No Domes-- Easy/Successful Cloning Process

So all I had was a closet to stick these clones into. I cut the two lowest stems, and had some Schultz rooting hormone powder (works great!). You want to snip your fan leaves back a bit. Some will be completely cut away. Too much foliage on a clone will promote more plant growth. Your new clone will not be able to focus on growing its imperative roots if you have too much foliage! If you look at the cutting on the right, you can see the two small stems at the base near the soil. Those were fan leaves that were clipped back to prevent too much plant growth, slowing the ability for imperative root growth. I left two fan leaves (trimmed a bit too, look at pictures) at the top of the cutting with a new node trying to protrude out into the new world. The cuttings should be in the middle of a nice growth. Mine were from after 3 weeks of veg. Pictures are below to see how the end product should look.

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Three weeks after initial planting. The one on the left has successfully taken as of a few days ago :) The one on the right is still green though, so maybe it will start growing soon too!

Took a clean razor and slit up the bottom of the stem maybe 3mm, not too far at all. Just to split the bottom a bit to help expose more area for root growth. Just a little plastic party cup with 4 holes in the bottom for drainage. Used MG seedling soil with 5-1-1 NPK. Stuck it in the closet with a single CFL about 3 ft above the plants to keep the light exposure but nothing too intense. You will move the light a little closer and closer over the next week or two until its 4 or 5 inches away. Having less intense lighting early on helps to prevent plant growth and promotes initial root growth. Took a phillips head screw-driver and poked a hole about 2 to 2.5 inches into the center of the soil. Took the end of the newly cut stem and swirled it around in a shot-glass of some distilled water. After that, I spun it around in the root hormone powder, so the bottom inch of the stem was covered in the stuff. Gently placed it inside the hole, being careful to not tap the sides on the way down. If you played Operation as a kid, you've got this. Patted soil down and around it and got it nice and firm. Don't forget to place some toothpicks around the side of the clone to help her stay upright! Then I proceeded to slowly, and thoroughly, water the entirety of the soil in the cup. A liiiiitle extra water around the stem to make it nice and wet, ready for the cloning process. Then one good squeeze from a spray bottle to set the mood. Try and get the whole plant with the spray. I read all over the place looking for how other people have done their cloning atmosphere. Many were saying to use some sort of "dome" to keep the atmosphere humid for the newly exposed (hopefully root-forming) stem. I really didn't want to work that hard at it, so I just kept the soil area around the stem base moist AT ALL TIMES. Not too tough, pretty much watered it every two days. I used a spray bottle only at the base of the plant, squeezing the spray trigger slowly to avoid too much disturbance around the base of the stem. Try to avoid watering/spraying on your leaves! Overall the process seems solid, good luck out there guys! Don't spend too much money or hard work on your clones!

Mr Lovenest420
 
Got it at Wal-Mart lol. Like $4 is all it was! Its Schultz TakeRoot Rooting Hormone. Super easy to use, good luck! Let me know if you have any questions.
 
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