plugs for cloning

[seebobski]

Has anybody noticed the cloning plugs hinder size of the rootball? I have cloned in perlite with wicks and I think they had bigger rootballs.

can you all post your experiances !!

 

[Suby]

I have noticed that peat pellets restrict the amount of leader roots comming out from the original clone.
Rockwool cubed don't do this, they stay nice and dry, and you can tear off most of the RW when you transplant if your delicate.
Rapid Rooter plugs are great, I don't know if those are the ones you are talking about...
I think perlite with some castings and peat is fine, you can't get a loser and less compact medium that that, just start in a very small cup so it has time to dry out a bit to encourage quick root formation.

I love RW cubes, I hated them forever until I got the hang of it, you just rinse out the cubes with filtered water and drop clones in and put them in a clear Rubbermaid tub.
I sit the cubes on the lid and plop the clear tub over the clone, instant cloning chamber for cheap.

Suby

 

[Suby]

It has nothing to do with the webbing.
Pucks are made of compressed peak so even expanded they are alot more dense than RW, plugs of plain peat and perlite mixed.



S

 

[jaykush]

they work fine for me i love peat pellets. and you should let them root a lot longer than jiggy has there, id wait another two days or three. i wait till theres a good 7-10 roots popping out and some at least an inch long. you wont have any problems with slow growing plants its all about timing with transplants even at that young age.

 

[Suby]

JK you have me doubting now,

maybe I just had a bad batch but I swear the rootmasses I got from RW where more branched than when I used the pucks.
Maybe I'll give them a 2nd try

S

 

[jaykush]

maybe you just didnt wait long enough, i see A LOT of people doing that. i hate RW it dries out so fast have to water it constantly or else the clones die. im too lazy for that sh*t.

 

[BudZad7]

Hi All ! Very good info !! Tried all the methods mentioned and choose
to use Rapid Rooters.......soak them in Maxicrop seaweed and that's it @ PH 5.8
have got 99% success.......in 7~14 days....put in a dome with the new Mondi hood,it's taller and clearer...with air vents Peace!

 

[jaykush]

For the record I did not plant that clone with that small of root system. It went back in the dome for another week.

wasent assuming anything. i figured it went back in nyways. but really ive seen tons of people planting clones that early and wondering why there plants are stunted for a week or two.

 

[seebobski]

thanks for all to post!!

YOU ALL ROCK

I am using rapid rooters black insert ,pan and clear tall dome

in the past used 3 dish pans.the lip cut from 1 of them also cut top and cover with clear plastic wrap for dome

1 with holes in bottom and wicks stuck thru and filled with perlite with clipping

1 pan with water the lip between the pan with perlite and clones

put dome on and wait. keeps nice n moist just change water 1-2 times a week

I feel the rootball size was bigger in free form perlite than in rapid rooters.

 

[Suby]

maybe you just didnt wait long enough, i see A LOT of people doing that. i hate RW it dries out so fast have to water it constantly or else the clones die. im too lazy for that sh*t.

Well domed I never have to water mu RW cubes, misting a few times during rooting is all, you can't be that lazy lol.

I think it may have been the pucks I bough, I still have 100 RW cubes left though

S

 

[Scay Beez]

Root plugs are very dependable, great root mass, but not cheap. Some brands are harder than others. I like sunleaves and ihort brands the best. GH's are way too hard. Rockwool is pretty much attic insulation... stay away! (not like perlite is any better though).

The craziest thing I've ever seen when rooting was using a peat moss and small perlite mixture with yucca, Biozome (Archaea), and mychorhizae. It was a white/yellow colored jello-like mycho plug full of roots after 7-10 days! Intense fungal growth!

Ez-cloner can't be touched in the root mass and bug-free department. If we could only find a way to use this and not have to use bleach after a while I'd be all game.


- sbz

 

[clowntown]

I've been using fine coco (I use Canna) in seedling insert cells. It works great, and can't beat the price.

 

[Mr Celsius]

Hydrofarm sells some root pucks like the peat ones, except they're coco and OMRI listed. I just picked a pack of 24 up for $5 :/ so kinda expensive... I'll let ya'll know if they were worth it.

I just planted 142 seeds for a buddy in peat pellets and I talked to him on the phone today, he said they were all popping up and had a couple sets of nodes. I may do a side by side with the coco plugs and peat plugs, but this next round is pretty important as its my breeding project for all female Auto-white russian seeds.

 

[sunnydog]

Make a perlite wick cloner.... no better way.
Cheap, re-usable, nomoving parts, no domes , no misting, no wilting or drooping. Phew!
Seems you can root in JUST ABOUT ANYTHING, CONSISTANT, CORRECT MEDIA MOISTURE is whats important.
The wick cloner seems to keep moisture levels PERFECT!
Tried just about every way, this is by far the best.
It will NOT hinder the size of your rootball.
Just trying to help.

 

[Mr Celsius]

Make a perlite wick cloner.... no better way.
Cheap, re-usable, nomoving parts, no domes , no misting, no wilting or drooping. Phew!
Seems you can root in JUST ABOUT ANYTHING, CONSISTANT, CORRECT MEDIA MOISTURE is whats important.
The wick cloner seems to keep moisture levels PERFECT!
Tried just about every way, this is by far the best.
It will NOT hinder the size of your rootball.
Just trying to help.

I would completely agree with you, except, I feel that having a large root ball before going into medium is nice and I fear damaging a larger root ball during transplant. If your careful, I'm sure this isn't a problem. I just like fool-proof things because I'm a fool.

 

[clowntown]

 

[Guest]

Make a perlite wick cloner.... no better way.
Cheap, re-usable, nomoving parts, no domes , no misting, no wilting or drooping. Phew!
Seems you can root in JUST ABOUT ANYTHING, CONSISTANT, CORRECT MEDIA MOISTURE is whats important.
The wick cloner seems to keep moisture levels PERFECT!
Tried just about every way, this is by far the best.
It will NOT hinder the size of your rootball.
Just trying to help.

that's the truth!

if you're worried about damaging the rootmass, just use separate containers (small yogurt cups, etc) for each clone and when you're ready to take it out just gently pull it out and then dip rootmass with perlite on it into a dish of water and shake around gently for a few seconds to let the perlite float off.

 

[clowntown]

Just noticed Home Depot is now carrying trays of 72 peat pucks with a humidity dome (a bit low IMO). Didn't see the price, but thought this might be useful for those of you who don't have easy access to hydro shops and wanted an "all in one" type kit.

 

[greenisgold]

Hi All ! Very good info !! Tried all the methods mentioned and choose
to use Rapid Rooters.......soak them in Maxicrop seaweed and that's it @ PH 5.8
have got 99% success.......in 7~14 days....put in a dome with the new Mondi hood,it's taller and clearer...with air vents Peace!

I too use RR. How much seaweed are you using per gallon of water and how long do you soak the plugs?
Thanks

 

[clowntown]

I used to use RR's. I got them for $5 per bag of 20 plugs. (Very expensive IMO.) I've also used rockwool ($3 for a sheet of 98) and oasis cubes ($8 for a box, many sheets of 50+ count sheets).

I've since switched to rooting in coco, and now $20 gets me a lifetime worth of medium with just as high rate of success (pretty much 100%).