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ORGANIC CLONES IN PERLITE

the gnome

Active member
Veteran
next tray i make up I'm gonna try a few rows with perlite only.
with the verm. i only watered that tray 3 times, a qt each time.

perite is great stuff!
i have a couple bags of rapid rooters growing some kind of green things from sitting arounf so long!
 

moses wellfleet

Well-known member
Moderator
Veteran
Moses,
In the 1st 15 days do you apply additional water? How often? Thanks for the great thread. I've been nearly 100% successful using coco for rooting, but this would be easier. I'll be taking a bunch of cuttings in a coupla weeks. -granger
no i dont water again after putting the clones in the perlite. remember there are no drainage holes in the bottom of the container so it would be easy to over water... you want no more than 1mm of water at the bottom of the container, and for the perlite to be thoroughly wet, this is enough for the entire rooting cycle of the clones
 
T

The Sensi Rebel

I work at a greenhouse and besides rooting sponges, we just root in peat/perlite.
I prefer this over perlite because I tend to oversaturate the pelite and the stems rot within days.

The peat adds a visual factor...crusts up a bit when it needs moisture, and a huge ability to retain the water.
 

Neo 420

Active member
Veteran
I use 50% perlite and 50% EWC.
100% success rate.
First I soak the cutting in aloe/coconut water, fulvic for 24 hours
Then place the cuttings in the medium mix.

Simple, natural and it works!!

 
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Neo 420

Active member
Veteran
Neo 420_ why do you use the coconut water and fulvic?
Im just trying out new ideas. Thanks.

I use the fulvic for the auxin like growth response. Also helps provides more roots..

Coconut water also induces and encourages root development with cuttings.(growth hormones) Amongst its many other uses..
 

W89

Active member
Veteran
fulvic acid hasnt got auxins in it mate, coconut has yeah, fulvic is for other benefits like makingthe uptake of nutrients better and faster..

here are some other benefits

Benefits:

Increase brix production
Decrease fertilizer inputsIncrease root growth and biomass
Increase biological stimulation
Increase yield and plant health
Reduce the uptake of sodium
Detoxify pollutants in the water and soil
 

moses wellfleet

Well-known member
Moderator
Veteran
doing my next batch with pure water, no superthrive added.

i am convinced that rooting hormones are unnecessary, a trap for grow shops to get money out of noobs!
 
Ya, somehow I doubt Superthrive is going to be the line between success and failure.:biggrin:

I've been using just water and things were working fine, but I added protekt, kelp meal, and fresh aloe this time around. I'm hoping for gnarlier roots and a higher than 90% survival rate.
 

DARC MIND

Member
Veteran
ive been going back to this simple method of taking cutting for a minute..
i tryed the nappa BS as some claimed it was better then perilite but i could not jump on that bandwagon...
tends tobe a OK texture amendment at best & honestly the worse material "i" have had experiance with cuttings

90+% success w/humidity dome & stable temps (70) plus misting daily...

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moses wellfleet

Well-known member
Moderator
Veteran
Ya, somehow I doubt Superthrive is going to be the line between success and failure.:biggrin:

I've been using just water and things were working fine, but I added protekt, kelp meal, and fresh aloe this time around. I'm hoping for gnarlier roots and a higher than 90% survival rate.
i was thinking maybe the superthrive adjusts ph to perfect levels, i will find out soon enough!
 

Lundy

New member
Moses, I bought Growmore seaweed extract: Liquified Organic Kelp and it is a dark brown color. I notice that the kelp water you soak your cuttings in is clear, did I get the wrong kind? I tried one run using your method and this kelp stuff and none of my cuttings rooted. I may have had to much water in the bottom though as well.
 

Granger2

Active member
Veteran
Superthrive, used according to the instructions, or at least in the ballpark, will have little effect on pH. Superthrive does have NAA, a hormone. Some of the rooting hormones, such as Dip n Gro, have NAA and the usual one,BA. Good luck. -granger
 

MileHighGuy

Active member
Veteran
Drop the superthrive... It doesn't belong in an organic garden.... or PH measurements.

About Kelp, here is some information I stole from ClackamasCootz :

I know of only 3 true liquid kelp products from around the world:

KELPAK - located in South Africa and they do have a very unique product because the 'juice' in the kelp fronds is pressed out by machines and it does not use powerful Alkaloids like the powdered products (Maxicrop, et al.). This product is usually available in 5 gallon jugs and is priced around $40.00 per gallon. This is a favorite with hydroponic bottlers because it's crystal clear just like water meaning that it won't interfere with their color schemeatic.

KelpGrow - located in British Columbia and they grind the kelp into a slurry (specific particle size) and they they use what they call 'microbial inhibitors' to extend its shelf life. I didn't bother looking at what that might mean - could be anything from Phosphoric acid to Citric acid.

Powdered Seaweed Extracts - this is main one found in most garden products. Maxicrop is a big player. The kelp is processed with chemicals (Potassium or Sodium Hydroxide) which renders this plant material into a black powder - powdered seaweed extract. Notice that these products are never identified as 'powdered kelp extracts' and that has to do with an international treaty dating back to 1950 when Stephenson first introduced this new concept to the world. Kelp is kelp. Seaweed extract is seaweed extract.

Maxicrop mixes the powder with water and usually adds some Soluble Potash to bump up the 'K' numbers for the ill-informed.

Any of the retail 'liquid seaweed' products are powders and if the largest manufacturer (Maxicrop) tosses out some real crap can you imagine what is coming out of Asia? South America?

You want to find Kelp meal because this is like Alfalfa meal in this regard - it's minimally processed. The kelp fronds are layed out in the sun and basically dried and cured. Then it's cut, sized and bagged. Very little (tiny amounts) of kelp meal ever hits the dirt compared to the amount used in livestock supplements, HABA products, research in medicine.

Kelp meal is easily sourced at places that cater to horse owners - feed stores or sometimes called farm stores. Almost all of the kelp meal in North America comes out of Nova Scotia (Acadian Seaplants, Ltd.) in 50 lb. bags. The price should run between $75.00 - $90.00 (depending on how hard you're getting stabbed).

But consider this - 2 oz. will turn 5 gallons of water into kelp meal tea with all of the 'things' you want (Alginic acid, Mannitol, IAA, IBA, etc.) plus when you're done brewing the tea, the 2 oz. of rehydrated kelp still retains about 50% of the 'things' you wanted in the first place.

You can add this to a new batch of soil, toss it into a worm bin, top-dress plants in your outdoor garden.

So now you're down nothing from a bottle.
 

moses wellfleet

Well-known member
Moderator
Veteran
Moses, I bought Growmore seaweed extract: Liquified Organic Kelp and it is a dark brown color. I notice that the kelp water you soak your cuttings in is clear, did I get the wrong kind? I tried one run using your method and this kelp stuff and none of my cuttings rooted. I may have had to much water in the bottom though as well.
I used kelpak as described above by mile high guy. I haven't tried any other kelp products.

I read in the the alfalfa thread that superthrive is basically alfalfa extract?

A problem I encountered now is that I want to switch to no till gardening, so I will be mixing a lot less soil. And buying perlite only for cloning will work out expensive and defeat the purpose of the exercise. Might be time to give a home built aero cloner a go, for low cost clones!
 
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