How I got roots in 6 days.

[ekomsi]

Im intrested in cloning in coco b/c I use coco to flower plants now, gotta love the medium. I use ezcloners I have a 60 site and 30 site I get roots in 7 days 100% but they look sad the first few days after rooting before adding nutrients into the cloner. I also take big cuts more often same size as yours pictured maybe a little bigger sometimes. When I take clones I like to use the top nodes of the plants instead of the bottoms kinda the opposite of what "cervantes bible" says to do.

I might just have to try a few cuts in cups of coco???

 

[bignugs]

Anyone ever try putting 1/4 perlite in the bottom of the cup with coco on top for getting more oxygen to the roots.

 

[PrimeTimeNugs]

Great thread! I am a soil grower about to switch to coco, when do you have to worry about calmg with the coco after they're rooted?

 

[Granger2]

I charge the coco I'm rooting in with 1/3 strength transition nutes with calmag before putting the cuttings in. Good luck. -granger

 

[BrownThumb]

Great thread! I am a soil grower about to switch to coco, when do you have to worry about calmg with the coco after they're rooted?

Good question. GH Flora series says you're supposed to supplement /w Cal-Mag in the first two weeks of life or something like that when using coir. I am not always real good about directions and skipped that when firing up, well...pretty much everything I have started in coir. No problems so far with veggies, but my first batch of seeds are almost a week old now and they look just fine. Hopefully someone has experienced the downside of not using a cal-mag supp. in coir so we can get educated about that. At this point, with the nutes I have been using, I see no point. I will be switching to MaxiBloom here in a minute and it has a similar makeup, so I will be running that without supp.'s either, at least to start. If I have problems, I will revisit then.

 

[nachoconqueso]

I was successful using this method. They were just forming roots on the plugs after about 6 days. Used a powder from Walmart on this one. Not quite as fast as some of you, but I ended up pulling some plugs out around day 4 and repacking them which made all the difference. I also took off all my lighting except one bulb in my T5. I think if I would have had the coco packed more tightly against the stem and less light from the very beginning they would have rooted faster. Nice method. I'm trying rapid rooters with dip and grow to see how that goes.

Just for fun I pulled out all the cuttings to get a whole count and only about 33% were showing root nubs. As an experiment to see how sensitive clones are, I've dipped them in dip and grow and repacked in rapid rooters. Why? I don't know why. I'm a moron, that's why. I'm doing a new batch anyways so whatever.

 

[967]

How do you guys get the coco packed so tight it comes out as a 'plug'? If i try to take my clones out of their cups the coco falls apart on me..

 

[nachoconqueso]

How do you guys get the coco packed so tight it comes out as a 'plug'? If i try to take my clones out of their cups the coco falls apart on me..

Put a little something thin and long down to the base of the cup right along the edge and try to loosen it out. On little trays I would use a toothpick, but obviously you could find something else for your size cup.

 

[967]

So what you just squeeze the coco together so hard that in sticks to itself? I've always tried to avoid this, that must be my problem

 

[nachoconqueso]

Yeah for rooting I had more success with the coco pretty tightly packed up. Seems like squeezing as much of the water out as you can and doing a tight pack might be the way to go, but others here are more knowledgeable in cloning than I am so maybe they can chime in. Squeezing it too tight could be a problem if there's too much water, but the nice thing about coco is I think it might hold just the right amount once you give it a good squeeze. I'm kinda liking rapid rooters for this reason. They're airy, but hold moisture. That's what it's all about. Coco will always be airy no matter how tightly you pack it...unless you have too much water.

 

[slowandeasy]

So what you just squeeze the coco together so hard that in sticks to itself? I've always tried to avoid this, that must be my problem

First step is the have your environment right! No mater what method you use, that is the most important factor for best results. Get your cloning area, I use tubs covered with Saran wrap that are misted before clones are put in. You want high humidity, and 75-80f. Get your tubs or area to have stable temps and high humidity...minimal lighting.

Take a 3oz cup and fill it totally full with coco, then water the coco with 1/2 strength nutes. Water it enough that you can push the liquid out the bottom..pack it down in the cup, this makes a mold of the cup that is tight. Poke a hole in the middle with a chop stick, push up on the bottom of the cup to allow for some airflow...it will remain a coco plug. Cut your clone and use your cloning solution...I use Vita-grow liquid. Pack the stem after you put it all of the way to the bottom. Put in your cloning area. You will never fail if you do this.

 

[LEDNewbie]

Sorry not quite getting what you mean about making a mold of the cup and pushing up on the bottom to allow for airflow ?

Sorry, maybe I'm a little slower than normal. Sicker than hell and all hopped up on NyQuil!!!!

I've only cloned once and had 100% success using miracle grow seedling mix, h202 and water and cloning powder. But I'd like to clone in coco since that's what I'm growing with now. Thanks for any and all help

 

[slowandeasy]

Sorry not quite getting what you mean about making a mold of the cup and pushing up on the bottom to allow for airflow ?

Sorry, maybe I'm a little slower than normal. Sicker than hell and all hopped up on NyQuil!!!!

I've only cloned once and had 100% success using miracle grow seedling mix, h202 and water and cloning powder. But I'd like to clone in coco since that's what I'm growing with now. Thanks for any and all help

Pack the coco down into the cup, forcing the extra liquid out the bottom. Push up on the bottom of the cup, because they might not sit flat...that is all

 

[LEDNewbie]

Oh ok. So your just saying the bottom of the cup may deform from pushing the extra water out of the coco??

 

[slowandeasy]

Oh ok. So your just saying the bottom of the cup may deform from pushing the extra water out of the coco??

Yeah, even if it doesn't still push up on it

 

[Granger2]

LED,
I've had great success with slow's coco method, but if it were me, and I had 100% success with another method, I wouldn't change a thing. Good luck. -granger

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Hey slow... thanks for the great thread. I'm going to give this a shot.... tired of waiting 2 weeks for roots...

mgk

 

[slowandeasy]

If you follow my method, you will never wait that long again. Also, I take massive clones...less veg time. Make sure temps and humidity is right before you even cut your clones.pack stems tight. My SSSDH clones vegged 7 days, yielded 3 oz each under a little 200watt LED. good luck

 

[nachoconqueso]

Cloning in coco is giving me troubles. I have the medium temps between 75-78, humidity dome, and I squeeze all the water out of the coco by hand. I pack the coco around the stem nice and tight, but a bunch of them fall over after a few days. When I pull the clone out the stem is soft and thinned out. What's so weird about this is that it even happened in one where the coco was very dried out. It happens at all sorts of moisture levels. Am I packing the coco too tight against the stem?

 

[noyd666]

WELL YOU GOT TO HAVE THE COCO FIRM TO HOLD THE CUTTING, PROBALY CHUCK THE DOME. I USE 15'' CUTS NO DOME.