The Comprehensive

[MisterPeabody]

thanks Mr.P!
That little lady has been cut down and has been curing for the last three weeks. I packed a bowl of her this afternoon and she's a wonderful one hitter quitter with a lovely rich fruity flavor.
Church is in session!

Hmmm....I'll sit on the front row in church and promise to behave myself if I can partake in deflowering this little lady. I might as wellsavor a little blueberry just to catch that nippy, distinctive berry aroma....just we're on the same page, of course...

Evolution Of A GrowCab-From The School of hard Knocks
Grow Cab Ventilation Redesign-All About Heat

Deep Water Culture with Fogponic Contruction

I started off with this design mainly due to it being low profile and small. Cheap Sterilite container I took some 2" site plugs and drilled a hole in them. EZ Cloner plugs fit into the 2"site plugs perfectly. Doing this eliminates leaks at the site plugs. Once the holes are cut in the...

www.420magazine.com

 

[MisterPeabody]

Hey Orange...

I am definitely gonna try the rockwool over the clones and see what happens. Set the timer to say 1 minute on one minute off or so until I get the temp stable. EXCELLENT idea. I feared leaving roots dangling in mid air suffering a stem aneurysm. Root rot would be my only concern, but it doesn't
to seem to have effected yours. Too Cool!

Evolution Of A GrowCab-From The School of hard Knocks
Grow Cab Ventilation Redesign-All About Heat

Deep Water Culture with Fogponic Contruction

I started off with this design mainly due to it being low profile and small. Cheap Sterilite container I took some 2" site plugs and drilled a hole in them. EZ Cloner plugs fit into the 2"site plugs perfectly. Doing this eliminates leaks at the site plugs. Once the holes are cut in the...

www.420magazine.com

Cloning with Orangeblood

Before I begin this part of my thread let me offer these words.
I'm not here to say this is the way to clone your plants and all other methods are garbage. There's a 101 ways to skin a cat and so is the same with cloning. I dont want to step on any toes or argue over this method vs that method. My method is in a perpetual state of evolution and learning. What I've done with this batch may not be exactly what I'll do with the next batch.
This method is probably not for the beginner or the faint of heart. I walk a fine line between complete success and total failure. It's like being the Evel Knievel of pot growing.

So let's begin...
As much as I enjoy the harvest from Mothers and or large plants, the lifeblood of my garden are the clones. The clones are what keeps the jars full year round. Without them my harvest would be erratic at best. Their consistent plant uniformity make it easy to operate a productive perpetual harvest garden while I wait for my large plants to develop.
With all that being said it is mandatory for me to give the proper respects before even one cutting is taken.
3 days prior to taking clones I do a series of prayers to the Almighty. I give thanks for the bountiful harvests and I ask for the blessing of future harvests. I listen to alot of Bob, Toots, Jimmy, Morgan Heritage and King Peter Tosh to get my head right. I also try to be more helpful to strangers and those in a state of misfortune.
Once the blessings are complete the process begins.
Equipment/ products used-
Lights- 55 watt LED for this batch. I've also used T5 and 30 & 125 watt grow light cfls. So far I think my fave is T5.
Machine- Botanicare 25 site aerocloner
Dip- Clonex Gel & Vita Grow
Solution- Clonex
Medium- Rockwool conditioned for 24 hours in Super Soak
Extras- Pro Grip Light Hanger, manicuring scissors(sharpened & sterile), shot glasses, wide mouth rocks glass.
Take note of the absence of ph adjusters and testing meters. This is where alot of you will freak out on my method. I dont bother with PH. There is alot of debate over this # vs that # and quite frankly to me, it's just noise. I have checked it in the past and usually it came out around 6. My clones would root just fine without messing with it so I dont bother with it anymore.

Lights, Camera, Action!
The clones are selected from a healthy and pest free mother. Branches that are closest to the mother's root system do the best for me.
My clones are typically large. At least eight inches long with 5 sets of internodes.

The branch is removed from the mother and the cut end is submerged into the rocks glass filled with clonex solution.
The following cuts are made under water in the rocks glass.
A 45 degree angle cut is made on the stem and at least two sets of leaves are cut off at the internode.
The cut clone is then dipped in a shot glass filled with Vita Grow for 5 seconds.
Then the clone is dipped in a Clonex Gel filled shot glass for 5 seconds
After the dips the clone is inserted into an unwrapped rockwool cube that has been trimmed down to be about the diameter of a quarter.

The rockwool is used for my aero machine because the pump will get the solution so hot it steams. The rockwool allows me to set the pump on a timer to keep the solution cool while still protecting them stem from an air bubble or drying out.

Next the neoprene sleeve is put on just below the first leaf and the clone is inserted into the machine.
All leaves are left on and none are trimmed until the clone goes to veg. This is done so that when the clones is stresed and starts to yellow, it sacrifices those lower leaves first before the fresh shoots are attacked. It also eliminates open wounds above the neoprene collar which can lead to infection.
Day 1 photo

Day 2 photo

Six days after being cut the clones start showing their root clusters.

On day seven they're busting out of the rockwool.

On day eight, all but one clone is rooted and will be ready to transplant in the next 24-48 hours

This is where I walk a very fine line of success and failure. With those roots exposed like that the clone can quickly go into shock and start to wilt. A very close eye must be kept on them to not transplant too early but also not let them dry out.


Other notes on this method
No misting or humidity dome is used.
Area is kept clean and dead plant material is removed when it is discovered.
Regular tap water is used
Light is 18hr on 6 off cycle

Peace my 420 freinds!

 

[Bandit420]

Hey Orange...

I am definitely gonna try the rockwool over the clones and see what happens. Set the timer to say 1 minute on one minute off or so until I get the temp stable. EXCELLENT idea. I feared leaving roots dangling in mid air suffering a stem aneurysm. Root rot would be my only concern, but it doesn't
to seem to have effected yours. Too Cool!

Evolution Of A GrowCab-From The School of hard Knocks
Grow Cab Ventilation Redesign-All About Heat

Deep Water Culture with Fogponic Contruction

I started off with this design mainly due to it being low profile and small. Cheap Sterilite container I took some 2" site plugs and drilled a hole in them. EZ Cloner plugs fit into the 2"site plugs perfectly. Doing this eliminates leaks at the site plugs. Once the holes are cut in the...

www.420magazine.com

Hi Mr.P!
I think using the Vita Grow provides some extra insurance against root rot or other infections. I believe that's why they can take such stress and still explode with roots with this technique. It's like giving a clone an immunization shot

 

[kemo63]

cool shit you got it down i love the cool tubes i use them they work great. do you really notice a difference useing leds? bin thinking about buying one or a t5 for my moms what you think

 

[kemo63]

also i use a vita grow cloner mix up the vitagrow food let it run for 24 before i take cuttings cut them off my mother and put them in the cloner i dont dip them or nothing it works just fine

 

[Bandit420]

cool shit you got it down i love the cool tubes i use them they work great. do you really notice a difference useing leds? bin thinking about buying one or a t5 for my moms what you think

Glad to have you on board Kemo63!
I mostly use the LEDs for increased potency on my ladies. I tried using the 55 watt panel for clones last week and it worked great. I was so happy to unload a 125 watt cfl I was using. I hated that thing! I've also used my 90 watt UFO for vegging clones and it worked great.
If you want to buy one, just do alot of research on the product to make sure it has the proper spectrum output. I prefer a red,blue, and orange triband spectrum.
For mother's I prefer HID. Mine is only a 250 wattMH and it develops a nice 30inch mother with internodes in the 1/2 to 1 inch range.
In a choice between LED and T5 I would go with the T5. An LED would work but it would have to be one of the big expensive lamps in the 120watt+ range. They can cost several hundy and in my opinion are not worth it.

BTW- That's one heck of a nice garden you got going yourself!

 

[kemo63]

just up loaded two new pic of the day

 

[Hypo Hippy]

OrangeB....nicely done my man! We are watching our clones closely. They are living, but not thriving. You know the deal we went through with our girls...they seem to be back on the path of righteousness, but the clones were taken when they were still mightily struggling. We are cloning in soil, scared of the hydro stuff....at least for now. I like your technique, thanks for sharing it with us....I will try a variation of your tech and make the necessary changes for a soil application. Anyhow, nice work.

 

[Bandit420]

OrangeB....nicely done my man! We are watching our clones closely. They are living, but not thriving. You know the deal we went through with our girls...they seem to be back on the path of righteousness, but the clones were taken when they were still mightily struggling. We are cloning in soil, scared of the hydro stuff....at least for now. I like your technique, thanks for sharing it with us....I will try a variation of your tech and make the necessary changes for a soil application. Anyhow, nice work.

Thanks HH!
I've also had real good results using the same technique but with a homemade aeroponic bucket machine and a homemade ebb & flo tray. I never had to trim the rockwool with the ebb & flow but I did use the cubes upside down so they would not tip over.
I've never been able to clone directly in soil. I could do it with perlite but it was very tedious having to mist and water from the top so the perlite would not go everywhere but it still did.

 

[Hypo Hippy]

Thanks blood...yeah, we are trying to work the kinks out here on the clone-front. This nursery dude I met down in New Orleans hooked me up with some 1/8 in. screened compost (from horse stalls) and he said he uses it with fantastic results. I am going to give it a whirl next. How late (into flowering) have you taken clones or have you ever taken them into flowering? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Bandit420]

Thanks blood...yeah, we are trying to work the kinks out here on the clone-front. This nursery dude I met down in New Orleans hooked me up with some 1/8 in. screened compost (from horse stalls) and he said he uses it with fantastic results. I am going to give it a whirl next. How late (into flowering) have you taken clones or have you ever taken them into flowering? Thanks in advance for the help.

My Grandfather used a combination of beach sand, goose & duck poop and water that he had peeled willow braches soaking to make his clones so your guy in NO may be onto something!

I've taken clones with a plant in bloom but the success rate decreased and they took about 2 weeks to take. I've even taken clones with little nugs on them but it took longer with about a 50% success rate.

BTW- I'm not recommending anybody start getting up and digging their local beach and chasing geese and ducks scooping up poop. My Grandpa was a kooky different kind of cat and that was the late 70's early 80's. There's much better ways to do it nowadays without those damn geese chasing and trying to bite you!

 

[StinkFinger]

You two have me dry-heaving!

Very funny! But I'm sure it works!!!

SF

 

[Bandit420]

Check out whats going on with this plant. She's in the sweet spot of lighting getting a pounding of HPS and LED. Some leaves are switched back absorbing the LED while the others are soaking up the HPS.
This is wild that a plant is responding to two totally different types of lights at the same time

 

[OldMedMan]

Thank you for the invite to see all the wonderful innovations you have come up with based on years of experience. Your cloning method just blew me away. I have to admit, I'm feeling a bit like Freddy Flintstone when I think of my grow. I'll get over it and try to learn as much as I can from from you Bro. Well, I've read this one from the start and I sure don't don't want to miss anything as you work your way along....now to catch up with the rest of your links. A belated Welcome to 420.

 

[Bandit420]

Wow OMM! I'm truly humbled!
I still consider myself a novice trying to find my way! This site is so helpful for newbs and old dogs alike to learn new tricks! I've already learned alot in the couple months I've been on board.
It's so cool that so many growers can work together to improve the quality of each other's gardens.

 

[OldMedMan]

Wow OMM! I'm truly humbled!
I still consider myself a novice trying to find my way! This site is so helpful for newbs and old dogs alike to learn new tricks! I've already learned alot in the couple months I've been on board.
It's so cool that so many growers can work together to improve the quality of each other's gardens.

Well said! 420 has been a god send for me. My only attempts at growing were in my hippie days and were really nothing more than planting seeds in the dirt and watering them.

Since I got my mmj ticket last year my life has changed. I'm just flat happier than I've been in along time. I stumbled across 420 and have been here ever since. What's nice about 420 is the endless journals both old and new to learn from. It's let me evaluate what I able to do physically and at the same time I evaluate what I can and cannot do with the space and environment that I'm growing in. The best part of 420 is, of course the people here.

 

[Bandit420]

Well said! 420 has been a god send for me. My only attempts at growing were in my hippie days and were really nothing more than planting seeds in the dirt and watering them.

Since I got my mmj ticket last year my life has changed. I'm just flat happier than I've been in along time. I stumbled across 420 and have been here ever since. What's nice about 420 is the endless journals both old and new to learn from. It's let me evaluate what I able to do physically and at the same time I evaluate what I can and cannot do with the space and environment that I'm growing in. The best part of 420 is, of course the people here.

Amen Brother!

 

[Hypo Hippy]

What's with the new "horns" look, blood?

 

[Bandit420]

LOL
Flying the flag of the Orangebloods bro!

Hook 'Em Horns!

 

[Hypo Hippy]

I got ya....I like the horns, but the Crimson Tide is my team. Roll Tide! lol