? for those who clone with humidity domes

[Eminem]

This goes out to all those who clone in trays and use domes. I find that if I dont open my dome at least once a day and exchange the air, my clones get rotten. In my setup with the big tent dome, I have been getting alot of rotten stems, and powdery mildew.

Do you think its the buildup of humidity or the lack of fresh CO2 that causes them to get all nasty and rot?

Since I cant check clones daily, I was thinking of using an air pump tied into all the domes, and turned on a couple times a day to force fresh air into the domes.

 

[NorCalFor20]

i dont really like using domes but for the first 24hr

 

[geopolitical]

I can't say, I've NEVER had that problem and I keep 'em in the dome for the first week till roots have well popped.

Are you washing the domes/etc with a bleach solution between runs to sterilize it?

 

[Moppel]

i always open em at least once a day.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Dome weaning was my #1 cause of clone death. Death rate would commonly hit 60%. Once I threw the dome in the trash, I stopped loosing clones.

The most common need for domes is excessive plant material. The more plant material, the more water the roots have to suck up only, we don't have ANY roots at this point.

Keeping cuts short and leaves well trimmed allows me to clone dome free in RH as low as 15%. Never took a shot of that but, here I am at 28%.




Anyway that gets you roots is the right way to go but, if you can go dome free, it makes life a lot easier

 

[B. Self Reliant]

I usually have 95-100% success rate with most strains. I use a dome that has two small vents on top. They twist around so you can control how wide the holes are open at any given time. I put a fan on the other side of the room and point it at the holes. It's on very lightly. At first the holes are barely open, and as I progress through the first week, the holes get opened up little by little. Even when the holes are open all the way, there's at least a little condensation on the inside of the dome. I also open the dome a few times a day, but IO don't it would be necessary if I just opened the holes up more right off the bat. Usually by day 9 or so the dome comes off and I spray them down once a day or so, even though it evaporates right away anyways.

 

[Row]

I find that if the medium itself isnt overly wet and i dont spray the plants (spraying caused mold and rots for me), if they wilt you had the medium to dry in the first place, i can easily get away with only opening the domes every 3 days.

I found what caused me rot issues was having clones to tightly packed in, to wet a medium or spraying the clones them selves, if after the dome is on and theres no fog on the domes i spray the dome not the plants, or water in more moisture if the medium, rock wool or peat pucks are to dry....

So for me the trick is to have the medium its self at the perfect level of moistness, enough that the clone dosnt wilt and enough moisture is released in to the air and it becomes nice and humid with the dome misty, but not so wet they rot at the stem and not so dry that they wilt or need to be sprayed.

Also try using the no damp product, you can then be slightly wetter and have less chance of rot at the stem.

Row

 

[natrone23]

Only problems I see is when my medium stays to wet, stems turn to mush

 

[Eminem]

I do believe having the medium too wet could be an issue. I soak my rapid rooters in a hygrozyme solution and its possible my helpers were not squeezing enough water out.

I know I need the dome. The clones start wilting before I can even get the tray filled with cuts. After putting the dome on, they perk back up.

I normally air the plants out at least once a day, sometimes 2-3 times a day. But now that the clones are 30 minutes away, I am trying to find a way to check on them every couple days. I thought about going the EZ cloner route but I have never had 100% succes with that.

 

[Hydrosun]

I've found that I have better success when I leave the clones alone for the first week in a dome (with the vents closed) (I am in the 10 - 15 RH land). After a week I check them add water to their RW cubes if needed then I open up the vents on the dome so the now week old cuts have less moisture for the leaves and get to work double time on the roots they started a week ago. If I give them two weeks in the dome I get a 95% root rate.

Peace,

 

[Kal-El]

What are the temps?
Too hot always makes get mushy and rot.
Try to keep them around 75F and see how much better they turn out.
I use a dome and it stays sealed until roots show, 7 to 15 days.

 

[Diamonddss]

i just stopped using a dome and amazed that im rooting faster and yes i was getting musky rot even with air exchange but i was misting to often

 

[guest3854]

Em, sounds like you know what you need to do to git yer success rates up. As Freezer boy has shown, it's not necessary to use a dome. I prefer to cut my domes, creating huge vents in each side, allowing fer plenty of air exchange while still giving slips plenty of humidity. Row also brought up a good point; sticking density. I prefer to use tha 50 count as opposed to tha 100. Better spacing allows for better ventilation. Watch how much solution is in yer media, I prefer my oasis cubes to be dry-damp and water everyday, keeping tha same air-water ratio fer tha duration of tha rooting process. Also, don't forgit to feed a light nute with yer rooting hormone, many folks forgit this..... I use KLN from Dyna grow exclusively.


Stay healthy an' grow HARD,
Steele