Black patches on clones

So i went to check on my clones this morning and was a bit upset to see that one of them had a black patch right in the middle of where the leaves sprout from! I cant upload pics now but i will do when i get home tonight!
Quick over view of what im growing, 15 cloned Great White Sharks. Ive got the sitting in rockwool cubes which were soaked for 24 hours. I used Clonex gel when taking the cuts and i trimmed the bigger fan leaves to stop moisture escaping too quick! I misted the inside of the dome and placed some water amongst the cubes, not too much to drown them but just enough to keep the whole setup moist. Placed the whole thing, with vents closed, on a heat mat! That was 6 days ago! I was really happy because apart from 1 plant none of them drooped too much, even the one that did has perked up a lot! I opened up the vents two days ago because i was worried about mould but didnt want to take the dome off completely as i have yet to see any roots coming out of the cubes!
Not sure if its mould because it seems to not move or come off when i touch it, its difficult to tell becuse i didnt really want to do any damage through my heavy handedness! Ive tried to look at other issues other people have had but their patches tend to be on the leaf or towards the end! Mine seem to be concentrated right in the centre of where the leaves emerge, where the main cola would form! I also noticed that one of the other plants was starting to darken in the same manner although not nearly as bad!
Do you guys think im worrying over nothing or is there something i should be doing? At work now but when i get in il post some picks so you can see what im trying to describe a bit clearer!

Thanks!

Arrrgghh for some reason I can't add photos!! It's a shame cos I took some nice ones after work! Anyways on closer inspection I think the clone is just dying. The patches are more brown and dry than black, the portions that have discoloured are quite shrivelled and curled. They'l be in the tray for 7 days tomorrow. Is there anything I should be doing to help stop the others from dying off?

" Placed the whole thing, with vents closed, on a heat mat! That was 6 days ago! " < ---------------------------- Vents closed is the answer to what went wrong ! Keeping humidity that high will surely guarantee a disaster .. Always maintain proper humidity levels ... In simple if the water runs down the side its to humid .. You want it to be present but not in excess .. Molds and Bacteria love a warm humid environment

Might be stem rot. Is it squishy? If so just trash it. You have roots? I always trash clones that might have an infection. Wash setup between cloning with bleach water.

whatever you do if its only one one or a couple i would immediatley remove the affected clones, get rid of them, you risk the whole batch molding or dieing if you leave them together, if its a couple start another dome for them to see if they pull through but dont keep them all together, either way they could all already be fucked its hard to tell, a good way to kill mold or any bacteria btw is 24-48 hrs of darkness, mold needs light to photosynth and without it it dies rather quickly, maybe try killing the light for a bit until the mold dies? idk best of luck bro

Mold grows just fine in the dark..thats where we culture it actually.

Coho said:

Mold grows just fine in the dark..thats where we culture it actually.

Click to expand...

im sorry, i meant algae. my mistake

Thanks for the replies guys! All good reading! Sorry I've been a bit delayed with a reply been really snowed under! Anyway it turns out it's not mould it was parts of the plants that have died and dried out. It was really surprising because it happened so quick! It was fine when I went to bed then when I woke up there they were! Anyway I can't be 100% sure what caused them? Out of 15 I reckon I'll lose at least 2 maybe more. On a positive note I think I was keeping the dome too wet. The rockwool was sitting in too much water so I've addressed that and the remaining clones seem to be looking much better. I'm still not seeing roots out of most of the clones but the roots are growing much quicker now that I got rid of excess water. Is that coincidence or do you think the high amount of water sitting in the bottom of the dome was restricting growth somehow? Would love to hear your thoughts!
Also how do you guys know when your clones are ready to pot? I think last time I grew from seeds I potted too cos I thought the roots would die if they didn't have soil to settle into? But they took ages to develop. Since then all the info I've read has left the roots hanging out of the grow media, so whens the best time to pot? Does more roots mean quicker growth after repotting?

Thanks!!

Have you tried pulling the dome altogether? I haven't cloned with a dome since my first few attempts. Everyone should try without the dome. My room is typically around 45% RH. Maybe in drier areas it's necessary but in my experience, a cut will stand or fall based on how well you took it. The dome does nothing but cause potential problems, IMO.

Do you guys think im worrying over nothing

Click to expand...

No you should be worried they're fucked if the the growing tip has rotted. Rw cubes too wet to start with and again with watering.

Thanks for all your input. Just to keep you updated, the clones are doing much better. I can see the roots coming through a lot of them. I've lost two so far but I'm hoping not to lose any more! I think the problems were down to too much water. If anyone stumbles across this and wants to learn from my mistake then don't make the inside of your dome too wet. Just enough to see condensation on the inside but maybe not over the whole of the inside would be perfect, I found that the plants were doing much better when there was no condensation right in the middle of the dome but only round the sides! Anyway thanks for your help guys! Was much appreciated! No doubt I will be back to pick your brains at some stage!

The black comes from keeping them in high humidity for too long. You can delay this rot by watering and misting them with a little hydrogen peroxide water, say every other day. Dont have them sealed under the dome for longer than a week, after a week open the vents.