Why not plant cuttings right into soil?

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Soulkipper

Active Member
What's the problem with soaking rockwool or a rapid rooter, moistening the soil like you would for a transplant and sticking fresh cuttings directly into the veg cycle?
I'm having near 0 luck with cloning and I've followed many people's advice. I would like to take a 3" top and plant it directly into soil or with a moistened rockwool / rapid rooter and a cloning solution.

Will it help if I mixed some cloning solution in the water each time I water for a couple weeks?

It is pretty dry around here so I've been using a dome. About 2 days ago 2 clones showed 2 little nubs of roots, but the last time this happened they ended up dying. They still haven't come out of the bottom of the rapid rooter yet, but if they grow as fast as roots from a seed one would expect to see them this weekend. I'm kinda paranoid though since the two that are showing roots were smaller cuttings than the top which rotted out and had to be re-cut and because the last run I had similar results and they all died.
 
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deadgro

Well-Known Member
Cuttings don't grow as fast as seeds. There's nothing wrong with putting cuttings in soil, they'll just take longer to root out.
 
S

Soulkipper

Active Member
deadgro said:
I'd put it directly on the cutting. Just be prepared for them to take awhile.
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I do put it on the cuttings. I'm prepared to wait as long as it takes, but 2-3 weeks without roots seems about like the max a plant would stay capable of growth.. especially if they don't begin trying right away, right? A little force feeding is an idea making me curious. What do you think?
 
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mmjmon

mmjmon

Well-Known Member
Buy or make an ez cloner. You can find instructions to make one on here or youtube etc. Easiest way to clone. 10 days and they're ready for soil or dwc.

The only trouble I have with it is with multiple day power outages.

Don't forget to clean the new razor you make your cuts with. They have oil on them. (That was my prob for a while)

Also, try a splash of bloom in the water instead of cloner.
 
slump

slump

Well-Known Member
If your cuts are rotting out at the bottom it's because of embolism. If you're taking the tops off of newer plants for your cuts, there's a pretty big hole there and once air gets inside, it's going to cause that rot.

If you are going to use the larger branch tops for cuts, drop them right into a cup of water to prevent any air getting in the stem.
 
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Soulkipper

Active Member
mmjmon said:
Buy or make an ez cloner. You can find instructions to make one on here or youtube etc. Easiest way to clone. 10 days and they're ready for soil or dwc.

The only trouble I have with it is with multiple day power outages.

Don't forget to clean the new razor you make your cuts with. They have oil on them. (That was my prob for a while)

Also, try a splash of bloom in the water instead of cloner.
Click to expand...
Where do u get a timer for an aero system? The people on here seem to stick with 1min on 5min off. I can't get that on my timers. Which bloom nute?
 
S

Soulkipper

Active Member
slump said:
If your cuts are rotting out at the bottom it's because of embolism. If you're taking the tops off of newer plants for your cuts, there's a pretty big hole there and once air gets inside, it's going to cause that rot.

If you are going to use the larger branch tops for cuts, drop them right into a cup of water to prevent any air getting in the stem.
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how long do you leave them in water? I left them in for probably 2 minutes.
 
mmjmon

mmjmon

Well-Known Member
Soulkipper said:
Where do u get a timer for an aero system? The people on here seem to stick with 1min on 5min off. I can't get that on my timers. Which bloom nute?
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My daisy cloner runs 24/7. Just a little water pump to spin the little sprinkler head inside the unit. As long as she's running, you don't have to touch it. 7-10 days you'll see roots. I leave mine for 10.
 
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Soulkipper

Active Member
mmjmon said:
My daisy cloner runs 24/7. Just a little water pump to spin the little sprinkler head inside the unit. As long as she's running, you don't have to touch it. 7-10 days you'll see roots. I leave mine for 10.
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What do I do to finish these two clones that have little nub roots started? 2-3 days ago they were only a couple mm long, but each clone had a pair of these nubs started. I believe they are almost 2 weeks old.

I've kept them relatively dry for the last 2 days, but watered today. The rapid rooters are probably 65-75% saturated right now.
 
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T.H.Cammo

Well-Known Member
Soulkipper said:
- - - and sticking fresh cuttings directly into the veg cycle?
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"Well, see, there's your problem", (A little "Mythbusters" humor!).

Fresh cuttings don't want "bright light", that makes them try to photosynthesize before they have developed a root system. That's like a person being put to hard labor in a concentration camp without being fed anything - they die real quick!

A fresh cutting for a clone needs to go into a lower light situation (just enough to keep it alive for a few days) untill it developes some roots and shows new growth. Then (and only then) it is ready to go into the veg cycle!
 
S

Soulkipper

Active Member
T.H.Cammo said:
Fresh cuttings don't want "bright light", that makes them try to photosynthesize before they have developed a root system. That's like a person being put to hard labor in a concentration camp without being fed anything - they die real quick!
A fresh cutting for a clone needs to go into a lower light situation (just enough to keep it alive for a few days) untill it developes some roots and shows new growth. Then (and only then) it is ready to go into the veg cycle!
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What about complete darkness for a couple days?
 
S

Soulkipper

Active Member
And I read that you are supposed to take clones in the morning since that's when they store up their water reserves.
 
R

resinousflowers420

Well-Known Member
Soulkipper said:
What's the problem with soaking rockwool or a rapid rooter, moistening the soil like you would for a transplant and sticking fresh cuttings directly into the veg cycle?
I'm having near 0 luck with cloning and I've followed many people's advice. I would like to take a 3" top and plant it directly into soil or with a moistened rockwool / rapid rooter and a cloning solution.

Will it help if I mixed some cloning solution in the water each time I water for a couple weeks?

It is pretty dry around here so I've been using a dome. About 2 days ago 2 clones showed 2 little nubs of roots, but the last time this happened they ended up dying. They still haven't come out of the bottom of the rapid rooter yet, but if they grow as fast as roots from a seed one would expect to see them this weekend. I'm kinda paranoid though since the two that are showing roots were smaller cuttings than the top which rotted out and had to be re-cut and because the last run I had similar results and they all died.
Click to expand...
you can put clones straight into soil.just make sure its in those small starter pots,so they can fit in the propagator.ive done it plenty of times using a light mix soil,and t doesnt really take any longer for them to root.but you will get 100% success,or damn near close,if you put the clones into peat pellets,and then put them straight into soil,rather than wait for them to root first in the peat pellets.just dont drench the soil and you should be fine.you should see roots poking out the bottoms of the pots in 7-10 days.
 
S

Soulkipper

Active Member
T.H.Cammo said:
That sounds a bit extreem - I can't really answer that! My experience (and all the literature I've read) says low light for about 2 weeks. Something like a single CFL from a foot, or so, away.
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CFL's are still spectrum based lights though so is there a particular CFL?
 
Dankfactory

Dankfactory

Well-Known Member
slump said:
If your cuts are rotting out at the bottom it's because of embolism. If you're taking the tops off of newer plants for your cuts, there's a pretty big hole there and once air gets inside, it's going to cause that rot.

If you are going to use the larger branch tops for cuts, drop them right into a cup of water to prevent any air getting in the stem.
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This is absolute bullshit. Sorry.
I take hundreds of cuts every few weeks to keep myself and a partner's Ops running smoothly, and cant even remember the last time I lost a single cutting. I slice on a cutting board in the open air, straight into a ten second Dip N Gro soak, and then into Rapid Rooters.

Cloning success has everything to do with proper RH and the perfect balance of air to water ratio in the media, or dissolved 02 in a cloner setting, and nothing to do with the fabled "air embolus."
 
mo841

mo841

Well-Known Member
an aero cloner is the easiest way IMO. I cut it, put it in the plug and forget about it. run my pump every 3 hours or so for an hour and there will be roots in 6 - 14 days. I let the roots get about an inch long before transplant.
 
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