What size cuttings do you take and how big do you think cuttings can be and still remain viable? Does your cloning method support VERY big cuttings, like 12" or more with 8-10 well developed nodes? Are the implications of being able to consistently root cuttings with a couple weeks veg growth already in place as significant as I think they are or am I just imagining things? Most clones I see on growing boards are very very small. Not tha thats a bad thing.

[TokerBabe]

I'm sure any size cutting is possible as long as the mother is healthy. Personally, I like a nice 4-5" cutting. Some will take a larger cutting if looking to produce another mother.

I have been rooting in water but am now going to start experimenting with alt. ways to root faster. Per/ver, peat pellets we'll see.



TokerBabe

[Captain Canibus]

I had a 14" branch break off a big MF in veg. I cut it into sections just above the internodes and put them in an aero cloner. I've kept 2 of the clones and the most bottom clone off the branch is going to be a monster. Whenever I prune a plant in flower, I throw the small branches with growth tips in the cloner.

My suggestion is to experiment. I'm just a hobbyist, but just trying things yields knowlege. Plastic cups, some perelite, cloning gel and some water don't cost much.

Here is an example of a very large cutting. Ive not seen any bigger, so I'm assuming it qualifies as very large.

Notice no leaf discoloration after almost two weeks off the plant. This means the plant will have maximum efficiency with which to process light when it is rooted

more

The funky way this one is facing is because some of them were growing off the plant horizontally. They switched back to normal looking overnight

These are all 10" -12" tall

If I could promise that 90% of the existing leaves remained green and healthy throughou the process, isn't there a large advantage to being able to root clones with this much growth already attached?

The biggest problem I think I'll face using cuttings this big is developing a root system large enough to support the foliage before transplant to soil

[EHP]

Caprichoso i have tried various methods of cloning i.e aero cloner/soil/plain water and always found the most simplistic method to be a 4-5" clone placed in plain water.. as above.

As far as I can tell, water cloning will root any cutting any size with little difference in time between the sizes. Again I ask, if you could add a week or two worth of veg growth just by changing the size of your cutting, arent the implications of that pretty large as far as growroom efficiency goes? Would it change the rules as far as SOGging goes? Maybe one wouldnt have to use four plants per sqf and would still be able to keep the elevated harvest schedule that makes SOG the highest yielding method. Im just theorizing here, or trying too

[Captain Canibus]

From my experience, the larger the cutting, diameter of the stem, the more roots you get. A stem of 5/16" diameter may get 20 roots and another that is only 1/16" grows 3-4 roots. It seems to me that when I get a clone with a bunch of roots, it does the best by growing the fastest.

One thing that I suggest that you should try is to make 2-3 clones out of one of your cuttings. See how they do compared to the others. My reasoning is that there needs to be a balance between the root system and the plant. When you have a large top on a clone the plant needs to support itself AND grow a root system. Most of the time the cutting does little until the root system can support growth.

I know you're looking for the fastes/best way to go. Keep tryings different things. Even if you take 20 clones off of one plant, they don't all do the same. Take the best, throw the rest.

My biggest clone in hydro now was an accident. I broke off a big branch (a little longer than yours, but about 3/8" dia), cut it into 4 clones. The clone from the lowest portion of the branch is doing best and the rest, I discarded. Same branch, same method/conditions, different growth rates.

These cuttings are all members of the same generation. The first big one above is in this group. The other cuttings are smaller with the normal smaller diameter stem and far fewer roots


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