I thought cloning was easy until..

I've been cloning for years using various methods and always had a 90% survival rate up until 4 weeks ago. Cloning always seemed simple and was a breeze. If I needed 10 clones I would only take 11. It got to the point if I needed 10 clones I'd only take 10.

I've had great success using diy aero cloners. But I had to sell it when I moved. It's been a very long time since using rock wool or the like. I first started cloning 10+ years ago using cups of water and had better success than I have now.

So I bought a bubble cloner about 6 months ago after I moved. Never used one before. I took 6 clones and all 6 rooted in 7 days. 100% success. The clones have now been flowered. I also used it a few times here and there in the last 6 months to trade a few clones, also 100% success.

I put the cloner away until 4 weeks ago. I needed 9 clones so I took 9. 6 rooted in 6 days.... Then I got slime and stem rot. I cleaned the hell out of the cloner with bleach, Recut the stems and cleaned the clones stems up.. Put them back in the cloner. I started adding h2o2. A couple sort of rooted but again, some slime. I ditched the clones and made a brand new bubble cloner. New air pump, airstones, the whole 9. I also bought RO water to eliminate everything that could be going wrong. I added clear rez to the ro water and some Cal mag. I bought new cloning scissors and clonex and cut clones under water, dipped in clonex and into the cloner they went. Remember, brand new everything, even rubbing alcohol and scissors. All clones looked fine until day 6 and 3 of the 9 new clones had mushy stems where the clonex was. The other 6 seem OK FOR NOW, but at this point I don't have much faith.

Sorry this was a rather long thread.

But what am I doing wrong!?! It's literally driving me crazy and I'm at my wits end.

First failed attempt:
Cleaned cloner with soapy water and bleach.
Tap water
Cleaned old scissors
Cut under water at 45 angle
Scratched up the bottom part of stem lightly
Put in the cloner
(exactly how I've been doing it for years.)

Second failed attempt:
Same exact stuff I did the first attempt except I used phed ro water with calmag

Third attempt:
Same as attempt 2 but I used brand new scissors, clonex and clear rez (made from pool shock)
3/9 clones had to be replaced with new clones due to mushy stem.

I am all out of cuttings I can take from my mother plants because I already raped the plant of all the tops.

Please help and tell me where I'm screwing up, I'm already 4 weeks behind schedule now and really need this batch to pull through.

These are the clones I have now. TThe 3 on the right are the new clones I had to replace today. The other ones have been in there 6 days now.

I am not sure why you are having a tough time, I use only tap water and patience and they usually seem to come out with nice thick roots.

Preservation Society said:

I am not sure why you are having a tough time, I use only tap water and patience and they usually seem to come out with nice thick roots.

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Same here man, I have no clue what's going on I've gotten a mushy stem here or there over 10 years but never a whole cloner full of mushy stems, so I can rule out an embolism. I even bought new scissors just in case my old pair weren't sharp enough, I think it's a slime problem, but even keeping the water 68 degrees that didn't help and I've never had to change the water temp ever, I'd just change out the water every few days with tap water. But now nothing is helping avoid the mushy stems, even all brand new equipment, still 3 mushy stems in 5 days. I have no clue what's going on

AlphaPhase said:

Same here man, I have no clue what's going on I've gotten a mushy stem here or there over 10 years but never a whole cloner full of mushy stems, so I can rule out an embolism. I even bought new scissors just in case my old pair weren't sharp enough, I think it's a slime problem, but even keeping the water 68 degrees that didn't help and I've never had to change the water temp ever, I'd just change out the water every few days with tap water. But now nothing is helping avoid the mushy stems, even all brand new equipment, still 3 mushy stems in 5 days. I have no clue what's going on

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Really sorry your going through that, I hope you can find a solution it sounds really horrible whats going on.

This was the last time I used the cloner before I had this problem. I've always had roots like this for years, then all of a sudden none rooting properly, I figured if someone bacterial got in my old cloner I'd just buy a new one, but no success. Even tried two different strains

Temps are likely too cool.

Preservation Society said:

Really sorry your going through that, I hope you can find a solution it sounds really horrible whats going on.

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Thanks man, it's terrible, do you think a plant that is just starting alternating nodes, but still has pretty much latteral nodes, could be a problem? My mother plants are only like 7 weeks old but I figured that would be old enough to clone. Not sure if that makes a difference or not though

SnapsProvolone said:

Temps are likely too cool.

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I thought so too, but the first attempt temps were about 78, then the mush came along. Second attempt I cooled temps to 68ish, then the mush came. This third attempt temps are about 74 :/

I have never experienced mushy stems yet, I don't know if my climate is keeping it away or not but I hope I never have to experience that at all. I have had bugs though because they are the woods out here so lots of them around. They are sneaky little creatures so preventative care is a must here.

AlphaPhase said:

I thought so too, but the first attempt temps were about 78, then the mush came along. Second attempt I cooled temps to 68ish, then the mush came. This third attempt temps are about 74 :/

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Try 85 - 90

The only time my clones wouldnt take is when something was wrong with the plant. If youre not doing anything different then before, I would consider that you could have a micromite or something

once you get the slim you have to sell your cloner on craigslist

I get good results with rockwool soaked in pHed water to 5.5 with SUPERthrive. Cut a branch stick it in the soaked cube and wait till its dry and you have roots. SUPERthrive cubes work amazing, no need for a dome(unless your RH is less then 40%) or rooting hormon cause you got that superness going.

$10 for SUPERthrive(lasts at least 20 sheets of 98 rookwool)
$10 for 98 cubes

Diabolical666 said:

The only time my clones wouldnt take is when something was wrong with the plant. If youre not doing anything different then before, I would consider that you could have a micromite or something

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OH man I don't like the sound of micro mites, what are those!? My mother plants look OK I suppose, tthey're pretty tattered from taking clones though. I really hope it's not bugs, that's the last thing I need

Snaps, I don't think I can get it that warm the hottest it gets in the grow room it 80

Hex- I'm really really looking into other options than the cloners after this epic fail month. They worked great for so long, I even made a new one and that didn't work either so I just bought some root riot plugs, I've never used these though and now I have to wait til my plants grow out before I can take any more clones, it sucks so bad because I can go buy clones at a dispensary but I bought these seeds because I really wanted these strains and dispensary doesn't have them. Do you know how to use the root riot plugs? Is it the same as Rockwool and would I need a dome, my rh is like 40ish

i had the same problem with the same set up. i went and bought a 5 gal bucket cloner with the sprayer and then i made one . now i get root in 6 days no problem. i always thought they got to wet and didnt want to root fast so they ended up wilting away.ii have my timmers oset for half hour on half off, the next round im going to try and do half hour on theen 1 hour off see if they root faster.

I also had great success with the Aero cloner. I made a few diy clones out of totes and they worked great. I should have took one with me when I moved. I think I'll make one if those and give it a shot, I figured the bubble cloner would be similar and it was a lot easier to make, but it's been a huge headache lately. I found a manifold on eBay for $20, I already have a pump so I figure it's almost as cheap to buy the manifold rather than make one again.

Here's a pic of the Aero I built a while back. I never even had to sterilize it, I'd only wash it with soapy water after I used it and I never got mushy stems with it. I've only used the bubble cloner 5times aand I already want to throw it out of the window

Plain old tap water sometimes I add a few drops of chlorine. The only times I get problems in a bubble cloner is when nuts are added. Adding rootbastic almost guarantees root rot.

I have great success just using root riot cubes...dip clone..insert in cube..place in tray..make a solution of roots accellerator and water add some to tray...place on a heat mat..set temp on mat to 74 and roots in a week...I even just did some basil...thyme and rosemary for my winter indoor herb garden....i had best result with clonex..Olivia's took muchlonger to get roots...I was just reading an article on a new cloneing product in Maximun Yield..suppose to be very good...forget the name off hand...but the same company that makes axiom harpin protein

ballist said:

Plain old tap water sometimes I add a few drops of chlorine. The only times I get problems in a bubble cloner is when nuts are added. Adding rootbastic almost guarantees root rot.

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This is good to know. I was using tap water until a month or so ago, but it's been getting worse over time, the ppm is 280 and pH is 8.1 so I started using ro water.

About the nutes, I'm only adding calmag to give the ro a little bit of ppm, 100ppm or so. And the chlorine. The first and second attempt I think I used rapid start rooting solution, could that be the problem?

tyson53 said:

I have great success just using root riot cubes...dip clone..insert in cube..place in tray..make a solution of roots accellerator and water add some to tray...place on a heat mat..set temp on mat to 74 and roots in a week...I even just did some basil...thyme and rosemary for my winter indoor herb garden....i had best result with clonex..Olivia's took muchlonger to get roots...I was just reading an article on a new cloneing product in Maximun Yield..suppose to be very good...forget the name off hand...but the same company that makes axiom harpin protein

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Awesome info, thanks! I'll have to get a heat mat but I ordered the root riot plugs already, I was surprised to see one of my clones popped a small root nub today, maybe there's still hope for the ones on the cloner but I doubt it, I'm going to give them till Sunday and if they rest haven't rooted I'll have to start over and use the plugs