Wick Cloner: simple, cheap, and effective

[munki]

Originally Posted by Tead

I wonder if a bit of nutes would change that? Not suggesting anything... just wondering.

Cheers!

Sorry that I did not clarify myself. I can see now how you thought that I was disappointed by the growth but that was actually a desirable goal.

We don't always want the plants to finish in the fastest time. When flower rooms are full or whatever reason you cannot go when the cuttings root, you can buy yourself maybe a couple of weeks for your situation to improve. I appreciate anything that gives me options and putting plants into stasis is a great option. There is a page on CannaStats that explains how to put mother plants also into a stasis state. It can be done with 12 hours of light a day too so you use less energy. The trick is to not have the mother have 12 hours of UNINTERRUPTED dark periods. So, they put the lights (preference for floros here) on a timer with an 11 hour period and then three more 20 minute light periods spaced roughly equally apart in the dark period. Here is the link to that...

CannaStats - Low Maintenance Mothering

So now we can make the plants bend more to our time table rather than the other way around!

[shaggy_420]

not bad
its a clever setup

[Tead]

OH NICE! Timing is always an issue. Thanks for the info!

Cheers!

[munki]

Originally Posted by shaggy_420

not bad
its a clever setup

Thanks Shaggy. Sometimes simple is best.

[munki]

I have some cool pics to show everyone. I will post them tonight. You would not believe the roots I found on the one leaf I stuck in the cloner. Tons of roots. The real cutting has a root that has gone to the other side of the cloner and shot it down into the water stored in the bottom of the cloner. It has to be at least 8 inches long by now.

These grew under a 10 watt CFL several inches above them 24/0 and only filtered tap water. Truly amazing.

[obxgardener]

I'm getting ready to build one, but for use with seedlings before I move them to my DWC / aero setup. Looks like it should work perfectly. Is the perlite hard to wash off?

Can't wait to see the pics! Root porn is harder to produce IMHO than bud porn ;^0

[munki]

Well the cuttings are now at 6 weeks. I decided to take a look and dig up the single leaf and petiole I experimented with. It only had cloning gel in the beginning and tap water the rest of the way. I did run the water through a Brita filter but I do not think that is too important here. Onward...







Now how do you like them roots? On the real cutting, I did notice that a root has made it through a hole where the wick comes through. The root has to be at least 7 inches long to get as far as I say it.

Theory I have is that the extended time and water only got the cuttings to use the nutrients it had to build a root system as it knew it must first find those before exploding in growth. Also, the lower light level could have reinforced the slower growth I have noted thusfar.

[obxgardener]

I like how it will "hold" them until ready for use. Nice work munki!

[Tead]

I've always wondered about trying to root a leaf. Can't wait to see what it does!
Great job!

Cheers

[munki]

Originally Posted by Tead

I've always wondered about trying to root a leaf. Can't wait to see what it does!
Great job!

Cheers

Guess I'll have to plant it in something! I just stuck it back into the cloner but I'll put it into some FFOF soil this weekend.

Originally Posted by obxgardener

I like how it will "hold" them until ready for use. Nice work munki!

Yeah, that was one of the side benefits I found using it. Being able to hold clones for a few weeks after rooting could really help a grower with timing issues.

[munki]

Well it has been just about 2 months since I put that top cutting of another clone and just a leaf into the wick cloner. I noted that the clone now has some baby thrips so it has to be tossed. Well after I get some pics of the results that is! Check it out. Note how little the clone had grown; it has been under 24/0 light for almost 2 months. Just a low intensity (10 watt CFL at 8 - 10 inches above cutting) light and water.





Look how long this root is.



This is the root ball from the single leaf. The leaf part broke off when I tried to shake off the perlite.



Finally, here is the cutting that has been in "stasis". It has been in this cloner for like 60 days and still did not grow hardly at all. Smelled good though.

[sonzor]

Love that cloner set up. I am going to have to try that for sure...

[munki]

I fail to see why someone would need any other cloner unless they are growing at a commercial or group level. Maybe if you had a wheel garden or grew in a Sea of Green, a $200 cloner would make sense, but I like this at $10 for personal grows hands down.