Neptune makes clones, roots in 7!

[DreamMaster]

"How often should the cubes be rehydrated? Is it needed? Is there a preferred method to rehydrate the rockwool cubes"

I think, you should not proceed as in a tight schedule but imho each case has it's own twists and timmings, depending on a whole lot of factors, such as relative humidity, temp, season of the year, strain and so on.
I water my clones when i feel they are expecting me to do so. Not earlier nor later.

But that's just me, i reckon other growers may have other "rules" for watering...

 

[sativalicious]

"... I water my clones when i feel they are expecting me to do so. Not earlier nor later.

But that's just me...

Well that's totally groovy, dude.

Does anyone have a methodology that does not require inter-species communication?
Is there anything I could simply observe or measure?

Thanks!

 

[3BM]

Just follow Nept's description to a T - meaning soak the wool then shake until no excess remains. Plug and maintain 72-75F at 85-90% humidity. Dont water, dont foliar. Just keep them under low light, 10w/ft2. When you see roots appear start watering. If you find that the wool is drying out before rooting can occur, then your humidity is too low.

He knows his shit, follow that description and things should work out. The hardest part is getting the humidity that high. I use a dome and mist the interior; do not mist the clones themselves.

 

[Neptune]

Thanks for gatting my back there 3BM!
I have to re-wet my cubes every 3-4 days honestly, I go on the dry side of things(even more so now!) and when I re-wet, I simply pull each cube from the tray and dip it 1/4" into the same solution of 2-2-2 @ 6.0 PH.

Clones and Mothers are your lifeblood, if you can't observe constant vigilence with them you are SUNK! This is the most delicate and time consuming/tedious stage of growing...so babysit those girlies, they will love you back

 

[sativalicious]

Awesome, man!

Thanks for gatting my back there 3BM!
I have to re-wet my cubes every 3-4 days honestly, I go on the dry side of things(even more so now!) and when I re-wet, I simply pull each cube from the tray and dip it 1/4" into the same solution of 2-2-2 @ 6.0 PH.

That's exactly what I was looking for. I apologize if I overlooked the re-hydration instructions: re-dip 1/4". Suffice to say I was over-doing it by flooding (with the solution) the tray on which the RW cubes are sitting. Other than missing this point, I followed your guide very closely.

If I were to share an observation based on my experience, I would recommend having "on hand" varying sized nails (pokers), in terms of diameter, for the case when your shoots vary in size.

 

[Guest]

hey there

hey there

Good thread neptune I currently have a 2 mothers that need a chop but wasnt going to fire up the cloner for 10 clones so back to the rockwool good info thread. gj neptune.


mother
afgan goo x trainwreck

 

[NPK]

I've always had mixed success with cloning: sometimes 100 percent success (I think that was an easy-to-clone strain), sometimes 50 percent, sometimes 100 percent failure. Ack!

Anyway, I followed Neptune's directions to a T, and what do you know? All of these....

ended up with lots of these:

Took about two weeks to get roots on all of 'em. One thing that really stands out to me is how healthy the clones look, even though I snipped 'em more than two weeks ago. Normally at this juncture, they'd start looking kinda beat-up--yellowing leaves and whatnot. But this time I moistened the rockwool cubes with a weak nute solution, about 250 ppm of FloraNova (because that's what I had around). That's the key, methinks; 250-300 ppm isn't really strong enough to burn anything, but does provide food as soon as the roots pop. I'll never clone with straight water again!

My cloning area is the top shelf of a closet-converted veg space, so it's somewhat warm up there, about 79-80 degrees...a little warmer than what's recommended but apparently not too warm for my purposes.

Anyway--thanks for tutorial, Neptune. It made all the difference.

 

[THC•20]

Lol I had a very high sucess rate but the slowness of the root growth and lack of vigor in the plant's growth rubbed me the wrong way. I just ordered a heating pad (I don't have the heating pad thermostat right now, I'm poor ) and I have the FloraNova Grow and Bloom. I was wondering which should I mix with my water when I soak my rapid rooters and how much. Not in PPM, give me different measurements. I don't have a PPM reader.

 

[cobo]

Here's a good video of a cloning method



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcSxuKNZGjw

 

[africanherbman1]

Are you poking the hole in the side of the rockwell cube, or in a difft spot on the top? Thanks for all the awesome info!

 

[SALEENPILOT]

Hey Neptune

I am having mixed results and have a big problem with consistent roots

The first time I did it your way I had killer results and the last few times dismal.

I regrouped and am trying it again but maybe you can shed some light.

The cuttings look fine and never seem to die unless the cube goes dry but they never seem to root either

Sometimes I get good roots to show on the surface of the cube only to have them turn kinda brown and die off (the clone looks good but the roots just stop growing)

I have got most all the other stuff down but the clone thing has always been hit and miss.

After a couple weeks or so if you peel the cube open they have little or no roots........

72.5 degrees and 90 percent humid

My greenhouse season is coming up and I am getting deperate......any help would be wonderful

Best

SP

 

[odium33]

I dont understand what you mean by water the tray, not the cubes. should there be water in the bottom of the tray sitting stagnant as some form of a wick system?

 

[chosen]

Hey, Thc. If you look at the nova bottle, you will pretty much know the ppm. Just adjust to compensate. YOu won't know dead on but you will be close. 2.5ml per gallon is around 300-400 ppm

 

[yukino_asano]

great post, heating pads rule!!

 

[FreezerBoy]

I dont understand what you mean by water the tray, not the cubes. should there be water in the bottom of the tray sitting stagnant as some form of a wick system?

Mine was a double. The outer, deep tray is solid and holds water and airstone (and sometimes heater). Layed over the top is a shallow perforated tray. This allows 1/8 inch of well aerated water into the upper tray that the Rockwool sits in.



No Dome for me. Lost too many plants trying to re-acclimate them to life outside the dome. I'm in a dry climate. Humidity averages in the low 30's but, often gets into the teens. Each clone gets two drops of water on it's growing tip. Once when planted, once again 12 hours later. Any water they want after that, they have to go find it.

 

[odium33]

these are the same humidity domes and trays I am using right now. I was wondering if you put water in the bottom of the tray to maintain high humidity because, there is very little clearance between the inner tray holding the rootcubes and the bottom of the lower tray. it seems that the cubes would be sitting in stagnant water that would be heated by the heat mat thus making it primo for bacteria. My domes are maintaining ~75-85% humidity with the heating mat and just the moisture from the cubes being soaked overnight. Any advice to raise my humid. a bit more would be appreciated

 

[FreezerBoy]

Stick an airstone in the lower tray. The air will escape through the upper trays perforations keeping the water from going stagnant. Plug up any holes in the dome to increase humidity.

Once you have the clones you need, try a test run without the dome. Hard to imagine you're more dry than I am. I routinely clone in the 20% range (or less) with no dome. Added bonus, no more clone loss from dehydration by pulling the dome off.

 

[Stealthy]

I didn't read the whole thread but I would like to add something that I didn't see listed (hope you don't mind me adding this Neptune - please let me know if you do not want this added).
I read years ago that there is a slight chance of an "air bubble / air pocket" being created at the very bottom of the clone where the cut is made. When the clone is put into the medium there is no way for water or nutes to be taken up by the clone due to the "bubble" between the medium and plant tissue. This is solved by making your cut under water.

1. Cut what is to become the clone.
2. Dip the bottom of the clone into a bowl of water and THEN make your angled cut with a razor blade (even the sharpest scissors can sometimes damage the tissue).
3. Immediatly remove the clone and dip it in your choice of rooting hormone.
4. Stick your clone into whatever medium your using.

This method prevents any pockets from forming.


I don't even remember where I read this...I think I read it on Overgrow back in 2000. That's beside the point... my point is that my sucess rate went from about 80% to 100% overnight...out of all the strains I've grown and cloned over the years, I've only lost two clones out of thousands and that was because my humidity domes were left on to long and some kind of funky mold grew on em.


(another lil thing I do is add 1/4 tsp GH florabloom per gallon to wet my rockwool...good for root developmentb )

 

[odium33]

Stick an airstone in the lower tray. The air will escape through the upper trays perforations keeping the water from going stagnant. Plug up any holes in the dome to increase humidity.

there is only like 1/8" between the two trays

 

[FreezerBoy]

How very bizarre. What's the point of having a double tray if they're both the same depth? There's close to 2" between mine. I used to keep an airstone and a submersible aquarium heater in there with room left over.