How Long Should My Clones Take To Root?

Someone earlier mentioned that rockwool can hold too much water, which I agree with. I like to soak them in R/O water PHd down to 5.5 by adding a bit of pure peat. After they have soaked for about 24 hours I "sling" some of the water out without squishing the cube.

I agree with BC33, keep it cheap and easy. I used to work in a greenhouse where cuttings were taken by the thousands with scissors, planted into promix and misted a few times a day. 99%+ success rate. So I scrapped the razor, the expensive gels and even the humidity dome (if you are right on top of them every day).

Things I remind myself:
*If using rockwool, PH the cubes, sling excess water out
*Make sure not to crush the stem when you make the final cut. Make a quick, sure cut with sharp, clean scissors.
*Rooting gel or powder is not necessary, but it will increase the speed of rooting. Cheap $5 powder works fine.
*Insert the stem carefully into the rockwool, tuck it in so it is secure
*In most cases, dome is not necessary. Mist the clones a few times a day for the first three days with PHd water to avoid wilt.
*Don't let the rockwool dry out completely, but don't drown them either

I end up with about 95% success rate and they are ready to transplant in 9-14 days. Maybe the speed could be improved but in the interest of keeping costs down, I am fine with two weeks.

The peat in the soak water seems to significantly decrease yellowing. lil Snowdawgs @7 days
 
I think I've tried just about every possible way to clone, from simply taking a cutting and sticking it in a glass with a little water in it, using rockwool, peat pellets, coco coir, fogponics, Deep Water Culture and aeroponics. I've had success with each method, and I've had failures with each method. There are about as many ways to clone as there are people to tell you how they clone. I guess, in the end, it's up to the user to find a method that works for them. Speedwise, the best luck I have had is a tie between Deep Water Culture and aeroponics. It also depends on the strain, were they in veg or flowering? I've taken many cuttings from flowering females, and done so with great success. I do try to take them from the absolute lowest part of the mother possible. Even so, it usually will cost you about 5 days or so delay in rooting them, even if they are a low cutting shielded from most of the light. As soon as the cuttings are well rooted (at least an inch diameter of roots forming a halo) they go into expanded clay as the only media and are fed with 1/4 strength nutes based on the early veg scale for the first week, then resume as directed for a week one cutting. I use tap water with root excellerator ph'd at around 5.8.H&G Root Excellerator is always added at 1.1ml per gallon. Guys, this stuff REALLY works, and I attribute consistent success party because of this product. I have seen this product (in my last grow) restore a VERY bad case of Pythium root rot from elevated reservoir temps. Just my 2 cents worth...
-Peabody:)
 
ToastyRoadie said:
I use a set up very similar to this one,
DIY DWC Cloning Tutorial - Easy Cloning
Click to expand...

I built a 20 site bubbler similar to this with supplies on hand, just needed to buy a $6 drill bit... Now I dont feel so bad for over buying aquarium gear.

I have had 2 successful clone runs so far with 100% success. I really like the fact you can see the roots develop and then put them straight into coco. As mentioned above roots accelerator really helps. I saw roots on day 5 1st run, day 7 2nd, by day 10 there was a lot of root action and after 14 days I transplanted some really big root systems, a few had small roots and just developing but most were robust...

I had temp at 70, this time 3rd run, I removed heater since weather is warmer... maybe they'll take longer.

I foliar with light nutes, I'm thinking about adding nutes to the bubbler after around day 8 when roots are busting out?
 
bizz said:
I built a 20 site bubbler similar to this with supplies on hand, just needed to buy a $6 drill bit... Now I dont feel so bad for over buying aquarium gear.

I have had 2 successful clone runs so far with 100% success. I really like the fact you can see the roots develop and then put them straight into coco. As mentioned above roots accelerator really helps. I saw roots on day 5 1st run, day 7 2nd, by day 10 there was a lot of root action and after 14 days I transplanted some really big root systems, a few had small roots and just developing but most were robust...

I had temp at 70, this time 3rd run, I removed heater since weather is warmer... maybe they'll take longer.

I foliar with light nutes, I'm thinking about adding nutes to the bubbler after around day 8 when roots are busting out?
Click to expand...

I use one to get the roots started then transfer to another cloner once the roots are 2" long and then add nutes to that one, keeping only plain water in the rooting bubbler.
 
I use a Hydrofarm heating mat, tray, humidity dome, and rapid rooters, with no cloning gels whatsoever. I have 100% success with all my clones. The key is keeping the rooting medium warmer than the air. Some strains root quickly, within a week, others I have had to let go up to a month. I have even had success rooting fully matured plants by taking small bottom branches with less flowers.
 
This to true, as well for seed starts.
Recently I removed my dome on some seed starts and damn lucky I was home, within an hour they almost looked dead.
I got the cover back on and at the end of the day they looked awesome.

This is a great read and so true for alot of starters, thanks alot, appreciate it
 
StoneyCt2010 said:
Make sure, whatever you do, that you NEVER DOUBLE DIP with the cloning gel. What happens is when you dip your clone into the gel, it "activates" the gel, rendering in usless, after a few hours.. Always seperate or pour out the gel onto a paper plate or something... always throw out what you dont use... Dont reuse or return unused gel. Once you dipped the gel is active and after a few hours is no good......
Click to expand...

Is this true with any cloning gel? I've never heard that before i guess my gel is useless now.
 
Dont buy an rooting gel. It is cheaper and just as effective to take your cutting, dip it into water, then dip it into powder root hormone and place into soil or rooting block.

Just dont forget to use a humidty dome.
 
Ziminy said:
I and many others have found humidity domes unnecessary.

In fact, I was unable to get any clones to root until I tried NO DOME.
Now I'm rooting plants in 10 days or less.
I think it depends on your area, temperature and humidity.
No hard and fast rules on this.

As a Florida grower, I've found that humidity is a problem, not a solution.
:yummy:
Click to expand...

Hmmm interesting. Will def note that. When i clone, i use the dome because it makes the rooting occur more quickly versus no humidity dome (RH of room was at 50-55%)

I think it depends on the air circulation... less humidity and high air flow would cause clones to lose too much moisture through stomata. How does my logic sound guys?
 
Ziminy said:
I have tried cloning 3 times now. Each try with a different medium. Rockwool, then Oasis, then Coco fiber.

Grow dome, heating pad, everything treated with an anti mold/mildew preventer and on the third try, hydrogen peroxide in the water. On the third try, the cuttings never EVER wilted. I was very confident since they looked really beautiful and healthy with no discoloration or wilting. But after 7 days, when I go to check them, all the stem below the surface has turned to slime.

Is this pythium? And where do you get Trichoderma, when I search on the internet I just get thousands of scientific papers describing it.

I'm afraid to try cloning again. Since I have read over and over and over and over and over again what other people are doing and I seem to be doing the exact same thing with the exact same problem.

Advice?
(I'm in Florida, very humid air, not sure if that matters)
Click to expand...

Have you tried using a simple wick cloner with perlite?

Wick Cloner: simple, cheap and effective

While it may not give the fastest rooting times, it does work well and is very resistant to supporting other pathogens.
 
Munki said:
Have you tried using a simple wick cloner with perlite?

Wick Cloner: simple, cheap and effective

While it may not give the fastest rooting times, it does work well and is very resistant to supporting other pathogens.
Click to expand...
I use 1/2 vermiculite and 1/2 perlite. But rince the perlite prior to mixing . I've seen alot of people having troubles, because of the length of stem . I cut so i got at least 3 inches of exposed stem. And after sliceing an angle cut on one side, i turn over and split stem, 1/2 way through, and then scrape off most bark. I then dip in rooting jell, and plant at least 2 in. deep and water in. Mist about 3 times per day, and mist the dome.And make sure that you take the dome off after you 1st. see new growth, which is usually about 5 days. If you experience wilting then put the dome back on and mist. I also start mixing 1/4 strength ferts into the mist, after i see 1st. new growth. I got about 98 per cent success with this method, your mileage may vary. :surf::cool:
 
I think I had read about every thread I could find on cloning before I tried it myself. I read many books on the subject.

I documented every tip that seemed worth while.

Many people brag up aeroponics, so I made my own aeroponics cloner - 21 sites. Aquarium heater and air pump for a large air stone. Expensive hydroponics water pump. The cloner looks and works AMAZING! The misters spray well and hit every area inside the tote. I saved a bunch making it myself.

I over-thought the process to death.

I bought expensive artisan water. I bought expensive cloning gels. I bought an expensive timer to run the water pump. I bought special Mother food.

I had my plan and my equipment.

My plan-
*heavily water the Mother hours before cutting
*soak the cuttings' stems in cold tap water for 30 min
*pH the artisan water to 5.5 with vinegar
*heat the cloner water to 75-80 degrees
*dip the blade in cloning gel and make the final 45 degree cut under water
*dip the blade in cloning gel and make slight cuts through the top stem layer, maybe 1" from the new stem bottom
*swish the stem in cloning gel for 30 seconds
*add the clone to the cloner and mist
*water pump was on for 1 min and off for 15
*added root stimulator (1/2t per 5 gallons water) and hydrogen peroxide (1t)
*change the water when it was funky
*mist 3-4 times per day, using tap water with a pinch of Epsom salts
*T5 lights - 2 bulbs - on 18 hours were day, 4' above the clones
*snipped half of the large leaves
*removed leaves as they showed issues

= 33% success at best, 0 at worst

After four or five cloning attempts, White Widow, I was thoroughly frustrated. The leaves would turn yellow and sick. My clones would wilt and die - stem rot. I read that WW can be difficult to clone.

I decided to go back to a more simple method and was rewarded with 100% success!!

One huge mistake I had made was omitting a humidity dome. I had read that a room with humidity above 40% was adequate. Another mistake was not changing the cloning water often enough.

For my latest cloning attempt, I made these changes to my process:

*I found a clear tote (bottom) that would work as a humidity dome.
*I bought enough artisan water for 4 water changes. Evaporated tap water after that.
*The day before taking the clones, I snipped off all branches that would reside in the neoprene collar during the rooting process. This allows the cuts to heal while still attached to the Mother.
*I did not remove any leaves other then the ones listed above. I figured I would remove them as they showed issues.
*Only additive to the water was vinegar
*I mixed Olivia's and Clonex gels

Frustration level still high, I decided to experiment. Half (6) of the cuttings went into rockwool cubes, into a heated tote, and half (6) went into the cloner.

The tote was lined with hydroton and a layer of water was added to the tote bottom. A heating mat was placed under the tote. A tote (bottom) was used as a dome but plastic sheeting will work too.

I grow in soil. I have found that germinating a seed directly in soil gave me a flopsy seedling. Germinating a seed in a cube and then adding that cube to soil gives the seedling a bit more support when I water. So, I wanted to follow this thought path with a clone as well.

The rockwool cube cuttings showed roots and root nubs in 7 days.

The 4 of 6 cloner cuttings started to wilt and at each sign of stress, I moved the cutting to a rockwool cube and placed it in the heated tote. Each of these transplanted cuttings immediately perked up. The final two cloner cuttings were transplanted to the heated tote for the sake of energy savings.

My DIY cloner is obviously not set up well for the hard to clone varieties.

The gel must stay on the stem longer in the cube.

I noticed that pre-root nubs formed, on the rockwool cuttings, where ever the gel had touched the stem.

To finally ease the frustration of dead clones, I'll bench the cloner for the simple method of stem in cube. In my opinion, it is so much better then having to retake cuttings in hopes of getting rooted clones.

I would never have guessed that WW could root in 7 days.

In my most current attempt,
 
It has taken me a couple weeks to see roots. I have found that like a watched pot never boils, it is best to forget about them to some degree. I use a bubble cloner that I made myself and if I see the water level going down I just pour more in with the top on. I use bottled water at room temperature. Anyway, I have forgotten about them and come back in time to see massive root systems. I prefer to have several roots before I put them in soil. When you have several roots your new babies are not all trying to suck all their water through a single straw (root). If you have an extensive root system you have several sources for your plant to take in water and you are off to a better start. It is too easy to kill a young clone baby from under watering if you do not have an extensive root system.
 
with a heat mat 2/ 13 watt red and blue leds in a humidity dome with advance nutrients root shooters and use clone ex you will have mega roots in 3-5 days Ive done at least 200 clones this way with a 98% rate p.s. use superthrive also every watering from clone to harvest
 
Ziminy said:
I have tried cloning 3 times now. Each try with a different medium. Rockwool, then Oasis, then Coco fiber.

Grow dome, heating pad, everything treated with an anti mold/mildew preventer and on the third try, hydrogen peroxide in the water. On the third try, the cuttings never EVER wilted. I was very confident since they looked really beautiful and healthy with no discoloration or wilting. But after 7 days, when I go to check them, all the stem below the surface has turned to slime.

Is this pythium? And where do you get Trichoderma, when I search on the internet I just get thousands of scientific papers describing it.

I'm afraid to try cloning again. Since I have read over and over and over and over and over again what other people are doing and I seem to be doing the exact same thing with the exact same problem.

Advice?
(I'm in Florida, very humid air, not sure if that matters)
Click to expand...

Holy bongwater, Budman! That is my exact same problem!!! My clones always end in stinky slime no matter how clean I make them. Some potential solutions here for sure! Since I have been attempting to clone (non-marijuana) plants for 10 years unsuccessfully -- not 1 plant ever survived more than a couple months... I want to solve this problem before I do anything with MJ plants. I was getting the idea that this was some sort of hazing joke and that it was really IMPOSSIBLE to clone anything, LOL.
 
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