i have been taking cuttings from my plants at the recommended 45 degree angle, using olivia's cloning gel in a dome and misting them every couple hours with a flourescent house light above it but am not having very much success....i am wondering what I am doing wrong and what should i change to help get closer to that higher percentage to show roots.....also are gnats in my veg room a problem?
cloning not going so well
- Thread starter j.hill
- Start date
PeteWeedSeed
Member
Are you keeping them warm enough? or maybe too hot?
what medium are you using?
what medium are you using?
memphis man
Member
hey bro i had the same prob when i tried cloning at first. i couldnt get shit to root. i found out this was because my plant had to much nitrogen try flushing your mom for a week or so and take cuttings again. once i flushed my mom out my cuttings took root in 7 to 10 days afterwards everytime
peterjoseph88
Member
I'm in the same boat as you right now..the only thing I could think of is that it wasn't warm enough.I'm gonna try it again with the "world class cloner new at walmart" and an aquarium heater to keep temps stable. Best of luck to you and don't give up
stop misting them.
misting keeps the plants turgid (full of water) and hinders the cuttings desire to root seeing as how it can maintain humidity without them (the roots).
soak your rockwool in pH adjusted water for an hour, set it on a towel to suck out some of the water (no nutes or extremely light nutes) (or squeeze it), it should be very moist, not sopping wet. Put the block on a tray under a dome with a compact fluorescent (about $3 at wal mart or home depot) above it, maintain temps of 80 deg 24 hrs a day, keep it MOIST not WET and within 2 weeks you'll have roots (some strains can root in as little as 5 days, its all strain/condition dependent).
and yes gnats are always a problem, go get some Mosquito Dunks from home depot, soak in a watering pail for a few hours then water your moms. safe/organically dead gnats.
misting keeps the plants turgid (full of water) and hinders the cuttings desire to root seeing as how it can maintain humidity without them (the roots).
soak your rockwool in pH adjusted water for an hour, set it on a towel to suck out some of the water (no nutes or extremely light nutes) (or squeeze it), it should be very moist, not sopping wet. Put the block on a tray under a dome with a compact fluorescent (about $3 at wal mart or home depot) above it, maintain temps of 80 deg 24 hrs a day, keep it MOIST not WET and within 2 weeks you'll have roots (some strains can root in as little as 5 days, its all strain/condition dependent).
and yes gnats are always a problem, go get some Mosquito Dunks from home depot, soak in a watering pail for a few hours then water your moms. safe/organically dead gnats.
hey jhill try letting the rock wool cubes sit in about 1/8 inch of ph'ed water and leave them in the dome and dont mist them they may be getting too moist and molding/rotting.......just let them sit and the dome will provide sufficent humidity......let them absorb all the water in the tray then let them dry out a little before adding more water.....I have 100% success this way.......hope it helps
Nationwide
Member
Yep...the mosquito dunks are just a form of bacteria that kills em....safe for us to use.
BPJR
Member
MediRI88
Member
.... hello well first probem are you talking cut from the lower branches nd cutting
right above the nod.. also olivia is not a rooting hormon it just a nutrient based gel to proment healthy root grow... doesn not work at good as Rooting gel like Roottech... and the light issue you really should have 18 to 24 hours of light on the clones ...Root gnat or aphids are a pain in the ass you need to go flush your plants and put up hott shot they hang in the room then buy a organic plant soap and kill the rest of them ... just be careful what u bring into your room make sure everything gets cleand
....
Nationwide
Member
I have also had some problems cloneing but they look like they are doing better now....more have rooted. I think I had my jiffy pucks to moist. I hydrated them and just cloned into em before squeezing out some water. The next go around I have squeezed out some water and added superthrive to the water that I soaked them in. Its worked better it seems...
Also the clones dont want that much light. Keep the light 26 inches away from the clone. This way the plant is not busy trying to process all that photosynthesis light and can concentrate on searching the soil for moisture. Also once they are roots showing in your soil ( I use colored but clear 16 ounce cups so I can see ) dont water them until they are really needing it. This helps build the roots and they will be searching for moisture. Now understand I am a new grower and just trying to do my part and trying to help a newbie like myself so listen to the more experianced growers here and not me...hehehe...and if my advice offered is wrong I am not offended if it is corrected by someone who actually knows better...
I did a goodmorning hit...can you tell...
Nationwide
Also the clones dont want that much light. Keep the light 26 inches away from the clone. This way the plant is not busy trying to process all that photosynthesis light and can concentrate on searching the soil for moisture. Also once they are roots showing in your soil ( I use colored but clear 16 ounce cups so I can see ) dont water them until they are really needing it. This helps build the roots and they will be searching for moisture. Now understand I am a new grower and just trying to do my part and trying to help a newbie like myself so listen to the more experianced growers here and not me...hehehe...and if my advice offered is wrong I am not offended if it is corrected by someone who actually knows better...
I did a goodmorning hit...can you tell...
Nationwide
if you are using low wattage fluoro's like you should for cloning, you can have them inches away. no sense in running higher watts further away really.
you should put a solid colored cup on the outside of your clear ones Nationwide, moisture+light can promote algae or root problems and a simple cover cup is a cheap preventative.
you should put a solid colored cup on the outside of your clear ones Nationwide, moisture+light can promote algae or root problems and a simple cover cup is a cheap preventative.
Nationwide
Member
Very good advice...never thought of it. My clones came in these and I am just re-useing them.
Nationwide
Attachments
stillsmokin843
Member
I use a machine to clone but a buddy of mine kicks ass cloaning in the trays. Like mentioned earlier probally getting them to wet and 80 deg is right on. I know some lids don't seal as well as others so that can be an issiues with the lid on you should be buildind humidity in the dome.. should be getting foggy and moist when ya look at the lid on and sealed. A lot of the points made on here have been right on in here so far so best of luck to ya. If ya don't get it or decide to go the ez and lazy way like me get or make your self an ez cloaner set it and for get it. Hope ot all works out for ya
A couple things:
--Stop misting them
--make a normal cut when you take the cutting, THEN on a table or some clean surface, make a 45deg cut about an inch or so higher then your first cut, and immediately put into your medium. I find that when you cut it off the branch, there is so much movement and gripping that it can suck in air pretty easily. So making a new fresh cut on a table eliminates any air bubbles that may have started.
With that said, I clone using ONLY WATER/lemon juice. Just water and lemon juice pH'd to 5.5. I let the rockwool cubes soak in this overnight, then I rinse them again with a new pHd solution of 5.5. I keep the wet wet wet. I have found its almost impossible to overwater a cutting in rockwool. So dont be worried about saturating the rockwool.
--Stop misting them
--make a normal cut when you take the cutting, THEN on a table or some clean surface, make a 45deg cut about an inch or so higher then your first cut, and immediately put into your medium. I find that when you cut it off the branch, there is so much movement and gripping that it can suck in air pretty easily. So making a new fresh cut on a table eliminates any air bubbles that may have started.
With that said, I clone using ONLY WATER/lemon juice. Just water and lemon juice pH'd to 5.5. I let the rockwool cubes soak in this overnight, then I rinse them again with a new pHd solution of 5.5. I keep the wet wet wet. I have found its almost impossible to overwater a cutting in rockwool. So dont be worried about saturating the rockwool.
Oregongrow
Member
I have zero results with rockwool, soil, or bubbler. I tried rapid rooter plugs and now 100%. Also don't mess with em. Stick the cutting in the dome and mist the dome once a day and leave them alone. Tough love
Skunklover
Member
My full proof way of cloning and I have enjoyed 100% success for a while now...
The main thing I do, and I am sure this is the reason why I always have success... I am positive that after using this technique I could stick my clones in dog crap and they would still root. Here it is....
Always take your cuttings at least 2 inches below where you plan on making the final cut to root, then stick them each in a cup of water for 24 hours under low level light. That is it! If you follow this one simple rule I am sure you will have no less than 75% success.
After the 24 hours I root in Rapid Rooters in a nice little 50 cube humidity dome in 80 degrees F. I just shave the stem very lightly with a razor blade up to an inch above where I plan on making the cut (always good to have a internode cut on this section), make the cut at the bottom of that area, quickly dip in Clonex Rooting Gel (or whatever hormone you plan on using) then stick in the Rapid Rooter block. Another thing I do is to dip a Q-tip in the rooting gel, then stick it down in the hole of the rooting block about half an inch. I do this cause sometimes the holes aren't cut out very well, plus it gobs it up with rooting gel very nicely. Like others have said, the block should be nice and moist, but not dripping with water.
I only mist the top of the dome once, no misting the plants, EVER! Also fill the bottom part of the dome with water in the watering channels. Also make sure each block is in the tray and moist, even if it isn't being used. This will help you maintain a 90-100% humidity range. Open the top on the dome once a day to let in air, and water the cubes with a turkey baster every 4-5 days if needed, as well as the water channels at the bottom of the tray.
One more thing... I don't put the clones under direct light, I keep them under a T5 light that is about 5 feet above them, but I also put a paper towel over the top of the dome so no direct light hits the clones. Just seems to me that they concentrate more on making roots this way as opposed to making roots while trying to grow, and the leaves stay green longer instead of yellowing quickly from using up all their nitrogen.
Hope this helps.
Again, remember, the 24 hours in water before making the final cut is the key here. Do it just like a rose in a vase.
The main thing I do, and I am sure this is the reason why I always have success... I am positive that after using this technique I could stick my clones in dog crap and they would still root. Here it is....
Always take your cuttings at least 2 inches below where you plan on making the final cut to root, then stick them each in a cup of water for 24 hours under low level light. That is it! If you follow this one simple rule I am sure you will have no less than 75% success.
After the 24 hours I root in Rapid Rooters in a nice little 50 cube humidity dome in 80 degrees F. I just shave the stem very lightly with a razor blade up to an inch above where I plan on making the cut (always good to have a internode cut on this section), make the cut at the bottom of that area, quickly dip in Clonex Rooting Gel (or whatever hormone you plan on using) then stick in the Rapid Rooter block. Another thing I do is to dip a Q-tip in the rooting gel, then stick it down in the hole of the rooting block about half an inch. I do this cause sometimes the holes aren't cut out very well, plus it gobs it up with rooting gel very nicely. Like others have said, the block should be nice and moist, but not dripping with water.
I only mist the top of the dome once, no misting the plants, EVER! Also fill the bottom part of the dome with water in the watering channels. Also make sure each block is in the tray and moist, even if it isn't being used. This will help you maintain a 90-100% humidity range. Open the top on the dome once a day to let in air, and water the cubes with a turkey baster every 4-5 days if needed, as well as the water channels at the bottom of the tray.
One more thing... I don't put the clones under direct light, I keep them under a T5 light that is about 5 feet above them, but I also put a paper towel over the top of the dome so no direct light hits the clones. Just seems to me that they concentrate more on making roots this way as opposed to making roots while trying to grow, and the leaves stay green longer instead of yellowing quickly from using up all their nitrogen.
Hope this helps.
Again, remember, the 24 hours in water before making the final cut is the key here. Do it just like a rose in a vase.
Thats your problem right there. Let 'em dry out a little.
If you can afford it, get yourself an ez-clone aeroponic cloner, or you could build one yourself, there's a few tutorials here on ICM.
HGO
heres a pic of inside of my homemade cloner. i found the diy on a link floating around here somewhere. pretty simple and ive had 100% success w/ it. before i started using it i had the same problems as you. its just a little rubbermaid type box, 6'' bubble wand, neoprene inserts (dirt cheap). found it... its in grow room design..... in the sticky "various cloning methods"
i used to have a 50% success rate using those coco cubes. i switched it up to the rockwools and a new technique and am hitting about 95% success.
first dunk the rockwool in the clone solution (PH adjusted water with a tiny squirt of vegnutes and 1 drop super thrive.
then heres my secret....i use ALOT of cloning gel. before the cutting goes into the rockwool cube...i dip another stem in the cloning gel, and stuff gel down the hole (kinda like reloading a civil war musket). i do this three times, ensuring that the root area is soaked with gel.
then i stick the cutting down there. i give them light mists and re-water once or twice if the cubes look dry.
i get roots after about a week, and LOTS of them! then they get transplanted to FFOF/FFLW mix and are good to go!
^yup that must be the key. since i have done the pre-dip with the cloning gel, i have had a much better success with cloning. i think its because when i first cloned, the sides of the rockwool hole would rub off most of the hormone...
first dunk the rockwool in the clone solution (PH adjusted water with a tiny squirt of vegnutes and 1 drop super thrive.
then heres my secret....i use ALOT of cloning gel. before the cutting goes into the rockwool cube...i dip another stem in the cloning gel, and stuff gel down the hole (kinda like reloading a civil war musket). i do this three times, ensuring that the root area is soaked with gel.
then i stick the cutting down there. i give them light mists and re-water once or twice if the cubes look dry.
i get roots after about a week, and LOTS of them! then they get transplanted to FFOF/FFLW mix and are good to go!
^yup that must be the key. since i have done the pre-dip with the cloning gel, i have had a much better success with cloning. i think its because when i first cloned, the sides of the rockwool hole would rub off most of the hormone...
