Cloning 101.. Compilation of Techniques.

%MiSTuRBoMbDiGgItty%

Well-Known Member
do you mist the clones all the time?
they aren't misted, they just sit in the water with fresh oxygen being pumped through it all day...

It works great by the way and I wanted to upload some pics of rooted cuts out of my Bubble Cloner but when I hit the manage attachments button nothing happens???
 

Tronica

Well-Known Member
bubble cloners can take a long time for roots. i have read many success stories with rapid rooers and am using some right now on my own clones. taken 3 days ago and all but 1 look awesome. one of my silver haze cuttings didn't look to great so i moved it to the bubbler where it perked right up. the bubbler can keep clones alive forever and will perk up a nasty looking one real quick, they just tend to take longer to root.
 

Demosthenese

Well-Known Member
i clone in a bubbler cloner and then transplant to hydroton when roots are showing good growth. i recently tried just cutting a clone and sticking it into hydroton. i made sure the stem was low in the pot, like almost touching the bottom and it rooted within two weeks. a little slower then bubbler perhaps, but wouldn't require a transplant then so i guess less odds of breaking root systems. i was surprised; i couldnt find anyone that clones directly to hydroton so i figured it wouldn't work.
 

itchynutts

Active Member
I tired cloning with rapid rooters and clonex but they just kept dying. I just built the bubbler and had them in there 4 3 days. I don't care if they take 2 weeks to root as long as it works. For a 100% success rate two weeks is a small price to pay!!!
 

noanoxan

Active Member
I thought this was a dwc techniques thread, but this is just as good! after reading through this I grabbed a small cutting, shaved the bottom, stuck it in a homemade neoprene disc, and wedged that in my aerogarden that was recently retired when my other plants got too big for it. I got the little 3 site garden, and it seems to be going well. I'm 4 days in and only a tiny bit of wilt.

I'll share a little technique with you anyway, about my dwc. I find growing mediums to be pointless in dwc, since the roots are just going to dip into the solution anyway, so I don't use them. my plants are suspended by 3" neoprene discs. I only use net pots as a frame to hold the neoprene up.

so far, all looks well. a little white slimy shit, but I figured that was because of light. so I wrapped my res in paper bags and cleaned off the goo. works great! hasn't returned yet.


for those that don't want to buy cloning gel/powder, there's always willow tree tea (what I call it). find a willow tree, cut off a branch, and mulch it. steep the branch bits in 170 degree water for...6 hours? I forget exactly. strain the tea, and dip your clones in the mix, after letting it cool, of course. I'm doing this now, and it seems to work. doesn't hurt it, anyway. I heard banana plants have the same hormone (that's how they reproduce), but am weary of it. I'll try it next time I need to clone. some old gardener guy at the nursery I was at told me about it.
 

Tronica

Well-Known Member
I thought this was a dwc techniques thread, but this is just as good! after reading through this I grabbed a small cutting, shaved the bottom, stuck it in a homemade neoprene disc, and wedged that in my aerogarden that was recently retired when my other plants got too big for it. I got the little 3 site garden, and it seems to be going well. I'm 4 days in and only a tiny bit of wilt.

I'll share a little technique with you anyway, about my dwc. I find growing mediums to be pointless in dwc, since the roots are just going to dip into the solution anyway, so I don't use them. my plants are suspended by 3" neoprene discs. I only use net pots as a frame to hold the neoprene up.

so far, all looks well. a little white slimy shit, but I figured that was because of light. so I wrapped my res in paper bags and cleaned off the goo. works great! hasn't returned yet.


for those that don't want to buy cloning gel/powder, there's always willow tree tea (what I call it). find a willow tree, cut off a branch, and mulch it. steep the branch bits in 170 degree water for...6 hours? I forget exactly. strain the tea, and dip your clones in the mix, after letting it cool, of course. I'm doing this now, and it seems to work. doesn't hurt it, anyway. I heard banana plants have the same hormone (that's how they reproduce), but am weary of it. I'll try it next time I need to clone. some old gardener guy at the nursery I was at told me about it.

yes willow tree tea is a soak you can use on a cutting for for some extra help. willow tree cuttings have iba in them, which is a root stimulating hormone. the same hormone used in many cloning powders. i think you're generally not suppossed to use a gel/powder and a willow soak, but I would try it on some anyways. a soak alone is suppossed to be sufficient.

you can also water with it if you clone in a medium that can be watered. not sure how much you use or how often, i imagine not much at all tho.
 

come_gr0w_with_us

Well-Known Member
Im a little confused here on the cloning with a bubbleponic system. Ive read many general cloning techniques, one of which suggests taking the cutting submerged in water to prevent any airbubbles from getting into the stem and killing the clone. In a bubbleponic system its obvious that bubbles will get in and around the submerged clone. Any clarification on this ????
 

Tronica

Well-Known Member
Im a little confused here on the cloning with a bubbleponic system. Ive read many general cloning techniques, one of which suggests taking the cutting submerged in water to prevent any airbubbles from getting into the stem and killing the clone. In a bubbleponic system its obvious that bubbles will get in and around the submerged clone. Any clarification on this ????

pretty sure this will not kill the clones

many peoples bubble cloners have the stem in the water. as long as the stem is pointing down you shouldn't get an air bubble anyways. its always good practice to soak your cutting in water before going to your medium to help prevent air bubbles also. that alone is a pretty good preventative. making a second cut while the plant is in water is a good practice too.
 

Demosthenese

Well-Known Member
im sure lots of people are actually very sloppy about cloning and are embarassed to say it. I've definetly used unsterilized blades, cut clones and let them soak, dipped them, cut em in the air, scraped, split, etc. and also having read SO MANY different cloning methods and so many people who have success or failure with almost the exact same method, it all comes down to what works for you. Cloning is both easy and hard to fuck up. You could do it as by the book as possible, and there are people who still fail over and over. Or you can totally fuck arround and just break branches off and throw them in a glass of water. Either method might work for you in your grow room with your plants. watever works is best.

I found my clones rooted slightly faster suspended above the water in the bubbly air then they did submerged with bubblers going in the water. I've found that the temperature of the water dropping below 65 seems to start slowing root development. I've found that leaving the clones alone once they are placed in the system and not emptying it or changing the res worked with a higher rate of overall rooting. Most of all ive found it takes longer then i want it to, but it always happens if i wait.
 

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
True tronic. Cloning can be made hard very easily..And cloning can also be made simple when using and copying proven techniques by other's.
Knowing exact environmental circumstances that exhist in each style are key i think.
When cloning in a cup of water ive had great results simply by cutting randomly and placing them in a 1/2 inch or so of TAP water un PH'd, no 45 cut, no scrape, no dip in rooting hormone.
Just set in shaded cfl lighting and by changing the water daily u will get clones.
My tap water is 400 + ppm out of the faucet.
My ph ranges.If u want ill take a pic of a ph pen calibrated in my tap.
room temps 76-82 degrees and about 30-40 humidity.
And not doing anything special i get roots simply this way within 2 weeks.
Ive narrowed it down to 8-11 days following my cloning in a cup tuning.
But there are other simple ways of cloning as well like cloning in peat plugs. with a heat mat, a dome covered with 80-90 percent humidity and higher environmental temps.
I get clones faster using the plugs granted but i get the same results both ways.
Thats why a cloning compilation was in order great stuff guys.
 

convict156326

Active Member
what type of lighting do clones prefer? im talking less than 12 to keep things legal, cfl's? t5's, florescent? im going to try to take a cutting but am on day 22 of flower with my hps, can i veg them under the cfl's i have?
 
I am having maybe 40% success or less with Olivia's Gel in Jiffy plugs under floros. It takes about three weeks to a month before I even see roots.
I've also had a bit of success with willow tea in straight coco. But by a bit, I mean no better than 50%. Rooting time is no different: 3-4 weeks.
Been trying to keep it all organic, but my results aren't all that great. I was working with a friend back in the day and we were using clonex liquid in peat pellets. The tray went under MH on the floor with a heating pad in the flower room and was good to go in 10 days or so with a 95-100% success rate.
One thing I will say for Olivia's is that it keeps the clone alive for a long time. I've had em last for up to 7 weeks before they die. Color me confused.
Clearly, I haven't stumbled upon the combination of methods, liquids and goops that works for me, but I can say this: The more I try, the more I learn. Even if all I'm learning is what doesn't work, It's still good information.
So for now, my mother room is 2 to 3 times the size it needs to be in order to accommodate my "success rate".
If only I could get the hand of this cloning thing...
 

taint

Well-Known Member
This is an easy way to do some cuts.First a healthy plant in veg with some good branching,side and top views.
I use an old cutting board,a rusty razor,sharp fine pointed scissors and roottech gel.
You don't need any hormones at all to take cuts successfully but it speeds up the process and the plants are less beat up by the time they root.
How the branch looks removed with nodes attached and stripped off,I just pinch them off be careful not to kink the stem.......kinking is bad.
Stick in gel let sit for 30 seconds or so.
In this case I'm using peat pellets but it'll work in just about anything that will keep the cut from drying out while it's rooting.
Soak the pellets overnight or they'll suck the moisture outta the cuts with bad results.
Poke hole in pellet,stick cut all the way down again careful not to kink the stem.
Form pellet around stem,gently.......then dunk in water to replace what ya squeezed out by forming then put in a dome.I'm using a cake box,they come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes plus ya getta cake.......fucking A.
In this case they're about 12"s under a 42 watt cfl,just leave'em alone they don't like being messed with.
Roots take anywhere from 5 to 15 days depending on plant and temp,I will take some pics and explain how I quick harden them off and pot'em when these root.
Now the donor plant provided 6 cuts and has 4 main branches,ready to be up-potted and flowered tomorrow.
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