Wick Cloner: simple, cheap, and effective

[Wolfbuddie]

munki, I'm in. I want to see how you transplant them. Will you move them to hydro or soil at transplant time?

[munki]

I don't think they are going to root. I didn't cut off any leaves on a lot of them and only got the get up about 1/4 inch. They stayed green for like 10 days then a few started to die off. I think they were the ones I did a check for roots earlier. When I checked a few more later on, they still did not have roots even at 13 - 14 days. I had some FFOF soil in a pot all ready to go when I didn't see roots the first time. I had it covered with a plastic bag so it wasn't dried out. I put holes in the soil with a chopstick, put in the clones with no visible roots and packed down the soil around them gently. Gave the whole pot and the three clones a good watering. I had almost a trickle level of runoff from one hole. They are still looking ok with a little bit of leaf damage showing on one leaf of the three. I'll get pics of them soon.

They are only under the 12 watt CFL still as they did not have any roots yet. If something does root, I'll have to make some sort of flower box on the cheap.

[drmartygreen]

ahhh im sorry it didn't work out quite as planned, i sure hope the clones root in the soil and bounce back(: good luck

[munki]

Originally Posted by drmartygreen

ahhh im sorry it didn't work out quite as planned, i sure hope the clones root in the soil and bounce back(: good luck

It is just an experiment at this point. I know the wick cloner will do the job. It is just in the hands of a total nOOb! I'm sure I will get better at it. I don't really have any place to put successful clones anyways.

Here are some pics. The first 2 shots were from Monday, August 24th. The last pics were from last night.

[MinniBratt]

Damn mine didnt do as good as i hoped either...DAMN i think one rooted but not sure saw some white nubs sticking out the rapid rooters..If it did root THAT was the ONLY ONE.

Most showed no roots but looked healthy...not droopy...trans the rest to soil also..

[MinniBratt]

Can I resoak the rapid rooters that didnt work and try again? I didnt presoak them before. Maybe that would have helped..DUH?

[munki]

Originally Posted by MinniBratt

Can I resoak the rapid rooters that didnt work and try again? I didnt presoak them before. Maybe that would have helped..DUH?

I haven't used RapidRooters (RR) before so I can't say for sure. With rockwool, I did hear that presoaking for 24 hours was needed. It can take a long time to wick them to saturation, so I would try as an experiment a soaking of just one of your RRs and see how it acts. Like how long does it take to become saturated? Does it fall apart or can it be transported easily? Can it put into and back out of the cloner then placed in whatever medium and container you have chosen to have your plants eventually grow in?

Just do a kind of pretend run to see how feasible it will work before you start putting in real cuttings. Just my two cents!

[munki]

OK, I pulled the rest of the clones from the cloner. One didn't have visible roots, so I tossed it. Three other's did have roots. Got pictures of two of them. The third one had a tiny root at the bottom but had some roots coming out much higher on the stem, like 1 1/2 inches up! I'm sure I tore off a few of the tender roots removing the clones from the perlite even though I used the spoon to help loosen the perlite from around the clones.

I used a chopstick to poke holes in the soil in my soil pot with the other ones I inserted a while back. Don't know if those early ones will make it but they are hanging in there.

Watered the pot with some diluted vitamin B-1 solution. It is used to help cuttings set roots so I'm trying it around 1/3 strength.

[Ray Gunn]

Hey Munki. I tried a similar set up as yours except with plastic cups and a baking sheet that I had laying around. I started 13 clones on 8/25 and one is floating in water (you can see in the 2nd pic). I used rootex cloning powder and put the clones in perlite and I am using a 4' long flourescent fixture with 2 lamps in it. I drilled holes in the bottoms of the cups and set them in the tray. I floated one of the clones just to see if I could see root developement but I am not sure if the lights being on 24/7 is hampering root developement on that one plant or any of the plants. So far its been a week but I only see a little nub on the floating plant. I have 2 questions, 1. Will light prevent or slow down root developement. 2. Do I just carefully pull the clone out of the perlite and replant in soil? Oh one other thing, I added 1/2 teaspoon of MG fert to 1 quart of water(it probably was really diluted as there was still water in the bottom of the tray) as I noticed that some of the leaves were really turning yellow. 3 or 4 of the clones almost didnt make it but it seems like they are making a come back. Thanks for the idea.

[Ray Gunn]

I am not sure if I can add pics to my post. Or I am just being a knucklehead where the button to add pics to my post. Still new to forums and I think I read soooo much that I am getting double vision. I'll try to get pic up as soon as I figure it out.

[munki]

Originally Posted by Ray Gunn

I am not sure if I can add pics to my post. Or I am just being a knucklehead where the button to add pics to my post. Still new to forums and I think I read soooo much that I am getting double vision. I'll try to get pic up as soon as I figure it out.

It can be a bit tricky and everyone new seems to have some trouble with this. Here are the instructions.

Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

[munki]

Originally Posted by Ray Gunn

Hey Munki. I tried a similar set up as yours except with plastic cups and a baking sheet that I had laying around. I started 13 clones on 8/25 and one is floating in water (you can see in the 2nd pic). I used rootex cloning powder and put the clones in perlite and I am using a 4' long flourescent fixture with 2 lamps in it. I drilled holes in the bottoms of the cups and set them in the tray. I floated one of the clones just to see if I could see root developement but I am not sure if the lights being on 24/7 is hampering root developement on that one plant or any of the plants. So far its been a week but I only see a little nub on the floating plant. I have 2 questions, 1. Will light prevent or slow down root developement. 2. Do I just carefully pull the clone out of the perlite and replant in soil? Oh one other thing, I added 1/2 teaspoon of MG fert to 1 quart of water(it probably was really diluted as there was still water in the bottom of the tray) as I noticed that some of the leaves were really turning yellow. 3 or 4 of the clones almost didnt make it but it seems like they are making a come back. Thanks for the idea.

Roots tend not to like light but I'm not sure it can really hold them back completely. I didn't get my roots until over two weeks past. The yellowing on the leaves can be fine. Since the cutting has no roots to get nutrients, it will steal it from other places on the plant and bring them to where they are most needed. Often lower leaves will yellow as the cutting steals the Magnesium from the chlorophyll molecules. It transports the Mg to the highest point where new growth (and the best light) would be. Main thing you are watching for is if the cutting is absorbing water. If the leaves shrivel and the plant goes limp any time after the first couple of days since the cut, I pull them as failures.

While they are still cuttings trying to develop roots, you don't want to give them too much light. I used a 12 watt CFL that was a foot above the cuttings. Just enough light so it can make a little food but we don't want the cutting to really start to grow without roots to support, water, and feed the leaves.

I got my cuttings out of the perlite by inserting a tablespoon into the perlite away from the stem and gently scooped up causing the perlite around the stem to erupt and loosen. It wasn't perfect and I'm sure I broke a few delicate roots but some survived. I've only pulled out one clone from the soil I put them in. I think I already see some new growth. I'll take a pic of them and post it soon.

[munki]

Here are what the clones look like right now.

This is my super duper high tech fancy veg room. the light being used here is now a 27 watt 5500K CFL that is only a few inches over the tops of the plants. This should encourage some growth but not too quickly. The blues the light produces along with the cuttings being taken a couple of weeks into flower should make the internodes very short on them. That is something I am watching for here.



And here are some closeups ...

[Ray Gunn]

clones - 420 Magazine Photo Gallery
clones - 420 Magazine Photo Gallery
clones - 420 Magazine Photo Gallery
Here are the pics

[Ray Gunn]

Ok I dont know what is going on.!@#$%^&* When I right click on photo to insert into post, I dont get a properties box, I just get an image properties. So I just copy and paste images link into post and i get the above links. At least you can see them if you click on them. I am using Opera browser and thats probably why things are a little different.