Cloning!! thanks for any answers!!!

A

Adrien11

Member
Hey guys Adrien here, just had some questions since I'm about to start cloning my plants
Currently I've got 2 plants going one super silver haze that is about 3 weeks old and is looking great, also a lemon kush that is rite behind the silver haze. But doing great also. Just need help cloning. My first question is when is the best time to clone I'm switching to flowering in 4 days so should I do it before then? And also where is the best part to cut from? And is it hard to clone in soil? Any help/tips
 
GibbsIt89

GibbsIt89

Well-Known Member
100% cloning success rate for me:

- (1) Humidity dome and tray
- (1) Square divider insert for tray (to hold your rockwool cubes or rapid rooters securely and promote root undergrowth)
- (1) Bottle of cloning GEL (I prefer the gel over the powder)
- (1) Heating pad
- (1) Light (you can use a little CFL or a T5 tube, I like to use two 2' T5 tubes over the dome/tray)
- (1) Little spray bottle for misting the clones and dome
- (#) Then however many clones you want to take, just make sure you purchase the proper number of rockwool cubes or rapid rooter plugs. (I prefer the rapid rooters although I think General Hydroponics discontinued that product so just grab some rockwool)

If using rockwool you will want to soak the rockwool in 5.5 PH balanced water for an hour. The glue in the rockwool is more alkaline so you need to bring it down to 6.0-6.5 PH when growing in soil. I would suggest using rockwool cubes or something to help keep the clone and its new root growth secure/stable rather then trying to do it directly in soil or something (would work, but won't be as successful in my opinion).

Take clones from the lowest part of the plant, they will root the fastest no matter how big or small they are. Taking clones from a flowering plant can take a bit of time to reveg depending on when you take them but clones root even faster when taken from a flowering plant. You can expect roots in as little as a couple days to 2 weeks. I don't bother using any clones that take too long to root as they can build up root rot that goes unnoticed.

When I first take a clone, I find one on the lowest part of the plant, cut it at a 45 degree angle, lightly shave a little extra at that cut then quickly dip it right into the rooting gel bottle. I even let it sit in there for a minute or two then I simply stick it into my presoaked rockwool cube only till i feel it poke into the cube, then I just cut a little piece of rockwool and shove it into the same hole I stuck the clone into to further secure the stem in the cube. You can cut the tips of the fan leaves if they are in the way of other clones in the dome, won't hurt them, the clones energy is going to root growth not foliage at this time so. This helps keep things a little cleaner as well so you don't have leaves sitting on top of one another and creating mold issues etc with all the moisture in there. Give the dome a little spray along with the canopy of the clones, place the dome over top of the tray and keep the vents closed for a couple days. Also, add about 250ml of ph balanced water (preferably distilled as well so there is no salt/chlorine build up in the tray) with a touch of nitrogen (5ml per 4L max probably) to keep the tray wet.

Spay humidity dome and clone canopy once a day, fill bottom of tray when needed. Open vents half way after a 3 days. Don't worry about yellowing leaves, clones look like shit for the rooting stage then bounce right back. I keep my light on overhead 18/6 but 24/0 or 20/4 works fine too. Some people root without any light over head, some root with it on 12/12 too, it really doesnt matter because the plant is just focusing on roots. Id wait till you have a bunch of roots before transplanting.

Hope this helped!
 
butsack

butsack

Well-Known Member
GibbsIt89 said:
100% cloning success rate for me:

- (1) Humidity dome and tray
- (1) Square divider insert for tray (to hold your rockwool cubes or rapid rooters securely and promote root undergrowth)
- (1) Bottle of cloning GEL (I prefer the gel over the powder)
- (1) Heating pad
- (1) Light (you can use a little CFL or a T5 tube, I like to use two 2' T5 tubes over the dome/tray)
- (1) Little spray bottle for misting the clones and dome
- (#) Then however many clones you want to take, just make sure you purchase the proper number of rockwool cubes or rapid rooter plugs. (I prefer the rapid rooters although I think General Hydroponics discontinued that product so just grab some rockwool)

If using rockwool you will want to soak the rockwool in 5.5 PH balanced water for an hour. The glue in the rockwool is more alkaline so you need to bring it down to 6.0-6.5 PH when growing in soil. I would suggest using rockwool cubes or something to help keep the clone and its new root growth secure/stable rather then trying to do it directly in soil or something (would work, but won't be as successful in my opinion).

Take clones from the lowest part of the plant, they will root the fastest no matter how big or small they are. Taking clones from a flowering plant can take a bit of time to reveg depending on when you take them but clones root even faster when taken from a flowering plant. You can expect roots in as little as a couple days to 2 weeks. I don't bother using any clones that take too long to root as they can build up root rot that goes unnoticed.

When I first take a clone, I find one on the lowest part of the plant, cut it at a 45 degree angle, lightly shave a little extra at that cut then quickly dip it right into the rooting gel bottle. I even let it sit in there for a minute or two then I simply stick it into my presoaked rockwool cube only till i feel it poke into the cube, then I just cut a little piece of rockwool and shove it into the same hole I stuck the clone into to further secure the stem in the cube. You can cut the tips of the fan leaves if they are in the way of other clones in the dome, won't hurt them, the clones energy is going to root growth not foliage at this time so. This helps keep things a little cleaner as well so you don't have leaves sitting on top of one another and creating mold issues etc with all the moisture in there. Give the dome a little spray along with the canopy of the clones, place the dome over top of the tray and keep the vents closed for a couple days. Also, add about 250ml of ph balanced water (preferably distilled as well so there is no salt/chlorine build up in the tray) with a touch of nitrogen (5ml per 4L max probably) to keep the tray wet.

Spay humidity dome and clone canopy once a day, fill bottom of tray when needed. Open vents half way after a 3 days. Don't worry about yellowing leaves, clones look like shit for the rooting stage then bounce right back. I keep my light on overhead 18/6 but 24/0 or 20/4 works fine too. Some people root without any light over head, some root with it on 12/12 too, it really doesnt matter because the plant is just focusing on roots. Id wait till you have a bunch of roots before transplanting.

Hope this helped!
Click to expand...
this is great advice. :-D
I forgot how much work it is to clone without an aero unit.:weed:
 
GibbsIt89

GibbsIt89

Well-Known Member
I have always had great success from cloning surprisingly. What has increased my success though:

-Adding lighting (before I did not use lighting), then increased further with my efficient 2' T5 tubes that cover the whole tray/dome. Ive h had them pretty low under HIDs as well, but these T5s sure have done the trick.

-Adding a heating pad. Before I used to use a hot plate about 2 feet under the dome, worked amazing. Ive now got an actual hydrofarm heating pad that I can place directly under the tray, not as warm so I have to make sure the outside environment for the dome is a little warmer like keeping it in a seperate closet or having it placed in the veg room but away from the light as it is too intense of course.

-Adding nitrogen to the bottom of the tray. I recently started growing again and didnt add any this round as I was a little worried about getting comfortable with growing again and well it sure showed, they took longer and had a longer recovery period due to the hardcore yellowing. Noticed a big difference when I did a second round with some nutes in the tray.

-Rapid rooters. They come with some GH sort of additive or whatever already soaked into the rapid rooters so it helps promote root growth even further. I liked that there was more of a root mass then just random roots popping out here and there with rockwool. The problem is I hear they have discontinued this product, I was able to find some on amazon.ca however. I can see why they might have discontinued it from a sellers point of few. The product doesnt have the greatest shelf life due to it already being moist and if there is a hole in the bag like when they attach the label with stables it can cause the product to dry out and become unsellable. Regardless, I loved them dispite what others might say.
 
GibbsIt89

GibbsIt89

Well-Known Member
vostok said:
You may go the way of Gibbs or
consider building a fun Bubble cloner
that will give you a 90% return
on your first run in 10 days
did I say it was fun
gurgle 4more​
Click to expand...
Yes exactly, many many different ways to clone. My method works for me so I continue to do it this way until I'm feeling a bit creative/adventurous.
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
GibbsIt89 said:
I have always had great success from cloning surprisingly. What has increased my success though:

-Adding lighting (before I did not use lighting), then increased further with my efficient 2' T5 tubes that cover the whole tray/dome. Ive h had them pretty low under HIDs as well, but these T5s sure have done the trick.
False: You just want the phototropic 'motor' to just tick over, as the cuttings have no roots these cuttings know what to do with the sugars made?

-Adding a heating pad. Before I used to use a hot plate about 2 feet under the dome, worked amazing. Ive now got an actual hydrofarm heating pad that I can place directly under the tray, not as warm so I have to make sure the outside environment for the dome is a little warmer like keeping it in a seperate closet or having it placed in the veg room but away from the light as it is too intense of course.
True: Many cloners find 18c-22c, 54f-72f to be ideal Sativa hybrids at 25C/77f to be ideal, the rrot zone is always cooler than the air by 10-15%

-Adding nitrogen to the bottom of the tray. I recently started growing again and didnt add any this round as I was a little worried about getting comfortable with growing again and well it sure showed, they took longer and had a longer recovery period due to the hardcore yellowing. Noticed a big difference when I did a second round with some nutes in the tray.
False: its very important that cloners deplete their cutting of (N) before attempting to grow rootlets, very little is said of this, thats why I to shall support the idea, to only take cuttings from the lowest laterals, as these have more hormone and less (N) ..still best to flush a week before you snip those cuts tho
-Rapid rooters. They come with some GH sort of additive or whatever already soaked into the rapid rooters so it helps promote root growth even further. I liked that there was more of a root mass then just random roots popping out here and there with rockwool. The problem is I hear they have discontinued this product, I was able to find some on amazon.ca however. I can see why they might have discontinued it from a sellers point of few. The product doesnt have the greatest shelf life due to it already being moist and if there is a hole in the bag like when they attach the label with stables it can cause the product to dry out and become unsellable. Regardless, I loved them dispite what others might say.
Click to expand...
Although you may have had some/many successful clones, its not science, its not witchcraft but common sense gardening, weather you are cloning cannabis or carrots the process is the same "CLONING IS BUT SIMPLE CAMBIUM ENGINEERING' .teasing out rootlets from under the 'bark' of any plants easy ...peezy
there are many 'tricks' to this job, like using willow tree tea, or my favorite, household honey instead of the Clonex shit, ..honey has the advantage of it being antiseptic ..I'm not trying to diss you but a little more research on your part and you can forget doing the witches ritual around the bonfire every waning moon ..lol
 
Hydrotech364

Hydrotech364

Well-Known Member
It help's to think like a plant and understand why it does what and when,a plant wont need to root if you are foliar feeding it.The mist should only be sprayed on the dome.Keeping it in a state of suspension is just as important as allowing more time everytime You remove the dome.@ day 4 when Cell Division and rooting can finally occur the cutting will be parched and forced to root.I find that chemical reaction's are alot like Botanical Reaction's...Always better when there is some sort of a clash or shock....A healthy cutting will do what comes natural and root's should be poking out in seven day's.I do give them a gentle twist if no root's have shown by then.If it doesnt want to spin it is rooted and just a little behind schedule.Everyone I know has their variation's of this same process.
 
GibbsIt89

GibbsIt89

Well-Known Member
vostok said:
Although you may have had some/many successful clones, its not science, its not witchcraft but common sense gardening, weather you are cloning cannabis or carrots the process is the same "CLONING IS BUT SIMPLE CAMBIUM ENGINEERING' .teasing out rootlets from under the 'bark' of any plants easy ...peezy
there are many 'tricks' to this job, like using willow tree tea, or my favorite, household honey instead of the Clonex shit, ..honey has the advantage of it being antiseptic ..I'm not trying to diss you but a little more research on your part and you can forget doing the witches ritual around the bonfire every waning moon ..lol
Click to expand...
Yes sorry the nitrogen and lighting i mentioned furthering my rooting success does not actually have anything to do with the initial rooting of the clone. Where it furthers the success is after the initial rooting. I should have mentioned that about the plant you are taking your clone from yes you want it to be flushed.
 
GibbsIt89

GibbsIt89

Well-Known Member
hydrotech364 said:
It help's to think like a plant and understand why it does what and when,a plant wont need to root if you are foliar feeding it.The mist should only be sprayed on the dome.Keeping it in a state of suspension is just as important as allowing more time everytime You remove the dome.@ day 4 when Cell Division and rooting can finally occur the cutting will be parched and forced to root.I find that chemical reaction's are alot like Botanical Reaction's...Always better when there is some sort of a clash or shock....A healthy cutting will do what comes natural and root's should be poking out in seven day's.I do give them a gentle twist if no root's have shown by then.If it doesnt want to spin it is rooted and just a little behind schedule.Everyone I know has their variation's of this same process.
Click to expand...
Yes I have felt sometimes I am over humidifying everything by misting so much. Hasn't hurt anything I noticed though. Ive read that it is good to mist the canopy as well because the plant is only able to intake elements through the foliage until root development. Misting with distilled water, no nutrients. I add nitrogen in the tray for when after the roots are developed they can start munching out.

This brings me to wonder why people foliar feed at all? When would the plant prefer to intake nutrients through foliage rather than its root system (generally speaking, not in a cloning sense)?
 
mike4c4

mike4c4

Well-Known Member
Adrien11 said:
Hey guys Adrien here, just had some questions since I'm about to start cloning my plants
Currently I've got 2 plants going one super silver haze that is about 3 weeks old and is looking great, also a lemon kush that is rite behind the silver haze. But doing great also. Just need help cloning. My first question is when is the best time to clone I'm switching to flowering in 4 days so should I do it before then? And also where is the best part to cut from? And is it hard to clone in soil? Any help/tips
Click to expand...
if you are new to cloning i would try this. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hydroponic-system-cloning-kit-for-plants-4-site-DWC-cloner-/261296548224?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item3cd67ce980.
 
S

Steve581

Member
I've found that taking cuts about 10 days into flower seems to root the fastest. As in ready to be put into dirt in about 5-7 days. I used to use the brown cubes, rooting compound, and a cloning solution. Had a very good success rate. Since, a friend has given me his ezcloner to use and just use ph'd water and sometimes a cloning solution. I take cuts throughout veg now.
 
daemon kronic

daemon kronic

Active Member
Air layering very useful method

Cold cloning - get a domed tray, clone/rooting gel, use whatever type dirt u want (starter cubes r easy but hav issues with over watering). Clip a whole branch place underwater and clip the side branches one at a time dip in gel and place in moist dirt ( as little air time as possible) . Place under dome and give a spray of water... Put under 24h light. Open dome once a day to change out the air and spray water on leaves if dry. About 2-3 weeks later u will have rooted clones.


As for when i perfer to start about a week after last feeding so the nutes dont block the rooting process...

Im not gonna down the "warm clone" method but i will say that its caused me nothing but troubles... Over heat, over wet, mold....
 
B

bigsteve

Well-Known Member
Clone moms should be at least 5 weeks old. Wait to flower until the prospective moms are about 5 weeks old then flower. You can take cuttings as clones the first week she is flowering without having to wait the extra month or so. That way you get clones as soon as possible and also get her flowering asap.

Good luck, BigSteve.
 
Dankfactory

Dankfactory

Well-Known Member
As with most threads in any forum setting, one is required to sift through the BS. Some extra sifting may be necessary in this particular thread.
The key to fat, white, fuzzy roots is a proper air to water ratio in the media. That goes for dissolved 02 in DWC bubblers as well.
Whether you're using RW or RapidRooters or similar peat products, it is key that the media be slightly moist and not wet. I prefer RapidRooters or bareroot cuttings because I'm of the opinion that RW is outdated and there are better methods(DWC)
but regardless: you should be able to squeeze a peat plug, or flick a RW cube without any remnant water escaping. I agree with shaving the stem lightly. Do not cut too deep. Adhere to what the word "shave" means..
I personally swear by DipnGro. It trounces any gel I've ever tried.
Only other point I will offer before this turns into a thesis: the woodier( older & lower) the cuts: the more difficult it will be to root.
Take the largest, freshest cuts you can. This is one of the reasons I'm of the persuasion that dedicated mothers are utterly pointless. Rotate the clone, generation after generation with, new specimens. The claims of trait degradation after being cloned a thousand plus times are entirely bullshit.
These are my methods( and others)
I don't remember the last time I lost a single cutting, and I clone two trays a month for my perpetual cycles. Good luck.
 
Cobnobuler

Cobnobuler

Well-Known Member
I'm only just now beginning to finally have some success at cloning but I had none at all until I quit misting the cuttings and just hit the roof of the dome when it dried out. This seemed to have made a big difference for me.
 
Dankfactory

Dankfactory

Well-Known Member
Cobnobuler said:
I'm only just now beginning to finally have some success at cloning but I had none at all until I quit misting the cuttings and just hit the roof of the dome when it dried out. This seemed to have made a big difference for me.
Click to expand...
Humidity is key in domes, but usually the evap from the media itself is plenty sufficient to keep the dome condensated
 
B

bigsteve

Well-Known Member
I try to keep at least 1/2 inch of water standing in the domes at all times. The flooded floor guarantees the high humidity needed to root clones. I know others have varying views of the importance of high humidity while rooting clones - but I know what works for me.

Good luck, BigSteve.
 
Flash63

Flash63

Well-Known Member
Wait for seedling to reach 4-6 weeks old before initiating flower.I always take cuts before 12/12....
 
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