Clones need minimal light? True or not?

[magiccannabus]

I keep my veg cab open most of the time, so light trickling out of there is literally all I need to clone with. I place my cuttings in coir pucks with a bit of honey on the stem, and I do minimal leaf trimming. I take the coir pucks and put them in a little food storage container that is turned upside down, so the pucks are sitting on the lid, and the body of the container acts as a dome. I can completely ignore them for a week or two and have roots every time. If it's really dry air at the time though, you might need to give them a little boost of water in the process, but I rarely do.

 

[LJB]

thank you magiccannabus

 

[ReelBusy1]

I use a small 20watt, 20" fluoro for my 30 site EZ Clone, not a T5 either. Just a standard kitchen light fluoro, and they love it! Oh yeah, I also keep the light a good foot or more from the clones.

I have used the same but the light is about 6-8inches away from the plants.

 

[LJB]

Runkle and Lopez do a lot of research on plants and writing about them. The Alpha Betas are going to shit if see this post. They'll probably burn down our house.

Here are some general guidelines for greenhouse growers of high light crops:

Michigan State University research examines how environmental factors — especially light — influence the rooting and growth of vegetative annual cuttings.

- By Roberto Lopez and Erik Runkle

Source: Greenhouse Product News June 2005 Volume: 15 Number: 6

http://www.gpnmag.com/Managing-Light-During-Propagation-article6127

Light Intensity. Desirable levels of light vary, depending primarily on the stage of root development. The following is a guideline for managing light intensity for high-light crops.

Stage 1: Stick to callus formation. During the early stages of propagation maximum recommended light intensity is between 120 and 200 umol·m-2·s-1 (600-1,000 foot-candles) to provide enough energy for callus formation and root initiation without causing desiccation. In addition, light transmission through the propagation house should be indirect or diffuse. White wash or exterior shade in combination with retractable shade curtains can provide a good system for light modulation, especially in the spring and summer. Retractable shade curtains alone can be an effective way to modulate light transmission, as they can remain open on cloudy days or in the morning and late afternoon on sunny days. Curtains should be closed during the brightest hours of the day to prevent excessively high light levels.

Stage 2: After root initiation. Once roots have initiated (generally 5-12 days after stick), maximum light intensity can be increased to 200-400 umol·m-2·s-1 (1,000-2,000 Á foot-candles). Again, the light should be diffused.

Stage 3: After roots fill half the plug. Once roots fill about half of the plug cell (generally 10-16 days after stick), maximum light levels can be increased to 500-800 umol·m-2·s-1 (2,500-4,000 foot-candles). This higher intensity helps acclimate plants to the post-propagation environment.

Daily light integral (DLI). DLI is defined as the quantity of light received each day as a function of light intensity (instantaneous light: umol·m-2·s-1) and duration (day). It is expressed as the amount of light per square meter in one day (mol·m-2·d-1). The amount of light that a cutting receives per day during propagation can have a profound impact on the quality of the rooted cutting in terms of root formation, stem elongation and shoot growth.

We quantified the effects of DLI on rooting and growth of petunia ‘Supertunia Mini Purple’, ‘Tiny Tunia Violet Ice’ and ‘Double Wave Spreading Rose’ and New Guinea impatiens ‘Harmony White’, ‘Harmony Magenta’ and ‘Celebrette Red’ cuttings during propagation.