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Originally Posted by splifman
Thanks for the advice. I actually was using those tree bark plugs, i forgot what they are called, I'm sure you have come across them before though. I got 8 out of 9 to root, but it took between 3 to 6 weeks.
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You may have had either coconut coir or 'jiffy pots.' I am not fond of these because they are made of organics and can rot. They really hold too much water for cloning. You're looking for damp, never wet or saturated media.
3-6 weeks is waaaaay too long, indicating things were too wet. Stem tips would rot in that period of time and the roots would pop out further up the stem, but very slowly indeed. The roots will pop out on the point of the stem where there is the best compromise of water and oxygen. Should take no more than 10 days to get roots, 5 days in best case.
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I never watered the plugs until they looked like they were drying out ( you can tell by the color), at which point I would add no more than a tablespoon or two of water. I had a heating pad that I placed on low just to up the temp in the dome to around 80 F. I would mist them about three times a day. Just don't know why it takes so long!
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No need to mist leaves unless you're seeing wilting. Wilting can also be caused by stem rot from a too-wet medium. I've never had to mist- and the humidity in my clone box is often rather low- 40-50%. I have seen minor wilting in the day just after the cuttings are done, but turning off the fluoros in the clone box for their first 6-8 hours in the box will usually solve that. Otherwise the lights in the clone box run 24/7.
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If it seems like the stems are getting too much water I can try to lower this setting.
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Check for stem rot daily. If you get rot, it's too wet. You shouldn't see water dripping off the stems in the aerocloner. Doesn't need to be a fog or mist in the aerocloner, only very high humidity around the stem tips.
You'll get there, but I think rockwool cubes on a 28C heat pad (never hotter) are a bit more forgiving and flexible in the long run. You can figure that if strikes are taking more than 10 days, whatever you're doing is too wet.