Cloning GG#4

[Dollar]

I`ve been growing GG4 for 3 1/2 years. Been growing indoors for 28 years. GG4 is one of the fastest rooting plants I`ve come across. Ive tried every system for rooting a clone that exists. I keep it simple. Most importantly I only take cuts from a very healthy plant. I don't change nutes prior to taking cuts like all the experts and books recommend. Dip the cuts in clonex rooting gel, place in rapid rooter, rapid rooter in tray and cover with humidity dome. Keep temps between 75 and 80. GG4 roots in 7 - 10 days every time.

PS... Most people over complicate the rooting process with all these fancy rooting contraptions and special nute mixes. Its all nonsense in my experience. If the plant the clone comes from is perfectly healthy the cut has all the nutes within itself to stay healthy during the rooting process, it will root very easily with just plain water and the right temps no matter what system is used.

 

[Americangrower]

Try using cups of coco, no dome required. I use the cheap boonide powder from home depot, works wonders. You actually inhibit rooting when You increase iba, more isn't better. Higher concentrations like hormex is for trees and such, which have a lot of bark and are very woody.

Never used Hormex so I looked it up..It is .8 % Indole butyric acid I use cheap Wally world Garden safe root powder which is .1 I know it washes right off but I think the cloner water works better with the root powder in it as my root time seems to get quicker after a few batches, hence more IB acid in the water. Just my theory.

Also light is not very important for cloning. I use a cheap weak shop flouro

 

[packerfan79]

Never used Hormex so I looked it up..It is .8 % Indole butyric acid I use cheap Wally world Garden safe root powder which is .1 I know it washes right off but I think the cloner water works better with the root powder in it as my root time seems to get quicker after a few batches, hence more IB acid in the water. Just my theory.

Also light is not very important for cloning. I use a cheap weak shop flouro

Hormex comes in 5 or 6 different strengths. .08 is the lowest I belive.

 

[Spaventa]

There one thing nobody is challenging and its the most obvious - mother health. Its the only factor I can't say I have completely covered. I had only just received the clone a week or so before from abroad so it spent some time in transit.
Ill do some in cubes with the Remo 0.45% gel, some with in cubes with 0.6% Powder root.
Im also going to put a couple in the aero with bugger all hormone, just like I have for over 10 years. nothing in the water, not even ph it, dome on.
I WILL up the lighting though. Never had to run much for clones to root before but maybe GG4 likes that.

Haven't got any coco to hand so will try that with no dome soon.

 

[Americangrower]

Hormex comes in 5 or 6 different strengths. .08 is the lowest I belive.

Hormex #8 is .8 not .08 and I see a #16 which I would guess is 1.6 % yikes

 

[highsteppa]

1000ppm iba is plenty for cannabis.

 

[Spaventa]

1000ppm iba is plenty for cannabis.

Ive seen Iba in 90% purity and thought about running it in my aero... 0.1% as you suggest might be a good place to start :tippet:

I never had to get this deep with cloning in 20 years of growing and cloning. Ive been rooting dozens of strains in 10 days or less in aero since the early 2000s and never needed to even ph the water or use any auxins. If I did scarify and clonex, it would knock a day or two off but that never justified buying and bothering with it. This clone of GG#4 is an anomaly - whether its a different plant altogether, being passed as GG#4, or if theres a disease going around, or wether this clone has exceptional reaction to stress. Ive never seen anything like it and Ive seen a lot of plants. Ive thought on and partly reject mother plant stress as the problem in this case. Ive cloned from specimens given to me in worse condition in the past but never had big problem - just a bit slower if the mothers suboptimal but not 3 weeks! Maybe she does react like this to stress but thats an anomaly in itself and unique in my experience of growing and cloning and mothering maybe 40 plus strain over decades. Theres an explanation and Ive yet to hear it. It would be more plausible to suspect disease or that its not the same cut.
A lot of people have it though because there a lot of people on the net who have reported the same problem with their cut.

 

[LifeIsGrowing]

I have no issues what-so-ever with my GG#4 cloning, definitely nothing like my OG's, usually as long as you have the temp/humidity right, it pops out in 7-10 days at most. I use Rootech gel, and I strip a small amount of the outer bark off the lowest 1/4 inch or so of the cut, into a peat cube, under the dome, ph some water to 5.9. Sometimes a small amount of bloom nutes (like ultra dinky amount) will slightly speed it up, aka a day or so. I have on occasion used Rhizotonic as a spray and sprayed the peat plug, but honestly never HAD to do that and most of the time I don't. Might wanna get the mother into tip top shape and then try it, but I've never had any issues and it's the quickest rooting outta my moms.

-Life

 

[NewAgeGenetics]

cloning GG4 is easy as fck in root riot with clonex under dome.

the problem is with your mother plants health Spav, you do something wrong, both your Cheese and GG4 have purple stems. its not transplant shock those are old plants, these strains have normal green stem in ideal conditions.

maybe you should grow in a different medium, for example in soil or you should change something on your setup or feeding.

or grow outdoors when the Sun and rain are your friend. lol

 

[mushroombrew]

Yeah there are so many cuts these days its hard to know whos got what.

I just picked up a new gg#4 from DHN.

The one I have is likely unbeatable. But I run new cuts here and there of the same strain.

I have had many phenos from the same vendor. I am sure they have several different mothers.

If your gg4 wont root try another one. It's not hard to clone the one I have.

 

[Spaventa]

cloning GG4 is easy as fck in root riot with clonex under dome.

the problem is with your mother plants health Spav, you do something wrong, both your Cheese and GG4 have purple stems. its not transplant shock those are old plants, these strains have normal green stem in ideal conditions.

maybe you should grow in a different medium, for example in soil or you should change something on your setup or feeding.

or grow outdoors when the Sun and rain are your friend. lol

Well thats funny because you told me it takes 3 weeks! You forgot that? its meant to be 7 to 10 days these guys say.
Your wrong about stems, media and nutrients. you don't know Cheese either.

Theres no quicker way to root than in aeroponics. I have 20 years experience of successful cloning till i got this cut.

 

[Blazeee]

NAG is right it is all to do with your mother health.

For me the glue roots in 10-14 days in soil jiffys.

He is also right about the stems, when my cheese mother gets too old and unhappy, the stems will go dark purple and woody like the pics ive seen of your plants in the past. Ive found when they go woody like that they take longer to root, and sometimes not all of them root etc. I always prefer to take nice fresh clones, not using the woody shoots. I also like to chuck some superthrive and aptus start booster + regulator in the water that i soak the jiffys in. Ive noticed my roots come out thicker and stronger than just using plain water.

Also make sure you use the healthiest clone as your new mother, a weak mother plant will give you weak clones...

It is also best to feed the mother the night before you take the clones.

If your using an aero cloner maybe check your water temps it has been getting hot recently? Or check that your clonex hasnt gone off? I had issues a year or so with a bottle of clonex that had gone off, turned out i had been using it for 2 years after its best before date, and the clonex changed from purple to a nasty yellow colour.

Btw i dont think NAG is suggesting that there is a faster method than what you are currently using, i think he means if your having issues with the aero cloner than try to switch up your cloning method and see what happens?

 

[MJPassion]

I've successfully rooted GG4 in a beer cup & water within 21 days.
Just like grandma used to do with her tomatoes back in the old days.
No hormones, no nutes, no nothing other than the usual tap water.
It takes longer but it works like a charm.

All yall that use aero cloners & transplant into some sort of medium other than water...
How long do you let the roots get before placing into your medium of choice?

 

[Spaventa]

NAG is right it is all to do with your mother health.

For me the glue roots in 10-14 days in soil jiffys.

He is also right about the stems, when my cheese mother gets too old and unhappy, the stems will go dark purple and woody like the pics ive seen of your plants in the past. Ive found when they go woody like that they take longer to root, and sometimes not all of them root etc. I always prefer to take nice fresh clones, not using the woody shoots. I also like to chuck some superthrive and aptus start booster + regulator in the water that i soak the jiffys in. Ive noticed my roots come out thicker and stronger than just using plain water.

Also make sure you use the healthiest clone as your new mother, a weak mother plant will give you weak clones...

It is also best to feed the mother the night before you take the clones.

If your using an aero cloner maybe check your water temps it has been getting hot recently? Or check that your clonex hasnt gone off? I had issues a year or so with a bottle of clonex that had gone off, turned out i had been using it for 2 years after its best before date, and the clonex changed from purple to a nasty yellow colour.

Btw i dont think NAG is suggesting that there is a faster method than what you are currently using, i think he means if your having issues with the aero cloner than try to switch up your cloning method and see what happens?

Dude... that cheese roots for me in 7 days FLAT with those stems... no auxins, just aero, dome on. Everything else Ive ever grown (40 plus strains) is the same, just a few days slower.
Ive been keeping mothers for 20 years bro. I knew about clones, temps an humid back then so thats not it, trust. Not a single problem rooting anything till this cut.

If everyone is saying that stress severely stalls this plant so it won't root for weeks and weeks and that why they took 3 weeks, fine.
Its not normal but its one possible explanation I said myself. I should see some roots a lot quicker now then if thats right.

Ill add that 30% THC isn't normal either so if she is sensitive and slow to recover from travel stress, thats ok.

 

[Mogli]

give me clone of gg#4 and i root for everyone demn so hard to get it

 

[yts farmer]

give me clone of gg#4 and i root for everyone demn so hard to get it

thsts one way to get yourself in the picture.

Peace

 

[GoatCheese]

Yea, health/stress state of the mother plant seems to be very important on the rooting time.

I have noticed that if the mom is badly root bound (in soil) before you take cuts, the rooting takes longer. I grow my keepers in fairly small pots (soil) and many times i repot them into larger containers about 2 weeks before taking cuts, and it helps alot.


Another important thing is a proper temperature. As an example, a certain keeper that i have rooted in a week in a glass of water (no nutes or hormones) when room temps were around 26-27 C. But when the temps cooled to around 21-22 C it took twice as long for the cut to root. Health of the mother was about the same.


On nutes..
I have read that it might be helpful to give the mom "early flowering nutes" (=NPK ratio you give to a plant that has been flowering around 2-3 weeks) few days before taking cuts. Higher P and K levels help with rooting, they say.
I haven't experimented with this that much, for me the most important thing is the health of the mom.

 

[~star~crash~]

I've had a tough time rooting GG#4 ... due to various reasons, anyway this time i'm determined..here's the mother plant ,she's not in perfect health,she's root-bound,she's been re-vegged, she's all i got, wish me good fortune!

 

[Spaventa]

Yea, health/stress state of the mother plant seems to be very important on the rooting time.

I have noticed that if the mom is badly root bound (in soil) before you take cuts, the rooting takes longer. I grow my keepers in fairly small pots (soil) and many times i repot them into larger containers about 2 weeks before taking cuts, and it helps alot.


Another important thing is a proper temperature. As an example, a certain keeper that i have rooted in a week in a glass of water (no nutes or hormones) when room temps were around 26-27 C. But when the temps cooled to around 21-22 C it took twice as long for the cut to root. Health of the mother was about the same.


On nutes..
I have read that it might be helpful to give the mom "early flowering nutes" (=NPK ratio you give to a plant that has been flowering around 2-3 weeks) few days before taking cuts. Higher P and K levels help with rooting, they say.
I haven't experimented with this that much, for me the most important thing is the health of the mom.

I always feed up the mother before taking cuts - I want the cuts to have enough "meat on their bones" to last them till they can fend for themselves.
Also keep mothers on 24/24. Cannabis makes Phytochrome during dark period - that stimulates production of hormones that trigger flowering. If it builds enough, like on 12/12, it triggers flowering. Even 18/6 allows enough to be made to inhibit rooting. I only put them on 18/6 to save electric and slow them down when its not in use. 24/24 vegging is 30% faster and theres nothing the plant needs to do in the dark in vegetive stage.

I've had a tough time rooting GG#4 ... due to various reasons, anyway this time i'm determined..here's the mother plant ,she's not in perfect health,she's root-bound,she's been re-vegged, she's all i got, wish me good fortune!

Aero FTW

Good luck

 

[GoatCheese]

I always feed up the mother before taking cuts - I want the cuts to have enough "meat on their bones" to last them till they can fend for themselves.

And it's good to make sure the grow medium is moist before taking cuts, if you're not growing in hydro, so that the plant tissue has lots of moisture in it.

Some people will put their cuts into a glass of water for awhile before putting them into rock wool cubes/jiffy pucks, but i usually just water the mom-plant around 30-60 mins before taking cuts, if the soil seems too dry.

Even 18/6 allows enough to be made to inhibit rooting.

Well, i'm not saying you're totally wrong with this and you could be right when it comes to the growth rate of a vegging plant..

But i veg my female keepers in 18/6 and the fastest rooting plants, and there are few, will root in a week if the conditions are right, and it doesn't get much faster than that.
..and that's in jiffy-pucks.
So i wouldn't worry too much about light cycle and rooting cuts.

But..
Dark-hours can make the temps to cool down, which imo, is more important factor when it comes to rooting cuts. So if you're not using a heat-mat, "24 h lights on" will help you to keep your cloning area warm, if you happen to live in the cooler regions of the planet.

Peace