Hi all. I tried my hand @ cloning for the first time & I'm a little worried i'm not doing well. Sorry I can't post pics but i don't have a cam.
First off I'll tell you what I did & how i did it.. get ready for a long post
First I got a humidity dome, insert tray (72 spots i think), rockwool cubes to fit, & rooting hormone (powder stuff from home depot).
#1 Using several strains of what was growing I did the typical snip @ 45 degreee angle & also pulled just a tiny bit of skin off the other side.
#2 got in water ASAP (a cup w/ 1 drop of SuperThrive)
#3 Cut about 50% off the fan leaves
#4 dipped in the powder rooting hormone, tapped off excess & stuck in a soaked rockwool cube.
Note... here may be one potential problem. I have read that you should presoak in water ph 5.5. My water was closer to 6.0 and most of the cubes were not soaked long, in fact often I just stuck a cube in there & gave it a few squeezes until it softened up & then used it.
#5 pinched the top of cube to seal the clone stem in as best i could & put in tray
Note... Tray had Perlite & Water in it (Ph 6.0) high enuf to reach the holes in the inser.
#6 Used spray bottle to mist foliage w/ water.
#7 Repeat steps 1-6 x24 or 30 or so.
Ok, so it's been about 8 days now. I kept them in darkness for about 12 hours, then started them on 18/6 light from just a shop light (2x 4 ft T12 tube growlights, so 80 watts of T12 growlights). @ first I didn't bother trying to get the lights close so they were prolly about 3 feet away. & the vents were closed on the dome for 1 day. then I opened them a 'lil for the next couple days, then full open after about 5 days.
So on day 7 I got antsy & wanted to see how things were going. I started by pulling out one of the cubes.... I could see no roots on the outside. Later in the day I got antsy again & pulled another out & saw no roots. so I started stripping away the rockwool a 'lil bit @ a time. until I got very close to the center, still no roots. I put it back. Then @ the same time I did that I noticed on the back side a clone that was in the corner spot that had been damaged by the hood being taken off/on, I didn't think it was gonna make it (& I'm not sure when this happened... I'm not the only one involved, it'a a partnership thing) so i decided to take a look @ that one. I pulled it from the rockwool & I saw absolutely no signs of roots!
oh, 1 thing i didn't mention is that I don't have a propagation mat, or heating pad. the dome was set up over an HID ballast (very carefully) so that it would get the heat coming from the ballast to help keep rootzone a little warmer than room temp. Yes I know how dangerous this can be, so we tried to be very careful but by feeling the bottom of tray I would say the temp was good. slightly higher than room temp. Definitely not too hot.
Anyway, all this time the light (just 80 watts of T12 floro grow light) was 3 ft away from top. & the dome was so clouded up with moisture that I wonder how much light was getting thru. This is one place i think i may have screwed up. So I finally removed the hood all together & lowered the light to within 4-5 inches of the tops.
Note... Aside from 1 or 2 that were damaged and 1 that looked like the growing tip kinda rotted away... the rest of them still look very healthy. They are green, no wilting, look just fine except they haven't grown & I worry that there are no roots in them.
Ok, one other place I wonder if I may have screwed up @ is that I filled the tray (underneath the insert) with enough water so that the rockwool has stayed wet all the time. The rockwool has wicked up the water in the tray underneath so the cubes have stayed wet. I got the impression this is what I was supposed to do, but now i'm wondering if that was wrong???? Are the rockwool cubes supposed to dry after you initially clone them & the water in bottom of tray (under insert) is just there to keep humidity up??? This may very well be where I screwed up if I was wrong on that one. Anyhow even if I scrwed up there, can I likely salvage these 1 week in if I get rid of some of that water now?
If I left any details out I will try to fill in the blanks as I realize them. & if you have any questions then likewise, i will fill ya in asap. Thx in advance for any help.
Oh I just remembered one more detail i meant to include. The plants I cloned from were not old mothers. They are small plants in veg that were 16"-20" tall. so kinda young
First off I'll tell you what I did & how i did it.. get ready for a long post
First I got a humidity dome, insert tray (72 spots i think), rockwool cubes to fit, & rooting hormone (powder stuff from home depot).
#1 Using several strains of what was growing I did the typical snip @ 45 degreee angle & also pulled just a tiny bit of skin off the other side.
#2 got in water ASAP (a cup w/ 1 drop of SuperThrive)
#3 Cut about 50% off the fan leaves
#4 dipped in the powder rooting hormone, tapped off excess & stuck in a soaked rockwool cube.
Note... here may be one potential problem. I have read that you should presoak in water ph 5.5. My water was closer to 6.0 and most of the cubes were not soaked long, in fact often I just stuck a cube in there & gave it a few squeezes until it softened up & then used it.
#5 pinched the top of cube to seal the clone stem in as best i could & put in tray
Note... Tray had Perlite & Water in it (Ph 6.0) high enuf to reach the holes in the inser.
#6 Used spray bottle to mist foliage w/ water.
#7 Repeat steps 1-6 x24 or 30 or so.
Ok, so it's been about 8 days now. I kept them in darkness for about 12 hours, then started them on 18/6 light from just a shop light (2x 4 ft T12 tube growlights, so 80 watts of T12 growlights). @ first I didn't bother trying to get the lights close so they were prolly about 3 feet away. & the vents were closed on the dome for 1 day. then I opened them a 'lil for the next couple days, then full open after about 5 days.
So on day 7 I got antsy & wanted to see how things were going. I started by pulling out one of the cubes.... I could see no roots on the outside. Later in the day I got antsy again & pulled another out & saw no roots. so I started stripping away the rockwool a 'lil bit @ a time. until I got very close to the center, still no roots. I put it back. Then @ the same time I did that I noticed on the back side a clone that was in the corner spot that had been damaged by the hood being taken off/on, I didn't think it was gonna make it (& I'm not sure when this happened... I'm not the only one involved, it'a a partnership thing) so i decided to take a look @ that one. I pulled it from the rockwool & I saw absolutely no signs of roots!
oh, 1 thing i didn't mention is that I don't have a propagation mat, or heating pad. the dome was set up over an HID ballast (very carefully) so that it would get the heat coming from the ballast to help keep rootzone a little warmer than room temp. Yes I know how dangerous this can be, so we tried to be very careful but by feeling the bottom of tray I would say the temp was good. slightly higher than room temp. Definitely not too hot.
Anyway, all this time the light (just 80 watts of T12 floro grow light) was 3 ft away from top. & the dome was so clouded up with moisture that I wonder how much light was getting thru. This is one place i think i may have screwed up. So I finally removed the hood all together & lowered the light to within 4-5 inches of the tops.
Note... Aside from 1 or 2 that were damaged and 1 that looked like the growing tip kinda rotted away... the rest of them still look very healthy. They are green, no wilting, look just fine except they haven't grown & I worry that there are no roots in them.
Ok, one other place I wonder if I may have screwed up @ is that I filled the tray (underneath the insert) with enough water so that the rockwool has stayed wet all the time. The rockwool has wicked up the water in the tray underneath so the cubes have stayed wet. I got the impression this is what I was supposed to do, but now i'm wondering if that was wrong???? Are the rockwool cubes supposed to dry after you initially clone them & the water in bottom of tray (under insert) is just there to keep humidity up??? This may very well be where I screwed up if I was wrong on that one. Anyhow even if I scrwed up there, can I likely salvage these 1 week in if I get rid of some of that water now?
If I left any details out I will try to fill in the blanks as I realize them. & if you have any questions then likewise, i will fill ya in asap. Thx in advance for any help.
Oh I just remembered one more detail i meant to include. The plants I cloned from were not old mothers. They are small plants in veg that were 16"-20" tall. so kinda young
peace
