Just figured id drop in and give you guys an update..
Ok, so i gave up on frantically trying to clone, by taking cuttings from newer plants and hoping they'd take root. I actually gave up on cloning for the most part period for now, so i could concentrate on this grow.
But then my Yumboldt took a turn for the worse. She was growing in soil, and was experiencing a SEVERE iron deficiency. to the point to where she was gonna end up dying if i didnt do something to salvage her. She was a faily large plant, with nice stalky branches, but they were drooping. So over 3 days, i tried to save her, or even just see if she perked up a little bit, before i did anything drastic. After the 3rd day, i decided that since she wasnt getting any better, i was gonna try something a little different.
I soaked the roots in clonex solution with pH'd water, to get all the dirt off the roots, and i transplanted her into my hydro setup. I then proceeded to take the 5 biggest branches, and i cut the top 5 nodes off, about 8" cuttings round about. I then pruned them, and prepared them like i would a normal clone, and put them in rockwool cubes after dipping the 45 degree cuts in rootech, and scarring them n ect..
I then put the 1.5" rockwool cubes into large 4"x3" blocks, and let them sit a decent distance from my 1000w light. This was 4 days ago. Now, im already seeing little root nubs beginning to try to break through the bottoms of 3 of the 5 cuttings, and the other two have nubs all over the bottoms of the stems, preparing to burst out roots. ive now turned a dying yumboldt plant that i would have yielded 2 oz from, into 5 seperate larger clones, that i will hopefully produce around 1oz from each, with luck, lol.
so i guess the lesson ive learned is that the cuttings ive been taking were way to small, and if i take large cuttings and treat them like im supposed to, i can in fact, clone with ease
So, just like i had hoped, i can end this thread by saying, I CAN FUCKING CLONE!!!! THANK GOD FOR THAT SHIT!!!!!
Im happy as hell man, n i probably wouldn't have thought to do this if i hadn't read ABF's harvest an lb every 2 wks thread. He talks about taking LARGE clones from his mother plants, n the only large cuttings i could possibly take were the main stems, which are the oldest on the plant. They were simple to take care of, simple to get to root, and they only went through a minimum of stress along the way. Im gonna leave them for probably another week to establish some decent roots and to recover from the deficiency that the main plant went through, and then im going to put them into soil and flower them out with the rest of my soil girls.
--Just for the record though, i wasn't able to save the main plant. Shes still in my Ebb n flow tray, but shes dying off. Im not gonna give up until everything is completely wilted n theres absolutely no hope at all, but im seeing like 2 new white root tips out of the 1000 root strands there are. If shes recovering, then shes takin her sweet time, lol. If she does then ill be 2 for 2 in saving a dying soil plant by transferring her to hydro. These are full grown plants ready to go into flower mind you. I saved a Blueberry plant, which has turned into a Bonzai tree, but hopefully in a week or two shell start to grow out again, and get some nice BIG lush growth on her branches. right now if i were to flower her, i'd probably end up with about .75oz of some kind Blueberry bud. But her roots are all briight white, and forming new hairs every day. So maybe shes rebuilding her root structure to adapt to hydroponics, before she concentrates on new plant matter growth. I dunno, well see, all i know is that shes purdy lookin, n another month of vegging n shell be ready to flower right along with all my other hydro gals.
Thanks for tuning in everyone, i really do appreciate all the support and help everyone gave, and i couldnt have done it without all your help. Seriously, thanks. I now have confidence to try cloning on a perpetual scale, and perhaps ill be able to sustain an ABF style grow, getting an LB every 2 weeks, just like ABF does,
lol. I know thats shooting kinda high, but im giving myself another 3-4 months before i reach that goal. Still have another 2 to go until my first hydro grow is complete, and then ill be working on the perpetual stuff. I have one 7 plant (soon to be 12 plant as soon as my 5 clones go in there) grow going in soil, flowering right now ending wk 2, and then i have one 3x3 tray with 16 plants in wk 2/5 of veg, and then i have 15 plants in another 3x3 tray ending wk 1 of veg (some still in seedling stage). So basically right now im ensuring i have several yields to tend to while i try to perfect my clone game, so lets all keep our fingers crossed for me
D) while i go through all this crap, lol. Ill be sure to keep you guys updated, with much less of the novel-like filler in my posts, lol.
Thanks everyone
-K1.