I cant f**king clone.

[K1Ng5p4d3]

Man, i dont know what the hell is wrong here. Ive been trying for the last month n a half to get a batch of clones ready for my flood tables, N ive gotten a total of 1 clone to really take root. I went from trying to clone in soil, to using a Waterfarm bucket that i turned into a DWC bucket. Ive tried Rollitup's Method of just taking a cutting, scarring the stem, and poppin it into a cup of water and leaving it under indirect light, and ive tried the cheap mini greenhouses that you buy at hydro shops. I dont know what the hell im doin wrong here.


Im a semi experienced grower, tryin to prepare for a pretty decent sized grow, and i have 10 plants i can use as mothers, another 15 seedlings that i started in soil, and i just got in my 4x8 flood table, which ill be growing 32 plants in, if i can ever get my shit together and learn what the hell im doin wrong here. Its gettin down to zero hour for me here, and im about to just flower out the plants i have grown out right now, and wait for the seedlings to become mothers before i get down to business, because i need another harvest so badly, lol.

I know that cloning is supposed to be some of the easiest shit to pull off in the world, but for some reason its just not happening for me. Its probably my tap water, even though i make sure its pH'd before i use it, god knows what else is in there, so ill be trying again with distilled water in a couple days when i can take some more cuttings, but other than that im pretty much stumped. Im about to shell out a couple bucks for a cloning machine pretty soon here, cuz its just getting to the point to where im massacring my plants just to get cuttings that im gonna end up throwing away in the long run.

I have a shitload of strains to try out, cuz im still not set on what i wanna keep around long term - im growing Blueberry, Pineapple Punch, Yumboldt 47, Northern Lights, Durban Poison, Ice, The Black, Dutch Dragon, Church, Bubblicious, Double Gum, The Pure, n if i left anything out, its just cuz im fuckin frazzled man. Anybody with alot of experience that can help me out and possibly save me some cash, would really be doin a service to your community, lol. Im pretty much going insane right now, because i just dont see how its possible to try everything under the sun, following instructions verbatim, and still have zero results.

I was originally using CFLs for the cloning process, but i recently switched to a more gentle light - picked up some cheap 4ft plant n aquarium bulbs from Wal Mart. N that light is actually the light where i got the only cutting to root so far. I dont wanna take many more cuttings from the girls i have growing out right now, cuz each time i do, i feel like im deminishing potential yield by causing undue stress to these girls. Is there a specific age or plant height i should be waiting on in order to take my cuttings? Any type of advice that can be given here would be much MUCH appreciated. Anyone that has a simple, CHEAP method of cloning , im all ears..

thanks in advance,
-K1.

 

[chronicj69]

try using a sterile razor blade instead. scissors pinch the end and tear it n shit u dont want that . i bet u get alot better results. what kind of root solution are u using again?

 

[chronicj69]

and u should try using a brand named jumpstart... very very good cloning solution.

 

[Silky Shagsalot]

i use the k.i.s.s. method for pretty much everything concerning growing. i use my daily scissors to make cuts and don't scrape the sides.... i take my cuts from the bottom side growth tips. i always use a clone dome and keep the temp. in the mid 80's, and the humidity in the 60's or so. as long as there is a light mist on the dome, you should be good in that dept. i use dip-n-grow hormone. i make my final cut under-water to avoid air embolisms. i use oasis cubes, i don't like rock-wool. coco is also very good for rooting. use clear cups and you'll be able to see the roots. they must be kept warm, and not allowed to dry out. you don't want too much leaf matter left on your cuts. you want them to concentrate on root development, and not foliage maintenance. i usually get very good results, 90+% success..... i use 18/6 for clones.

 

[gohydro]

I'm usually successful at cloning although recently I had some problems due to room temps. It was too cold (about 60fah) and 2 groups died. I'd never had an issue before and the only thing I saw different was room temp. I bought a cheapo heater and warmed the closet to about 80fah. Bingo...every cutting rooted the next go'round.

Heres what I do:

1. Take cutting and re-cut under water at a 45 degree angle.

2. Scrape the sides ( just like Rollitup says)

3. Dip the end in honey.

4. Put them in a cloner WITH A CLEAR DOME.

5. Use either Olivias or Clonex solution in the rez.

6. Remove dome and mist twice a day with a spray bottle.

7. Keep room WARM.



I always have nearly 100% success doing it this way and usually have a nice root structure within 7-10 days.

Good Luck,
GoHydro

 

[SCORPIO13]

http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/mjgrow4i.htm#A28

Maybe this will help ya out. It has great info about cloning, (and growing in general). I had horrible results when cloning as well. I tried dwc and got molded plants. I took off the humidity dome and after 2 weeks, and even if they grew roots the stems where so soft they would not support thier own weight. Now i follow these instructions and have not had any problems yet.

 

[mygirls]

i don't sterilize anything.the key is temp and humidity with in the dome, and don't let them dry out.

 

[winkdogg420]

not to beat a dead horse here but its all about temps...a cutting will root in anything from mud to sand if its warm enough clip it,dip it,stick it (in soil) then keep it warm and moist...the heating mat is key or an aquarium heater for bubble/aero...

 

[K1Ng5p4d3]

yeh man, ive read all of this, lol. Its gotta be my water. I do everything you guys are tellin me to do, its GOTTA be the damn water, lol. N im using Plantroids rooting hormone Gel. im stalemated. Im pickin up some Distilled action right now to fill up my DWC bucket. If it dont work, im gonna spend the cash on a proper cloning machine thats just plug n play, so i can be done with it once n for all.

Those plant n aquarium lights will be enough to get my clones to take root right? i dont wanna use any of my HIDs because i think thats too intense of a light for cuttings to take root under. CFLs would work im sure, but as far as intensity, whats the most you think i should use wattage wise? n that is, IF the walmart bought 4' bulbs wont work..

 

[Down With The Clown]

I am not that experienced but I have had good and bad luck with cloning.

At first I bought Schultz powder root hormone and I could not get a damn thing to clone. Then I switched to Clonex and my success rate skyrocketed.

I have heard people use Schultz with decent results by I personally think it is Crap.

Just my 2 cents

 

[SCI]

dont forget to ph the water used to soak your peat pellets-rockwool-or whatever you use, and to ph the water of your mist

 

[skoooooot]

Im having a similar problem and keeping an eye on this thread. Im going to try a home made floating aero cloner. Small 1 gal. res, styrofoam, fish bowl heater, airstone. Crossing my fingers because my plants have outgrown the veg room. Im also going to pick up some b'cuzz root this weekend. Crossing fingers. Otherwise back to seed.

 

[Thundercat]

Just a thought King, If your looking at just buying a cloner, you might consider DIYing a stink bud cloner, would prolly be alot cheaper?

 

[K1Ng5p4d3]

Yeah, ive looked at Stinky's cloner a few different times, and yeah ive thought about DIYin it up, or even making a REAL project out of it n trying to replicate one of those EZ Cloner machines that cost fuckin $400 bucks, lol, but actually for now, i think i might have figured out whats goin on..

I replaced ALL water that ive been using with Distilled water. Apparently my tap water is completely unuseable altogether, because about an hour after i watered my big plants with some, they perked up, and actually got some spacing between my nodes, which has been much needed for about 2-3 weeks now. It wasnt a HUGE change or anything, but the difference is noticeable for sure. So i did the same thing with my Converted Waterfarm Bucket (converted it from a top drip feed bucket to a DWC bucket), and also threw a humidity dome over top of it, and then i threw out all the cuttings that looked like shit, n keeping the 4 that looked healthy still and that have a chance at rooting. So i took them, i recut them under distilled water, scarred them a tiny tiny bit, and immediately dipped them in my rootroids(or plantroids whatever the hell it is) rooting gel. Straight into a RW starter plug, and into the bucket amongst the hydroton. They look happpy as hell, i dont have to mist them anymore, and i really feel like they might actually take root for me now. Ill be sure to keep you guys posted.

BUT, before the next 7 days pass, i think im gonna head down to the shop n pick up some liquid cloning solution to put in the rez, im thinkin that maybe the solution might work better than the gel when dealing with DWC, because the gel just basically dissolves as soon as you submerse that RW plug under the water. I just dont think that its a whole lot of help at all, lol. I just got in a 55 tray of RW starterplugs, and it came with a greenhouse (just a slotted plastic tray n MONDI humidity dome), and im thinking of maybe using this for one or two smaller cuttings, just to see if the dome makes the difference. I had a smaller version of this, the 12x12 jumpstart mini greenhouse deal, with that short ass humidity dome, but i could never use it because id have to have a 2" clone to put in there for it to work, lol, n im havin enough trouble trying to clone with a frikkin 8"+ cutting. So who knows, maybe that shitll work too..


I was lookin at the FAQs the other day, and i was reading that one cloning method with the fishtank lined with soil at the bottom, and he was using those jiffy plugs i think it was.. that was pretty interesting too. At any rate, i may be able to strike it lucky with what im doing now, n just chalk it all up to some horrible water being the cause of all my problems with cloning, lol.

Ill keep you posted over the next week or two n let you know what takes root, n probably even snap off some pics for ya too

thanks for the great response guys,
-K1.

 

[Thundercat]

Your cuttings your taking are 8 inchs long? That might be part of your problem man. The cuttings might be tougher down where you are taking them from. I've been taking all my clones from the lowest parts of the plants, and they are only about 3 inchs tall. Then I trim all the leaf tips off before i put the dome on them. Seems like they always look alittle worse, right before they root. Once I see a root, they go into cups. I think with your water change, you'll have much better success though. I just took 5more WW clones, and 3 more Kush clones tonight. I'm hoping some of the ones I took the other day are rooted by this weekend to I can put them into flower with the mothers. I'll still have several I'll veg out as new mothers too. Good luck with the next batch bro! TC

 

[fureelz]

Check out my how I clone thread...might help ya...

 

[guestrollitup]

Jump start and razor blades man, he's right.

 

[bossman88188]

nice info thanx

 

[K1Ng5p4d3]

Your cuttings your taking are 8 inchs long? That might be part of your problem man. The cuttings might be tougher down where you are taking them from. I've been taking all my clones from the lowest parts of the plants, and they are only about 3 inchs tall. Then I trim all the leaf tips off before i put the dome on them. Seems like they always look alittle worse, right before they root. Once I see a root, they go into cups. I think with your water change, you'll have much better success though. I just took 5more WW clones, and 3 more Kush clones tonight. I'm hoping some of the ones I took the other day are rooted by this weekend to I can put them into flower with the mothers. I'll still have several I'll veg out as new mothers too. Good luck with the next batch bro! TC

8 inches was an exaggeration, theyre more like 5 inches, maybe a little smaller. I was just sayin that im trying not to take cuttings from when i top the plant, im trying to take them from lower down on the plant, so obviously theyre gonna be bigger. But yeah, im givin this shit a shot, n theyre still lookin better than they were before with the nuted up water that i was using in the DWC bucket. Fingers fuckin crossed, lol.

-So do you clone in soil then? im askin cuz i dont remember you saying how you do it when you clone. I never really gave soil that much of a shot, considering how much trouble i had last grow trying to switch a plant from soil to hydro growing, i just didnt wanna run into problems like that again, so i kinda left the soil alone after it didnt work out the first time. I DID however, take the 5 Taiga seedlings that i started in RW cubes that i put into beer cups, and i threw them into the DWC bucket too before they got too big. As soon as my Delta blocks get here im gonna put the Ebb n Flow together n turn her on for the first time (well, once my pump gets here n i hit up the moon for my slabs), n get them bitches goin, along with 5 White dwarf autos i got comin tuesday, plus 2 Blueberry seedlings, 2 Dutch Dragon seedlings, 2 Pineapple punch seedlings, n probably gonna do either 2 THE BLACK or 2 ICE seedlings that i got gettin started right now too. I just wanna get the shit goin so i have something to smoke on sometime in the near future, and i can keep toying around with cloning, and not have to be in some typa hurry where im fucking everything up n its a rush job. Im sure ill get the damn shit down soon man, lol.

I just picked up a Hannah hand held TDS(ppm) meter, which should be showin up by midweek, so ill finally be able to know just how fucked my tap water really is. I need to figure out what the hell im gonna do to fill up my rez for the table too man, lol. It aint like i can buy 50-70 gallons of water for that shit neither - do i just Brita Filter all that water to take out most of the bullshit in there, n then adjust to my liking, or what?!

 

[hangshai]

This is what has worked for me.. I have even taken clippings and put them in the fridge for up to 6 WEEKS (!!!!) and they have grown roots. You should see them today ..


1. Get your supplies ready:

1 black tray
1 clear hood
1 package of Dip n' Grow
1 razor blade
1 med sized bowl with water
1 med sized bowl of weed
1 pack of crow cubes, or however you use your vermiculite, or whatever


Get your stuff and lay it all out on a table in front of you. Take your cuttings whenever, if you take them during flower, it just takes the longer to switch back to veg, but it WILL happen, just keep them under 24 hour light...

Put all your cuttings in a pile, then go through them one by one. Grab one, make sure it is about 5-6 long, from tip to tip, with only the 1 node on top with 2 fan leaves coming off, anything else gets trimmed off. Make a cut on the bottom tip at an angle, as close to 45 degrees you can get, then, put THAT part of the cutting under the water in the bowl, and use the razor blade to make 4 little downward cuts on the bottom of what will be your stem. the cuts shouldnt be too deep, just barely slice it 4 times, kind of on each side if it had 4 sides instead of being round. Do this instead of scraping. You do it under water so NO air gets in the cuts, just water, this is to facilitate water going up the new stem of your cutting. Then, put in the dip n' grow mix for 5 SECONDS (1 alligator, 2 alligator...), then just poke it into your rock wool, and repeat. Oh, and before you do THAT, make a VERY DILUTED mix of water with nutes, it should say how much you should use for cuttings on your nute bottle, usually a TSP per quart of water, then fill up the black tray a little, and let the rockwool soak in there, but get rid of excess water, you just want the cubes to be sufficiently damp. Save the rest of the mix and put it in a spray bottle to spray down your plants.

What I do after that is put one of those cheap thermometer humidity things in with the cuttings UNDER the dome, so I can monitor temps and humidity. Keep the tabs on top open or closed as needed, so the temp is around 80 and the humidity around 70. If you cant see through the dome, it is too wet in there, and you need to air it out to evaporate some of the water. But remember KEEP them domed. What I do after they are all in the rockwool is keep them under light for 24 hours, then off for 6 hours, then on for 24 again until I am ready to plant. I dont know why I do 6 dark after the first initial 24, but it has always worked, so, I keep doing it. I think I read about it somewhere... Anyway, Ive tried this method a few times and it has always worked.. My latest try is with 42 cuttings and they have taken root after a little over a week (well, Ive seen the roots on one, so far), and I've only had to lose 1 so far cause it wasn't taking. I hope I didnt leave anythign out and this helps. I pretty much just followed the instructions off the FAQ on here, tbh with you...