Cloning directly into soil: Should I remove the domes once they are acclimated?

[triangle]

Hi all, novice here, tried to be somewhat descriptive in the topic but full scenario is like this:



Took cuts last Saturday. They wilted extremely quickly without a dome, so I kept dome on them, but removed it a few times per day to spray with super mild solution of water, stella maris (kelp), and aloe which they seemed to love. Fast forward and it's now Thursday, and they no longer appear to need the dome at all. I'm still spraying twice a day with the mixture I made and they are 100% full color, standing at full attention and look perfectly healthy.



My question is - do I leave the dome on them even though they seem to be climatized now?



Should I still be giving them that high humidity from the dome on the warming mat until day 14? (I heard it takes up to 2 weeks to root)



Lastly a related question - on which day would you officially move them into the 18/6 veg tent? They are just sitting on a heating pad near a windowsill so far



Thanks again !

 

[SmokingWings]

My question is - do I leave the dome on them even though they seem to be climatized now?

If the cutting starts wilting again then it is not pulling enough water to replace what it is loosing through the leaves so the dome should be kept handy.

Should I still be giving them that high humidity from the dome on the warming mat until day 14? (I heard it takes up to 2 weeks to root)

There is no real formula to follow. Some cuttings will start rooting in a week and some might take as long as 4 weeks. I have had a few cuttings I kept in a jar of water out on the patio. They lasted as long as 2 months, growing leaves and so on, but no roots. Eventually I tossed them. And I have had a few that after a month in water without any roots ended up being stuck in the ground somewhere in the vegetable garden. Another two weeks and they were growing new leaves and definitely getting taller so that is what it took to develop roots.

... on which day would you officially move them into the 18/6 veg tent? They are just sitting on a heating pad near a windowsill so far

Whether they are being rooted in water or in a soil mix does not matter to me. I put them in the vegetating area/tent the same day I take the cutting. Whether they are on a heating pad will depend on the night time temperatures. So late spring or early summer the night temps in the basement are warm enough that often the heating pad is not needed.

Even my south facing windows do not get enough sunlight. The plants will get more and better light under the LEDs so I gave up on trying to get most of cuttings to root by windows. The only thing that works by the windows are some houseplants that grow in shaded light in their natural outdoor environment.

Experiment and see what works for you.

 

[bluter]

Lastly a related question - on which day would you officially move them into the 18/6 veg tent?

day one. you can root them under 18/6 no problem as long as you have the space in the tent.

They are just sitting on a heating pad near a windowsill so far

normally a subpar and sloooooww method. it does work if you have good conditions and time.