Sorry to bump an old thread but here we go.
I got a couple clones from a friend of mine. He didn't tell me what they were or where he got them from, but regardless he had used a rooting powder and stuck them in Rockwool. I have never messed with rooting clones before (They have either been seeded, or already rooted clones) so I decided to give it a shot just to see if I could root them.
First week one of them died. I could see spider mites crawling all over it. As soon as I saw this I separated the two clones. There was no saving it. I've never seen a cutting look so sorry in my life.
Second week the other one is sitting under a humidity dome but still no signs of roots. Temperatures are about 75-80 and humidity is 85-95% always. I remove the dome 2-3 times a day to air everything out.
Third week I am getting impatient. The clone is green, but now the leaves are starting to show small dots of yellow and black every where. I have read where this is a potential spider mite infestation getting started but I do not see anything else that would support that theory. Namely I do not see any spider mites, webs, or even a bug at all. I decide to pull the clone out of the rockwool today and check it. The cutting has no more powder on it and the tip has become black and swollen just like the original poster described here.
Is that root rot? Can I re-cut it and try again or should I just leave it as long as the leaves are green and it's standing up within the humidity dome? I don't have any gel or powder if I were to do the cut over again. Like I said I don't root clones. I've only got clones that were already rooted or I grow from seed. However, this thing smells like some DANK. Every time I open the dome I get to breathe in that sweet aroma you would find coming out of a flowering tent. That's the only reason I'm curious to actually get this thing some roots so I can see what type of bud it produces. For all I know it might be the best fire I ever had, but until this thing pops a root it's just going to be the biggest PIA clone I ever had.
I always use filtered bottled water to water it or mist it. So I don't think PH is an issue and obviously nute burn is not an issue because it's a cutting. A lot of the "plant problems" in the stickies above don't really apply to cuttings which is why this is making me scratch my head so much. I always come back to the same thing... "Well maybe its.....but wait, there's not even a single root yet."
Looking forward for someone to drop extra on this thread. Thanks.
EDIT: I am going to try and take a picture but no guarantees. I'm hoping this is a pretty straight-forward problem. The tip of the cutting is black and swelling. Not much to look at.
