Cloning
Just thought i would throw this up for anyone that has never cloned before, cloning is one of the most simple processes in a garden and can save a lot of time compared to waiting for seeds to germinate etc. Cloning is a 1:1 copy of the phenotype you are currently growing, as long as you keep it going you could be smoking the same primo buds for the rest of your life without spending a cent on another seed.
First up we take a cutting from our donor plant, main thing is to take a branch that has a couple of healthy nodes. When taking the cut i always try cutting on as much of an angle as possible, dont think it really makes a difference really but i see it as more surface area for the roots to start forming (even though in my cloner they sprout everywhere except the cut first lol)
Where on the plant do i take this damn cutting? well thats simple, anywhere you like, i have heard stories about having to take lower branches etc but in my opinion any node on any plant has the ability to perform as well as any other in the right lighting and conditions. So depending on what you are taking clones from is where you will take them on the plant, a mother plant you can take them from anywhere as that is all she is there for, to produce clones, on the other hand if you are taking clones from a plant you are about to put into flower, you dont exactly want to be taking the main branches and in effect a main cola.
So after you have taken your cutting, you will need a rooting hormone, i have tried a few "hydroponic" brands and in all honesty there is no difference, they all work the same, gels are good
I now use the cheap stuff from bunnings, yates brand, about $11au, comes in 3 different colors but the purple is what we want
Pour blah blah... who am i kidding, open your cloning solution and throw the clone in
People worry about contamination etc but i know my plants dont have diseases, im not bringing other plants in from anywhere and using it so should be fine, at the price if it lasts a few months its all good.
Now leaving the clone in the solution, if i was going to plant straight into soil or coco i would leave it in for about 30sec and then straight into the PH'd medium, doesnt matter if its in there for longer, will just wilt a bit. I use a cloner, cost me about $100au, i dont add anything but tap water to it, saying that it runs off a res, pump and sprinkler system which constantly sprays water on the stem we just put our cloning solution on lol, for this i leave the clone in the solution for about 2 mins, allows it to soak up that extra little bit so it doesnt just wash straight off
So for me i put my neoprene collar on and slip it straight into the cloner
So where do we go from here if we use a cloner? Simple, couple of days and we should be starting to see roots, few more days and they are ready like this one.
This clone is now ready to go straight into any medium you desire, soil, coco, perlite, clay etc. Mine goes straight into clay balls in a 3" netpot in the early veg buckets.
Now here is a little trick if you are going down the same road i am in hydro using netpots, I pretty much follow the same principle as soil and up-pot, i let them grow into the 3" netpot for stability, one they have a decent root system forming i put them into their 6" netpot lids and fill in around them. This gives an absolute solid base to work from, will have branches snapping before having any movement in the root area
