Clones wilting in bubble cloner

Hey guys!

I haven't grown for 8 years and I'm finally getting back in to it!! I'm s HG420 refugee too if you recognize my handle.

In the past I used a DIY bubble cloner. Cut my clones, dropped them in the cloner, and had roots in about 10 days.

Today I took some clones from a very healthy mom. After 10 minutes of being in the cloner they wilted. I had 100% rate in the past.

What I can't recall is if this is normal, or if I'm missing a step.

*****
Water is warm-ish

No nutrients

Under T-5 lights

Water is bubbling vigorously
*******

Thanks for the help guys!!

For one - If they are wilting in 10 minutes there is something wrong for sure.
Warm water will keep them from getting roots - If the room temperature can't be brought down put in frozen soft drink bottles and bring water temps down to a good level.
Check your water ph level...

Do this now - cut the leaves in half to take the weight off - that is adding to their stress level.

Final Phase said:

For one - If they are wilting in 10 minutes there is something wrong for sure.
Warm water will keep them from getting roots - If the room temperature can't be brought down put in frozen soft drink bottles and bring water temps down to a good level.
Check your water ph level...

Do this now - cut the leaves in half to take the weight off - that is adding to their stress level.

Click to expand...

I will snip the leaves...

If the water in the cloner is too warm do you think that could cause them to wilt that fast??

Bump - does anyone think that if the water was too warm it could cause the clones to wilt that quick?

I'd switch to a hanging root style cloner like the $50 cheapo from htg supply. I find any bubbleponics system to just be to much water for the clones, if you use a rooting gel it's just gonna fall off. at least with areo the gel will mix with the water pump and apply it over n over. also this is just a tip for everyone. go buy a small 5$ rectangular foam filter for a fish tank just foam not the mixed carbon filter BS you never ever need. throw it in you water pot will breed good bacteria that helps keep nasty's off your roots/eat dead root matter and will provide a lil bit of nuets as the grow n die.

you say no nuets but did you do anything for PH?

draxhemp said:

I'd switch to a hanging root style cloner like the $50 cheapo from htg supply. I find any bubbleponics system to just be to much water for the clones, if you use a rooting gel it's just gonna fall off. at least with areo the gel will mix with the water pump and apply it over n over. also this is just a tip for everyone. go buy a small 5$ rectangular foam filter for a fish tank just foam not the mixed carbon filter BS you never ever need. throw it in you water pot will breed good bacteria that helps keep nasty's off your roots/eat dead root matter and will provide a lil bit of nuets as the grow n die.

you say no nuets but did you do anything for PH?

Click to expand...

I love bubble cloners and I have more experience than anything With that method. I'll look into what you're referring to though!

As for Ph. No, I didn't adjust it....I usually just used tap water and that was it.

Mind refreshing my memory as to what the Ph should be???

ph should be around 5-6 it will swing up and down with light cycles but anything over 6.5 might aswell be battery acid in hydroponic setups. also try to leave your water out overnight then put it in system to get rid of stuff the city puts in. normally I skip that last step but I use 30 gals of water I bet you only use 2-3

most city water is 7-8 ph fyi

i've found that its a good idea to let the plant i want clones from dry out an extra day. it seems counter-intuitive, but i guess it gets them thirsty so they start drinking when i put them in the cloner.
i do sometimes get a few that just don't want to take. it seems random, i can take 4 clones off a plant, and all 4 will do well, then 4 more a couple of weeks later and 3 of them will wilt and may or may not recover.
i was having a problem with root rot, but i've been using hydroguard, and it seems to be helping a lot. hydrogen peroxide would work for a while, but wasn't a cure, it would come back. with the hydroguard, it seems to just out-compete the pythium so there's nothing for it to eat

I've been having mixed success with an EZ Clone cloner. I'm trying to grow out roots-only clones to use in DWC. I now do it as a 3 part process, but it gets me nice long roots to get a good start before putting it into a netpot.

I start them first in the little jiffy peat pellets under a dome. The rooting hormone stays in place while roots form instead of being washed right off in a bubble cloner. In about a week roots start poking out of the pellets. Then I peel off the mesh and gently rinse off the peat. Then I take a q tip and gently paint the roots with hormone and let it absorb for a minute or 2 - then put it in the EZ Cloner. Within 4 or 5 days it becomes a bristle of roots. That then goes into what I think of as a nursery bubble bucket with 9 others with 1/4 strength nutes to finish growing out. At this point they need the nutes to keep growing.

Doctordubs said:

Hey guys!

I haven't grown for 8 years and I'm finally getting back in to it!! I'm s HG420 refugee too if you recognize my handle.

In the past I used a DIY bubble cloner. Cut my clones, dropped them in the cloner, and had roots in about 10 days.

Today I took some clones from a very healthy mom. After 10 minutes of being in the cloner they wilted. I had 100% rate in the past.

What I can't recall is if this is normal, or if I'm missing a step.

*****
Water is warm-ish

No nutrients

Under T-5 lights

Water is bubbling vigorously
*******

Thanks for the help guys!!

Click to expand...

My clones always wilt the first day and my water is 63 deg. 24 hours later they bounce back like nothing ever happened.

All you need is clonex gel or clonex solution. For my second time cloning (SFV OG), I used the hydroponics method where the clone was placed an inch deep into the clonex solution. I did snip the leaves, cut the bottom of the stems at a 45 degree angle, strip that area gently with a knife/razor. The began rooting in 9 days. I changed the reservoir 10 days in.