Clone woes

Joegrowsalot

Joegrowsalot

Member
Hello ,
First off I am a noobie and I'm not sure where to post this .

Ok the problem
Low cloning success rate 5% some times less .

My set up is a 15 inch vented some with tray . I took about a dozen clones sprayed them twice daily as well as fanned the dome for new air my third day all my clone where laying down .after a hevy Brian storm I went and got a old gatoraid bottle and a hose and some suger and yeast .I set up small co2 generator and pumped it into my dome .and I left it alone for a good hour to let the dome fill with the co2 when I came back all but one of the clones where standing up doing the thing long story shout I had roots at day 6 and now I use co2 from the start and my clones do t even yellow 7 days roots almost % of the time .
Thanks for reading I hope this helps
 
W

waterproof808

Well-Known Member
Make sure you soak your cuttings in water for at least an hour before dipping them in clone gel or whatever method you use to clone.
 
Joegrowsalot

Joegrowsalot

Member
waterproof808 said:
Make sure you soak your cuttings in water for at least an hour before dipping them in clone gel or whatever method you use to clone.
Click to expand...
Sorry I left out some shit.
I soak for 3 hours in the dark with cool non nutted water phed to. 6.2 and I used a jiffypod like starter pods with a heat pad and two 27watt cfls I use on a 18/6 on off schedule onece cut and dipped I give 12 hours of dark the rest is above man this is good pot
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Hi Joe,
You shouldn't need to worry about co2 when cloning, I would say with the light you are using and the heat mat that they could be too hot in the dome. It is like a greenhouse after all. Obviously I don't know if you live in the north pole or in Mexico so possibly I'm wrong. What are your temps in your house or place you grow? What are the temps in your grow room , tent or whatever set up you use? Best thing is to check what temps are within the dome. If they are high you can take out one of your bulbs. There is no need for a dark period of three days either. Or at least not that I am aware of.
In a dome or propagator situation I would mist them twice a day. Remove the dome when doing so. Use your own hand to fan them briefly, that will be enough to change out the old air. Replace the dome. They should only slump over or wilt a little bit the first day. After that they should pick up nice and perky looking. After a few days mist less.

I have cloned using all sorts of ways. Bubblers, propagators , now I use this method below and they don't even wilt slightly.
I take the base of the propagator, I get a seedling tray or cell tray like most garden centres sell. I take a bag of perlite and I fill every other cell (they are connected) it looks like a chess board. I add plain Ph'd water to the propagator, about one inch, the perlite soaks a lot of that up while I take my cuttings. The cuttings go into a glass of water, they are individually trimmed and cut with a 45 degree cut, dipped in clonex and popped into the perlite, I dribble a tiny bit of water in as I push them in. That helps the perlite grab hold of the clone. I continue until finished. Place the base of the propagator under a 20w cfl or strip light and leave them. No lid, no dome, no spraying, nothing at all. When I want to know if they are rooted I can pull slightly and gently on each feeling if they have a hold or lift the tray out and look under for roots popping out.
Roots 7-10 days usually. You only have to check to make sure the tray is not bone dry.

Now I'm not suggesting you do this unless you continue to have problems with your method, but its an alternative if you do!

Your main concern should be... what is the temp within the dome?? EDIT.. if its too high turn the heat matt off or take away one of the bulbs.

Good luck!
 
GrowinDad

GrowinDad

Well-Known Member
My "simple" method... I am not an expert, but I cut 7-8 to eight at a time and at most one dies. So I must be doing something right:
1.) Solo Cups with holes cut at bottom
2.) Soil - MG Seed Starter with 30-40% PLAIN (not MG with nutes) Perlite added in. Make it moist, not wet, with PH 6.5 water
3.) Put a little plain perlite at the bottom of the cups (in addition to what is in the soil, I find it helps get it to come out of the cup when I transplant), then fill 1/2-2/3 full with soil. Put a hole in the center with a pencil or something (sanitize it to be safe)
4.) Clean off your scissor, razor blade, cutting surface, etc with ISO
5.) Take your cuttings with a straight cut. Cut one and immediately put the stem in water. Repeat for as many as you are doing.
6.) One at a time, take cutting out of the water, cut off any extra foliage, slice the stem with as much angle as possible (maximize surface area of cut), dip well in rooting gel, place in hole in soil, lightly pack. Repeat for all clones
7.) Pour a SMALL amount of water (1-2 oz) on each to get the cutting firmly into the soil
8.) Get a baggie, make one small slice in the bottom, mist water inside, place over the solo cup
9.) Put them on a warming mat, keep in a warm place with a little light (for eight clones I use 2 normal CFL about 8" above the cups
10.) Mist the baggie daily. Mist around the soil every couple of days, Water when needed (usually not for more than a week)
11.) After about 10 days, make the slit in the baggie bigger, then remove altogether a couple days later
 
AnimalMother1974

AnimalMother1974

Active Member
I tried my hand at cloning last month. Sucess rate, 1 lived out of 4. The one that lived, was in 50/50 perlite and MG natures care organic soil in a foam cup with hella drain holes. Inside of an old plastic container with lid. I put honey on the end and not gel.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure about the honey at the end. Although I'm all for such a wonderful invention of nature in most things, I assume it wouldn't help the plant intake moisture.
Honestly for anyone who has a low success or just wants to test it out, try the perlite method above, you can add the dome if your in conditions which need it. My conditions are likely nothing like you lot over the pond. Maybe I'm lucky with temps ect? But ive had success rate of over 90% with coco and propagators and almost 100% with straight perlite as mentioned above. My figuring is the perlite not only wicks water to the stem but allows air to every bit but the bottom cut stopping it been sodden and because they are sat in a tray with a little water the RH stays up enough. Anyway, cant take credit for inventing the method, I either learned it on here or another forum.
@GrowinDad nice and concise!
 
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AnimalMother1974

AnimalMother1974

Active Member
coreywebster said:
I'm not sure about the honey at the end. Although I'm all for such a wonderful invention of nature in most things, I assume it wouldn't help the plant intake moisture.
Honestly for anyone who has a low success or just wants to test it out, try the perlite method above, you can add the dome if your in conditions which need it. My conditions are likely nothing like you lot over the pond. Maybe I'm lucky with temps ect? But ive had success rate of over 90% with coco and propagators and almost 100% with straight perlite as mentioned above. My figuring is the perlite not only wicks water to the stem but allows air to every bit but the bottom cut stopping it been sodden and because they are sat in a tray with a little water the RH stays up enough. Anyway, cant take credit for inventing the method, I either learned it on here or another forum.
@GrowinDad nice and concise!
Click to expand...
Honey is to kill bacteria and fungus in the freshly split cutting. So those things dont infect and kill it.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
AnimalMother1974 said:
Honey is to kill bacteria and fungus in the freshly split cutting. So those things dont infect and kill it.
Click to expand...
Ah yeah I figured that was the idea behind it. Great stuff honey! Amazes me that its not used more conventionally. Same for Bee sting therapy too. Can cure severe arthritis but yet its not even heard of in a lot of places. I do love the bees.
 
bravedave

bravedave

Well-Known Member
I have discovered that the biggest killers of clones was worry and impatience. I just transplanted my latest 12/12 effort out of their solo cups. I have not lost one in going on 2 years.

One advantage is that I create 2 new mothers every grow and I top and LST then in a way to create easy choices.

I use Promix for consistant drainage/drying. Tried soil in a couple cups in the past and hated its inconsistant slow dry.

I like clear cups slid inside opaque ones so root checking is easy. Also allows me to see when a watering/spritzing is complete. Also occasionally have domed with a clear cup, but only to combat initial wilting.

Other than that its pretty standard...cut and place in water, make hole in peat, angle cut, scrape 3/8" on bottom, hormone powder, plant.
 
Joegrowsalot

Joegrowsalot

Member
First thank you all for all the great input .
Now I know I was a little vage on my method but this is my third batch of clones .I am now enjoying 89% success rate .. yay .
My temps are running a nice 75 ° in the room my set ups are in the dome they are 80° with 90% humidity.I do pretty much everything you guys do except the honey witch I'm finna try next batch . I still push the co2 the moment the fresh clipping show just the tinyest bit of droop so far I'm getting roots and new grouth simultaneously with no yellowing ! I thought this was a neat result .I'm guessing at this part I think I'm forcing theclipping to continue to grow threw the cloning process .
 
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