clones not rooting but still growing

hows everyone doing? Heres whats going on that i cant seem to figure out. 11 days ago i cut 18 clones from my mothers. As of now only 2 of them have rooted and that was two days ago. They are in rapid rooters and on hydrofarm heatmat set at 83 and under a dome. Misting every 6 hours or so. Heres the thing though. When i take my cuttings, like many other people, cut the tips of all the leaves on my cutting. Well there is alot of new growth on every cutting in the dome and i know this for a fact because if it was old, then the tips would be cut. Do cutting continue producing new growth with no established root system? Or is it that there are roots but they just havent popped thru the rapid rooter yet. Them things are pretty dense and tough. Prob hard for roots to pop thru.Any insight would be awesome, because im stumped. I have no idea whats going on and whats taking so long to root. Oh real quick rundown, i cut from mother with scissors, then 45 degree with razor underwater and quick dip in clonex and put in rr. Peace and happy smoking...GL'09

R my cutting to be big? could that be it?

A few things that I do that result in near 100% success are: I like to keep about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the tray. This water usually contains some superthrive and a few mls of flower formula for the higher K value. I also like to keep my rapid rooter plugs in seedling trays so only the very bottom of the plug is touching the 1/2 of water. I also don't mist. With the heating mat and the 1/2 of water, there is plenty of moisture and humidity. Last thing, sometimes if a clone doesn't show roots in the dome after 2 weeks and still looks healthy, I'll transplant it to a 12 ounce cup of soil and place in another humidity dome. They always root.

...I believe your on the right track, the more foilage you have, the longer it takes for them to root from my experience. I've also found that cutting from the lower part of the plant tend to root faster. Sounds like your doing pretty good, just give them some time....I personally wouldn't mist the cutting themselves, I would mist the dome only.

...ever considered aeroponic cloners? 100% success rate, no rooting hormones, no chemicals...simple tap water dechlorinized and ph'd @6 <<< bullet proof w/ every strain.

Your cuttings should be 3 nodes max. It looks like your cuttings have more than that. The cutting is using it's energy to support the leaves instead of growing roots.
Also, what type of lights are you putting them under? Fluorescent lights are perfect for cuttings. HID's can be too much for cuttings. If you're using HID's put them as far away as possible. Cuttings take longer to root if there's too much light. They will focus too much on photosynthesis instead of root growth.

homebrewer said:

A few things that I do that result in near 100% success are: I like to keep about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the tray. This water usually contains some superthrive and a few mls of flower formula for the higher K value. I also like to keep my rapid rooter plugs in seedling trays so only the very bottom of the plug is touching the 1/2 of water. I also don't mist. With the heating mat and the 1/2 of water, there is plenty of moisture and humidity. Last thing, sometimes if a clone doesn't show roots in the dome after 2 weeks and still looks healthy, I'll transplant it to a 12 ounce cup of soil and place in another humidity dome. They always root.

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homebrewer, hows it going. Quick question, first off thanks for the info, second, How much superthrive r u putting in the bottom of tray?I have a brand new bottle. I never used the stuff.. Im def game to give it a whirl.Thats what i was thinking about doing, just transplant them and see how they do. Can i put them under my mh then in the cup in the dome? or still under cfl or flourescents?

kimber45acp said:

Your cuttings should be 3 nodes max. It looks like your cuttings have more than that. The cutting is using it's energy to support the leaves instead of growing roots.
Also, what type of lights are you putting them under? Fluorescent lights are perfect for cuttings. HID's can be too much for cuttings. If you're using HID's put them as far away as possible. Cuttings take longer to root if there's too much light. They will focus too much on photosynthesis instead of root growth.

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hey kimber, im putting them under cfl and another batch under flouros. I know my MH is to much, so i wait til good root established before putting in for veg under that. I think the size is my main downfall, but ill learn from this mistake and know better for next time. Thanks for giving me some insight though

ganjaluva2009 said:

homebrewer, hows it going. Quick question, first off thanks for the info, second, How much superthrive r u putting in the bottom of tray?I have a brand new bottle. I never used the stuff.. Im def game to give it a whirl.Thats what i was thinking about doing, just transplant them and see how they do. Can i put them under my mh then in the cup in the dome? or still under cfl or flourescents?

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I use 1 ml of superthrive per gallon. I believe that is the recommended dose on the bottle. Like I said above, I also will add a few mls of flower formula to said gallon. When I transplant healthy clones that don't show roots (and this doesn't happen often, maybe 1 out of 12), I'll place in the 12 ounce cup and water with about 3 ounces of the superthrive/flower forumla mix and place in a humidity dome. That dome is then placed under a 400 MH bulb, which is probably 24-30 inches away. The key at this point is allowing the 3 ounces of water and the humidity dome facilitate the growth of the roots. Let those roots grow and search for that water. I like clear cups as shown below so I can monitor root growth. Speaking of cups, these cups look more like 8-10 ounces, I think.

i would not recomend leaving any water in the domes as the medium will become too moist and cause the clones to damp off and die i would leave things as they are but quit misting and keep your growing medium just slightly moist and they should start to root soon when you spray the clones to much it will slow the rooting process because the plant is getting sufficent water through the leaves i try to make sure there at least two nodes in the growing medium and at least three above but i have never had problems with more hope this helps and good luck

skidwaykush said:

i would not recomend leaving any water in the domes as the medium will become too moist and cause the clones to damp off and die

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Really? Because the clones above were rooted in a dome with water in it, as well as the ones in my journal, and just like the 1500 that i've done in the last 8 years. To each his own, but your statement is incorrect.