Sterile Cloning Techniques
Recent discoveries in plant pathogens has led me to alter my cloning practices to limit the spread of any infected plant material. I was using an aerocloner with near 100% success for many years. Root borne pathogens and viroids travel freely within all roots in hydroponic systems that rely on a shared reservoir. I have also discontinued recirculating hydroponics systems in favor of an alternative drain to waste system using sterile perlite. In this post I will attempt to provide a run down of my current procedure for cloning in detail.
Step 1
We begin with mixing cloning nutrient solution.
RO Water
180ppm Cal mag
top up to 450-550ppm total with Maxibloom
Ph to 5.8
This next part is taken from Bill Graham of microcloner. This can also all be done inside a still air box but we arent surface sterilizing plant material. If you have plants with surface pathogens then I recommend a 10 minuite soak of new cuttings in 10% Sodium Hypochlorite bleach solution followed by rinsing well in a colander under tap. Distilled water can be used if available for your rinse.
We have our cloning solution container and in a second container with a top I saturate my rooters fully with some of the solution. I use a microwave to heat the solution container and the container containing the rooters with tops just covering in 30 second increments until I see steam coming from the rooters and quickly close the containers.
You will need the following:
Nitrile gloves
bleach spray
paper towels
cloning gel
quart freezer baggies
and the above containers, cloning solution and rooters. You will also need a sterile dome or clear tote, heat mat with pid temp controller and led lighting.
Important Note- Never touch plant material without being gloved up. Always spray gloved hands with bleach solution and rinse in the sink and dry with clean paper towels between each different plant. The open sores form the plants, the sap and also the wet roots are all capable of spreading HLVD and many other pathogens. Cleanliness is paramount.
Before you begin pre pour out cloning gel on a folded paper towel, a separate small dab for each different cultivar. You should never dip your clones into a container of cloning gel, this will contaminate the entire container. Do not share gel with multiple cultivars, this will also cause contamination.
When you select a branch for cloning always take one long enough to remove a few fan leaves. Remove all but the top two fan leaves and growing shoot. Make a fresh straight cut across the stem, not at 45 degrees, which will help callus the rooting cutting. I buy cheap throwaway razor blades at Harbor Freight and it is important to never use the same cutter on more than one plant.
Another vector that many current growers are not aware of is using a shared cloning tray. Just like the aerocloner shared cloning trays will cause cross contamination form a sick plant to a healthy plant. It is important not to touch anything clean after you have handled any plant material always spray, rinse and dry your gloves, thought I needed to restate that.
Instead of shared domes I use a clear tote with clear top and individual freezer baggies. You will need to poke holes in the bottoms of the rooters as they stand up better this way when used upside down. I sometimes cut them in half with a sterile razor blade.
Carefully stick the stem of the cutting all the way through the rooter to the bottom so you can barely see it. This is the way. Place in freezer bag, add a few drops of cloning solution if needed, blow up the bag and seal.
Clones are placed inside a sterile dome or clear tote on top of a heat mate. I place the probe inside of the tope on the bottom in between the baggies and set the pid controller at 82F. Keep the top of the container on and place led strip right on top. I am currently running 18/6 but sometimes run 24/0.
Keep an eye on them and if you see any starting to wilt you might spray a tiny bit with tepid water. If any look like they need more air, add air and re seal. After a week I open the bags every 2 days, air them out and re seal. Baggies do not need to be burped but I do. I have left bagged unopened for 6 weeks without issues but wouldnt recommend going longer than a week or two. Near 100% cloned in 1-2 weeks.
LostTribe
Recent discoveries in plant pathogens has led me to alter my cloning practices to limit the spread of any infected plant material. I was using an aerocloner with near 100% success for many years. Root borne pathogens and viroids travel freely within all roots in hydroponic systems that rely on a shared reservoir. I have also discontinued recirculating hydroponics systems in favor of an alternative drain to waste system using sterile perlite. In this post I will attempt to provide a run down of my current procedure for cloning in detail.
Step 1
We begin with mixing cloning nutrient solution.
RO Water
180ppm Cal mag
top up to 450-550ppm total with Maxibloom
Ph to 5.8
This next part is taken from Bill Graham of microcloner. This can also all be done inside a still air box but we arent surface sterilizing plant material. If you have plants with surface pathogens then I recommend a 10 minuite soak of new cuttings in 10% Sodium Hypochlorite bleach solution followed by rinsing well in a colander under tap. Distilled water can be used if available for your rinse.
We have our cloning solution container and in a second container with a top I saturate my rooters fully with some of the solution. I use a microwave to heat the solution container and the container containing the rooters with tops just covering in 30 second increments until I see steam coming from the rooters and quickly close the containers.
You will need the following:
Nitrile gloves
bleach spray
paper towels
cloning gel
quart freezer baggies
and the above containers, cloning solution and rooters. You will also need a sterile dome or clear tote, heat mat with pid temp controller and led lighting.
Important Note- Never touch plant material without being gloved up. Always spray gloved hands with bleach solution and rinse in the sink and dry with clean paper towels between each different plant. The open sores form the plants, the sap and also the wet roots are all capable of spreading HLVD and many other pathogens. Cleanliness is paramount.
Before you begin pre pour out cloning gel on a folded paper towel, a separate small dab for each different cultivar. You should never dip your clones into a container of cloning gel, this will contaminate the entire container. Do not share gel with multiple cultivars, this will also cause contamination.
When you select a branch for cloning always take one long enough to remove a few fan leaves. Remove all but the top two fan leaves and growing shoot. Make a fresh straight cut across the stem, not at 45 degrees, which will help callus the rooting cutting. I buy cheap throwaway razor blades at Harbor Freight and it is important to never use the same cutter on more than one plant.
Another vector that many current growers are not aware of is using a shared cloning tray. Just like the aerocloner shared cloning trays will cause cross contamination form a sick plant to a healthy plant. It is important not to touch anything clean after you have handled any plant material always spray, rinse and dry your gloves, thought I needed to restate that.
Instead of shared domes I use a clear tote with clear top and individual freezer baggies. You will need to poke holes in the bottoms of the rooters as they stand up better this way when used upside down. I sometimes cut them in half with a sterile razor blade.
Clones are placed inside a sterile dome or clear tote on top of a heat mate. I place the probe inside of the tope on the bottom in between the baggies and set the pid controller at 82F. Keep the top of the container on and place led strip right on top. I am currently running 18/6 but sometimes run 24/0.
Keep an eye on them and if you see any starting to wilt you might spray a tiny bit with tepid water. If any look like they need more air, add air and re seal. After a week I open the bags every 2 days, air them out and re seal. Baggies do not need to be burped but I do. I have left bagged unopened for 6 weeks without issues but wouldnt recommend going longer than a week or two. Near 100% cloned in 1-2 weeks.
LostTribe
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I'm still learning lol
