I'm a clone killer!!!

[down2grow]

Ok guys here is what I've been doing with my clones. So far I've only had 8 out of 64 survive and it's frustrating. My first batch of 18 I followed Rez' instructions and used 16oz cups of coco, dipped in root tech gel, and half strength 6/9 ph'd ro water at around 5.5-6. This batch went through the most trouble (too much light for a week, plants weren't watered b4 taking clones, cold 65 degree room temp) and they were the only survivors. Took a month to show roots (used a heating mat on last week). My next two batches of 18 I went ahead and used 16oz cups of coco again. This time using non ph'd tap with 1ml of roots excel. Plants were well fed b4 taking cuttings, cuttings were dipped in water right after, then hormone, then coco. Placed tray on a heating mat and two weeks later no roots, no bumps, nothing. Next 10 clones were done the exact same way, but with jiffy pellets. Same results, nada! A dome was used the first few days then taken off the remaining period until they died on all attempts. I have a partner and he mists them a couple times a day everyday. I mentioned that maybe we should only mist the dome, but he insists that the clones look better when they're misted. It's about that time again and we need to take some clones. My next plan is to use the pellets again, but with ph'd ro water at 5.5-6, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide to keep things clean, and a drop or two of superthrive per gallon. The pellets will be soaked in this mix. Room temp now has been around 75 and rh is around 40-45. I'm dropping the mat. I'm also thinking about Head's mass cloner with perlite, but tap hasn't been working for me. Any suggestions out there? What have we been doing wrong?

Thanks

D2G

 

[High Country]

Do you trim the fan leaves of the clone? Remember they have no roots and will loose water through the leaves. Trim them and I like to keep my clones small, 4" or 8 cm max.

 

[Balarama67]

fwiw I'm usually sh!t-hot at germing seeds and rooting clones
but this feakish hot weather has ruined the lot.

I know you have stated your temps, but are you sure that you
haven't had a few hot days, too?

 

[Scottyboycx]

ever tried without the dome? for some domes are the killers...just thought ^^

or maybe your method just isnt working for you? try the most basic method...chop ya clones as usual (cut under water) dip in ya gel then into a cup filled to inch of water...see how that goes? usually takes bang on 2 week to get roots this way but "" i've "" never had it fail.

 

[Scottyboycx]

Also the misting hmmmmm if your feeding em thru the leaves why would they wanna grow roots?

 

[Balarama67]

I've just put some clones in a friends fish tank, to see how that goes!
Light built in and all! ;-)

 

[reckon]

fwiw I'm usually sh!t-hot at germing seeds and rooting clones
but this feakish hot weather has ruined the lot.

I know you have stated your temps, but are you sure that you
haven't had a few hot days, too?

yes me too,....I almost ALWAYS get 99%-100% success, but we had a freaky hot spell, and I lost 7 out of a run of 24

turn off the warming mat if the temps get above 75f, remove the dome sooner (or don't run it at all, depending on strain) and make SURE you have enough ventilation

warm weather and rooting cuttings can be tricky

oh and fwiw you clip the leaves on a cutting to reduce the amount of LIGHT hitting the surface, to reduce the rate of photosynthesis, which will need less water to process, and the plant will stay turgid (stiff), and it also lessens the plants respiratory rate slightly (which someone mentioned up there). also OP, skip the peat pellets, stick with VERY WELL RINSED coco fiber, it's just a much easier medium to work with, and I get the highest success rates with it, even better than the "legendary" rapid rooters.

 

[THC123]

yes don't use the mat in summer

i have a constant18-23 degrees where i clone and in the cloner about 25 degrees

I just put the cuttings in water for 30 seconds , then i scrape off the sides of the stems then i dip it 5 seconds in clonex gel , then i put em in root riot cubes

i put those in a propagator and make sure the cubes aren't too wet, if they are too wet they will rot

I take the lid off the propagator each day to let fresh air in i almost never mist them, only the first 5 days once a day

For the rest i just leave the clones and wait

As far as light is concerned i use one 15 watt t5 tube about 6-7 inches from the plants


make sure your light isn't too bright and that they aren't too wet and you should be ok

 

[justanotherbozo]

here, check this out man, World class cloner new at walmart

this will cost you about $10.00 to try but i promise you,
if you follow the instructions, you are guaranteed success.

here are a few pics of the bubbler i retired once i found this method.



and a few from my current method and i'll never go back!

lol, want to buy a bubbler? lol.



btw, i know a few fellow growers nearby and it was one of them who
pointed me at this thing and i love it and have been using it now for
almost a year with EXCELLENT results.

so, counting myself, that's 4 people i know personally who use this
cloner exclusively.

 

[reckon]

here, check this out man, World class cloner new at walmart

this will cost you about $10.00 to try but i promise you,
if you follow the instructions, you are guaranteed success.

here are a few pics of the bubbler i retired once i found this method.



and a few from my current method and i'll never go back!

lol, want to buy a bubbler? lol.



btw, i know a few fellow growers nearby and it was one of them who
pointed me at this thing and i love it and have been using it now for
almost a year with EXCELLENT results.

so, counting myself, that's 4 people i know personally who use this
cloner exclusively.

make that 5, I just went and got 4 of em (my clone closet is 15"X17" on 3 shelves, so that thing just makes sense simply because of numbers

I fill mine with coco, however,......so far works like a champ

 

[justanotherbozo]

make that 5, I just went and got 4 of em (my clone closet is 15"X17" on 3 shelves, so that thing just makes sense simply because of numbers

I fill mine with coco, however,......so far works like a champ

right on man, i'm glad to hear another user, although i have
to say that what i mean when i say 'personally' is that i know
here in the real world, people who's op's i've seen in person.

thing is, this isn't new, this style cloner originated over on
the old Overgrow site, before this site even existed!

...i have to say though that i've stuck with the vermiculite,
i figure 'if it works, don't fix it', lol.

and you're right about volume also 'cause that little cab
i built can put out 108 rooted clones every 2 weeks or even
a little better if i wanted to pot them up a couple days earlier.

that's not enough for any kind of commercial op i know
but it would be so easy to scale up, and so cheap and
simple too.

 

[reckon]

right on man, i'm glad to hear another user, although i have
to say that what i mean when i say 'personally' is that i know
here in the real world, people who's op's i've seen in person.

thing is, this isn't new, this style cloner originated over on
the old Overgrow site, before this site even existed!

...i have to say though that i've stuck with the vermiculite,
i figure 'if it works, don't fix it', lol.

and you're right about volume also 'cause that little cab
i built can put out 108 rooted clones every 2 weeks or even
a little better if i wanted to pot them up a couple days earlier.

that's not enough for any kind of commercial op i know
but it would be so easy to scale up, and so cheap and
simple too.

108(clones) X $6.00(the price I can get at the clubs for a "soil" clone)=$648

I been paying rent with clone sales since I got laid off 2 years ago.

it's more than people think, and I can get from cut to sell in 7 to 12 days, depending on variety.

sent you some rep, btw.

 

[down2grow]

Sorry guys. I forgot to mention that I did clip the leaves on every single one. We did try no dome from the beginning a couple of days and they wilted so we misted them with 6.0 RO and put the dome on. I read up on wilting clones and a lot of people say to soak them in water after the initial cut. The batch that we did this on had no bumps whatsoever when they died. I also thought of the "world class cloner" too. Seems like wicking techniques work better so you don't have to mess with it being too wet or dry. I think that was my problem when I handwatered my coco clones, too wet. What kind of rooting hormone are you guys using?

D2G

 

[atomicfield]

simple clone bucket + clipped leaves + tap water, no nutes, gels or anything, no dome, 82 degree water, one 23w 2700k cfl in clamp light fixture about foot and a half away = sucess. i get clipping to clone bucket, three to four days later roots, then beer can sized smartpots, two days in that, starts veggin, vegg for three days, repot to three gallon smartpot in they go to flower, all in about ten to twelve days.

 

[reckon]

Sorry guys. I forgot to mention that I did clip the leaves on every single one. We did try no dome from the beginning a couple of days and they wilted so we misted them with 6.0 RO and put the dome on. I read up on wilting clones and a lot of people say to soak them in water after the initial cut. The batch that we did this on had no bumps whatsoever when they died. I also thought of the "world class cloner" too. Seems like wicking techniques work better so you don't have to mess with it being too wet or dry. I think that was my problem when I handwatered my coco clones, too wet. What kind of rooting hormone are you guys using?

D2G

I used olivia's for YEARS,...till I tried clonex, now that's all I use
I use clonex rooting solution as well, but, if you decide to use clonex rooting solution, only reconstitute the amount you will use in one session, as once you add the water, it does NOT KEEP more than about 36 hours, then it turns cloudy, and smells BAD,...so only use fresh cloning solution.

 

[down2grow]

Thanks for your input guys. I'm just tired of killing so many cuttings. Reckon and Bozo. Are you two putting a heating mat under the reservoir? Are you following the "world class cloner" to the t? I believe Reckon said that he uses coco.

Thanks again!

D2G

 

[justanotherbozo]

Thanks for your input guys. I'm just tired of killing so many cuttings. Reckon and Bozo. Are you two putting a heating mat under the reservoir? Are you following the "world class cloner" to the t? I believe Reckon said that he uses coco.

Thanks again!

D2G

high bro, i feel for you man as i know what it's like to struggle
to root cuts only to watch them die.

...and even using methods which had great success in the past
that failed miserably the next time around.

i finally decided to build a bubbler which worked well but
needed constant attention, or else.

then i met a couple fellow growers in the real world who
were using the walmart thing and i figured, 'what the hell'

in any event, after a few runs i put my bubbler away and
i've never looked back, this is just so much easier!

...and yeah, i follow the original thread to a T, i have experimented
with other media with some success but the vermiculite
gives me nearly 100% success, every time.

as to heating the res, you should start by getting a cheap
aquarium thermometer so you can monitor the res temps.



then, if you need to add heat you can either add a heat mat
or you can just put a single incandescent bulb under it for heat.

here are a couple pics, first of my ghetto set-up and then
of the 'new' (6 months) clone box i built for a permanent
home for my cloning op.



btw, i designed my new clone box so that i'm able to capture
the heat from below passively so no need for a heat mat.

 

[down2grow]

Bozo,
I noticed that you place your thermometer on the outside of the tub. What does the temp read at that level?

High Country,
If you're still here, I just saw your "not another cloning thread." It looks like the "world class cloner" but on a larger scale. I just have a few questions. Is the kiko tray wicking up water from the red tub? Are you using tap or RO? PH'd or not?

D2G

 

[justanotherbozo]

you can't see them but i also have thermometer's inside
each of the res', like that little cheap one pictured above,
they're like $3.00 at walmart.

btw, my clone box runs a bit hot, usually in the high 80's
and that seems to keep the res at or near 80 - 82, the
temps that were recommended in the original thread.

which, btw, gives me 100% success, almost every time
(sometimes i only get 23 or 24 out of 27)

Bozo,
I noticed that you place your thermometer on the outside of the tub. What does the temp read at that level?

High Country,
If you're still here, I just saw your "not another cloning thread." It looks like the "world class cloner" but on a larger scale. I just have a few questions. Is the kiko tray wicking up water from the red tub? Are you using tap or RO? PH'd or not?

D2G

 

[Learningfirst]

Thanks to all with the knowledge,

I just chopped my bag-seeders up last week and had prepared my Rockwell - and read a ton and yeah - they have all suffered dearly from my lack of skill. out of about 50 cuttings I have nothing positive to tell - glad they were bag-seeders. Almost has me considering just waiting until 12/12 to sex the good genetic seed grows and then regrow after-wards.

That was a 2nd attempt with my clone dome & Rock wool.

Peace.