rooting problems. on and off....

i have times when my clones take right off, and are ready to transplant in as little as three weeks. other times, they go 5 weeks, with little roots. odd. i used super thrive at like 5 drops per gallon. ph water at 6.2..(6.6-6.8 for regular). but now im trying this new b-1 stuff. and i am having worse results. i used kangaroots, and i think it may eat roots, rather then build it. i mean, this problem, has been causeing me to "get behind" in my operation. so odd. i even put a heat mad under new clones. for thee days, i have em in a moist dome. and in low light, for a week, and slowly getting em closer, to my wee lil cfl 6500k. nothing seems to be the culprit. probably karma, teaching me a lesson, for being a butt head sometimes........anyway. i hope yours do better than mine. i even went to a steril medium. as clones hate anything warm, let alone hot, in the soil dept.

I'd say try a few different products if it's not the strain that is causing the difficulty. You already had success with super thrive so try one or two clones using something like ez-clone. There is always room for improvement even though it's a pain in the butt at times...it will be worth it in the end.

Your using the wrong stuff, Super Thrive is for stressed plants.
I've used lots of rooting solutions, Rapid Start is one of the best, use it for a cloning solution, or for seed germination. water your seedling with it.

for my rooting dip, i use vita grow. and plant cuttings directly into pre-watered soil, in small 2.5" pots. i will look for this stuff. ty!

Superthrive isn't only for stressed plants. It contains NAA, which is for rooting and root development.

But how about starting with less additives rather than more. I use a home made "bubble cloner" filled with tap water (no pH adjusting, it is close to 8 and 50ppm) I add about 5 drops of Superthrive in 3 gallons and sometimes dip cuttings in Olivias. I dont think they even need the rooting gel as I have not noticed a higher success rate with it vs without, I just have some and want to use it up.

They sit off to the side and get indirect light from my PLL fixture. I only put them under direct light when they are potted in soil.

No dome, no misting, no heat mats....

Some strains and cuttings are more difficult to root. Different areas on a plant root faster. I use tops when possible. I get roots in about a week.

i have a daisy cloner. i think its 8 site. never used it much. would make sence, tho, that most if not all anything you dip em in, would be washed off by the cloner in short order. i agree with the part of the plants to clone. bottom cuts, from a plant thats still small, are not the best choice for robust cuttings. this did not show up in my site, but, thankfully, i get sent copies of anything im sent, to my personal email. a live saver. until they unlock my account, this will have to suffice. say halleluha. lol. thanks for the imput. all is appreceiated. some things, i just forget. others, i only wish i could......again, thanks to all who answered.

Cheap, bottled 'gallon' filtered water, ANY brand CLONING solution (Superthrive is NOT a cloning solution- but can be added, but use less!) and a good Gel to dip the cut ends in before they go into their rooters.

What are your temps where you clone?
What kind of light?
Do you use a dome?

These things make a HUGE difference!!!

OOPS! We posted at the same time!
There ya go-- aeroponic cloner!
They are "iffy" .. some will over-heat the water... and you need to be absolutely sure the airstone is down in the water and working like a jaccuzzi!!! Not enough air in the water= slow or dead clones!!!
But still- what light you using- and habe the areas temps changed? Too warm and they do slow down!!
Make sure you are adding a rooting/cloning agent to the water... and you still want to dip them.. yes, it is eventually rinsed off- but some does soak in, and it prevents the cut-end from embolizing (getting air in it while cloning, it wilts and dies fast!)

MYOB said:

Superthrive isn't only for stressed plants. It contains NAA, which is for rooting and root development.

But how about starting with less additives rather than more. I use a home made "bubble cloner" filled with tap water (no pH adjusting, it is close to 8 and 50ppm) I add about 5 drops of Superthrive in 3 gallons and sometimes dip cuttings in Olivias. I dont think they even need the rooting gel as I have not noticed a higher success rate with it vs without, I just have some and want to use it up.

They sit off to the side and get indirect light from my PLL fixture. I only put them under direct light when they are potted in soil.

No dome, no misting, no heat mats....

Some strains and cuttings are more difficult to root. Different areas on a plant root faster. I use tops when possible. I get roots in about a week.

Click to expand...

It's to stop stress in transplanted plants.
Just because it has NAA doesn't mean its for rooting. Its missing IBA a major ingredient in rooting compounds.

id like to take a moment to thank EVERYBODY for their comments and reccomendations. even the occasional sour reply, is appreciated, for honesty takes the prize. peace. and happy grows!

topfuel29 said:

It's to stop stress in transplanted plants.
Just because it has NAA doesn't mean its for rooting. Its missing IBA a major ingredient in rooting compounds.

Click to expand...

How does it stop stress in transplanted plants?

The answer is because it contains NAA, which helps with rooting. IBA does the same thing. One doesn't need the other to be useful in promoting root development. If you dumped superthrive into a bottle labeled "cloning solution" people would be arguing that its not for transplant stress. Forget the labels.

The truth is, rooting compounds aren't even necessary. Cuttings will root in a cup of water with the proper environment.

As for the gel washing off in a bubble cloner; if it gets washed off, it just ends up in the water anyway. The cuttings dont need to be constantly coated with it for it to work. I have never heard of overheating in a bubble cloner, a warmer res is probably better for root development. I suppose if the water boiled you would be in trouble but that isnt the fault of the cloner itself. The bubbled air is a major component of this type of cloner, of course it would not work as well without it.

I have had high success rates with tap water and ambient room temps from the mid 60's to mid 70's and as low as 30% RH. No domes needed. No direct light needed either.

Taking cuttings and rooting them is simple. Look at non-mj specific gardening forums. See how many people are using heat mats, humidity domes, rooting hormones, nutrients etc. There is nothing about MJ that makes it difficult to get cuttings from. MJ growers just feel the need to overcomplicate things and buy all sorts of unnecessary products and equipment.

hello again. i transplanted my wee ones from their 2.5" pots. to one gallons. had fair roots. i watered em in, into three gallons of water, 4 tsp tera-vega, two tbls b-1, and 4 drops superthrive. adjusted ph to 6.8. and now they are under my 4 tube t-8. the gods under t-5 are chompin at the bit, to be flipped. tomorrow i cut 3 aurora indica. and at over 8 weeks, suddenly my white russian, has drastically slowed its uptake..... lets see what my transplant potion does. its not hot. this run will be the canna vega/flores, with the pk stuff.

heres what i did for my last 13 cuttings i took. dipped them into cloner gel, then dropped them into my 25 site cloner machine with 8ml of regent a root hormone, 5ml of h2o, 6.5ph'd water, 78* water heater, and 24/7 6500k t8 2-4' bulbs. 10 days i had 2-3" roots and transplanted them into FFOF (amended) soil. then under 600w 18/6. i changed the h2o every 3 days (max). had 11 out of 13 root and make it to veg. also foliar spray with Red B1 from technoflora immediately after putting into cloner machine.

my technique of transplanting, never gives me any stress issues. i use the common way gardeners do. prepare the new larger pot, place smaller pot,centered, place soil around lil pot, gently tamping. remove small pot, leaving the "form of the small pot in there. i water the small pot., this lossens roots, turn it over, slap it on the bottom, slide out the plant, and place it, into its "perfect fit" hole i formed. add a bit more soil for the top, water it in. same with my outdoor aurora. and wow. this thing is getting big, fast....i think perhaps my problem, with the rooting, is the quality of cuttings. the larger the cut, it seems, the more hearty it is. some streins are tough as nails. like jack herer. i was just able to aquire this back, for two of mine. one aurora, one white russian. thanks for the advice. sometimes i regress. lol.