First Grow - CFLs - Clones

[sotla]

My plan is to grow 3 plants in my converted growbox.

I was given three plants by a friend of mine. He didnt look after them too well so I've decided to take clones from then and grow them up from there.

He thinks two are Hash Plant and one Dynamite. But I doubt he knows really.


So I took 5 clones yesterday and kept one of the mother plants alive just incase I botch the job.

Unfortunately today (20 hours later) they look like shit. Droopy as hell!! Hopefully they will bounce back but I doubt it.

I do have three bagseed seeds germinating also as backup.

My cloning process was as follows:

• I cut with pruners at 45degree angle 1/4 inch below a node
• I slowly pulled node away bringing some skin
• I dipped the end into Take Root
• I placed cutting into soil and brushed soil back over it
• I finally watered so to allow the soil to set.

I used 6CFL 26w 6500k lights after cloning on a 24/0 cycle.

The mothers were all returning into a veg cycle having recently gone into a flowering cycle.

Any advice on if the clones are fucked or what I did wrong would be appreciated.

 

[1620]

no moisture on the leaves and they dried out. use a clear bin next time to hold moisture in and spray.

 

[nightstalker]

Deeeng, those clones look horrible! Try putting a dome over the clones to help keep the humidity high. Hope they recover. Can't waste a good plant.

 

[Toke+Choke]

to be honnest id say those cfl's are insufficient and you could also do with some reflective foil to help light spread just buy a big powerful cfl that will do all of them and dome the plants to keep high humidity and therefor more moisture

 

[sotla]

So I guess I didnt read up enough and somehow missed the importance of a humidity dome.

I posted in the Plant Help part of the forum quickly after my OP here and got the exact same advice. So I made a temporary dome quickly last night before heading out. See photos

I'm pleased to say that the Temp and Humidity went up from 20C/33% to 27C/70% over a two hour period.

I misted the plants again this morning and took some early recovery photos.
One of the clones is clearly bouncing back and I think I can see life in all but one when looking at the before and after pictures. But i think droopalot in the middle there is done.

Should I mist every day?

In regards to lights I'm using 6 23w CFLs at the moment but I will buy some more today. I need to make some kind of fixture; I will peruse this encyclopedia of growing info.

I'm also going to redo the grow cabinet. Going to turn it into three chambers at the bottom so i can use the space above and it becomes a bit more stealthy.

 

[Chillums]

Imo using less light for clones works better. AS more light stimulates phototropic growth which the plant cant support at this stage as it has no roots and therefor cant take up any nutrients to grow and will draw nutrients from existing tissue to fuel growth effectively killing lower leave sets. I used 1 13watt cfl for 11 clones and so far 10 have rooted and are now in veg. But keep up the good work, I learned the same way. By getting plants thrust into my hands and having to revive them and learn on the fly, thankfully I have a green thumb. Also read every bit of info on this site and you will succeed. Grow FAQ's are your friends. Good luck.

 

[sotla]

Thanks for the advice.

I worked on my grow box today. I moved it all down to lower level to make it a bit more stealth and allow an overhaul on light setup.

I'm not quite done but the pics show the idea. I'm planning on using the chamber to the right for cloning and veg and then the main chamber on the left for flowering,

I have made one makeshit adjustable extensioncord/lamp and need to make a couple more.

I have seen people use string to make a screen halfway up their chamber. Is this to try and stop the plant getting to tall?

My box is only about 3 feet tall so i'm slightly worried about height issues in the future. I'd rather not remake my box again again.

 

[Toke+Choke]

if i were you to improve on humidty even more put a small glass (a shot glass would be perfect) and fill it almost to the top with water and that should evapourate and give a high humidity in the box.
also try and get those lights in the box approx 4-6 inches from the plants and then seal the box and that should make a huge diffrence
check out my grow if you get a chance

 

[EpyxN]

you def want to get some major humidity going.
Next time i would suggest cloning into rockwool (1/4 clone cube is fine ) or 1" peat pots so that you can just use a tupperware container with clear lid for your clone box.

For your clones I would cut another 4x 16 oz bottles and put them on top of your 4 small containers (making a dome above the plant). probably a 2 liter over the one that has a pot. get those lights down right on top of everything

what did you use for your rooting agent? if its rootone think thats what its called i would toss it go get some olivia's cloning gel or clonex

 

[sotla]

I used "Take Root" as the rooting agent.

My plastic box is keeping the clones at 30C/71% humidity at the moment. Not sure if the temp is a bit high. Will need to look into making some kind of vent in my box.

 

[EpyxN]

I used "Take Root" as the rooting agent.

My plastic box is keeping the clones at 30C/71% humidity at the moment. Not sure if the temp is a bit high. Will need to look into making some kind of vent in my box.

I like to keep alot of condensation in my clone box. Never really payed attention to the temp inside. always set my lights right on top of the container. As long as they don't get cooked in there it shouldn't matter. it might just take a lil longer to reacclimatize them to a non hot humid enviro

Have you ever tried Olivia's cloning gel? it usually takes a week or less to get a root system going with it

Anyways keep the pics rolling man you get to look at them everyday we don't lol

 

[sotla]

Anyways keep the pics rolling man you get to look at them everyday we don't lol

Sorry for lack of pics-

I've set up the Veg box to a limited extent. I'll be keep the clones in there until i'm sure they have taken root.

I've planted my first seed and it broke surface yesterday. Exciting stuff!! I have six more bag seed germinating. Hopefully I can move the clones into the "flowering" box in a couple of days when those seeds start sprouting. So I can use the veg box with the new seeds.

The clones are chugging along. Today will be a week since I took the cuttings. Tomorrow I will take the box off them for a couple of hours and see if they start wilting. When should they have started to take root? Or am I jumping the gun here. I thought I read 7-10 days.

I need to get back to walmart and pick up some more bulbs. I've only got 3x23 6500k bulbs left after some breakages. I've supplemented the lack of 6500ks with some 2500ks, which I have plenty of, for the time being.

The only mother plant still living is doing ok. I was trying to strong arm LST her into sprouting from lower down her stalk but I was dubious as to whether it would work... It didnt seem to. So i'm just letting her do her thing in the flower room with the new seedling. Eventually I'll go plant her outdoors somewhere and i'll add any males to the same site.

Here are some pics from last night.