Cloning Failing? Tried Everything? Found the missing link?

foomar · Aug 25, 2011

Good idea , alternative salts will not have any steriliseing ability so would keep temps low , reckon magnesium chloride might do the trick if chlorine availability is the issue.

Water companies no longer use elemental chlorine and now add Chloramine which benefits them in keeping pipes cleaner but is quite difficult to remove by the consumer.

MPL · Aug 26, 2011

This is really interesting. I used to use RO water for cloning, then my filter broke and I just used straight tap water. I noticed they rooted a day or two faster so I kept using it. That was awhile ago and I've been doing it ever since. The only other thing I do now is I run H202. It seems to help.

<----100% strike rate cloning from my first try. No, really, I've never lost a clone. *knock on wood*

I thought I was the only one who prefers using city water. I figured if I ever came out with this fact I'd be roasted for being a witch or something.

FreezerBoy · Aug 26, 2011

MPL said:
This is really interesting...

Not really. Hydro is hundreds of years old and one of the first discoveries was purified water was dead water and plants did better without it.

Stress_test · Aug 26, 2011

It isn't the chlorine that is allowing roots to develop... It is the absence of competing algae and fungi that allows the cuttings to develop roots before they are overcome by algae and fungi.

Private water wells aren't monitored and regulated by the government so they generally contain small amounts of fungi, algae, and heavy metals which are outside the acceptable levels for public use. Adding chlorine kills the algae and fungi, or reduces it to levels low enough that cuttings can develop roots before it overtakes and consumes the cuttings.

Bottled, filtered spring water like "Crystal Geyser" is filtered to remove algae and fungi and contain no additives like chlorine and is Ph'd neutral. A cap full or 2 of H2O2 will prevent airborne or cross contamination of algae or fungi, without adding chlorine.

hotboxes · Aug 26, 2011

If you don't have RO water use Distilled water from your grocery store. The Ph is usually around 7.0 and with no ppm IMO chlorine would be the last thing I would add to a cloner. Just make sure to clean your cloner every so often and run some H2O2 threw it and rinse and repeat. I have had similar things happen in my days of clonning, and I have had success and failures in all the different ways I have cloned my plants remember it is all trial and error.

Duplicate · Aug 26, 2011

FreezerBoy said:
Not really. Hydro is hundreds of years old and one of the first discoveries was purified water was dead water and plants did better without it.

Awww C'mon now Freezerboy, it isn't hundreds of years old to everyone!

MPL · Aug 26, 2011

I didn't know that, so to me it was interesting.

I did, however, know that drinking pure H20 is generally not the best for humans though.

FreezerBoy said:
Not really. Hydro is hundreds of years old and one of the first discoveries was purified water was dead water and plants did better without it.

Pure water can actually leach shit out of your plants. Osmosis for the win!

MPL · Aug 26, 2011

I use H202 in ALL water that goes to my plants. I've noticed a big difference in almost all aspects of my growing.

H202 can also neutralize chlorine and chloramines too, or so I've been told. In my experience, it also helps to stabilize a freshly mixed reservoir. It seems I get a lot fewer EC and pH fluctuations when I use H202.

I figured the antiseptic effects of H202 is what helps clones root. I am sure the extra 02 from such processes doesn't hurt either.

louie · Aug 27, 2011

Has anyone used this (htc pool shock) in their regular res as part of their nute regime? I am running GH Flora Micro/Bloom 6/9 to coco drip to waste and need something to keep my res clean and happy. I recently had to move the res to a room that has light son 24/7, and my res isn't fully sealed (needed room for airstone hose to slip in).

Herborizer · Aug 28, 2011

louie said:
Has anyone used this (htc pool shock) in their regular res as part of their nute regime? I am running GH Flora Micro/Bloom 6/9 to coco drip to waste and need something to keep my res clean and happy. I recently had to move the res to a room that has light son 24/7, and my res isn't fully sealed (needed room for airstone hose to slip in).

I have not yet. But I plan on giving it a try. I don't see why it would hurt anything.

Yes4Prop215 · Aug 30, 2011

i dont know what it is but my favorite strains that i get gifted from other people always are a bitch to clone...got some real nice OGxCD that are looking pale green and havent popped roots in 2 weeks.....while other strains that i dont really care about and clone for shits and giggles pop roots real quick....same exact methods and everything..

i think one of my biggest reasons for clone failures was that i let the rockwool cubes get too cold and moist....but its hard because the second you let them dry out too quick you could lose your clones....so tricky shit!

thinking about switching to oasis cubes instead of rockwool see if i get better results....also i get real nice root explosion when mixing some Great White into the clone solution...

Granger2 · Aug 30, 2011

Yes4prop215,

This https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread....ht=Slowandeasy
is the thread for you.

I bought a heating pad and thermostat, rooting gel, tall dome, and used 9 oz clear cups. The clear cups are put inside colored 9 oz cups. I mist the inside of the dome twice a day, and keep the thermostat set on 80.

I soak the coco thoroughly with 1/2 strength transition mix with Ca and Mg, then forcefully squeeze out excess liquid. Feed/water mother an hour before taking cuttings. Each cut has a node above the 45 degree angle slice [node gets gelled and goes under coco]. When possible take cut from low on the plant. You won't need to water before roots appear, provided you're misting the dome twice a day. Don't mist plants unless they wilt, and only mist the ones that are wilted.

Out of about 40 cuts, only the one I physically damaged by dropping it on the floor, didn't root. One Sadhu rooted in 4 days. Most take 7-10.

I'll never wash, sterilized, rinse, and dry my aero cloner again. It is dry docked. BTW, as a test, I watered 3 of them after a week. It took them a week longer to root.

Also I give them 18hrs, and low light is best. I'm using 1 24" T-5 over a standard tray and dome with paper towel on top of the dome. buena suerte. -Granger

banana buds · Sep 1, 2011

just my little contribution to the thread -

the home depot by me did not have calcium hypochlorite pool shock in powder form - all their powdered shock was a different chemical. they did have calcium hypochlorite shock in liquid form - comes in a box with two 1 gallon jugs of a solution.

my math, which seems to have been correct based on my successful results is thus:

for every 1L of reservoir, i am using 1.19085873 × 10^-5 mL of the stuff i got per 1L of reservoir. this can be achieved by using 4.29mL of the original calcium hypochlorite solution with 5 gallons of water to make a stock solution, which is then used at a rate of 1 fluid ounce per 5 gallons of reservoir water.

hope that is helpful to anyone who runs into the same issue as i did.

Herborizer · Sep 24, 2011

Anyone try adding chlorine to their cloning? It would be great to hear other success/fail stores out there. It's been working great over here!

I have also come to enjoy my Turbocloner too. Its always sparkling clean now. I am not sure if it even needs to be cleaned, though of course I do. I think I will try to go two cloning rounds on one Turbocloner res change next time. See if I see any difference. I swear, with the chlorine there is ZERO slime, zero floaties, zero bad smell, zero nothing. It just smells and looks clean all the time. When I clean it and swipe my hand on the bottom of the res, it's not even slick.

Montana · Sep 24, 2011

Ever since I started gardening, I have had great success cloning, the keys to success are humidity, warmth, and good genetics.

I acheive this with a simple tray and dome, no heatmat, no expensive hormones or rooting machines.

the trick is.......the right light over your tray w/dome, a regular 60 watt lightbulb works ok, (regular desklamp with bendable neck) but mini floodlight bulbs work better, more heat......

I cloned for years with 100% success with a 60 watt lightbulb, roots in 1-2 weeks, but now I get roots in 3-5 days.......mini flood bulb....

cuts, peat pucks, tray and dome w/ mini flood bulb, soak and expand pucks, don't squeeze excess, but dont let them sit in a puddle, open lid once a day for air.....simple, cheap, and effective......try it out......

Greenheart · Sep 25, 2011

Bleaching out my cloning bucket every few days seemed to help speed the rooting of my Blueberry that for whatever reason usually takes at least a month.

High Country · Sep 25, 2011

Freaking hell!

Another cloning thread to complicate the minds of many.

ALL YOU NEED IS DIRT

40 CLONES

ALL LOOK LIKE THIS

HAPPY CLONING

High Country · Sep 25, 2011

Plain old tap water I use...got no idea what's in it...works just fine.

guyyug · Oct 1, 2011

Thanks for the bleach tip, especially when you run high water temps 80-85F it works great. Used H2O2 before that, but you had to add it everyday, not missing ONE day or got funky. The pool shock stuff worked perfect. Faster root time and res stayed clean, even with high temps. No need for chillers with this recipe. Thanks again

enjia2000 · Oct 8, 2011

I get 100% clones in 9 days everytime by using a upside-down piece of tupperware and 95% humidity. I make sure to squeeze any excess water from my root cubes as I find that to be the biggest factor of retarded growth. I also use 1/4 tsp of each NPK formula.

Good luck!

Cloning Failing? Tried Everything? Found the missing link?

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