Cloning Process

[bankcee]

Evening I want to clone one of my plants.. and I think I understand everything on how to cut, what to cut, where to cut, and what a good cut consists of, but what I don't get is the misting of the dome and watering cycles for cloning? can anyone give me some guidance here.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I don't use a dome, and I don't mist, and I still have near 100% success. I live in a place with high humidity though.
Basically- new cuttings like high humidity, so people usually keep them covered with a dome for the first few days and mist them now and then. After the first few days I they can tolerate lower humidity.
There's a danger of rot setting in when you have high humidity and lack of air flow, so the dome gets phased out as soon as the plants can manage without.
If they wilt upon removing the dome- return it and/or mist. I think that's it in a nutshell. I'm just typing this to fill space till someone else comes along with a better answer. The gist of what I'm saying is- you don't have to be too particular, and - keep that humidity up especially for the first 3-5 days (roughly)

 

[Auggie]

Yup, I agree with Weasel. I don't use a dome. Seems like when I do, half the time I end up with PM, and the other half, the roots rot. But, as with almost everything it depends on many, many variables that are specific to your environment. And by environment I mean not only of your part of the world, but also of your garden.

The best thing to do is it try it and see what works best for you.

~ Auggie ~

 

[bankcee]

Okay thanks for the input. Next question, at what stage in a mother is a good time to cut? During veg, right? at its peak right before I flower her? right? lol

 

[THCinMe]

You can also try using a clone machine. I've had about 95% success rate with all my clones rooting.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I was waiting for Auggie to reply because he's a cloning expert. But I think it's pretty straightforward. In my opinion, you can take cuttings anytime, as soon as you have branches a few inches long, with a couple nodes on them. People often take cuttings a week or so before flipping to 12/12, giving the plant a little time to recover before starting flowering. Other people take cuttings two or three weeks into flowering when they clear out the undergrowth after the stretch. It gets progressively more difficult to get them to root as they develop in flowering. By the late stages it makes more sense to reveg.

 

[Auggie]

Sorry it took me so long to answer ... it's been a crazy week. Everyone wants teen clones, TODAY. I guess they don't realize that I can't make 'em grow any faster, and that it takes time to make a teen. I can't control some things with it come to Mother Nature, time is one of them. Geeze.

Clones will start at any stage of veg, but I have found that they REALLY take off when the 'mother' is just beyond the teen stage. Young creatures breed the best in just about ANY life form, mammals included. A 20 year old human female is MUCH more fertile than a 40 year old. Those tender young bright green sprouts at the very top of a teen plant are programed for maximum grow, and they don't stop just because they been cut ... take a bunch of them and clone them and they really take off.

In a continuous grow situation, the plants that you are about to 'flip over' are, in reality, just a bit older than teens ... so, yea, that's a good time to take a few cuttings from under the canopy to start your next grow.

But, really, as long as its not in flower - - they'll grow.

~ Auggie ~

 

[bankcee]

how's the water cycle since you all say not to use a dome and mist? how would I water them and how often? what should I look for in a plant that isn't thriving.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I use rockwool cubes usually. Soak them first to rinse them out and get the ph in line with what your water should be. (6-ish). Then I gently squeeze the cubes a bit to try to get some of that water out, and put the cuttings in with a little rooting compound on the stem ends. After a few days depending on conditions, the cubes start to get a little dried out. I find that the cuttings root well when the rockwool is just moist. Like 15-25% saturation as a guess. You can drip or drizzle a little water on the cubes. Or maybe let some soak up from the bottom. Or do whatever you have to do to keep them moist. But the key, in my not so vast experience, is to avoid having that rooting medium completely soaked.
I have no idea what method you're using. There are so many. Depending on your local conditions you may want to use a dome, and you may want to mist. There are many ways to clone. I've used an aeroponic cloner and also rooted them in soil. These days I mostly put the cuttings in rockwool cubes and then bury the cubes in moist coco. Coco can not retain a lot of water. It stays at the perfect moisture level and I can leave the cuttings alone with no further watering till they root.

If you haven't already read through this then check it out- the cloning sections have lots of good info How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

 

[MassMedMan]

Those folks gave you solid advice, my two pesos..... Just drop them in some water, leave them for ten days,, boom roots. No domes, no extra nothing. I've done about forty this summer, not much compared to many but enough to know what it takes,, and the bubble mister thing was nice for numbers, but for simplicity,, RO water, glass, cut, put in sunlight. Real simple, don't need to over think it. Want to speed it up by three days add some maxi crop or kelp... Good luck

 

[Auggie]

I keep the cubes moist, not wet. Let them get kinda dampish before watering. Never let them dry - if they dry, they die. Period.
I don't use rockwool any more, I use oasis. I used rockwool for years but found that they were too easy to overwater and then the stem would rot before they'd root. I use Oasis cubes now. Seem to be a lot more friendly, and I don't have to worry about soaking them for a long period of time (overnight is recommended) to properly ph. Did you know that about rockwool? They are way off ph wise ... you gotta soak them over night to get them to the right ph. Plus, Oasis Cubes are a lot cheaper. Since I used hundreds of sheets per season, this is important to me.

As to WHEN to water? This is where cloning is as much an art as a science. It's a feel that you get, kinda. It's the feel of weight. I assume you are using a webbed tray (lots of holes in it) for the cubes to set in, and after they're filled you place that webbed tray in another solid tray half filled with perlite. Right? Is that they way you do it? If you don't know what I'm talking about say so and I'll describe it better for you .... but, when to water ... Take the tray with dry unused cubes in it, and lift it up. Feel the weight? If you want to, hell, weigh it. You have scales ... weigh it. Whats it weigh? Write it down. Now, soak the cubes in water. Feel the difference in weight? Weigh it. Write it down.

Now you have your clippings in the cubes which are in the webbed tray which is sitting on a half full tray of perlite, right? Every day lift that webbed tray up. Is it still heavy? Is there water dripping off the bottom? Don't water. Next day ... same thing. Heavy? Water dripping off the bottom? Don't water it. Weigh it if you want and compare it to the original weight. Probably on the third or fourth day it will feel lighter. Weigh it if you have to. Compare it to the original weight. You PROBABLY don't have to water yet. Remember ... damp is good. Keep doing that until it feels downright light. When it feels light (weigh if you have to) time to water.

Water by dipping the webbed tray into another heavy duty tray full of ph'd water, with a little bit of P in it, or Roottech, or whatever. To prevent root rot put one drop (as in ONE drop) of unscented old fashioned bleach in the solution. The temp of the water should be ambient temp, not cold right out of the tap. Make sure it's ph'd to 6.1 to 6.4 - When you dip it to water DO NOT soak the cubes. Remember ... DAMP. Just dip the bottom third of the cubes for just a second. Literally, ONE second. It will soak up the water pretty fast and leave the cubes DAMP. (not soaked) I can't stress this enough. Damp.

When you notice roots starting they will suck up water a LOT faster. As the roots become long and tangled and running into the perlite, maybe you'll have to water every day. If you want to delay planting time, and the roots are real long and white, when you water put a couple of drops of N in the ph'd solution. If the roots start to turn brown, plant right away. Like RFN. I have delayed planting for a couple of weeks doing this, but watch the color of the roots.

Cloning is a science, with hard and fast rules ... but it is also a feel, that's the art of it. You will not be as successful as you want to be the first time. Practice makes perfect and it becomes second nature after a while. You will find your sweet spot.

Don't feel bad about screwing a tray up. It still happens to me; usually because I did something wrong. Sometimes I don't even know what I did. Just shrug one shoulder, dump them into the trash and try again.

~ Auggie ~