cloning with little maintenance?

[MrQwerty]

I am guessing "cloning" and "being left for a couple days" probably does not go together well. But in my current situation, it would be the best way for me(if its possible). I live 30 minutes away from my growhouse and I visit it every 2-3 days to rotate, feed and care for my crops that are 3 weeks from my FIRST harvest .. I have seen several methods for cloning and I was wondering if there was a method where I can do maintenance on my normal schedule (every 2-3 days). The dome method would require me to "burp" the dome once a day so I don't think that will be possible. to only make things more difficult, I ran my seeds (NLxSK) not knowing if I would continue the hobby so I never took the clones prior to flower so now I will haveto remove them from a flowering plant which I hear is possible but slightly harder. any recommendations on taking clones from a flowering plant and continuing with maintenance every 2 days or so would be GREAT... THANKS THANKS THANKS

 

[FreezerBoy]

CLONERS- a collection of various methods has several methods that require no maintenance between initial set up and eventual transplant. Keep cuts short with leaves well trimmed and domes or misting are no longer needed. Most methods take 1-2 weeks, well within your visiting hours. Flowering plants will take longer and may require a check up or two but, again, well within your visits.

I vote bubbler.

 

[fukndenny]

Easiest cloning method with the least maintenance that I know if is either a bubble cloner, or put directly into fresh pro-mix hp and keep moist.

Both are very low maintenance.

 

[Elsweeto]

Here's my cloning method. take cutting one or two internodes is best or three inches of stem below the surface, trim the leaf tips off any larger leaves this stops the cutting trying to grow new leaves and focuses growth on roots dip in hormone rooting powder and place in medium (I use the scissors to poke a hole first) gently press it all down and water I have 100% success rate (seriously). I don't cover them or use any gadgets they are an afterthought in the veg box I water them every few days. After a week or so they can take really dry conditions I've tested this and its amazing how tough they are.
I don't know if this can be tweaked If your running hydro. maybe a clone tray with vermiculite perlite mix at 3/1 will work but that's just an idea I have no experience.

 

[TokerAce]

Bubble cloner or aero cloner(ezcloner) is the easiest for your situation! Bsafe

 

[smoke1sun]

My vote goes to coco cloning.

 

[MrQwerty]

THANKS ALOT EVERYONE! A lot of good feedback on the bubbler so, Bubbler it is. I am sorry for making the "how to clone thread" for the thousandth time on this board but I wanted your guys opinion on my specific situation, thanks for understanding .. Thanks for the link FB. In that thread for the bubbler, He did not mention PH, should I have a specific ph? mine usually comes out pretty high from the tap.

 

[Scrappy-doo]

Rockwool, cloning gel, and a dome. I don't burp it daily. Just tend to it whenever you go there normally and keep the temps at 80 and you'll be golden.

I'm pretty much hands off with cloning that method. As long as temps are good they pretty much root themselves.

I've also cloned just sticking them in a glass of water. No bubbler. No hormone. Nothing but tap water. Again as long as the temps are good it will root, but it takes like 3 weeks to a month. Easy as pie though.

 

[habeeb]

well, you didn't state growing style in flower... that dictates whet method to use.


soil-less - coco

hydro - rapid rooters with water in bottom of tray / or ez-clone ( more maintenance at end )

 

[MrQwerty]

oops, Aquaponics with coco coir as medium. - I believe the bubble method should do fine with this?

 

[habeeb]

^ sorry, did I come out harsh?

aquaponics. good luck, I do hear alot of people suffer with iron defs, well it's what i hear in the aquaponics forums, but they grow other plants. maybe check out breeder steve and his ventures with his "guppyponics"


bubble method, I do not know what that is at all, maybe someone else does?

coco's a great medium, as it will hold water till they root, also no need to spray the leaves.. I use humidity domes though with coco, I've heard some don't, but I love heat when talking about cloning or germing...



have fun

 

[OGShush]

I've had a pretty maintenance free time cloning with rapid rooters. I just keep a bit of water in the bottom and make sure they are a ways from the light. I don't use a heat mat, but imagine this would help with humidity. With the dome on mine they stayed a pretty constant 80% humidity.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

a cheap option

a cheap option

My humidity is a bit too dry to go topless. The lid gives me three to four days longer between mandatory watering. After the first week I've got enough root nubs to water every two to three days w/o the lid.

 

[Phychotron]

I've found that the aero cloner i built is the easiest way to get clones. I don't use clone gel, just got a 100 pack of x-acto blades; i always start with a fresh blade, I wipe that off with rubbing alcohol first to degrease it, then i'll take a cut with a few nodes, down a little extra, then use the weight of the blade, perpendicular to the stem to lightly scrape 2-3 spots down the stem, below the foam collar, to remove a layer of skin. clean them up of any loose hanging stuff, and then do a clean 45º cut under water. Preferably there is at least 1 node with it's leaf/stem cut off under the foam collar.

after about a week and a half there is usually excellent growth. I've had a near perfect success rate, even with being lazy on water changes.

i just run tap water, built the thing out of a 12" saucer with 13 holes for 2" netpots+ foam, a 5 gallon bucket, 250gpm pump, a 5" pvc + T (5/8" i.d) with a flexable clear hose with a bunch of spray nozzles tapped into it, and the key element is the timer with 15 minute intervals.

 

[MrQwerty]

Thanks a lot for all of the info.. since I am chopping from a budding plant, will it be a good idea to trim off any bud that is on the end? Obviously I will select branches with the least amount of bud. Any other special treatment because of it being in flower?

 

[stonedar]

no the bud is where the new growth will come from. suggest 24hr lighting.
once rooted veg until normal leaves re-appear before flowering. expect odd growth.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Thanks for the link FB. In that thread for the bubbler, He did not mention PH, should I have a specific ph? mine usually comes out pretty high from the tap.

Many say clones don't care. I find correct pH levels too easy to pass up. I hit for 5.5-6.0. Technically, a bubbler uses no media, gel or food. I had a 100% death rate that way so I do mine completely "wrong" with gel, cube, Hormex and nutes. Moral of story: If it doesn't work, adapt.

No other area sees such disparate results from identical procedures. Many say clones require domes. I say domes are death incarnate. 15% RH is more than enough for open air, no dome, no mist cloning. Who's right? Who ever gets cuts to root.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I used to call my cloner the death star. I sprayed clones and they died over and over. Spraying the dome-only stopped killing my cuts.

I wish I could clone w/o a lid. My relative humidity is much higher than 15%. Just can't swing it for some reason.

Might be the rooters, some evaporate faster than others.

Cuts don't need intense light. CFLs or even the windowsill with moderate daylight is enough. Best wishes.

 

[smoke1sun]

Being most of these methods are pretty cheap. Try them all. She whats works for your climate.

I would be worried about pumps, timer's, and air stones if i wasn't visiting my room daily. All these can fail and it wouldn't take long to lose your cuts.

Some kind of medium could kinda give you a safety net for those in between. Days.

Not saying one's better than the other just don't put all your eggs in one basket at first until you get whatever method you choose mastered.

Goodluck Bro.....

 

[MrQwerty]

AWW SHUCKS!! I did not see the second page and assumed people stopped posting . I also did not see Stonedar's post advising not to trim buds. I got back to the ladies earlier today, cut the smallest budding branches I could find, followed the "correct bubbler" method (no nutes, no gel, bottom suspended in a Tupperware with water & air stone but I added a heater at 78deg). I also trimmed the buds off because I read off of google that that was the correct way. Darn I wish I saw this page before doing that. I also trimmed some of the large leaves. I hope I don't fail because all of the other buds are pretty large and I dont think I can bring myself to destroy them and I might end up waiting till after harvest if they die *crys*...... who knows, I guess I will find out in a few days if they survived the first leg of the gauntlet *crosses fingers*. I was only able to bring myself to clipping 6 of the branches off of the plants because the majority of the other branches already have some large buds and each time I snip one off, I feel like I am chopping a kittens leg off