Clone medium

[Auggie]

I have been using ProMix as a medium for my clones started in Oasis plugs. I am thinking of making a change. I suspect that they changed their mix as my babies are not reacting the way I want them to. They droop and look sickly for about two weeks, almost like the Ph is off and they're starving ...

Anyway ... you experienced cloners out there ... what medium do you use?

~ Auggie ~

 

[lewis916]

I have been using ProMix as a medium for my clones started in Oasis plugs. I am thinking of making a change. I suspect that they changed their mix as my babies are not reacting the way I want them to. They droop and look sickly for about two weeks, almost like the Ph is off and they're starving ...

Anyway ... you experienced cloners out there ... what medium do you use?



~ Auggie ~

Hey i use mainly vermi soil for my clones..
I have used vermi soil all the way through my first grow. and my plants seem to like it alot..

 

[gr865]

Auggie,
I have had great success with RootRiot plugs. I run a skewer thru the center of the plug to make it easier to push the stem in, soak in your solution of choice, lightly squeeze the plug and put your clone into the plug.
When I cut my clones I put them in a shallow bowl of pH'ed RO water with 0.5ml of a root enhancer per gallon, I use RapidStart. I leave them for a day +/- before I put them in the plugs. Then I just mist them, at the start 3 x/day eventually getting to the point of 2 x/day. I keep them under one lamp of a four lamp T5 fixture and eventually add a second lamp to the fixture.
This grow I took 13 clones of each of my two plants I have in the cabinet flowering now, White Rhino and Exodus Cheese. All 26 clones had roots showing in 9 days and were ready to transplant in 20 days, I gave them extra days in my clone box because was too busy to get the Hempy buckets ready for them. I could have planted them on the 16 or 17 day.
I did have a bit of a problem after I transplanted, not sure what caused it but I lost 12 clones, 6 of each strain, in the first week after transplant. I think during transplant I may have pressed down on the cubes after they were in the Hempy bucket and did some major damage to the roots or maybe the rooting solution was too strong. Has not happened before and I know it was not the fault of the RootRiot plugs.
Hope you give them a try, I like them a lot.
GR

 

[featherdusta]

Hey champ i use str8 perlite it works well due to size of it allowing plenty air around roots giving nice strong roots

 

[CaneyeBus]

Hey champ i use str8 perlite it works well due to size of it allowing plenty air around roots giving nice strong roots

What he^ said.
I too use straight perlite,after they come out of my cloner.Also,whether your final medium,is soil,soiless,or hydro,it will transplant easily without hiccup. Might take a day or two to adjust to soil. Not sure on that,as I run perlite hempys and now a couple of coco hempys. You can go straight to perlite with the oasis plug also.
StayFrosty,
CanEyeBus

 

[CAT345longsti]

after the roots r showin the job isn't done u have to slowly adapt them to reg air which takes a few days in dome ....ill slowly open up vents to lower humitidy if I see any plants starting to wilt I close up the vents a few hours later ill open them up a little bit more each time to see if they wilt keep doing this before transplant ... if they r not use to outside the dome when u transplant they will wilt and die ,,,some r stronger then others ...

 

[Auggie]

You guys are making it WAY too hard. Come on, it's simple.
There is a great tutorial here, read it

I clone between 2000 and 5000 plants a month. If I made it as hard as you are I'd never get any done.
At any one time I have between 8 and 12 trays of clones in various stages at all times.

I never use a dome. Never. It's not needed. It causes more problems than it solves.

*****************

Get a webbed tray, for cloning. Your growstore has them for $1.20 each.
Get a solid nursery tray, again, $1.20

Put a sheet of one inch Oasis cubes in the webbed tray. (about $6)
Fill the solid tray with water. Put a tablespoon of P in it, Ph it to 6.0 to 6.1
Put the webbed tray with the Oasis cubes in the water and let it soak.

While they soaking, put 3cc's of water in a shot glass.
Put one half of one cc of Rapid Root in the water shot glass. Stir well.
Half fill another shot glass with powdered rooting stuff.

Sharpen scissors, get a clean razor.
Take the Oasis cubes out of the water, let them drip.
Set aside the solid tray with the cloning water solution in it, you'll use it later to water the trays you're waiting on. (see below).

1 Cut seven clones from your mom (that is a row).
2 Take them back to your clone area
3 Pick one, trim leaves off bottom inch of stem, cut leaves in half, and cut the bottom with a razor.
3 Put that in the Rapid Root shot glass.
4 Repeat step three.
5 Take the old one out of the Rapid Root shot glass, put the new one in.
6 Dip the one you just took out in powder.
7 Stick it in the Oasis cube.

Repeat, repeat, repeat ... about 100 times.

When the webbed tray is full, put it in a dry solid tray.
Keep them warmish (over 70f to 80f), damp, and lit ... two to three weeks later ... about 85 clones.

You won't get 100% with this method, but who cares? It's fast, cheap, and efficient.
If you get wiltage - turn off the fans. Turn on the AC.
If you still get wiltage, wait .. they'll recover.

If they don't recover - sell your mom because she is not a strong enough genetic for you, and you deserve better.

Keep it damp by testing weight. Note that I said damp - I did not say wet. Lift the corner of the tray, some weight? don't water. Take the webbed tray out and hold it over your head, look up. Is it damp? is water dripping out? Don't water. (Tip: when looking up over your head for roots, close your mouth.)
Is it feather light? Fill solid tray half full with the above solution (Water, P, Ph it, etc) and just QUICKLY DIP IT IN. Don't soak, just get the bottom quarter inch wet.

As they sprout roots they will drink more. Just before they root they will really suck it up, and the clone will look like hell with brown dying leaves. Remember; leaves have two jobs. First they photosynthesize to make their own food, second, they store energy (like fat). The sprout will use up the saved food in the leaf. Don't trim these off yet. She's eating offa that leaf. This is the second most traumatic event in a MJ plants life. (The first being harvest, but we never talk about that in front of the girls). Saying the H word (harvest) in a garden is like cursing in church. Don't do it.

If you can't get them in soil right away feed them with the same solution as above with a teaspoon of N added in.
If the roots start turning yellow or brown (they should be paper white) GET THEM IN DIRT RIGHT AWAY.

Simple.
Don't make it hard. Its not.

I don't use any expensive stuff. I don't fret over an 85% success rate (I don't need to brag, don't care.) I can fill an entire tray in about an hour. Someone that needs to feel like a master can spend four hours and serious money to do the same job and get close to 100% - I'd rather use the three hours to go fishing. (Spring bass run is soon, YEA). I spend about five bucks to get 85 babies. Is it worth it for me to spend double that in time and money to get 15 more babies. Nope, not in my world. I'm old, and I don't have a lot of time to waste.
You should begin to see roots in two weeks - it should be solid roots in three weeks. Some genetics take longer ... up to four weeks. I have an AK-47 that explodes in roots in two weeks. I have a Blue Dream that fills out in three weeks. I have a Purple OG Kush and a Bubba Kush that takes up to four weeks. It's all good - doesn't matter because I've always got a tray coming off almost every day and I have to put 85 or so in three inch nursery pots. Well, wifey does that - she's good at it. She just puts The Eagles on and sings to the girls as she works ... I think they really like it. I know she does.
I don't struggle with prima donna plants - I set them out on the curb and get one that will cooperate (but then, I do the same thing with girl friends, wives, dogs, etc.) I will work with you till I figure out that you're not working with me, then its .... buh bye.
I don't even TRY with hybrid of a hybrid of a hybrid plants ... they are mutts and half the time they're crap (you just don't know what yer gunna get). Most are not nearly as good as the old school genetics. All I deal with are old school stuff, though I got a Gorilla Glue mom this year and I REALLY like her (and I think she likes me too).

CBD plants are extremely difficult to clone (for me anyway). Not commercially viable. Survival rate is less than 50% so I don't grow them as collectives (patients) are not willing to pay the extra cost it takes to clone them. It amazes me that someone won't pay two buck more for a genetic they really want. Guess they don't really want it.

It's really not hard.
Just do it.

~ Auggie ~

 

[CaneyeBus]

I've never used a dome. If they can't acclimate/thrive and root while in the homemade cloner which is inside my veg tent, they needn't be in MY grow. Having said that, my environment is conducive to nurturing healthy cuttings. If you really want to go simple, cut'em and drop em in about 2 oz's 60 ml of water (enough to cover a couple nodes)in a solo and leave em be.(do this with a few cuttings you can spare off to the side). I would suggest using no hormone or additives to the water just to get a base data point. You'd be surprised what good ol' tap will do.That is if u have decent tap. As previously stated, there is no one way of cloning. It can be a challenge when just beginning to clone and you don't want any to die lol.just take more than you need if you can(numbers) and in a short time you'll be tossing clones because more rooted and look great than you expected! There are certain variables you will have to consider when you do clone, how many you need, the speed at which you need them, the cost of the method you choose,cloner tray with plugs,rockwool etc or a cloner either bought or homemade, and the medium you will grow in. I can say the environment is the key component in successful cloning. I don't bother with % rates because all my cuts will root at some point or another. If i were growing in soil i'd have decent roots in as little as 5 days. I like my roots a bit longer using perlite only,so I usually let em run for 8-14 days. By two weeks they are past ready to be solo'd as they start growing in the cloner and yellowing begging to be fed. Good luck on your cloning journey.
StayFrosty,
CanEyeBus

 

[CAT345longsti]

whats ur humidity in ur tent? and how do u use perlite for cloning ? fill the solo cup with some ? i am very interested in that perlite way that way they get a lot of air plus it would prob dry out faster too ???any info would be great directions and pics would be better lol

 

[CaneyeBus]

My veg tent's humidity runs 55-65% humidty.. My flower tents is venting into my veg tent thru a scrubber also. I'm sorry if you misunderstood . I don't clone in perlite solos, which can be done although it is labor involved, you'd have to make sure they don't go dry as well may need a dome. The slurpee cup dome are perfect for this. It's a simple as taking a solo cup and punching a hole an inch or so up from the bottom mini hempy.of the cup. Fill it with perlite,stick your cutting in it,and pour in your water.just a couple of nodes in water. Additive or not. I,root in my homemade aero bucket, and then transplant into solo cups to get a nice rootball established before up potting into my final pot. Hope that helped.
StayFrosty,
CanEyeBus

 

[Auggie]

I've never used a dome. If they can't acclimate/thrive and root while in the homemade cloner which is inside my veg tent, they needn't be in MY grow. Having said that, my environment is conducive to nurturing healthy cuttings. If you really want to go simple, cut'em and drop em in about 2 oz's 60 ml of water (enough to cover a couple nodes)in a solo and leave em be.(do this with a few cuttings you can spare off to the side). I would suggest using no hormone or additives to the water just to get a base data point. You'd be surprised what good ol' tap will do.That is if u have decent tap. As previously stated, there is no one way of cloning. It can be a challenge when just beginning to clone and you don't want any to die lol.just take more than you need if you can(numbers) and in a short time you'll be tossing clones because more rooted and look great than you expected! There are certain variables you will have to consider when you do clone, how many you need, the speed at which you need them, the cost of the method you choose,cloner tray with plugs,rockwool etc or a cloner either bought or homemade, and the medium you will grow in. I can say the environment is the key component in successful cloning. I don't bother with % rates because all my cuts will root at some point or another. If i were growing in soil i'd have decent roots in as little as 5 days. I like my roots a bit longer using perlite only,so I usually let em run for 8-14 days. By two weeks they are past ready to be solo'd as they start growing in the cloner and yellowing begging to be fed. Good luck on your cloning journey.
StayFrosty,
CanEyeBus

That's the way my mom used to clone. She'd get a "slip" (that's what she called it) and put it in a glass of water in the window in the kitchen. Didn't seem to matter what kind of plant either ... Sometimes she'd take a "slip" off of a plant in her garden and grow roots, put it in soil and give it away as a gift (because someone admired the plant or something).

Its one of my earliest memories -- window sill of the kitchen window was ALWAYS a small glass of water with two or three cuttings in it. It does work.

~ Auggie ~