New to Clones and I need advice!

hey guys so im about to pick up some clones (kushberry and purple #1) and had a few questions.
Im using a 600w MH and dont no how close should i put them when they arrive. I can get to within 1ft of my light without any heat problems. Also any knowledge about watering/feeding/misting?? Just wanted to get some experianced info, cause 1st hand is the best knowledge! Dont want to hurt the babys and i want them to have the best start possible! Oh ya and i no some use CFL's for clones but I dont have the time to set that up so they forsure gotta go under the 600. thanks any advice will help!

hmm I am not to sure how close you want that light to the clones....maybe 2ft.....
what type of medium are the clones in? How old are the clones? Days1-3 of life 90-100% humidity 4-7 80% 8-14 maybe like 70-75% mist top and bottom of leaves, clones only need like 3 or 4 true leaves. check out my cuttings from the 21st...I know they are really small.....
Hope this helps



Happy Growings

I agree with lonleysmoka about the lighting. Keep it a couple feet or more up. Also, to get that humidity lonleysmoka is talking about, it would really help if you have germination trays with clear domes to keep the moisture in. Keep rockwool (if thats what your clones will be in) moist but not drenched in order for the roots to want to reach out for water, but don't allow to dry up. You can do 100pmm feed water, and just use h2O for misting (a couple times a day). Lift domes a few times a day for 3-4 minutes to allow new air to get in. Roots should pop out between 7-15 days, sometime longer depending of strain. Because youre using 600watts, keep a close eye for the first few days that they done dry up. I used two 115 watt CFLs for 66 clones in 2 trays and my BigBud roots popped out in 15 days.

Good luck

Here is your problem,

A 600w MH even with air cooling cannot be as close as clones want. So, the clones are going to constantly stretch. I would say 18"s is good for you, but the stretching will still occur. What you will have to do is constantly top/fim the plants.

On nutrients, what are you using? If you were using GeneralHydro for instance the flora three part, you would use 5 to 10 ml each of grow mirco and bloom, and if you have it around 20 ml of FLorablend, in one gallon. A ph of 5.5 to 6.0(6.0 being preferred).

This should work without killing them. Remember at first, you have to use a foliar to feed them because they will not have roots!

They are right about the domes, a tray and dome lid should be 8 to 10 dollars for both. I use them, and I have had near 100% success. Just get a good cloning liquid/gel that works for you. I don't agree on spraying with just water, or the 100ppm though. If you have any nutrients at all the ppms will be between 500 and 1000ppm. Tap water is usually 100ppm in most american cities now. For rooted clones you want real nutes(just weak concentrations of them). You must spray at some point with a foliar, other wise they don't have nutes in them. You can get away with out this, but I wouldn't. Plants want food and air just like you.

They are right about the moisture though, clones love moisture and heat!

The Good Doctor said:

They are right about the domes, a tray and dome lid should be 8 to 10 dollars for both. I use them, and I have had near 100% success. Just get a good cloning liquid/gel that works for you. I don't agree on spraying with just water, or the 100ppm though. If you have any nutrients at all the ppms will be between 500 and 1000ppm. Tap water is usually 100ppm in most american cities now. For rooted clones you want real nutes(just weak concentrations of them). You must spray at some point with a foliar, other wise they don't have nutes in them. You can get away with out this, but I wouldn't. Plants want food and air just like you.

They are right about the moisture though, clones love moisture and heat!

Click to expand...

My tap water runs 150 let it sit for a little while and it goes down to around 110... I dont really agree about feeding the little ladies since it is SO easy to over feed at such a delicate time in their life.. Not saying it doesnt work, just that it is really easy for us 1st time growers to over do it. Oh and Duff make sure to get extra water out of the cubes or what ever it may be that you are using.....you dont want to drown the cuttings. (thats what I did my first run they made it but it was tough for them)

let me clarify a bit...the clones have been rootting at this guys house for about 10-14 days, we then transplant to soil becuase that is my current setup..so they arrive here at about 10-14 days after cutting in solo cups, i then transfer into my 3 gal pots. So at this point im sure they are past the humidity dome level? also i have a completeled sealed setup for my room and run a humidifer inside so my current RH is around 60-70%, so i figured this would suffice for them. this is my first grow and i have done my homework however i orgional started with seeds (which had some issues lol and died), so now im trying with clones however I have not done enough research on the subject! thanks again for the advice.
ALso im using purified water, and the full foxfarm nutrient regiment (liquid and dry), with foxfarm ocean forest soil!

duff555555 said:

let me clarify a bit...the clones have been rootting at this guys house for about 10-14 days, we then transplant to soil becuase that is my current setup..so they arrive here at about 10-14 days after cutting in solo cups, i then transfer into my 3 gal pots. So at this point im sure they are past the humidity dome level? also i have a completeled sealed setup for my room and run a humidifer inside so my current RH is around 60-70%, so i figured this would suffice for them. this is my first grow and i have done my homework however i orgional started with seeds (which had some issues lol and died), so now im trying with clones however I have not done enough research on the subject! thanks again for the advice.
ALso im using purified water, and the full foxfarm nutrient regiment (liquid and dry), with foxfarm ocean forest soil!

Click to expand...

Ok, my thoughts are that you should just water for another two weeks when cup/pot what ever the clones are in get dry about an inch deep.
after that start on a real light solution of FF products look for some kind of feed schedule here on RIU. good luck

Happy Growings

You can use, HPS, MH, Sulfur Plasma, LED, CFL, T5s T12s etc. etc. any bulb really for cloning. But, you want the lights as close to the clones as possible to avoid extreme stretch. You cannot, under most ordinary circumstances, get a 600w mh or hps close enough to the clones to avoid this. A good friend of mine uses t5s on all the cuttings and a 250w HPS on all the mothers and older cuttings. This is on a 4x8 table. The t5s are all in another location. So he uses an hps, for cloning technically, but it is at least 3 to 4 feet off of the table. So, all of the shorter(less than 12") plants, stretch. Why is this bad, they can actually stretch beyond their own ability to hold themselves up. They get too tall too fast, then the stem isn't wide enough. Over water and light being too far from the plant, are the main reasons for this occuring.

If you are cloning, the little plants receive constant light and water. This will need to be watched. Plant yo yos are not easy to use in this application. You can get away with pre slit drinking straws to help out the cuttings. Simply cut a single slit along the lenght of a normal drinking straw, cut it now to the lenght you need. 90percent of the above ground/out of cube stem, and about 1/2 inch below level will be enough. Simply incircle the stem along its length with the drinking straw. This will create fake strength for the stem of the over stretched plants.