recent cloning attempts failing...baffled.

[mtbazz]

I've gone from an 80-90% cloning success rate to zero.

Last two batches of 20 clones have both failed..

They start calcifying, than do not proceed further..no root development at all.

any ideas what may be happening?

FWIW the mother is kind of old, and many of the clones had woody stems...

Update: 07/05/15


Cloner: Bucket type cloner...washed pretty well and sterilized with H2O2..

Water: Well water...somewhat hard water but have not had issues with it before. pH'd to ~5.5-5.9, KLN added, temps kept at 68-72 dg F

Cuttings: Two year old mom (sour strawberry kush)...not the healthiest of plants had been allowed to get root bound, and had gotten a little "unkempt", 4-6" long cuttings were taken, most with woody stems...dipped in clonex for about a minute and than placed in neoprene holders and placed into the cloner.

As I said, the cuttings start to undergo calcification, but than stop and no roots grow...

guess i'll try a new mom.

 

[Vanilla Phoenix]

Woody stemmed plants are a bitch to clone! What method are you using? I use a simple bubble cloner with good results. I always keep a small aquarium heater in the reservoir set to around 74F.

 

[siftedunity]

if you are keeping one mother for years, that will defo be part of the issue.

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

Old, unhealthy or root bound plants dont root for shit.

 

[macdiesel]

if you clone like you ask questions, then that's the problem.

 

[mtbazz]

if you clone like you ask questions, then that's the problem.

i know i didn't provide much info...too little time to post these days.

I'll have time over the weekend to check back in with more info.

 

[CoCoSativas]

Hey i recently had some issues cloning too. Believe it or not it wasnt me, or my plants. It was old root stimulant. The guys at the shop argued it wasnt the stim root but gave me a new one. When i used the new one, voila.

Id saw the years old mother dosent help. Could have lost vigour. Time for a new one. If i were you id get new mom, new cloning tools and maybe refresh? Maybe you are forgetting a vital step idk it happens.

Nothing wrong with the op. I found it informative enogh. Guys having problems and is stumped

 

[mtbazz]

OP updated with more info....

 

[GuerillaJack]

Try scraping the outside of the stem away at the base instead of splitting the stem. This method is exposing the cambium (the layer under the skin that produces roots) and has a much better success rate than splitting the stem. Rooting hormones are ok but I dont use them and to be honest you dont need them. Using this method you will have better results as this works with any stem woody, skinny, fleshy. Safe

 

[GuerillaJack]

I've gone from an 80-90% cloning success rate to zero.

Last two batches of 20 clones have both failed..

They start calcifying, than do not proceed further..no root development at all.

any ideas what may be happening?

FWIW the mother is kind of old, and many of the clones had woody stems...

Update: 07/05/15


Cloner: Bucket type cloner...washed pretty well and sterilized with H2O2..

Water: Well water...somewhat hard water but have not had issues with it before. pH'd to ~5.5-5.9, KLN added, temps kept at 68-72 dg F

Cuttings: Two year old mom (sour strawberry kush)...not the healthiest of plants had been allowed to get root bound, and had gotten a little "unkempt", 4-6" long cuttings were taken, most with woody stems...dipped in clonex for about a minute and than placed in neoprene holders and placed into the cloner.

As I said, the cuttings start to undergo calcification, but than stop and no roots grow...

guess i'll try a new mom.

Water may be a problem dude also. PPM the water and if it is over 250 PPM you really want to consider adding distilled water to dilute it down to 100 - 150 ppm. Check your PPM will also block your tubes etc very hard water and the high calcium will mess with your PH loads. Safe dude be good

 

[Storm Shadow]

Chitosan can make all your problems go away

 

[mtbazz]

whoo-hoo!

Finally have some roots showing...six out of 18 clones have roots, with one probably ready to move into soil (new roots are just over an inch)..

I don't recall when I started these, but it was a couple of weeks before i made this thread, so I'd say it's about a month at least for these..

Was really bummed about losing the mom as it gave me some of the best smoke ever, hopefully at least one of these cuttings will take once it is move into soil...

Question...What about changing the water on a regular basis? For the first few weeks I'd change it once a week. Last 2 weeks I didn't change it as my attitude was more or less fuck it, nothing will happen..

 

[Jellyfish]

One thing that can really affect cloning is the water. If you have changed water recently, that might be the cause. It happened to me almost exactly like the OP described- close to 100% success to, well, I didn't go to zero, but like, 20%.

There was a thread about water and cloning, can't remember the name. Someone said that the chlorine in tap water was actually beneficial in cloning.

Just spitballing. Hope this helps.

 

[larry badiner]

I've gone from an 80-90% cloning success rate to zero.

Last two batches of 20 clones have both failed..

They start calcifying, than do not proceed further..no root development at all.

any ideas what may be happening?

FWIW the mother is kind of old, and many of the clones had woody stems...

Update: 07/05/15


Cloner: Bucket type cloner...washed pretty well and sterilized with H2O2..

Water: Well water...somewhat hard water but have not had issues with it before. pH'd to ~5.5-5.9, KLN added, temps kept at 68-72 dg F

Cuttings: Two year old mom (sour strawberry kush)...not the healthiest of plants had been allowed to get root bound, and had gotten a little "unkempt", 4-6" long cuttings were taken, most with woody stems...dipped in clonex for about a minute and than placed in neoprene holders and placed into the cloner.

As I said, the cuttings start to undergo calcification, but than stop and no roots grow...

guess i'll try a new mom.

dont soak the stems, just dip quickly and plant.. i use 16oz cups and roots organic soil, i get about an 80% success rate.. also use clean blades

also i use dip and gro, i found out about it from ic and the few people that are vocal about swear by it

good luck

 

[relic1981]

are they rotting at all?any slimey residue on the stems or clonging machine? if so it could be high water temps from summer heat.whats your res look like, i mean what products do you use? i use 15 ml/gall of kln and a 1/4 tsp per gallon then add house and garden aqua flakes at 5 ml per gallon after root nubs appear along with roots excelorater and amino aide. i keep my bubble cloner super oxygenated with on of these..having trouble with the pic

that said, using well water... have you had it tested? could be hard and clog stuff up for you with lime and calcium scale deposits. hard to tell without pics. are they drying out from thr top down? how are they failing? symptoms wise.woody cuts just take longer. thats why im asking where the troublr brgins besides what you seem to be saying is that they almost root but somehow en up dying.

 

[relic1981]

i also use a submersible air pump to really get the water moving around as much as possible. 100% succes, ok ok, 98% success. everyonce in a blue moon one will fail to root but i dont think its the machines fault just small, weak clones that shouldnt have even bothered with. 15ml per gallon kln, and 1/4tsp superthrive, now with kelp, looks and smells the same justa new package. dosage is the same as the old stuff. i add 2 tsp per gall of 30=$h202 and i mil of zone per gallon to keep pathogins incheck untill i transplant into coco, loose, and am able to innoculate it with mycos and benny fungi. been using house and garden coco after switching from royal gold. much better prooduct imho.

 

[LostTribe]

Hey i recently had some issues cloning too. Believe it or not it wasnt me, or my plants. It was old root stimulant. The guys at the shop argued it wasnt the stim root but gave me a new one. When i used the new one, voila.

Id saw the years old mother dosent help. Could have lost vigour. Time for a new one. If i were you id get new mom, new cloning tools and maybe refresh? Maybe you are forgetting a vital step idk it happens.

Nothing wrong with the op. I found it informative enogh. Guys having problems and is stumped

had that problem with rootech before twice went to clonex last time 100 percent success again. might try that

 

[StudenTeacher]

I'm with Stormshadow on the chitisan. Bestchitosan.com . I would drop he h202 and go with regular chlorine bleach. The peroxide will be water in a couple hours and the bleach will remain for a few days. 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons until transplant to coco. Good luck

 

[friendly530]

you want to make sure you a taking cuts off a healthy mother plant. i use dip and grow to dip em and i soak the rapid rooter plugs in the bag they come in with warm water with clonex in it.Then i make sure i use a heating mat under the tray then i open the tray once a day and blow in there and exchange air from the tray.when they dry out i add clonex water to the tray under the insert and let water wick up into the plugs about 20 min then i dump the water and place on the heat mat. good luck hope this helps also check out how to keep a good mother plant

 

[Redbuddz]

Considering that you have not really changed your cloning methods it's most likely the health of Mom and how you prepare her for the cuttings. How you feed mom leading up to taking the cuttings is important and it's good practice to mist the leaves once a day for about a week prior to taking cuttings. It's certainly not the fact that they were woody, I make cuttings all the time that are as thick as a #2 pencil and they root just as well if not better then a skinny stem cutting.

There's been some good input here for you but I'll add to it. I have found that keeping the root zone between 75-80 is BEST for rooting. How you care for the cuttings can also determine the success rate. If you leave them in water or too wet they will take longer to root. Cloning gels are the way to go, they certainly help. I use Olivias Cloning Solution. I keep my cuttings in the Olivias solution for 24hrs before putting them into the root plugs I use. I mist my plants with water once/twice a day for 3 or 4 days after they were cut. For me I have found that roots begin to appear at about 10 days and most will have roots after 14 days. I have also found that any cuttings that take any longer then 21 days to have solid root growth are just not worth growing. They tend to be smaller and don't grow at the same rate as the rest of the crop.

How about another update from the OP