I have been cloning in coco for the past 7 years and loving every single minute of it!! I get fully rooted cuttings in 8-10 days. No bs. Im talking ready to transplant cuttings, not just one or two roots peeking out. Thick and fuzzy, and busting out of the inserts. Way more root surface area than the kind of roots i used to get in my ez cloners. Its not uncommon to have roots growing on top of the coco, especially with a denser canopy. It even gets to the point where roots are growing out of the bases of the stalks which are covered in nubs. 99-100% strike rate. After all this time, it still never ceases to amaze me.
I Have cloned in dyna-grow, clonex, this gel, that gel, this powder, that powder. This cheap crap, that cheap crap. After its all said and done, I like good old fashioned dip and grow. It proves itself more consistently. You dont even have to use rooting hormones, but they will get you in the dirt faster, and usually the cuttings are more robust, at least with DipNGrow. Heres a tip. When using DNG, dont put clones in water first and then dip them in the solution. Dip them in the solution while they are "dry". It soaks in better. I take all my clones extra long, so that i dont have to put them in water to avoid air bubbles getting in the stem. I just cut 3" off the bottom of each one after i have my bouquet, and then immediately dip them directly into the soultion. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. I slice 5-6 at a time, and dunk 5-6 at a time. You can make quick work that way. A flexible double edged razor blade works wonders for this method.
Here my process. There is no real science behind this other than my own knowledge and experience coming into play. I just know this is what i currently use and get great results. To be honest, you could just use rapid start and dipngrow, and that KILLS IT! Thats my go to when im feeling lazy or short on time. Just make sure to always check the runoff of the coco. Clones dont like rooting in high salinity enviroments. 1.0EC/500ppm is way too high. Anyways.... here it is..
Bcuzz coco rinsed down to 100ppm or less with 1/4 tsp/gal calmag plus into r/o water with Ph set to 5.5. When 80-100ppm (@0.5 conv) runoff is reached, add items below in just enough water to disperse them throughout the media with 20% runoff.
House & Garden roots excelurator at 1/2 strength (0.25ml/gal)
GH Rapid start at 3/4 strength (0.75-1tsp/5gal)
(If you had to choose between roots excel and rapid start, pick rapid start! Better quality roots imo)
5-8ml/gallon hygrozyme (or 50/50 with cannazyme works great too)
OPTIONAL-
(A cheap way to replace these is floralicious plus.)
BioAg Humic acid at the normal rate
BioAg Fulvic acid at 10ml/gal
Maxicrop seaweed at 1/2 the recommended rate for cuttings
Squeeze the coco until its like a moist sponge before putting it into the inserts. I like to just drop a pile on a tray and spread it loosely into the inserts, and then give the tray a single light tap on the ground. This makes sure the coco isnt packed. I think this is important. Having a looser pack, and some air holes throughout the media seems to make more fuzzy feelers come out. This is what you want. They are increasing the surface area of the roots. One air root is with 100,000 hairs is wayyyyyy more efficient than a water root that has minimal to no hairs. Root fuzz+beneficials=maximum nutrient absorbtion potential, so long as ph and other factors are in check.
Heres a little trick. I put cuttings in a tray in a checker pattern. So if its a 72 site insert, im only using 36 sites. This gives me better structure and health of cuttings rather than when you jam them all together. As an added benefit, when the clones take root and the media dries out a bit, I can just pour a gallon of water, carbs, and mychorizzae in the tray (I use BioAg Vam). The slots that werent used will leach out the stored doses of goodies you put in at day one, and replenish the newly rooted cuts with food.
After about 5 minutes, just dump the solution out of the tray and give it to your moms or something. The new mondi black and white trays are awesome for flooding like this. Very rigid.
Keep the coco about 76-78F during rooting with the dome on. Heat mats are your friend. I have had decent results as low as 68F, but warmer temps def help out.
Mist them once or twice daily for about the first week. Water only.
Thats it!
If you have your own recipe/method, feel free to post it. I will get pics up soon. For all you know im making this shit up
Edit: Pics as promised. These roots are so white they are glowing! Cheers!
I Have cloned in dyna-grow, clonex, this gel, that gel, this powder, that powder. This cheap crap, that cheap crap. After its all said and done, I like good old fashioned dip and grow. It proves itself more consistently. You dont even have to use rooting hormones, but they will get you in the dirt faster, and usually the cuttings are more robust, at least with DipNGrow. Heres a tip. When using DNG, dont put clones in water first and then dip them in the solution. Dip them in the solution while they are "dry". It soaks in better. I take all my clones extra long, so that i dont have to put them in water to avoid air bubbles getting in the stem. I just cut 3" off the bottom of each one after i have my bouquet, and then immediately dip them directly into the soultion. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. I slice 5-6 at a time, and dunk 5-6 at a time. You can make quick work that way. A flexible double edged razor blade works wonders for this method.
Here my process. There is no real science behind this other than my own knowledge and experience coming into play. I just know this is what i currently use and get great results. To be honest, you could just use rapid start and dipngrow, and that KILLS IT! Thats my go to when im feeling lazy or short on time. Just make sure to always check the runoff of the coco. Clones dont like rooting in high salinity enviroments. 1.0EC/500ppm is way too high. Anyways.... here it is..
Bcuzz coco rinsed down to 100ppm or less with 1/4 tsp/gal calmag plus into r/o water with Ph set to 5.5. When 80-100ppm (@0.5 conv) runoff is reached, add items below in just enough water to disperse them throughout the media with 20% runoff.
House & Garden roots excelurator at 1/2 strength (0.25ml/gal)
GH Rapid start at 3/4 strength (0.75-1tsp/5gal)
(If you had to choose between roots excel and rapid start, pick rapid start! Better quality roots imo)
5-8ml/gallon hygrozyme (or 50/50 with cannazyme works great too)
OPTIONAL-
(A cheap way to replace these is floralicious plus.)
BioAg Humic acid at the normal rate
BioAg Fulvic acid at 10ml/gal
Maxicrop seaweed at 1/2 the recommended rate for cuttings
Squeeze the coco until its like a moist sponge before putting it into the inserts. I like to just drop a pile on a tray and spread it loosely into the inserts, and then give the tray a single light tap on the ground. This makes sure the coco isnt packed. I think this is important. Having a looser pack, and some air holes throughout the media seems to make more fuzzy feelers come out. This is what you want. They are increasing the surface area of the roots. One air root is with 100,000 hairs is wayyyyyy more efficient than a water root that has minimal to no hairs. Root fuzz+beneficials=maximum nutrient absorbtion potential, so long as ph and other factors are in check.
Heres a little trick. I put cuttings in a tray in a checker pattern. So if its a 72 site insert, im only using 36 sites. This gives me better structure and health of cuttings rather than when you jam them all together. As an added benefit, when the clones take root and the media dries out a bit, I can just pour a gallon of water, carbs, and mychorizzae in the tray (I use BioAg Vam). The slots that werent used will leach out the stored doses of goodies you put in at day one, and replenish the newly rooted cuts with food.
After about 5 minutes, just dump the solution out of the tray and give it to your moms or something. The new mondi black and white trays are awesome for flooding like this. Very rigid. Keep the coco about 76-78F during rooting with the dome on. Heat mats are your friend. I have had decent results as low as 68F, but warmer temps def help out.
Mist them once or twice daily for about the first week. Water only.
Thats it!
If you have your own recipe/method, feel free to post it. I will get pics up soon. For all you know im making this shit up
Edit: Pics as promised. These roots are so white they are glowing! Cheers!
