Strategy to kill the moulds which kill my clones during summer

[IngFarmer]

So I now clone only in coco coir by covering the clones with a dome and spraying with water under low light and I noticed this way cloning usually gives me the highest success rate! sometimes even 100% but that is only during the winter period! When we in summer or with the weather a bit warmer usually the much water spraying plus the heat encorage mould growth which attack the stem of the clones and usually kill a lot them if not all..the hotter the weather the more more clones die! So I usually plan to make more clones during the colder periods and maintain them but this is not always possible...so to solve the issue i got myself a very concentrated fungicide with the active ingredient MEFENOXAM and CHLOROTHALONIL!
The idea is to put some in the spraying water and spray the clones with it, the clones will get the moister they need to survive and any mould or spores in the dome should be killed...what do you guys think...I'm uploading a picture of the fungicide so check it up and give me ur idea...

 

[Ca++]

You shouldn't need to spray them at all. The RH will be much higher under a dome, than needed. Try reducing the RH rather than wetting them more.

It sounds like your temp is getting into the 30s. That's where the air can really hold too much water. Along with the temps being favourable towards mold. How many cuttings are we talking about. You could set up a temperature controlled environment for your prop to sit in. Giving you a nice 26-28c all year round. A 50w thermo-electric fridge or cooler box perhaps. That would hold a 40 cell prop and need a thermostat to stop it chilling them.

Fit in that?

Control with this?

The cold block will probably drip. Keep the light out the way. It will have to be LED with a realistic 30w limit. A decent 14w lamp will do a 40 cell prop.

 

[IngFarmer]

lol you are too complicated mr calcium++...I need to work with what I got

 

[Hammerhead]

You should not see mold?.. You will see some Algae at times but this is not an issue.

This is what I use to get 100% rooted no molds regardless of temps. You could try not using a wicking mat but you will need to check plugs more often to keep them moist and RH up. Close off any vents to keep RH high. .

Tray/Dome/insert for plugs
Wicking mat
Rooting plugs
Hormex#16
FOOP

Prepare the tray with a wicking mat and the insert to hold plugs, soak the mat well but with no standing water left in the tray... I saturate my plugs with RO. Dip cuttings into foop than H#16. Stick them into plugs. If there's anything on the exposed stem spray it off and spray the plug top more and squeeze it a few times to get the foop/H16 into the plug itself. If you use a wicking mat just add water as it dries up. Make sure to clean everything often with bleach and rinse well. This is the #1 reason why mold would be present. Most cuts should root in 10 days, not enough time for molds to grow. Any that take longer just keep an eye on them. I have a cut that takes 20 days to root, it's her genetics that is the cause. I still never see mold.

 

[Ca++]

Using coco peat you can expect to loose 1 or 2. It's not sterile. If you play it right, you can start opening vents after a week, aiming to get down to 60% after 2 weeks. Cuts will root at 60% and mold is much less likely. However if you keep the lid on, RH will remain in the 90s where mold grows well. Start spraying them in 90% RH, and their just isn't the vpd for the spray to dry off. The only time to spray, is right after sticking them. You spray both cuts and inside the lid, to get the initial RH peak that just chopped cuts like.

I have messed about with inoculations, and figured h2o2 can be used but only after 24 hours. However, just taking a couple more cuts is easier. Accept the losses. Even in something like rockwool some will fold sometimes. High RH makes for fast growth of everything.


Stop spraying them. That will help a lot. Lower the RH earlier if you still have problems. If it's just too toasty though, the cooler is just a couple of plugs and $100

 

[StickyBandit]

If you are worried and having ongoing problems you might like to try an organic product that contains Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens. It works great!!
Triplex in New Zealand works on my DWC root rot and there are a few others around Amazon etc like Botanicare Hydroguard Bacillus Root Inoculant. The Triplex is marketed as a spray to stop fruit rotting in humid weather so is probably targeted at your application anyway but I just searched Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens with DDG and found something local.
You don't need much, a few drops per 10L or so, as it will multiply if there is food for it

 

[Somatek]

A simple trick a friend showed me for cloning when the temps are too high is to put them in water for a week or two (no covering) until you start to see white nubs/root initials form and then put them into your coco/peat. It avoids using humidity domes and you can get decent success rates while keeping the humidity much lower to mitigate pathogens.

 

[Grapefruitroop]

I agree with Ca++ .......You better invest ina way to keep them cooler more than try to fight natural process with fungicides....
That minicooler idea is actually pretty badass if you have to keep it low cost and cant afford an AC.....

 

[Mattbho]

For the stubborn cuts I've had sucess painting the root hormone on the mother, covering it then take cuts 5-7 days later . Or wrapping in Rockwood then a plastic basically starting the cloning process before cutting off mother

C++ nailed it I will say it as well
If you play it right, you can start opening vents after about a week, aiming to get down to 60% after 2 weeks. Cuts will root at 60% and mold is much less likely. However if you keep the lid on, RH will remain in the 90s where mold grows well. Start spraying them in 90% RH, and their just isn't the vpd for the spray to dry off. The only time to spray, is right after sticking them. You spray both cuts and inside the lid, to get the initial RH peak that just chopped cuts like.

I agree with everything except spraying. Not necessary . Of course this is all environment depending.

Myself I only spray when they need food . I only spray the lid for moisture. Also space them out helps . I've lost 100s to this nasty u speak of . Heart breaking to see 10 domes fail one after another. All the while buddies are calling saying hey those clones ready. For a while I was buying new domes every winter . Tried diy cloner with some sucess but Now i just follow the rules ..

Only healthy mothers produce healthy clones .
After initial stick I spray the lid vents closed day 2 and 3 take off lid and fan them with it replace moisture on lid . 4th-10th same deal only open vents a mm or 2 at a time . . By day 10 you can start removing the lid longer and longer and check for roots . At this stage I might start foliar feeding if necessary .25 strength bloom feed once of twice max . Only if they start losing colour fast .

Also its way better to take the 1 or 2 that wilt everytime out and put in ziplock . Than keep the humidity high for all the cuttings ..

I splurged and got the new floraflex incubator neat toy but totally overkill . Nice to have the plugs all set no guess work they actually are alot dryer than you would expect . But the dome holds 99% forever . I have to prop it up when cuts are rooted

 

[GoatCheese]

Mist the dome you keep over the cutting, don’t mist the cuttings.

I use jiffy pucks myself and i only mist my cuttings when i put them into the jiffies but after this i only mist the dome.

They say cuttings will root faster when you don’t mist them and so they’ll focus on getting moisture from the medium not the leaves..

After the first 3-4 days cuttings usually can stay longer with out the dome covering them, as long as there’s not too much air movement on them or the light isn’t too intense. So give them as much fresh air as they can handle. Fresh air will prevent moulds, pm etc from growing so well.

 

[GoatCheese]

You shouldn't need to spray them at all. The RH will be much higher under a dome, than needed. Try reducing the RH rather than wetting them more.

It sounds like your temp is getting into the 30s. That's where the air can really hold too much water. Along with the temps being favourable towards mold. How many cuttings are we talking about. You could set up a temperature controlled environment for your prop to sit in. Giving you a nice 26-28c all year round. A 50w thermo-electric fridge or cooler box perhaps. That would hold a 40 cell prop and need a thermostat to stop it chilling them.

Fit in that?

Control with this?

The cold block will probably drip. Keep the light out the way. It will have to be LED with a realistic 30w limit. A decent 14w lamp will do a 40 cell prop.

LOL

You just love to make everything complicated. You prolly have a digital meter to tell you when your arse is clean enough after you took a shit, am i right? wireless?

I use too small plastic containers that came with coleslaw or potato salad as a dome for my cuttings in jiffy pucks. Pretty high tech Little Biobizz Root Juice in the water i soak my Jiffies in + rooting hormone. I get pretty much 100% rooting success all the time.

 

[Ca++]

LOL

You just love to make everything complicated. You prolly have a digital meter to tell you when your arse is clean enough after you took a shit, am i right? wireless?

I use too small plastic containers that came with coleslaw or potato salad as a dome for my cuttings in jiffy pucks. Pretty high tech Little Biobizz Root Juice in the water i soak my Jiffies in + rooting hormone. I get pretty much 100% rooting success all the time.

Complicated?
You run your extractor on a timer to regulate RH. That's unnecessarily complicated. Buy a $10 stat and set it once. Like the advice I offered, it's self sustaining. For $100 the problem is gone. Have you thought about why he is keeping cuts from winter into summer. What his problem might be. My cuttings process is take cuttings at about 3 per minute. Walk away for 2 weeks. Return to collect the rooted cuttings. Is that really so complicated?
Perhaps you should keep playing with your timer and coleslaw pots. You don't recognise what I'm even talking about most of the time. Or that other people do. If you can really do cuts with less effort than me, then I will be astounded. Because I don't do anything, and I know your misting schedule.
What makes you think your post is of any use at all to the OP. Where is your understanding of his problem.

You have made the choice to start trolling me. Don't let it mess up peoples threads though.

 

[Maple_Flail]

so eh... don't let the clones sit in water, and give them a dusting of wet able sulfur powder..

maybe a room dehumidifier if your success is better in the winter as that would be the tangible difference indoors the ambient RH

 

[Somatek]

so eh... don't let the clones sit in water, and give them a dusting of wet able sulfur powder..

maybe a room dehumidifier if your success is better in the winter as that would be the tangible difference indoors the ambient RH

The OP said in the first post that it's hotter which is another variable as temps over 26C will affect rooting as well as increase pathogen growth. When ambient temps are up to 30+ then it seriously lowers success rates, which is why at those temps I'll use water as it increases the success rate (changed daily of course) but just taking more time. Rooting plants is straight water is a common practice, just far from ideal but ideal for getting cuttings to the point of forming root initials when ambient temps are too far off.

 

[StickyBandit]

I'm fairly sure that misting with any product that has Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens will do the trick if that's your only problem. It should create colonies that will feed on pathogens

 

[Onboard]

If you use well water (or even RO), try adding a few drops of household bleach (hypochlorite) to hopefully slow down mold growth.

Just enough for you to detect a faint pool smell. That is how water from the plant stays fresh.

Otherwise I agree with what the others said:
Avoid getting the clone tray soaking wet, avoid excessive spraying, avoid excessive temperatures. Keep the mom healthy.

 

[GoatCheese]

You run your extractor on a timer to regulate RH. That's unnecessarily complicated. Buy a $10 stat and set it once. Like the advice I offered, it's self sustaining. For $100 the problem is gone. Have you thought about why he is keeping cuts from winter into summer. What his problem might be.

Have i thought about his method of rooting cuttings?!
I just did and made suggestions to him = 1. Don’t mist the cuttings, mist the dome. 2. Give them fresh air as much as you can to control moulds etc.

You miss alot of stuff people write cause you’re so self centered.

:::

I don’t have a timer to regulate the environment in my veg cab where i keep my cuttings.I don’t even have Intake/ exhaust fans in there, only a circulating fan. I open the cab door once in a while. Very simple and doesn’t cost me a single euro.

The timer – costing around 6-7 euros- is for my bloom tent, not on my veg cab. See what you’re doing again? Again you’re making false claims about my situation based on your own assumptions. You do that alot.

My timer also works on set-it-and-leave-it basis, that’s why it’s called a timer, genius. Get it? Hah-hah.

For a person who spends so much time talking about how other people grow, what they should do and what they wrote in their posts, you get a lot of stuff completely wrong + you just make things up as you go.

::

My oldest keepers are 13+ years old. I do know how to keep them going thru N. European winters and summers. My free potato salad plastics work just fine.

 

[Ca++]

Have i thought about his method of rooting cuttings?!
I just did and made suggestions to him = 1. Don’t mist the cuttings, mist the dome. 2. Give them fresh air as much as you can to control moulds etc.

You miss alot of stuff people write cause you’re so self centered.

:::

I don’t have a timer to regulate the environment in my veg cab where i keep my cuttings.I don’t even have Intake/ exhaust fans in there, only a circulating fan. I open the cab door once in a while. Very simple and doesn’t cost me a single euro.

The timer – costing around 6-7 euros- is for my bloom tent, not on my veg cab. See what you’re doing again? Again you’re making false claims about my situation based on your own assumptions. You do that alot.

My timer also works on set-it-and-leave-it basis, that’s why it’s called a timer, genius. Get it? Hah-hah.

For a person who spends so much time talking about how other people grow, what they should do and what they wrote in their posts, you get a lot of stuff completely wrong + you just make things up as you go.

::

My oldest keepers are 13+ years old. I do know how to keep them going thru N. European winters and summers. My free potato salad plastics work just fine.

Why would you mist the dome, when they are rotting. It's just insanity.
Did I say the fan was in your coleslaw tub lids? I'm just painting a picture of what complicated is. Complicated is, you trying to make things less complicated.
I imagine you do set it and leave it. Regardless of changing conditions. Just get another 3 or 4 euros out. Dial the RH you want, and then you really set it and leave it, as you claim you can now.

Your boxes work for you. We are not meant to be talking about ourselves though (your self centered comment is ridiculous). Can the OP fit his stuff in a potato salad container. Do you think his grow shop sells them. Might he need a bit more space. He clearly said he has a dome. How is yours more suited? Why is he loosing them in summer. I have said it and so have others. How does this relate to your advice.

You are just going on about what works for you, with no fresh reference to what he is doing. I have not spoke about what I do, as I know it's not relevant. Self centered?


I'm not happy with this useless bank n forth on the OPs thread.
I'm happy to acknowledge the huge gap between your old food pots and my aircon based solution. If this could truly divide the forum into two camps, that would be great. You sniping isn't needed though.

 

[RockinRobot]

Y'all keep your clones domed up WAY too long. First 3 days remove dome 1/x a day to let fresh air in and close again. After 2 days open vents. Day 4 remove dome for 1 hour and check for wilt. If wilt put dome back. Do this Daily until plants don't wilt. I rarely have to dome more than 4 days. Never have mold issues either. Keeping too much humidity actually retards root growth.

I also always use rooting hormone (Clonex for me)

 

[Ca++]

This is guaranteed to rot your cuttings

The first clue is that they can't spell.