[BlindDate]

Wow...great to see this thread I started revived after 10 years. I guess I can answer myself now. I have been cloning in coco for 10 years now. Bricks, bags, every brand you can think of. They all work great. Makes transplanting into coco super easy.

[watts]

[lastmob]

Hi, I have been having some troubles with coco cloning lately and decided to seek some help after 200-300 clone deaths

First off, I have successfully cloned in coco before with very good success. Last 2 rounds have been a disaster tho.

I have followed the instructions - soaked the coco with very light bloom nutes and very little H2O, squeezed it very well before going into cups, pack tightly around the stem, used a little bit of gel. Clones are under a dome, temps are 78-85 F, I let fresh air twice a day, coco is drying with a reasonable speed (I think). The light is HPS shaded by a bed sheeting.

Most of the clones' top leaves go very yellow and curl on themselves and some get the slime/root rot. They don't look too bad but I know from experience most of them will die.

I decided to do a few with rootIt plugs to see if there will be any difference - there is. Got roots in 7-8 days and all of the clones are looking pukka. I have used the same soaking solution, the temps, light and RH should be pretty much the same.

So, any suggestions? Am I packing too tight and suffocating them? Is coco too wet (doubtful). Should I remove the dome?

Thanks for any suggestions

[TanzanianMagic]

Originally Posted by lastmob

Hi, I have been having some troubles with coco cloning lately and decided to seek some help after 200-300 clone deaths

First off, I have successfully cloned in coco before with very good success. Last 2 rounds have been a disaster tho.

I have followed the instructions - soaked the coco with very light bloom nutes and very little H2O, squeezed it very well before going into cups, pack tightly around the stem, used a little bit of gel. Clones are under a dome, temps are 78-85 F, I let fresh air twice a day, coco is drying with a reasonable speed (I think). The light is HPS shaded by a bed sheeting.
View Image
Most of the clones' top leaves go very yellow and curl on themselves and some get the slime/root rot. They don't look too bad but I know from experience most of them will die.
View ImageView ImageView Image
I decided to do a few with rootIt plugs to see if there will be any difference - there is. Got roots in 7-8 days and all of the clones are looking pukka. I have used the same soaking solution, the temps, light and RH should be pretty much the same.

So, any suggestions? Am I packing too tight and suffocating them? Is coco too wet (doubtful). Should I remove the dome?

Thanks for any suggestions

Never use nutrients for unrooted clones. They have no root system with which to filter the nutrients, they go straight to the stem. I wouldn't even use rhizotonic.

However, you should let the coco coir stand in water (ph 6.0) for a day or so, so it can be properly hydrated.

You should use rooting powder or gel to protect open cuts on the stem.

Insert the clone into the coco, and walk away for a week or so, just keeping tabs on the environment (temperature, lights, humidity.)

When they root, you can tell because the leaf tips show a little nutrient deficiency. Then, you can feed her a light concentration (0.2 EC) of high P/K late bloom food. But only after the roots have emerged.

[toolman29]

It's not rocket science actually easier than rockwool. Solocup filled with washed coco. Cut your clone and scrape edges and cut off tips like your cloning in rockwool. Keep the coco wet and I put a sandwich bag over the cup and within 10 to 20 days under a floro I have roots. 99% success rate. Easy as pie I won't use rockwool again.