Lots of root bumps but NO ROOTS - why?

[ItsGrowTime]

Hey all. I hate cloning.

Ive been using a simple bubble cloner (L0ugrew's cooking pot method) that has worked well, up until the last couple of runs over the last couple months. Both have ended up with most clones having a lot of obvious, large root bumps but they do NOT grow out into regular roots! They bump out and just stop there. Why? Out of about 50 clones I had 5 root completely. Most of the remaining clones have yellowed up the leaves, produced large white bumps, and just stopped there. Ive let them go for nearly 3 weeks and since I run the same genetics over and over I know this is too long to think they will actually sprout roots. If they're going to sprout they would have done it by a few days ago.

I know it's been hot everywhere lately but the closet I clone in is fairly cool (mid 70s) and humid (70%rh). Water is not heated, no dome. This is so frustrating! This exact same method has worked great in the recent past and just now started this.

Anybody know why my clones are just throwing bumps but not rooting completely?

 

[Burt]

are you aerating with a bubble wand or the like?
the lour grew method has saved my Sour Diesel mom on more than one occasion

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Yeah, just small 1" airstone on a fairly strong air pump. Im wondering if maybe I have too many bubbles and it's sorta air pruning the roots before they sprout? My previous successful runs did have less bubbles on a weaker air pump. Think that could be it? It's the only thing that makes any sense to me, though the bubble amount isnt roiling the water or anything...

 

[rasputin]

Too much bubbling could possibly be the culprit. I saw a bubble cloner on here by Kodiak, I think, where he mentions that as a potential issue. But given its a small 1" could it be too little? Have you had success using this same airstone in this cloner before?

Water temp is another big clone killer if its not in check. Even if things seem good (good temps, good rH etc) its worth checking water temp just to be sure.

 

[Phedrosbenny]

See if you can find a way to raise the temp of the water in your cloner some.They like it a little warmer than mid 70s.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Thanks for the additional thoughts. Im going to scale back the bubbles on the next run, or maybe go with a larger cloning area. It's the only difference between my successful runs and the failures. Less bubbles = more roots, in previous runs.

(fwiw, higher temps than low to mid 70s has produced the worst bubble cloner results in the past. My experience is that 80F water kills clones. Better to be too cold than too hot.)

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Hey all. I hate cloning.

Ive been using a simple bubble cloner (L0ugrew's cooking pot method) that has worked well, up until the last couple of runs over the last couple months. Both have ended up with most clones having a lot of obvious, large root bumps but they do NOT grow out into regular roots! They bump out and just stop there. Why? Out of about 50 clones I had 5 root completely. Most of the remaining clones have yellowed up the leaves, produced large white bumps, and just stopped there. Ive let them go for nearly 3 weeks and since I run the same genetics over and over I know this is too long to think they will actually sprout roots. If they're going to sprout they would have done it by a few days ago.

I know it's been hot everywhere lately but the closet I clone in is fairly cool (mid 70s) and humid (70%rh). Water is not heated, no dome. This is so frustrating! This exact same method has worked great in the recent past and just now started this.

Anybody know why my clones are just throwing bumps but not rooting completely?

Never seen it happen, even though I've got high heat and ~60% humidity. If your cuttings are lasting weeks w/o a dome, the bumps are probably responding like roots. I'd feed em a bit to discourage yellowing and see what happens. The high humidity might have something to do with the recent shakeup. I used to mist cuttings and found that most root faster if I only mist the dome. I know my specifics are different but my self induced high humidity delayed rooting.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Thx for the post DB. I did install one of the bumped out clones into a DWC yesterday just to see if it picks up full roots outside of the cloner. Itll be interesting to see the results.

 

[Japanfreakier]

If your stems are sitting in the water I'd lower the water a bit.
I'd also try putting it on a timer, 15 min on-off to see if that will force the bumps to sprout.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Well hot damn. No matter how long you've been in this hobby, you'll still learn something new! My clones are saved!

The bumpy clone I put into a stand alone DWC sprouted NICE roots fast and is vegging happily. I took about 10 of the other bumpy clones and put them into a big glass of water with some beneficial bacteria and a tiny splash of veg nutes and sure enough the roots started popping out.

Moral of the story is that large root bumps do act as roots until placed into a suitable growing environment. I think I did just have too much oxygen in my bubble cloner and that was holding the roots back. Less bubbles next time...and even if just big bumps, they will sprout into full roots quickly when transplanted.

Thanks for the thoughts all.

 

[Lemon King]

lol i know this is an old thread but you just saved my clones!!!

it must be the nutes!!

 

[punkenstien]

Well hot damn. No matter how long you've been in this hobby, you'll still learn something new! My clones are saved!

The bumpy clone I put into a stand alone DWC sprouted NICE roots fast and is vegging happily. I took about 10 of the other bumpy clones and put them into a big glass of water with some beneficial bacteria and a tiny splash of veg nutes and sure enough the roots started popping out.

Moral of the story is that large root bumps do act as roots until placed into a suitable growing environment. I think I did just have too much oxygen in my bubble cloner and that was holding the roots back. Less bubbles next time...and even if just big bumps, they will sprout into full roots quickly when transplanted.



Thanks for the thoughts all.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[F. Dupp]

Im glad I found this thread. I usually have roots in my ezcloner in 6 days, but Im currently on day 9 and only have root nubs. I made one change recently and that was adding a much bigger air pump.

Also, I am able to run temps of 81f in my aero cloner and have been doing this successfully for about 4 years. I almost always get 120 for 120. It used to take me 8 days to get roots, but using a seedling heat mat under the cloner has cut my rooting time by 2 days. The key component to this method is Orca, the liquid version of Great White. The shit is liquid gold. I use RO water, Clonex liquid at 3ml/gal, and .75ml of Orca/gal. I do not feed my clones and I leave them in the cloner for 3 weeks without any rot forming in my water. On occasion I will smell rot developing after 2 1/2 weeks, in which case I just drain and refill the cloner. I can pretty much get a lollipop stick to root using this method.

Hope this helps.

 

[ReprobateMind]

I had a bunch of root bumps but no roots in my bubble cloner so I put the cuttings into clear solo cups with soil in them and a plastic baggie over the top. I'm seeing roots growing in the soil 4 days later.

 

[hamstring]

I had a bunch of root bumps but no roots in my bubble cloner so I put the cuttings into clear solo cups with soil in them and a plastic baggie over the top. I'm seeing roots growing in the soil 4 days later.

I too will put them in solo cups with soil even if I don't see roots shooting out of the rockwell cubes. Some make it some don't but I think it helps.