The Musings of Serapis

[incognegro999]

Serapis I went ahead an grabbed some of those rapid rooters. Do you know a good/reliable way to use em? package says to soak em in water or nutrient and leave a quarter inch in tray for plug to soak up. Any idea how long to soak em for? Also Im going to grab a waterfarm this week and I was wondering if you could reccomend a cheap reliable hydro nute lineup. Hopefully something pretty stable I dont have a ppm/tds meter hoping to get by at least for a while on just the ph test drops. what do you think? thanks

 

[choempi]

I tried to start seeds in stg cubes, and never had success, the material is just too dense for the tap to penetrate well and they seemed to just run out of energy trying. I blew like 40 seeds on those things. Switched to rockwool and no probs since. I did grow well rooted seedlings in the stg material though.

 

[TheLastWood]

Serapis I went ahead an grabbed some of those rapid rooters. Do you know a good/reliable way to use em? package says to soak em in water or nutrient and leave a quarter inch in tray for plug to soak up. Any idea how long to soak em for? Also Im going to grab a waterfarm this week and I was wondering if you could reccomend a cheap reliable hydro nute lineup. Hopefully something pretty stable I dont have a ppm/tds meter hoping to get by at least for a while on just the ph test drops. what do you think? thanks

If u look 2 pgs back I explained my method for using and storing rapid rooters. I don't presoak them.

And I recommend botanicare for a cheap stable hydro fert. I use the "organic" line which is Pure Blend Pro Gro+ PBP Bloom. I also use botanicares cal mag, and liquid karma and hydroplex for a bloom booster. I also use there "Zho mychorhize", its great and only 7$ a pack

 

[incognegro999]

haha dont know how I missed that thanks wood. and for the botanicare line do you how should I start plants out at 1/2 label strength or 1/4. I'm thinking I'll have to bump it up slowly having no idea what ppm im at. Thanks +rep

 

[TheLastWood]

I start at like 2.5 ml a gal of each (pbp grow, cal mag, liquid karma) and build up gradually. But even at full strength I don't use nearly as much as they recomend. And actually the first time I feed I use just liquid karma and myco's to get the bene's started up.

Edit: sometimes I start even more gradually, I'm pretty scared of burning. I also feed water water feed.

 

[incognegro999]

ok this is prolly going to be as ugly as my first soil grow haha. what I was planning on doing and sorry serapis for so many posts off topic, was mix nutes and just add back water to the rez and change rez say once a week. Is that not a smart way to go about it.

 

[Serapis]

I guess you'll have to ask the most successful cloning product's owner.... That's awesome you are at 100%, you should be slapping yourself on the back in the privacy of your home and not in my thread boasting to a person that just spent $222 in frustration from previous attempts, because I do view it as coming off like a jerk...

I made my point perfectly clear and explained my justification for making my purchase. I apologize if it bothers you. The only thing you are missing here is tact....

I just don't get it.

Maybe I'm stupid, or just missing a point or something?

Just finished 4 clones each of 3 strains (12 total). Went the olde fashioned dirt way and all made it and all had good rootings in 15 days.

Just can't figure why get elaborate ($$$) on something like this?
View attachment 1526903 day 18 and 2 were repotted for root room. (ha! just noticed some roots even show in the pic.)

What am I missing on all this high tech cloning stuff????

Not trying to be a jerk,, honestly wondering why. Gotta be something I'm missing.

 

[Serapis]

Serapis I went ahead an grabbed some of those rapid rooters. Do you know a good/reliable way to use em? package says to soak em in water or nutrient and leave a quarter inch in tray for plug to soak up. Any idea how long to soak em for? Also Im going to grab a waterfarm this week and I was wondering if you could reccomend a cheap reliable hydro nute lineup. Hopefully something pretty stable I dont have a ppm/tds meter hoping to get by at least for a while on just the ph test drops. what do you think? thanks

Just follow directions on the package or go with what wood told ya. You will not be successful going hydro without having a ppm meter. Unlike soil where you may get away with it, you have to know the ppm level before you add more nutrients, otherwise you are guessing and the plant will loose. Soil acts like a buffer and corrects many of our feeding mistakes. With hydro, one mistake and your plant can be dead within hours, not the days it may take a mistake to kill a plant in soil.

If u look 2 pgs back I explained my method for using and storing rapid rooters. I don't presoak them.

And I recommend botanicare for a cheap stable hydro fert. I use the "organic" line which is Pure Blend Pro Gro+ PBP Bloom. I also use botanicares cal mag, and liquid karma and hydroplex for a bloom booster. I also use there "Zho mychorhize", its great and only 7$ a pack

Oh well, I was going to make it real easy on her and tell her to buy one bottle....

GH Flora Nova Bloom My last grow was nothing but and I had beautiful foliage through the entire grow. I ran into a slight Mg problem, but that was because I relaxed on PH monitoring because things were looking so good. Scottyballz also uses the one mix and he gets great results. That bottle will last many Waterfarm grows and it supplies everything the plant needs. Once a grower has experience maintaining or adjusting ppms, I recommend using a grow fert in veg and the bloom for flowering for more advanced hydro growers.

ok this is prolly going to be as ugly as my first soil grow haha. what I was planning on doing and sorry serapis for so many posts off topic, was mix nutes and just add back water to the rez and change rez say once a week. Is that not a smart way to go about it.

Nothing here is off topic except questioning why I bought a cloner.. it was a personal choice and I made the point clear why I went that route. My hat is off to anyone that can clone successfully, cheaply, just don't rub my fucking nose in it.

 

[Canon]

I guess you'll have to ask the most successful cloning product's owner.... That's awesome you are at 100%, you should be slapping yourself on the back in the privacy of your home and not in my thread boasting to a person that just spent $222 in frustration from previous attempts, because I do view it as coming off like a jerk...

I made my point perfectly clear and explained my justification for making my purchase. I apologize if it bothers you. The only thing you are missing here is tact....

Oh shit man. Wasn't trying to be rude or anything of the sort. Honest!
If it came off that way,, I apologize.
Was NOT attempted "boasting" at all.
Have a sincere question that I wanted to ask you. Figured there was a better reason to go that way that I simply didn't grab.
But never mind. I'll unsubscibe and leave you alone.
Last time I posed a question I got basicly the same results here.
Maybe my communications skills suck,, but the question was in a genuine interest of learning & understanding. Thought that was part of what this was. Guess not. Sorry I even bothered with you.
Good-bye.

 

[Serapis]

If I over reacted, I apologize, but I read your post 4 times, and even saw where you had edited it and i was looking for a sincere question and I didn't see it... All I saw was what looked like boasting. Did anyone else see any of that in his post or am I just being soft skinned?

As for your comment about this being a second abrupt response from me in this thread, please point out the first one to me, as I don't recall it. I wanted this thread to be a place where we could help each other out and try some new things, not question why someone else spent money on something you deem a waste of money.

Oh shit man. Wasn't trying to be rude or anything of the sort. Honest!
If it came off that way,, I apologize.
Was NOT attempted "boasting" at all.
Have a sincere question that I wanted to ask you. Figured there was a better reason to go that way that I simply didn't grab.
But never mind. I'll unsubscibe and leave you alone.
Last time I posed a question I got basicly the same results here.
Maybe my communications skills suck,, but the question was in a genuine interest of learning & understanding. Thought that was part of what this was. Guess not. Sorry I even bothered with you.
Good-bye.

 

[Serapis]

Canon, I explained in detail in this very thread why I was purchasing a EZC. I was frustrated with all other cloning techniques and my failure rate. That was it. End of reasoning. I don't know what post it was, but if you were subscribed and following the thread, you got an email of my rant regarding my dripping and leaky DIY cloner. they are considered better because of the speed and success rate. Horticultural departments in universities use them. Greenhouses use them. You know your post was looking funny, because you went in and edited it after making the post.

As far as this being an inhospitable circle, if you think that, then just please quit posting here and leave now. I'm not here to argue with you and I'm not gong to put up with a flame war or a pissing contest. You are welcome to stay and follow along and post if you want, but quit taking shots at me.... I even apologized and you still want to come back with your smart sassed 'inhospitable' remark... If this line of posting continues, you'll find me very inhospitable.

Frankly,, I re-read it a few myself to see how it was interpreted other than intended. I don't see it,,, unless there was something personal that I'd not even thought about.

Whatever.. Don't really matter.

Still have the same question,, But I'll find my answer in more hospitable circles.
There must be a reason these are considered better. Either growth, health, conveinance or something.

 

[Serapis]

The vanilla Kush plant now has 9 even nodes. The FIM (feel free to ask if you don't know, I'll be happy to discuss it here) job from the other day is showing results. All the nodes below the FIM are now branching. I'm debating how I want to raise this plant. They are supposed to be good for ScrOG grows, so I may end up doing that. I want to get some cuttings from her first, but that is 2-3 weeks away. I bumped her up to 425 ppm. Nice looking plant with beautiful colors in the stems and stalk. I'm going to like this pheno..

The pineapple express plant was hungry, very hungry. Her ppm were down to 575, from 1000 ppm. I bumped her up to 1200 ppm and adjusted the PH from 5.1 to 6.0 because it appears the newest growth is lacking iron. The tips are fluorescent green/yellow and the leaf end were slightly twisted, a sure sign of a too low PH in the reservoir. The last time I topped it off was fresh water only, so the buffers were light. One of the easiest ways to start to diagnose plant problems is to observe where the damage or problem is.

If the problem appears at the top of a plant, that indicates a micro-nutrient problem, such as Boron, Iron, Copper, Zinc, etc....Those nutrients aren't as readily available to the plant from the older growth like macro-nutrients such as Nitrogen or Phosphorous are. Most commercial fertilizers made for hydroponic applications include the trace minerals and micro-nutrients; however if the PH is too high or too low, those nutrients are easily locked out and the plant can't access them. Take a look at the picture below....

​

Notice the fluorescent tips on the new growth, but not the older growth below. I can rule out N, P, K as suspects because of this fact alone. The leaf below is healthy and lush. Macro-nutrient problems tend to start at the older growth, down below, and work it's way up the plant if not corrected. Micro-nutrient problems are just the opposite. You'll notice in both pictures that the new growth appears slightly distorted and twisted. This can be caused by a lack of trace minerals needed for healthy generation of new tissue. At first I suspected Iron(Fe), but after looking at my PH and my chart that I've included at teh bottom of this post, a PH of 5.1 won't lock out Iron, however the amount would be reduced. What is locked out is Boron and Manganese, two very important nutrients for new growth. By adjusting my PH in the reservoir back up to 5.8, the plant can access what it needs to correct the deficiency.

​

Overall, the plant is about 16" tall now, with many branches. I took 15 cuttings Monday night and today, I could easily take 15 more. I removed a lot of leaf tonight and the light is getting through much better now. I want the skinny branches to thicken up a bit before I take them next week sometime. After taking more cuttings, I'll veg for about another week and throw over to 12/12...

Have a good night everyone.

View attachment 1527892

 

[Serapis]

I can't speak for anyone else, but my reason was for the success rate. All my previous attempts to clone have only produced two plants and a lot of frustration. I've hears wonderful things about the 100% mostly success rate and that sold me. that was my reasoning at the time I ordered it and announced the purchase in the thread. 5 days would be sweet, but I'm not seeing it here.. I'm on day 4 and I have bumps, but no roots. I think they say it starts rooting in 5 and the are ready to transplant in 10-14 days... My lower leaves are starting to slightly yellow at the tips, so the cuttings are beginning to look for food. I'm hoping to see roots and be able to report that in 2 more days, say by Monday.

Time is the biggest benefit,( not sure yet but this is what i hear)you said it took 12 days this is supposed to be in about 5

 

[hellraizer30]

Ive used th EZC clone and the only way I way able to get the speed of rooting was to
keep the PH at 5.5 and the water temp on the edge of to high 72 to 75F.
as for rooting salution I used to use all that exspensive shit but a buddy showed me
a crazy cheap way to do it and it works great!

GH maxi grow mixed to 200ppm and 1tsp of clonex the powder type and three drops superthrive
and ph 5.5 water temp 72to75F and Ive seen roots in 3 to five days plantable by 9 to 10 days.

 

[Serapis]

It's been 5 days now, cuttings look fresh and fantastic, however I see no root growth at all. I had to trash a clone, it looked like it was having problems near the cut stem, was turning brown and looking slimy. Not a good sign. My ph is at 5.4 and temp is 76. Per manufacturer directions, no nutes, just super thrive and clear rez... If I have problems even with an EZC, I may just give up when I run out of seeds... failing at cloning now will be a final fail...

Ive used th EZC clone and the only way I way able to get the speed of rooting was to
keep the PH at 5.5 and the water temp on the edge of to high 72 to 75F.
as for rooting salution I used to use all that exspensive shit but a buddy showed me
a crazy cheap way to do it and it works great!

GH maxi grow mixed to 200ppm and 1tsp of clonex the powder type and three drops superthrive
and ph 5.5 water temp 72to75F and Ive seen roots in 3 to five days plantable by 9 to 10 days.

 

[Serapis]

​

I turned off the lamp last night and the plants got their first night off from photosynthesizing since sprouting. This morning, I removed the MH 600 watter and replaced it with a 600 w HPS lamp. I also took the opportunity to clean the glass on the hood real well. Some fine dust particles had settled on the inside of the glass from the cooling fan. I don't have a mesh or filter for the fan ducting intake. The light is much brighter. I have to wonder how many lumen were lost as the light passed through the fine dust?

Note to self: Buy some pantyhose to filter the intake...

​

Today is the day I open up the STG cubes to find out why 10 seeds did not sprout. Thankfully, they are outdoor seeds and regulars, so they were only about $2.15 a seed, as opposed to much more for female seeds. The five Mango that i started in Solo party cups have not sprouted yet. I may take the cups outside today and allow the sun to warm the soil... If germination hasn't occurred yet, it will today with help from the sun.

​

I'm concerned about the EZC. I've heard so many good things, and visible roots in 5 days, yada yada yada.... Today is day 5 and nothing, however clones look great. Some of the stem bottoms near the cut have turned brownish in color. I have to wonder if bacteria is to blame. I sterilized my micro Fiskar trim shears in alcohol. The cuttings went from my hand, straight into a jar of hormone and then into the cloner. I'm not sure where infection would have come from. My one concern is, the instructions specify not to use distilled water, as it may prevent rooting and promote bacteria. It said RO water was fine, or tap. I used RO and am beginning to wonder if I should do a change out today? Even with a recent second dose of Clear REZ, the water is very cloudy and far from clear. What would others do in this spot?

This style of posting will probably become my standard for posting my musings in this thread. I think it breaks up my thoughts and concerns, especially if I am posting several topics. Like? dislike? feedback is great.

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great day.. get outside if your weather is nice and breathe some fresh air.

 

[TheLastWood]

Serapis, don't worry about 5 days no roots, especially running clear water. Getting results in 5 days is with a rooting hormone. I was so excited to get my cloner, thinking hmmm, dust cut and stick and done 100% success. That's what they say right? About 3 weeks, 25 cuttings, 1/3 of a 30 bottle of power cloner, a slimy ass res, and 2 MISERABLY ROOTED clones later, I bought more rapid rooters and a dome for my tray.

But hey at least ur cloner is black. Why is all the wight plastic stuff more expensive? Do u even see white bumps on the stem?

 

[Serapis]

many of the stems have real tiny bumps forming, but they aren't white. They are a reddish brown color. The water looks soapy, I'm assuming from the Clear Rez that came with the unit. There are bubbles on top of the water, slight sudsing. You can see through the water and see the label on the pump, but it's a bit murky, like looking though a sink of dish water. I just added 1/2 ST and 8ml of GH Grow, as a couple cuttings are just beginning to exhibit signs of yellowing. Other than that, they look great.

 

[Beansly]

Oh shit man. Wasn't trying to be rude or anything of the sort. Honest!
If it came off that way,, I apologize.
Was NOT attempted "boasting" at all.
Have a sincere question that I wanted to ask you. Figured there was a better reason to go that way that I simply didn't grab.
But never mind. I'll unsubscibe and leave you alone.
Last time I posed a question I got basicly the same results here.
Maybe my communications skills suck,, but the question was in a genuine interest of learning & understanding. Thought that was part of what this was. Guess not. Sorry I even bothered with you.
Good-bye.

Ive read some of your other posts and I recognize your style. I don't believe that you didn't mean rub it in the face of people having troubles cloning. Despite your attitude, your a smart guy. I think you knew exactly what you were saying.
Now that you mention it though, soil has alway been my favorite grow medium yet for some reason it would be my last choice for cloning, idk why.

All I Know for sure is that Incognegro's avatar has got me VERY distracted ATM!

On the computer you must resist the constant urge masturbate. FIGHT IT!
Remember God id watching you...
lol

It's been 5 days now, cuttings look fresh and fantastic, however I see no root growth at all. I had to trash a clone, it looked like it was having problems near the cut stem, was turning brown and looking slimy. Not a good sign. My ph is at 5.4 and temp is 76. Per manufacturer directions, no nutes, just super thrive and clear rez... If I have problems even with an EZC, I may just give up when I run out of seeds... failing at cloning now will be a final fail...

Ah don't leave now ser, I was just starting to like you, haha. Just fucking with you. I do hope you have luck with that EZC, but I think your gonna have some buyer's remorse one you try those rapid rooters. They're working wonders now that I made the tweaks to my approach. Amoungst other things, I tore off a corner of the RR and put it in the hole where the stem goes to better hold it in place. Day 2- keep your fingers crossed for me. I'll do the same for you!

 

[shnkrmn]

I use a 25-site white Botanicare cloner. It's two years old, on its second pump. I have banged out a lot of clones with it, but results are not always identical and I wish they were. I always get close to 100% success, but time to roots is highly variable. I wish I could say exactly why, but there are so many variables. My last batch took over 4 weeks to have decent roots, but that could be due to cold temps in my space, too much N in my mothers, tap water vs RO, w Clone stimulator, without. . . . It's a mystery. I'm rooting for the EZ cloner, I might buy one soon, but your res shouldn't be cloudy at all, especially after only 5 days. I'd ditch whatever that additive that is you got and go with tap water.