Clone Problems

[Osyrus]

Hi Guys and Gals,

So I've been using all of the extensive collective knowledge of this site to pretty much answer all my questions, but I've recently run into a snag that I thought someone might be able to help me out with.

I have my first batch of plants in preflower and thought it'd be a great time to grab some cuttings for the next round. So i followed some directions (and a little MacGyvering) and put together my own version of an EZ-Cloner. I'm running a 400GPH pump into a PVC grid with a mix of sprayer and mister nozzles.

I tried to follow every tip I've read around here, but I'm having no success getting this babies to root. I think I'm doing everything right, but hopefully one of you guys might catch my mistake. I'll list my proccess:

1. Cutting with sterilized cutter at a 45 degree angle, only on cuttings with 3 or more nodes.

2. Stripping a bit of the skin from the bottom and covering that with Rootech gel.

3. Putting the cutting in my homemade EZ Cloner, I'll throw up some pics:

4. I've been cutting the larger fan leaves in half, I read somewhere that that might help nudge them to root.

Pretty sure the Cloner is working as intended, when I take one of the neoprene caps out and stick a finger just barely in the hole, it starts dripping almost immediately. I'm using General Hydro Nutes (1/4 strength) and a tiny bit of seaweed extract. The pic above of the bottom of the stems was taken 1 week after the were cut. Shouldn't I be seeing some kind of root form by now? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DoItToIt]

Check this out:

Sanitizing a cloner

Have you tried cleaning it to create a sterile environment in your cloner?

Hope this helps... I'm looking forward to more documentation on this project.

 

[Smokin Moose]

Don't use ferts when cloning. Also, roots can take 10 to 15 days to show.

 

[Osyrus]

how much light are they under?
If you have too much light the cutting will try to use photosynthysis to create food to stay alive... if you have them in low light then they are forced to make roots to survive.
They should be able to See the light... But not be In the light
I have mine a good distance away from some 45w cfl's... last winter I kept my cloner in the bathroom... 6ft from a single 23w cfl

ahh....this might be it. i've got my clones under 2 agrosun flouros, 60w each i believe. they are about 2 feet below them. also, what is a good rez temp? i'm getting 83-85 in mine.

 

[Smokin Moose]

Your temps should be 74F

 

[Osyrus]

Hmmm.......I can fix the lighting without a problem. Any ideas on how to drop my tank temps? I'm guessing its my pump heating the water (Hydrofarms 400GPH).

 

[Osyrus]

Re: Clone Problem

You can drop a frozen bottle of water in it...

Simple and effective. My favorite combination. Cheers!

 

[Racefan]

Personally I use two types of rooting solutions for clones. Which one depends on the type of clones I'm doing. if cloning into rockwool, soil, coco or other mediums I use the gell and do it just like you said. When cloning into a cloner like yours or even just a cup of water in the window sill I use olivias rooting solution. It seems to work better. I keep my res temps for clones between 65 and 70 degrees. Any warmer and algae will be promoted to grow and the roots will cook and any cooler slows all growth and can even stop all rooting. All lights are raised to twice as high as I would have kept them for veg growth. Ventilation is kept normal. Some use domes but I don't. I harden them up immediately. Any that don't survive were too weak anyway.lol I seldom lose one though.

 

[Osyrus]

Ok,

So I followed all the advice I've gotten here and I'm starting to see some results. The first clone I put in the chamber is starting to pop roots. I've fixed the light situation, picked up some Clonex solution (local hydro store was out of Olivia's, but swears this stuff is good as well), and I've been feeding the tank ice and replacing the water often to keep the temps down (They are around 72-74 now). Someone else suggested that I get a timer for the pump so that it runs for 15 min, and turns off for 5 to help curb heat build up. The problem is I can't seem to find an affordable timer with that kind of capability. Anyone have any suggestions?