Clones dying after being put in soil..?...

Several clones that I've bought have started to droop & wilt within 24 hours after being put into some soil. One I got a few weeks ago ended up dying 48 hours after being put into soil.

I have two right now that are drooping, one is staring to shrivel up & dry out and is obviously dead and the other looks to be on its way there.

I'm not sure what is going on?...Are there some common causes of clones dying soon after being put into soil?

I thought maybe they were thirsty but the cubes seemed moist enough...and they're all equal as far as moisture but this is only happening too a few of them.


As soon as I got home with them I filled up some plastic cups with soil (the soil started as "roots original" brand 3 years ago, + lots of amendments and what not over the years). The soil wasn't dried out but wasn't really "damp" either, had some moisture to it. The rock wool cubes the clones were in seemed to have sufficient moisture in them. I was very gentle with handling and placing the clones in the soil. They've been kept under a light at night and have received a small amount of shade/highly filtered sunlight during the day.


I've worked with clones in previous years but they always had their roots already running into some soil. I'd always place/transplant them directly into large fabric pots and never had any issues at all.

This is the first year I've had clones that only have roots in rock-wool cubes where I've had to place em' into soil myself...and I don't know why they keep dying on me. It's always the same way, they droop & wilt and become limp within about 24 hours, then shrivel up & die between 24 to 48 hours.


As one on a super tight budget, seeing them die really sucks knowing that $10 for each of them is a couple days worth of food. And that's one less plant I'll be able to harvest in the fall.







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had this happen before dont know why with rooted cuts. i made humidity domes outta clear baggies n they stood back up after drooping. bout week after that took domes off and was fine

My guy, you speak of this "soil' exactly what is this soil? Only then can you be helped. You got to let us know what you got them in, could be a plethora of things

Organilush said:

Several clones that I've bought have started to droop & wilt within 24 hours after being put into some soil. One I got a few weeks ago ended up dying 48 hours after being put into soil.

I have two right now that are drooping, one is staring to shrivel up & dry out and is obviously dead and the other looks to be on its way there.

I'm not sure what is going on?...Are there some common causes of clones dying soon after being put into soil?

I thought maybe they were thirsty but the cubes seemed moist enough...and they're all equal as far as moisture but this is only happening too a few of them.


As soon as I got home with them I filled up some plastic cups with soil (the soil started as "roots original" brand 3 years ago, + lots of amendments and what not over the years). The soil wasn't dried out but wasn't really "damp" either, had some moisture to it. The rock wool cubes the clones were in seemed to have sufficient moisture in them. I was very gentle with handling and placing the clones in the soil. They've been kept under a light at night and have received a small amount of shade/highly filtered sunlight during the day.


I've worked with clones in previous years but they always had their roots already running into some soil. I'd always place/transplant them directly into large fabric pots and never had any issues at all.

This is the first year I've had clones that only have roots in rock-wool cubes where I've had to place em' into soil myself...and I don't know why they keep dying on me. It's always the same way, they droop & wilt and become limp within about 24 hours, then shrivel up & die between 24 to 48 hours.


As one on a super tight budget, seeing them die really sucks knowing that $10 for each of them is a couple days worth of food. And that's one less plant I'll be able to harvest in the fall.
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Click to expand...

What was the EC/PPM of the nutrients you gave the clones? And what is the EC/PPM of the soil?

What kind of soil is it - prefertilized?

big315smooth said:

had this happen before dont know why with rooted cuts. i made humidity domes outta clear baggies n they stood back up after drooping. bout week after that took domes off and was fine

Click to expand...

I'm guessing this will fix it... when you buy clones you should ask what conditions they are being kept in up to the point you get them.

If it’s only happening to a few of them you might have accidentally broken some of their main roots during transplant. I usually water with gh rapid start, azos, mykos, and molasses when I transplant. It really helps the new clones take off.

Is there a reason you don’t clone things yourself? If money is as tight as you say.. you can pick up a block of coir and a pack of solo cups for less than $10.. then you can take 100 clones if you wish?

Try germinating some seeds in that soil. Any seeds. My first guess would be something is off with that soil. How do the roots look like on the ones that wilted?

blindly adding amendments to reused soil can cause it go ballistic. I’ve been there.

EC of your medium could provide enough info on what is going on.

You might be frying those fresh roots.

Were there roots emerging from the rockwool cubes? The clones may not have rooted well enough.

My only assumption is they were too dry or too wet, the way they become totally limp and droop and wilt for 12 to 24 hours (before they start to shrivel & die) reminds me of over/under watering....I'm really not sure tho, it only happened to 4 out of 10 of them and they all seemed to be equally moist.

Maybe my room isn't as humid as the environment as where the clones were previously.....but the clones that are still alive I already have outside (in shade) during the daytime to harden them off and they are doing fine and the air is quite dry outside.

I thought maybe something was up with my soil...but all of the seeds I started in it over a month ago have grown up just fine & 100% healthy.

mdgg4 said:

My guy, you speak of this "soil' exactly what is this soil? Only then can you be helped. You got to let us know what you got them in, could be a plethora of things

Click to expand...

The soil started as "Roots Original" 3 years ago (Perlite, Coco Fiber, Peat Moss, Composted Forest Material, Pumice, Worm Castings, Bat Guano, Soybean Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Fish Bone Meal, Kelp Meal, and Greensand.)

And over the years I've added some amendments & top dressings & compost during the grow season.....Things like kelp meal, alfalfa meal, bone & fish meal.

During the winter I let native grasses/nettles/etc grow in the pots then early spring I cut the grass/nettles down and top dress with the cut grass/nettles.

TanzanianMagic said:

What was the EC/PPM of the nutrients you gave the clones? And what is the EC/PPM of the soil?

What kind of soil is it - prefertilized?

Click to expand...

I bought the clones from someone else so I'm not sure what nutrients/concentration they were feeding them.

As a simple/organic/live soil grower I haven't bothered with measuring EC/PPM. I never have during my previous grows and I've never had any real issues until now with these clones. Everything else I've grown in this soil has sprouted & grown up fine & healthy though.

My soil is the opposite of sterile...It is very alive.

Hookahhead said:

Is there a reason you don’t clone things yourself? If money is as tight as you say.. you can pick up a block of coir and a pack of solo cups for less than $10.. then you can take 100 clones if you wish?

Click to expand...

I don't have any space or place to keep mother plants. I also don't have any lights to keep them in veg/24h of light. I only grow outdoors during the summer and I only grow 5 to 8 plants so I don't need a bunch of clones.

And I'd have to buy the plants to become mothers from somewhere to begin with....And I like variety and changing up what I grow from year to year.

Someday when I have a place with more space and after I start working with seeds more and finding phenotypes I want to hold onto, then yea I'll likely keep some mothers around.

voidpainter said:

Try germinating some seeds in that soil. Any seeds. My first guess would be something is off with that soil. How do the roots look like on the ones that wilted?

blindly adding amendments to reused soil can cause it go ballistic. I’ve been there.

EC of your medium could provide enough info on what is going on.

You might be frying those fresh roots.

Click to expand...

I germinated seeds in the same soil a bit over a month ago...They all germinated fine and grew up nice & healthy.

I haven't actually added much of any amendments to the soil yet since last summer's grow. Other than top dressing with freshly cut grass/nettles that was growing in the soil/pots over winter (almost 2 months ago). And about 1.5 months ago I mixed in a bit of compost from my own kitchen scraps (composted from last spring/summer/fall).

And about 3 weeks ago I gave the soil a very light/minuscule dusting of some kelp/alfalfa/bone meal.

Nothing at all yet really.

I'll have to take a look at the roots of the wilted plants.

buzzmobile said:

Were there roots emerging from the rockwool cubes? The clones may not have rooted well enough.

Click to expand...

They did.

The roots were visibly poking through and coming out of the cubes.

They weren't large roots hanging/dangling out of the cubes like I've seen some photos of clones, but they were certainly coming out of the cubes.







Thanks for your replies ya'll !

This makes me want to grow from seed/fem seed that much more next time around, or at least start with clones that are already established in some soil like the clones I've got previous years.

All of my seed grown plants are super vigorous and they were started outdoors right from the beginning over a month ago. These clones seem so delicate and seem to take for ever to get growing.




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how big are the clones? if they're big and the roots only started to poke through the cube they might not be rooted enough to be able to support all the leaf mass yet. In that case upping the rH might perk them back up until they grow enough roots to support itself.

Guaranteed you put a cup or dome over top of all your soil starts they will make an easier transition .

If u only got a cube i would assume they were kept under some type of dome.

Also just moist soil not soaked . The way it comes in the bag is usually ideal.

Worse thing you can do is soak the cubes and then bury them in wet soggy soil it chokes them right out

kelp meal tea (the best) or something similar (such as floralicious plus or liquid karma) is very good for transplants. the recovery time is usually cut down to hours instead of days. I'm not saying this will resolve your problem, but will maybe help you in the future.

Probably a combination of the change in humidity level, over watering, ( which really means under oxygenated ) and too high EC soil for a rockwool clone. The weak ones don't make it through.
I would suggest planting future clones in a small container ( beer cup, 4" pots, etc) first, using an inert starter mix. ( Peat or coir and perlite) Sounds like you've got a good living soil, put a 1/2 cup in a 5gal bucket with a little of that molasses and brew an AACT. Moisten, not wet the starter mix with it. Then create a space for them where there's higher humidity and no direct breeze. After a day or two begin acclimating to lower humidity and air flow. Don't overwater and soon enough they'll be ready to transplant into your stronger soil. Cuts in rockwool seem to easily shock when put directly into amended soil. You can also try putting your soil in the bottom half of the small container, and starter mix in the top. By the time the roots reach it they'll be better prepared and ready to feed.



Clones are great for certain grow styles needing uniformity, but for the 5 to 8 you do, the vigor/structure/beauty of a plant from seed can't be beat ! Good luck !