Advice for Clones

firegrower

Active Member
Hey guys....I've got a couple plants that are finally showing female (without switching to 12/12). I've decided to take a few clones now that I know they are ladies! I've cut healthy clones where they branch off, then removed the lower leaves, just leaving a nice healthy top with some nice growth. I then used a sharp blade and made the 45 degree cut just below the leaf node of the leaves I cut off. (I made this final cut under water...following advice from someone else...)I'm trying a couple in this "gel 2 root" stuff. You just cut the clone, and stick it in this clear gel cup so u can see when the roots develop. But I'm also putting some directly in rockwool. I'm keeping them inside my grow tent, but down low where they arent' getting the main, direct light from the 600W mh. They are in a small tray covered with a humidity dome. What I want to know is how moist should I keep the rockwool?, should I be giving them direct light right away? and how long would it usually take to begin to develop roots enough to transplant? (some going outside...a couple in dwc). Also, any other ideas or advice on what I'm doing right or wrong would be appreciated!
Cheers!
 

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
Keep them very wet all the time. Also weaker light is best. To give you an idea I usually have about 20 cuttings at a time under a single 13 watt CFL that is a foot away. Strong light will yellow out the leaves before they root. Other than that there is not much too it. Did you use any rooting hormone on the ones in rockwool?
 

tyke1973

Well-Known Member
Pre soak the rock wool cubess and the cubes are not that important during the first week of a clone life its the leaves that need your attension.spray the leaves about 3 times a day with a misster spray gun and the lid of the propagation unit this will help the plant get a hold in it's new surrounding's.once the rockwool cubes are pulled out after pre soaking the squeeze the excess water out not too much you still want a little moistness to the cubes.if you keep soaking the cubes the roots will take far longer to esstablish.but by keeping them just moist they send out rootlets searching for water and don't let any water get on the cubes for the first day till the rooting compound gets into the plant,water will just wash it off.but i'm not saying don't keep a close eye on the cubes to make sure that they are allways moist.after the first week sprat the top part of the plant with superthrive and the cube with plant start.but superthrive is the way to go if you want good clones use from the very start.also a little tip is put the clone on a angle so they have less to trvel the roots will come through the side of the cube.
 

mygirls

Medical Marijuana (MOD)
i keep my rockwoolcubes sitting in water the hole time they are in the dome. this also helps keep the hum. up
 

haloman420

Well-Known Member
Mygirls is rite. I am in the states and I found a product at wallmart called root magic and the same at home depot but its called root tone anyway its a white powder and after you cut you dip the wet end into the powder and put the clone in a pot and watch it grow.
 

phil le b

Well-Known Member
Hey guys....I've got a couple plants that are finally showing female (without switching to 12/12). I've decided to take a few clones now that I know they are ladies! I've cut healthy clones where they branch off, then removed the lower leaves, just leaving a nice healthy top with some nice growth. I then used a sharp blade and made the 45 degree cut just below the leaf node of the leaves I cut off. (I made this final cut under water...following advice from someone else...)I'm trying a couple in this "gel 2 root" stuff. You just cut the clone, and stick it in this clear gel cup so u can see when the roots develop. But I'm also putting some directly in rockwool. I'm keeping them inside my grow tent, but down low where they arent' getting the main, direct light from the 600W mh. They are in a small tray covered with a humidity dome. What I want to know is how moist should I keep the rockwool?, should I be giving them direct light right away? and how long would it usually take to begin to develop roots enough to transplant? (some going outside...a couple in dwc). Also, any other ideas or advice on what I'm doing right or wrong would be appreciated!
Cheers!
Marijuana Cuttings
Marijuana cuttings are used for cloning marijuana plants, also see the section on
marijuana cloning for more information on this process.
Use cuttings to increase your stock of plants. A cutting, or 'clone' will have the
same characteristics and genetic age as the plant it came from. If you grow a cutting
for a while in constant light you can take more cuttings from it.
You can take cuttings from any part of the plant but some bits root better than others.
Growing tips with firm stems are ideal. Use a sterile razor blade to take 10 to 15 cm
long cuttings. Make the cut on the stem between leaf joints.
Cut the stem at a 45 degree angle. Immediately place the cut stem in p.h. balanced water.
This prevents an air bubble forming in the stem which might block fluid uptake. Remove
all but the top set of leaves.
Dip cuttings in hormone rooting gel or powder then insert into your chosen medium.
Make sure you don't kink the stem as it gets pushed in. To ensure a perfect fit you
can use a pencil or skewer to make a hole in the medium.
Oxygen is important to help cuttings root, choose a loose growing medium that lets
in plenty of air. Spray clones daily with shaken p.h. balanced water. Hydro clones
should have their water changed daily if not being moved or aerated.
Put fresh cuttings in a covered germination box or propagator and place them in
moderate light such as a north facing window or under a fluorescent light. Coloured
plastic bags placed over propagators make good shades from strong light.
You don't need to feed cuttings in compost at all until they root. Hydro clones will
also root happily without added nutrients. After about 2 or 3 weeks start giving a weak
nutrient solution (1/4 normal strength max).
Cuttings should root in 14 to 28 days. Once the roots start to show, or the clones
begin to grow, start removing any covering for short, gradually increasing periods,
until the cuttings can endure outside life without wilting.

Cloning Marijuana What are the advantages of cloning?
Cloning is the process of making an exact copy of a living thing, in this case a
marijuana plant. Cloning has many advantages to offer the advanced grower. First,
the process of germination can be skipped over, saving valuable time. Second, the
exact genetics of your best female can be preserved forever. Third, growers will save
money by not having to purchase seeds every year. For SOG growers, cloning is a must to
ensure that only females will be grown and no space is wasted on males. It is advisable
to note however that over time if the same marijuana plant is continued to be cloned, it
may degrade, become less potent or more unstable. This will only happen once you have
cloned the same marijuana plant several times.

For the easy way to clone marijuana, see rooting with rockwool below.
What do I need to start cloning? to begin cloning marijuana you will need a mother
plant. A mother plant is the plant all of the cuttings will be taken from. It should
exhibit qualities such as fast growth, high potency and mould and pest resistance, or
just be a strain you want to keep growing. The mother should be kept in vegetative growth
all the time under a metal halide (MH) light. Other things that will be needed are small
plate, a shallow tray that will hold about three inches of water. An aquarium air pump,
rooting hormone and high P fertilizer. Light will be provided by fluorescents hung seven
inches above the plant tops. An alternative and perhaps easier method involves using
rockwool. We will explain that later.

Set-up
First set the tray in a separate area from all the other plants. A separate closet or
basement is good. Fill the tray with water (boiled for 20 minutes) mixed with liquid
rooting hormone. Install the aquarium air pump to oxygenate the water. The size of the
pump depends on the size of the tray. Make an anti-siphon loop in the hose to the pump
to prevent water from getting into it if the power should go out. Next, hang the
fluorescents about 12 inches from the top of the tray. This will leave about 7 inches
from the tops of the cuttings to the lights.

Taking the cuttings
Once the cloning area is set up the clones can be taken from the mother plant. Taking
clones is almost the same as pruning, so when you prune, instead of throwing away the
cuttings they can be made into clones. The first cut should be made with sharp scissors
or a razor blade sterilized with rubbing alcohol. The cutting should be about 6 to
8 inches tall. Next, trim off the bottom leaves with a sharp razor blade. There should
be three or four sets of leaves remaining on the cutting. Bring the cutting to the
rooting tray and get out the Styrofoam plates. Poke a hole in the middle just big
enough for the stem to fit through. The cutting can be secured in place with some
sticky tack (looks like gum). Now submerge the bottom of the the cutting and make
another cut diagonally. This will expose more stem surface to the water and make it
easier for the cutting to absorb nutrients. This cut must be made under water to prevent
a bubble forming in the stem, blocking nutrient intake.

Rooting the cuttings
Now that the cuttings are floating in the rooting tray the water needs to be changed
every other day. Just siphon it out and replace it quickly with new hormone treated
water. Be careful never to drain all the water out. If the stem bottoms are exposed a
bubble will developed inside the stem and the clone will die. After about 10 days in
the rooting tray, the stem bottom will start to come out slightly. This is the first
sign that the roots will appear shortly. Foliar spray with a chemical fertilizer that
is high in P at 1/4 strength every three days. Remember to spray the plants the day
after foliar feeding with water to clean the leaves of any un-absorbed nutrients. Soon
the tiny immature roots will be visible and when they reach about one inch in length
they can be planted in the soil and will grow as an exact copy of the mother plant.

Rooting with rockwool (the easy way)
This method is basically the same, after taking the cutting dip in the rooting hormone
and place cutting straight into a piece of wet rockwool. The rockwool cubes are kept in
a damp tray (must be kept damp but not flooded), cuttings are placed under a fluorescent
light (20 hours a day) and kept damp (no nutrients). After around 2-4 weeks, roots will
appear from the bottom of the cube. The plant is now ready for transplant.
 

mygirls

Medical Marijuana (MOD)
Mygirls is rite. I am in the states and I found a product at wallmart called root magic and the same at home depot but its called root tone anyway its a white powder and after you cut you dip the wet end into the powder and put the clone in a pot and watch it grow.
at walmart its take root by shultz
 

supdro

Well-Known Member
bro the best advice i can give you is buy or make an aeroponic cloner. I cut and put them in the neoprene collars.....that is it. no watching them, making sure the cubes have enough water, you don't have to watch the humidity... nothing at all. I see roots in a week or so depending on the strain. best of luck
 
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