Clone Bubbleponics -- Stem rot / dapping off -- Help needed

OldMedUser said:

What's the temps like? Stem rot is a fungus and thrives at warmer temps. I lost a 36 clone batch years ago using a heat mat and never again.

I doubt it's due to any light leakage.

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Oh okay. Good to know. Resivor temps range 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's a fungus maybe I should spray a diluted mix of Southern AGs "fungicide" on the underside of the top lid., which we all know is really just concentrated beneficial bacteria. What do you think? Thanks

jjng5 said:

Oh okay. Good to know. Resivor temps range 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's a fungus maybe I should spray a diluted mix of Southern AGs "fungicide" on the underside of the top lid., which we all know is really just concentrated beneficial bacteria. What do you think? Thanks

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I've never used any type of beneficial bacteria for anything so can't really say. Always gone with sterile methods myself.

If your cloner temps are 68-70 then it's about right so your gear could be badly infected and it all needs a good soak in a strong bleach or peroxide solution to get it sterile.

Went ahead and sprayed the inside lid and everything else with beneficials and added another partial dose this morning. That fungus stuff is a bad killer. Had to swap out another 4 cuttings... grr.

What do you think about rapid root / rapid start by General Hydroponics? Worth using or a recipe for more problems?

With regards to the humidity dome, how long would you use this? 24-48 hours? First week? More maybe? I'm concerned that maybe the cuttings aren't getting enough light with the dome on or maybe the humidity being too high for too long slows down rooting?

jjng5 said:

Went ahead and sprayed the inside lid and everything else with beneficials and added another partial dose this morning. That fungus stuff is a bad killer. Had to swap out another 4 cuttings... grr.

What do you think about rapid root / rapid start by General Hydroponics? Worth using or a recipe for more problems?

With regards to the humidity dome, how long would you use this? 24-48 hours? First week? More maybe? I'm concerned that maybe the cuttings aren't getting enough light with the dome on or maybe the humidity being too high for too long slows down rooting?

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I keep the dome on until they are rooted and only spray the inside of the dome and not the cuttings themselves. Got a tall dome with vents on the top but take the dome off a couple times/day for spraying and make sure they get fresh air.

If I'm rooting in promix I split the ends and dip into rooting gel then rooting powder and generally get 100% and with the bubble cloner I just split the end and set them in. I'll add a little bit of my 3-part nutes and a small amount of 29% peroxide. Only 80 - 90% root in there. Same thing with the dome for each.

I don't use any GH/Scotts/Monsanto/Bayer products so don't have an opinion you'd want to hear about their stuff.

Any rooting products will work. Pot doesn't need anything special so I'll buy the $5 bottle of root gel from the garden center rather than the $30 one that's 'special' for pot. Same damn thing anyways.

it looks like those t5's are too close. back them away at least 12" or MORE.

Nizza said:

it looks like those t5's are too close. back them away at least 12" or MORE.

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They're 2-3 feet away? From the clones in the cloner unit?

lmao my bad i didnt see the bucket on the ground
there is no need for the humidity dome , since the cuts are directly in bubbling water you shouldnt even have to add anything. the key is to keep the water temperature 65-70 and make sure its very oxygenated
I would put a CFL or something above that cloner maybe 14-16" away

but trust me, put aside that dome and just give it water changes once a week and monitor the temp and water level. you wont need to add anything to the water i just use tap water cause i know there is a little nutrition in there but the plant will kill off any leaves for now if it needs a little energy to pop a root. I think the issue is the dome is creating too humid of an environment and if you remove it the fresh air will help alot

Will add a small CFL light on top of the dome and not keep it on too much. The key is to change water once a week? That might be what caused this... in thinking the water was sterilized with calcium hypochlorite it was 2+ weeks old. Woops.

athomegrowing said:

I just add a couple of drops of seachem prime to my tap water, it claims to neutralize chlorine and chloramine so I can use the tap without letting it sit out.

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Do you have short list of additives that will kill Hydroguard?? TIA Okie Harold

Mannnnnnnn reading this thread is like watching a slow train wreck. So let me help you. First stop everything you are doing and tear everything apart and bleach the shit out of it. Let it dry for a couple days. Lights are at three foot correct . . . And they need very little light. I bet you are dipping all your clones in the same solution (possibly contaminated) . . . stop it. Put clonex in the water at a rate of 10ml/gallon. Ask yourself this again, have I throughly bleached everything? Reservoir temperature, 78 degrees in an aerocloner, 65-70 for a bubble cloner. What is your ambient air temperature? Wipe down everything, including lights and walls with bleach water. That looks a lot like "stem rot". Thoughts on this one @HydroRed

no dome needed.. just leave the dome off, with lights on 24/7 a fluoro 12" or more away doesnt have to be more than one. then make sure they get sufficient airflow no need for any hormones just a well aerated bubble cloner. I love the bubble cloners with the submersible pump and the venturi. I like to put the air stone under it and the pump shooting the water sideways close to the top of the water so it ripples the top and also I make sure it vortexes the water so it is kind of favoring one side of the bucket.
its simple and roots are there in 1-2 weeks . The key is using a sterile razor when cutting the clones up. Also realize some plant crap may have gotten its way into the water from first cutting them, soo also give it a water swap after the first day or two

@Coloradoclear That sounds about right... grr. About 4-5 days ago the res was dumped and lid cleaned the best as it could be with a tooth brush dipped in bleach solution. Any unhealthy clones called and hydrogen peroxide sprayed real good on the collars and root stems. Sadly that doesn't seem to be enough because almost every day since more clones need pulled and new ones added.

Because it doesn't seem to make sense to start over -- about 15% are showing root nubs and another 10% look very close -- the six different strains were all carefully removed from their collars and put in separate containers of clean water in sterilzed containers and Southern AG added to the containers to soak in a decently strong concentration.

While those soak a bit, all collars are soaking in strong bleach solution and will also be tooth brushed on the all sides (including the insides). It seems like it didn't go far enough because a little of that fungus growth survived along the rings of the collars on the inside of the lid at the last clean out. This time no chances are going to be taken... Every inch is going to be thoroughly cleaned and allowed to soak for a bit too. Before anything goes back, I want to wipe everything dry and allow all moisture to disperse and then put everything back.

As for the cuttings that are being soaked -- any cuttings that looked wilted or possibly bad above or below the collar was carefully inspected and most called as to not take any more chances. Before taking new cuttings the scissors are always sterilized with alcohol and a small amount of clonex put into a shot glass to prevent contamination however I think the contaminate was the lid allowing the fungus to continue to spread to additional collars. Once enough of the fungus takes hold inside the stem it can rot out anywhere from high up on the clone above the collar to beneath the collar. Nasty stuff.

Thanks for everyones continued support!

Damn... that stuff holds on HARD! That grey viney veiny looking shit doesn't let go easily. Big brush, tooth brush, scrub pad... mannn!

Scissors??? Is that to crush the stem? That would be bad. I think most of us use clean razor blades and cut at an angle. If you read the instructions for a Clone King it is about one paragraph. It must be too simple to be believed for most people. I used to clone in Jiffy pellets and rockwool but even those methods are more complication than I want to deal with nowadays. Simple is always better for me.

70's natureboy said:

Scissors??? Is that to crush the stem? That would be bad. I think most of us use clean razor blades and cut at an angle. If you read the instructions for a Clone King it is about one paragraph. It must be too simple to be believed for most people. I used to clone in Jiffy pellets and rockwool but even those methods are more complication than I want to deal with nowadays. Simple is always better for me.

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I crush the stems more with a razor blade than a quality pair of titanium large plant scissors. After the cutting is removed from the mother another cut needs made at a 45 degree angle below a node site. This is where a razor blade just ends up making a crappier cut IMO. In order to make a clean 45 degree cut I end up needing something to cut again. Tried different techniques, a quality pair of super sharp scissors can make as good or better of a cut IMO. And with no need to set the cutting down on something to make the cut less chance for picking up bacteria. Maybe I'm wrong though

you must be using dull razor blades or using them them backwards to crush stems..
step one, get a fresh razor. clean it with soap to get any oils off.
then use rubbing alcohol on it to sterilize it. after that I wipe it off and flash it over a flame for a second.. now i take the clones i cut with scissors and tune them up with my razor. I do a fresh cut at a 45 deg angle below another spot or two which i cut off. these go into a sterile bubbleponic chamber with no dome..
its quite simple whats happening is your dome is causing it too have too humid of an environment and making them dampen off.. you dont need a dome with bubble ponics or aero ponics because the plant is able to get the water it needs through the cuts. domes are for when your using rapid rooters or root riots

Razor blade, glass of water(with clonex) and my DIY aero cloner . . . All I will ever need for cloning.

No. You can learn about the favorable conditions for growth here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28664219

Once you learn how it thrives and survives, you'll know if you'll kill it by adding whatever you add.

Harold Okie said:

Do you have short list of additives that will kill Hydroguard?? TIA Okie Harold[/QUOTE

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Changed out the res again after a couple more casualties in the clone wars... switched back to sterile res -- I've always found that once pathogens are present it's best to go sterile. No amount of good bacteria are going to turn bad organisms good.

jjng5 said:

I crush the stems more with a razor blade than a quality pair of titanium large plant scissors. After the cutting is removed from the mother another cut needs made at a 45 degree angle below a node site. This is where a razor blade just ends up making a crappier cut IMO. In order to make a clean 45 degree cut I end up needing something to cut again. Tried different techniques, a quality pair of super sharp scissors can make as good or better of a cut IMO. And with no need to set the cutting down on something to make the cut less chance for picking up bacteria. Maybe I'm wrong though

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Dude you’re really wrong and we told you already so you’re shooting yoursef in the foot more and more.