mustbetribbin
Well-Known Member
Here's what I recommend you do @Cash_Crop (Welcome 2 RIU)Take your clone cuttings 1-2 hrs after lights out, don't cut clones off during lights on wait until the plant is asleep for the night.I have never reached out to anyone for help before, mainly because of the fact I can research and find most answers myself, and also that I am fully capable to do things better than most except when it comes to cloning, I will admit defeat only because I have taken such a beating, a brutal beating at that I’m talking well over 100 cuttings from various strains, all healthy and striving mid veg late veg early flower I have tried everything possible I have read online, books, I know that there are some strains nearly impossible to clone, and auto flower strains are a no no, cutting on a angle 45 slicing the first layer of stem, splitting it in the middle, rooting gel, powder, Epson salt rain water, homemade bubble cloner, nothing I do works, but there is one thing I just thought of since we are talking genetics, and creating a new life, I do have 4 children out there so I know I have something very fertile, I just don’t want to say what I’m thinking of doing, lmfao I can’t believe this fucking shit I’m way too stoned for this, but wtf you never know right? someone please help I’m having a problem
Give the cuttings around 4 1/2 - 6hrs darkness before the lights come back on, and be sure to find a lower light intensity for your clones for the first week or so, I find I can increase the light intensity by moving individual plants closer to the light source, this is the beauty of soil growing I suppose, kiss method mostly lol, if I see a lot of green growth up top this is when I know the plant is ready for (growth)a slight increase in light and increased photon absorbsion ect.
Next step scrape a few of the outer fibers (as others have previously mentioned) from the bottom 1-2 inches of the cutting, or try and peel one of the lower leaf stems downwards to fray off a few fibers that way, I usually scrap 2 or 3 separate spots but not the entire bottom, although I've heard that n the thicker cuttings it's best to scrape the entire bottom fibers off a bit to expose that area and speed up root growth on larger cuttings, haven't tested this last method just yet but I will be testing it out soon .
I've only cloned in either a glass of water or a cup/pot of dirt so far myself, but the water clones were from tomato plants, and I'd probably just clone them in dirt if I had known better, ha ha, now when I say dirt, I mean a mixture of promix and real soil, plus perlite and a bit of other various organic materials added in, the soil mix just needs to be basic and mild, I just blend mine by hand until the desire consistency is reached, and the allow the mix to cook for at least a month, at least this is what I've had better success with, not that you couldn't have a clone survive in a hastened mixture, but cooking the soil blend is a good way to be sure the soil has reached a mild consistency for those new clone roots to grow into.
So I cut the clone in the dark, just me a pair of small scissors and a dim flashlight and I take the cutting, I go out to my area where my soil is and is quickly prepare the cut with soil, scrape a few fibers with a blade on the bottom 2", pour soil around it, the fast as I can grab the water and get her hydrated lol, I then let the clone rest in about 3 inchs of soil, I don't fill the cups entirely, for seeds or clones for that matter, but I make sure the cutting is completely saturated (dripping wet, oh yeah) and then I don't add water for about 4 days, and when I water I go by the weight of the cup usually, but on clones and seedlings I've been watering with a spray bottle, and I give them about 5-6 sprays on the 4th day or so, if I rehydrate them until they drip out the bottom, they seem to not fair so well, so I've tried to just master hydrating them until the saturation point is reached or very close to it, without letting them drip, seemed to have grown better and not die rather. (Also be sure the room where you take the clone into or mix the soil for it is barely lit, lowered intensity ambient light, keep that clone asleep during transplant )
I have not used bottom heat yet, which is probably a mistake but my new veg room is currently being built and I've been short on space, got clones in seedling room currently, yeah but anyhow I'm wondering if bottom heat is good right from the start, or would waiting a couple/few days be better for the applied bottom heat, but I have heard 75-80 to work well and give a boost, I'll be back on top of things soon lol.
I saved the very first step I do for clone cuttings for last , what I do is I trim any leaves from off of the cutting around 8-12hrs before hand, I don't cut any leaves off the cutting afterwards, this is done before hand, and I usually leave about 3-4 leaves up top but any larger leaves are removed, it lowers the stress level to the cutting, less area to spend time completing photosynthesis and more time/energy to expend into growing new roots, if the leaves are too large it can kill the clone cutting, at least that's what I've experienced so far in soil, but they also grow faster and more robust if you find the sweet spot and don't remove too much leaf either...but by trimming the leaves of beforehand it allows for the entire plant to respond to the leaves being removed, and the cutting can then be partially healed while the main cut from the mother plant is the focal point that the cutting can then focus on, and not several cuts all at once.
Let me know if I can be further assistance, I'd be glad to clarify or elaborate on anything I've mentioned so far. Looks like you've got some excellent assistance here already, I just wanted to add what I was able, take care y'all.
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