is first day vents are left closed, second open one, away from any venting source, and lift the humidicrib to allow fresh air in, as well as misting the top of the lid if it needs it to maintain humidity. The third day open another vent, if at any time you notice the clones have wilted soon after opening a vent for the first time, then you should shut it again, and wait another day before opening it again. All going well, on the fourth day the clones should be starting to callous and take in water at their bases, and soon after this (about a week or two from taking the clones initially) the roots should be poking out the bottom of the cubes.

 

Cloning can be more art than science sometimes, it can take a few times to get it right. Don't despair if taking cuttings doesn't work at first for you, review your conditions, check out a few different methods here and on other websites, and realise that cloning is the most traumatic process for a shoot to go through. The fact that we can get 90 % + most of the time when all is going swimmingly is kind of amazing.

 

Good luck.

[jackfrost]

Hey Kelly,

 

cloning can be a pain in the arse when you first start -

 

a few tricks 2 remember, it will take a few gos but u will get a feel for it after a few while.

 

Never mist plants (only mist top of dome)

The air in the dome should cause its own humidity on the dome

DH2O only until rooted

Very little moisture in the cube (no more than a drop or two if you squeeze) very important

Do not let cube go dry (very fine line)

Use a mould retart to clean equipment before use

soak rockwool in bucket of DH20 water to and ph to 6.2 overnight

Only use a gel rooting hormone

Take cuts in middle of light cycle

Take cuts 2 days after flushing mum with water only

Harden off plants slowly - just dont take off dome in one hit!

 

or if you just carnt have success using rockwool - build yourself a cheap aerocloner - very easy to use - 90-100% success allmost guaranteed.

 

Jack