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Olivia's Cloning Gel vs Miracle Grow Fast Root
- Thread starter toastfighter2
- Start date
I was reading some time back how some horticulturists use a process called etoilation to move / signal? auxins to prepare to root by covering the branch at the final cut with electrical tape for a week before cutting.
Similar to bending a branch and covering the mid section with earth. You will get roots on certain plants. I'm going to give it a try next cutting session.
I also learned that the clones I tossed because I thought they were infected with some weird stem disease were just forming callus tissue which sometimes happens as a reaction to rooting hormones. If it's firm, it's callus, if it's mushy , it's moldy.
Similar to bending a branch and covering the mid section with earth. You will get roots on certain plants. I'm going to give it a try next cutting session.
I also learned that the clones I tossed because I thought they were infected with some weird stem disease were just forming callus tissue which sometimes happens as a reaction to rooting hormones. If it's firm, it's callus, if it's mushy , it's moldy.
Olivia's Cloning Gel vs Miracle Grow Fast Root
either will work fine.....normally i take cuttings from branch tips so that 2 nodes plus the 45 end cut will go under the medium. i have noticed when air layering tops and large branches, once the roots appear to be plenty and strong, after you make the cut and plant it, i have seen some of these go through some rough times before taking off and growing on.
not very long ago i was taking cuttings, and topping the plants in prep for the flower room. i cut a really large top from a plant and tossed it in the pile to be thrown out. my helper couldn't stand watching such a large top being tossed so he trimmed the stem a little and stuck it in some used soiless mix and set it in the corner of the room where it got just a little light. no dome, no rooting hormones. the silly thing made roots and was thriving within 2 weeks.
another case, i got confused while applying clonex gel to the end of the stems of some cuttings. several had been placed into the rooting medium (fine coco and perlite) with no gel applied. i said, "we'll see what happens". to my surprise, all the cuttings sprouted roots at the same time---both the clonex treated and the ones with no treatment of any kind. i was very surprised.
another point, i was losing cuttings for a while for no apparent reason. the real truth is i was putting WAY TOO MUCH gel on my cuts (like thick amounts from tip to about middle of the stems). way too much gel on too much of the cutting's stem. they expressed the same symptoms as "damping off disease". a buddy told me to try just a very small amount on the end of the stem. he was right, as usual. it only takes a very small glob on the very end of the stem to help induce roots.
regarding olivia's gel and solution, i used the solution for years with near perfect results. i just PH'd the solution to 5.5 and soaked my rockwool cubes for a couple days prior to taking cuts. i had a c99 plant back then that would root within 10 days every time, some times in 7 days.
now i mix 3 parts fine grade coco with 1 part perlite in plastic party cups with holes burnt into the bottom of the cups for drainage. i have used the blue ones, the green ones, and the clear ones---all with the exact same results. just a dab of clonex and into the coco/perlite mix and into the tray and dome. i place a towel over the heat matt and the tray on top of the towel. i run the heat matt 3/4 hour on, 1/4 hour off. the coco has natural anti-bacterial properties as well as natural rooting hormones. since going this route, i am proud to announce i have not lost a single cutting. and some cuttings root just fine without any cloning gel or solution. i'm willing to bet a lot of people are killing precious cuttings by using too much gel.
anyone lucky enough to have a willow tree nearby can try this: when it starts making new shoots this spring, cut the green new growth tips off and soak in water for several weeks. i mean cram the bucket full of new growth willow tips and fill with water. filter the water after about a month of soaking and use it to wet your medium, or soak your rockwool, jiffy cubes, etc. the willow tree is loaded with growth hormones at the point of new green shoots. everyone knows how dangerous it is to have a willow tree near septic lines--its roots are crazy aggressive and can crush field lines and clay pipes. willow water used in conjunction with coco would be an awesome combo, in my opinion.
so there it is. you don't need to use rooting gels, solutions, powders to get your cuttings to make roots. if you do use gels, etc., reduce the amount you use.
i use cocotek fine coco bricks. these can be high in salts so you must soak and rinse them until your runoff is under 100ppms. i use the ratio of 3 parts coco to 1 part perlite. i soak the mix again in 5.5 ph water before use. a little dab of clonex on the 45 degree cut at the end, then into the coco. place in tray with dome. bring down the humidity slowly by adjusting vents, adjusting dome lid, use of fan, etc...i usually remove the dome after 4 or five days. if you remove the lid and the plants show signs of laying down, wilting, just place the lid back on for another day and try again. blow indirect air over new cuttings and watch carefully for wilt. be patient and you'll get it down in no time.
the other thing i do is prepare the donor plants by feeding a flower fert a couple days prior to taking cuttings. it also helps to water the donor plants about an hour before taking cuts. do these things and you will become a cutting guru in no time. keep everything as sanitary as possible at every stage. i use distilled water for all things cutting related. then filtered tap water for everything else. a PPM/EC meter and a PH meter is very helpful when working with coco of any sort. i've tested coco runoff at 800ppms before prior to soaking and rinsing. and floros seem to do the best job over natural light and halides, plus you can control the photo periods. i root all my cuttings under 24 hr floros.
so don't be bashful or proud. i've tried nearly every way there is to make roots: air layering on the branch, cup of water near a south facing window, just about all the mediums and rooting products, aeroponics, bubblers---etc. i have settled on the above method because of absolutely perfect results. my cuttings look green and healthy the whole way too, which is a beautiful thing. i don't miss the yellowing, curling, wilting leaf syndrome at all. hope this helps someone.
one of the reasons this works for me is that i only do a few cuttings at a time.
either will work fine.....normally i take cuttings from branch tips so that 2 nodes plus the 45 end cut will go under the medium. i have noticed when air layering tops and large branches, once the roots appear to be plenty and strong, after you make the cut and plant it, i have seen some of these go through some rough times before taking off and growing on.
not very long ago i was taking cuttings, and topping the plants in prep for the flower room. i cut a really large top from a plant and tossed it in the pile to be thrown out. my helper couldn't stand watching such a large top being tossed so he trimmed the stem a little and stuck it in some used soiless mix and set it in the corner of the room where it got just a little light. no dome, no rooting hormones. the silly thing made roots and was thriving within 2 weeks.
another case, i got confused while applying clonex gel to the end of the stems of some cuttings. several had been placed into the rooting medium (fine coco and perlite) with no gel applied. i said, "we'll see what happens". to my surprise, all the cuttings sprouted roots at the same time---both the clonex treated and the ones with no treatment of any kind. i was very surprised.
another point, i was losing cuttings for a while for no apparent reason. the real truth is i was putting WAY TOO MUCH gel on my cuts (like thick amounts from tip to about middle of the stems). way too much gel on too much of the cutting's stem. they expressed the same symptoms as "damping off disease". a buddy told me to try just a very small amount on the end of the stem. he was right, as usual. it only takes a very small glob on the very end of the stem to help induce roots.
regarding olivia's gel and solution, i used the solution for years with near perfect results. i just PH'd the solution to 5.5 and soaked my rockwool cubes for a couple days prior to taking cuts. i had a c99 plant back then that would root within 10 days every time, some times in 7 days.
now i mix 3 parts fine grade coco with 1 part perlite in plastic party cups with holes burnt into the bottom of the cups for drainage. i have used the blue ones, the green ones, and the clear ones---all with the exact same results. just a dab of clonex and into the coco/perlite mix and into the tray and dome. i place a towel over the heat matt and the tray on top of the towel. i run the heat matt 3/4 hour on, 1/4 hour off. the coco has natural anti-bacterial properties as well as natural rooting hormones. since going this route, i am proud to announce i have not lost a single cutting. and some cuttings root just fine without any cloning gel or solution. i'm willing to bet a lot of people are killing precious cuttings by using too much gel.
anyone lucky enough to have a willow tree nearby can try this: when it starts making new shoots this spring, cut the green new growth tips off and soak in water for several weeks. i mean cram the bucket full of new growth willow tips and fill with water. filter the water after about a month of soaking and use it to wet your medium, or soak your rockwool, jiffy cubes, etc. the willow tree is loaded with growth hormones at the point of new green shoots. everyone knows how dangerous it is to have a willow tree near septic lines--its roots are crazy aggressive and can crush field lines and clay pipes. willow water used in conjunction with coco would be an awesome combo, in my opinion.
so there it is. you don't need to use rooting gels, solutions, powders to get your cuttings to make roots. if you do use gels, etc., reduce the amount you use.
i use cocotek fine coco bricks. these can be high in salts so you must soak and rinse them until your runoff is under 100ppms. i use the ratio of 3 parts coco to 1 part perlite. i soak the mix again in 5.5 ph water before use. a little dab of clonex on the 45 degree cut at the end, then into the coco. place in tray with dome. bring down the humidity slowly by adjusting vents, adjusting dome lid, use of fan, etc...i usually remove the dome after 4 or five days. if you remove the lid and the plants show signs of laying down, wilting, just place the lid back on for another day and try again. blow indirect air over new cuttings and watch carefully for wilt. be patient and you'll get it down in no time.
the other thing i do is prepare the donor plants by feeding a flower fert a couple days prior to taking cuttings. it also helps to water the donor plants about an hour before taking cuts. do these things and you will become a cutting guru in no time. keep everything as sanitary as possible at every stage. i use distilled water for all things cutting related. then filtered tap water for everything else. a PPM/EC meter and a PH meter is very helpful when working with coco of any sort. i've tested coco runoff at 800ppms before prior to soaking and rinsing. and floros seem to do the best job over natural light and halides, plus you can control the photo periods. i root all my cuttings under 24 hr floros.
so don't be bashful or proud. i've tried nearly every way there is to make roots: air layering on the branch, cup of water near a south facing window, just about all the mediums and rooting products, aeroponics, bubblers---etc. i have settled on the above method because of absolutely perfect results. my cuttings look green and healthy the whole way too, which is a beautiful thing. i don't miss the yellowing, curling, wilting leaf syndrome at all. hope this helps someone.
one of the reasons this works for me is that i only do a few cuttings at a time.
toastfighter2
Active member
Sorry about the delay in getting back to this one, wasn't sure it had actually made the cut. the good news is that i did keep going with my initial plan of comparing them side by side, but I neglected to take any pics. To my surprise, the fast root has lived up to its name and has produced roots at least 4 days earlier than the olivia's(tested over 5 runs, and 60 plus clones). I have noticed that the roots that break thought from the olivia's side do seem finer, but that's not what I was testing, and after I veg them 2 weeks, there is not a noticeable difference. I do plan to continue this test for a little longer, but the fast root seems to be out in the lead.
G
Guest 18340
Not surprising since the MG product has hormones while the Olivia's doesn't.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not trying to sound like a broken record with that, just pointing out that it's not a fair side/by side.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not trying to sound like a broken record with that, just pointing out that it's not a fair side/by side.
Last edited:
Put a little in a clean cup and once you cut you clone stick it directly into the cut to soak up the good stuff for a bit also if you are a real big keeper of your girls you can dab on a little honey on mommy where you just cut her and she will thank you in the morning.
They are weeds and sometimes I think we forget that lol.
Great Thread
Mr.Wags
I've tried a couple of rooting agents...but now its just straight rr plugs, LK and tap water and away we go...put the dome on and sit it and forget it and roots with in about 7 days appear, once the roots appear I crack the dome for a little fresh air...
Yes sir and so damn true. The one's that seem to give me the most trouble always seems to be the Females so go figure
Have A Great Day
Mr.Wags
Yes sir and so damn true. The one's that seem to give me the most trouble always seems to be the Females so go figure
Have A Great Day
Mr.Wags
aint that the truth...hehehe
I thought I might include if I may some pictures of soil compared to rapid rooters:
Same environment same food same cuts and to tell you the truth the soil was easier since if you don't keep the rooters wet they die. When I was younger that might not be a problem but now that I'm married and have Nancy Freakin Drew as a mini me I gotta bide my time well.
My Penny
Mr.Wags
Same environment same food same cuts and to tell you the truth the soil was easier since if you don't keep the rooters wet they die. When I was younger that might not be a problem but now that I'm married and have Nancy Freakin Drew as a mini me I gotta bide my time well.
My Penny
Mr.Wags
dizzlekush
Member
*EDIT
my mistake
my mistake
Olivia's Gel has no Rooting Hormone, but has the NPK nutrients the babies need... In the past, I used Dip-and-Grow, THEN Olivia's Gel. Now I just use Dip and Grow. Olivia's Liquid is great for feeding clones, but expensive - so I learned how to dip the tray in 1-1-1 GMB GH nutes with a ppm of about 350-450.. Seems to work quite well and fast.
And as I recall only Dip-n-Grow and the Woods have both the hormones in them , and they are both economical when compared to the highbuck gels..
Willows have been pointed out too , I will back the effectiveness of it. And plants grown near Willows seem to have an almost symbiotic relationship and less pest problems , granted this is anecdotal but it's held true over a span of years.
toastfighter2
Active member
Just thought that I would drop back i with a little update. I am currently "soaking" each cut in the Olivia's for roughly 30 seconds, leaving a little bit of it on, then dusting it with the fast root. So far this is working the best that I have experienced(and I have made a ton of clones). They don't show any faster, but when they do, they are a lot fuzzier. On top of that, the cuts themselves don't seem to show as much stress(ie wilt or yellowing). I am still ot sold on the Olivia's, but I am going to use it until it is gone.
I never tried the gel ,but i do use the solution ,soon as i take cuts soak in olivias for a hr or so , stick in coco soaked in olivias solution ,100 % sucess rate roots in a week. great stuff .
BuddlerHoward Garret, The Dirt Doctor
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Cuttings-Starting-Plants_vq1120.htm
says that human saliva works best. -granger
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Cuttings-Starting-Plants_vq1120.htm
says that human saliva works best. -granger
