A batch of clones in rockwool - Page 2

Al B. Fuct · #11 05-27-2007, 01:47 PM

Sounds good, VV. Whatever you can do to automatically manage conditions will make things happen more reliably. I've gotten by for many years without a thermostat in the clonebox, but as you might expect, air temps were all over the shop dependent upon the ambient air temp around the clonebox. When ambient was around 23-25C, the lights warmed the interior of the box to an ideal 26.5-27C with the fan constantly running. When ambient was really low, I managed temp by running the fan on a timer, 15 mins on, 15 mins off. Worked sorta OK, but I expect the clonebox to be much more consistent now with the tstat installed. Moreover, minding the clones is easier when the temps are stable. An unexpectedly warm day might cause the cubes to dry out more quickly than usual, leaving me with wilted or cooked clones when I water at the usual time of day.

You'll like the improvement in reliability of a flood system- they simply can not clog from nute salts as there's no small sprayer or dripper apertures. Much less maintenance.

VictorVIcious · #12 08-24-2007, 11:32 PM

I put the fourth table on flood and drain yesterday. Still have a few things to do. I have the mother table set and ready. Have clones in it now. The other three are all in flowering, two weeks apart. I replaced two of my 400watt lights with t-5 4' 8 bulb fixtures. I like what I see so far. The first harvest will be of those clones I took from the flowering plants, so they have multiple branches instead of the single cola so I will probably get a lower yield from them. We have had hot, humid weather for a few weeks now so everything has slowed down a little. I figure another three months I should have it all going smooth.

weedbro · #13 08-26-2007, 12:51 PM

when you cut clones do you just give them water until they start growing roots by just spraying the leaves. Or do you start giving the clones nutes right away? Just wondering how the feeding process works for clones with no roots. thanks

TheConstantGardner · #14 08-26-2007, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weedbro

when you cut clones do you just give them water until they start growing roots by just spraying the leaves. Or do you start giving the clones nutes right away? Just wondering how the feeding process works for clones with no roots. thanks

Nutes aren't needed until roots form. Until roots form, you are only concentrating on gaining roots and not foliage. I give my clones very mild nutes as soon as roots appear, then aggressively up the nutes as the plant starts producing new vegetation.

VictorVIcious · #15 08-26-2007, 03:21 PM

Constant gardner is right you don't have to give nutes until roots are out. Al B uses mild nutes in the water he puts in his rockwool cubes. Since he has better results then I get I'm going to try his way. VV

potroast · #16 08-26-2007, 11:46 PM

I use mild nutes and especially SuperThrive in the water that I soak cubes, rewet cubes, and foliar spray the cuttings with. I root 40 cuttings a month, and get near 100% rooting.

HTH

TheConstantGardner · #17 08-27-2007, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by potroast

I use mild nutes and especially SuperThrive in the water that I soak cubes, rewet cubes, and foliar spray the cuttings with. I root 40 cuttings a month, and get near 100% rooting.

HTH

I mist with a couple drops of superthrive and water, which usually ends up wetting the top of my medium. My clones are small, so it's getting down to the root zone. I may have to try the rockwool cubes soon. Perlite/vermiculite is as friggin messy as soil.

weedbro · #18 08-27-2007, 03:48 PM

ya im going to be cutting some clones in the next couple of weeks and ill be sticking them in rockwool so its nice to know that you can soak the cubes with a little bit of nutes. i had have soil and half rockwool that i started seeds in and i didnt give the ones in rockwool anything for awhile and they are wayy behind the ones in soil

Al B. Fuct · #19 08-30-2007, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VictorVIcious

Constant gardner is right you don't have to give nutes until roots are out. Al B uses mild nutes in the water he puts in his rockwool cubes. Since he has better results then I get I'm going to try his way. VV

Quite true that clones can't make any use of nutes until they have roots, but in rockwool cubes you don't see the roots from the very instant nodes have formed. You see them a couple of days later. Putting a weak nute soln (~400ppm, 5ml Canna Vega "A" & "B" in 10L water, corrected to pH 5.5) on the clones means they can get at the nutes a couple of days before you see them out of the bottom of the RW cube.

FYI, I'm not checking in here regularly these days. Check me out over here.

Al B. Fuct · #20 11-12-2007, 03:36 PM

Just a quick followup on refining the cloning environment process.

I had a few batches root slowly and coincidentally came across anecdotal evidence of nitrogen slowing rooting performance. I stopped adding nutes to the watering soln, instead just correcting pH to ~5.5-5.8. The last batch done like that popped first roots at 6 days with profuse roots at 10 days. I'll do the next batch the same way and see if I get the same result. Then I'll try it again with a weak vega nute soln (~400ppm) and see if the strike time is slower.

I ran a small circ fan in the clonebox in the coldest months, where the ambient around the clonebox can get down to 10c. This moves some heat off the fluoro ballasts and raises the box to the setpoint of 26-27C. However, this fan caused the cubes to dry out much more quickly, requiring 2x day watering. As spring has come on, I have switched off the circ fan.