[darwinsbulldog]

hey guys, i'm currently in my first grow and have had issues with soil/coco so am trying to switch over to a home made DWC hydro system and have just cloned 2 of my ~month old plants. i know it's pretty early but i'd rather clone them now while the new growth is relatively healthy before the plants might die or have health issues later due to my lack of experience with soil/ph/fert control. anyway i'll upload some picks of the set up so far and you can let me know what you think and please give any advice i'd be really appreciative and am happy to learn as much as possible!

FYI

they're in rock wall blocks (2" side length), in a sealed plastic container (with 2 small cracks in the top lid for air flow) to retain humidity. for the 6 i did just now (on the left of the photo, the lighter coloured ones) i soaked the rock wool for 6 hours in water and root stimulant, the other 3 i did 3 days ago and soaked the rock wool over night and didn't use root stimulant (didn't have it at the time), but they seem to still be doing pretty well considering i'm a novice. ummm also to note i'm using 14w CFLs x 4, 2 warm white and 2 cool white ~12" or so above them and am spraying them with water 3-4 times a day to keep humidity up and allow them to absorb a bit through the leaves.

the plant on the right looks pitiful because i'd removed all the dead leaves it'd acquired from N def and then took 3 clones from the strongest shoots (2 laterals and 1 top) the others were too small so thought i'd just leave it to see if it keeps growing etc. we'll see i guess.

thanks for your time guys! aussie pete!

[darwinsbulldog]

i'm also getting a dimmer for the fan soon because it's sucking too much air through and bringing the temp/hum down a bit too much.

[dtfsux]

they dont need air flow IMO. I kept mine sealed, and opened 1-2 times a day to allow them fresh air. As long as you can keep the humidity up, I think it will be ok.

I think you can loose some of the lighting. Clones do not need much lighting at all


Just remember everyone has different success at cloning. What works for me, may not work for you. But so far I think you are on the right track.

After a few days, I would allow that rockwool to dry out some, not all the way, but not soaking wet

[darwinsbulldog]

thanks for that dtf, should i just open the container up after a few days in order to let the rock wool dry up? or is there a better way? cheers again

[FreezerBoy]

First things first. Get those shots off photobucket. They'll flip on you in a heartbeat. Store them here and you'll be much safer and your pics will be seen by more members as many won't click off site links.

Originally Posted by dtfsux

Just remember everyone has different success at cloning. What works for me, may not work for you.

Truer words were never spoken. Take it one step further, if you get roots, you did it right no matter how you did it.

As an example, the dome was my #1 cause of death. Once it went in the trash, death went with it. While the rockwool may gain minor benefit, the plant receives none. High RH is lethal, RH weaning is often fatal.

The need for domes comes from excessive plant material. The bigger the cut, the bigger the root system required to support it and D'OH! we don't have any roots! Plants will try to use and support what they have so we keep both to a minimum. Short cuts with well trimmed leaves require less support and, under low lighting, will not be stressed through overworking. A single 23 watt cfl will cover hundreds of clones. Many make do with less. The more light it gets the more it tries to process and right now, it can't.

Plants require O2 above and especially below. Rockwool, particularly overly large cubes like yours, hold a great deal of water and air but, without some sort of flow, the water and air become stale. Water every day to force out old water and air or, sit them in a low res of bubbling water such as a cloning tray, a 2 tray system where the top tray is perforated and the bottom holds an airstone and heater at 75ºF.



Problem with a tray is evaporation. While a dome will prevent this, it will add lethal levels of RH. To avoid this, I switched to a bubbler. The bubbler lid prevents the evaporation while the plant lives in safe low RH air. Scale: 3/4 inch cubes.



But, and this brings us right back to dt's quote, used "properly" (plain water, naked stems) it killed everything I put in it. Used "wrong"(with rockwool, clone solution and gel) 100% success.

[darwinsbulldog]

thanks for that freezer boy. i've just run out of room in the 5meg limit for uploading photos, how do you imbed them into the comment without it being a link? [img][/img] or something? and also what's RH. sorry about all the questions, i'm still new to it all and trying to learn.

[FreezerBoy]

I believe you'll get more file space at the 50 post mark. In the meantime, while you've reduced the photos to 800x600 (thanks for that by the way) they're still "larger" than they need to be. "Save for web" is a function many photo editing software programs have. Image Ready knocks your file from 400K to 32K. Gimp is freeware and may help.

RH is Relative Humidity. Domes are used to trap and increase it and many swear that 90% RH and higher are required. I clone routinely in 20-30% RH dome free and have done so as low as 15% RH.

[darwinsbulldog]

ahh cool yeah at the moment with my fan running without a dimmer and great airflow my RH is about 45-50%. i can just use photoshop etc to reduce them smaller in future. sorry for them being too big i just made them small enough that i could upload them but yeah you're right i'll have more space on this site if i do so. cheers! i made myself a DWC system tonight, i'll upload photos and you can tell me what you guys think, hopefully once these clones take i'll plant them in it. here's a question do you guys think it's better to grow many plants to a smaller extent and then harvest, or grow fewer plants for longer/bigger and then harvest? as i'm just worried if i'm caught with 9 clones, compared to 1 plant the size of a 100 year old gum tree, that's by law here in aus 9 times worse and could put me in jail possibly for a large amount of time (VERY SHIT LAWS).

[High Country]

Cloning can get overly complicated.

I know people who clone by not taking cuts underwater, no rooting hormone and clones go straight into local soil and under the house in semi shade.

Works for them.

[High Country]

Originally Posted by darwinsbulldog

ahh cool yeah at the moment with my fan running without a dimmer and great airflow my RH is about 45-50%. i can just use photoshop etc to reduce them smaller in future. sorry for them being too big i just made them small enough that i could upload them but yeah you're right i'll have more space on this site if i do so. cheers! i made myself a DWC system tonight, i'll upload photos and you can tell me what you guys think, hopefully once these clones take i'll plant them in it. here's a question do you guys think it's better to grow many plants to a smaller extent and then harvest, or grow fewer plants for longer/bigger and then harvest? as i'm just worried if i'm caught with 9 clones, compared to 1 plant the size of a 100 year old gum tree, that's by law here in aus 9 times worse and could put me in jail possibly for a large amount of time (VERY SHIT LAWS).

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