Cloning curse

Ok so I've been growing for coming up on 4 years and I've tried to clone every grow. Soil, water, coco, clone dome, aloe, honey, clonex, u name it. I've convinced myself that I do not need to buy an ACTUAL cloner with all the fixins. I've seen people leave a clone in a cup of water and, bam, 2 weeks later, roots!. I do the Same and I get a rotted stem. Am I taking clones that with "too thin" stalks? I follow all the cutting steps and keep it clean, so to have tried all this and have never even come close to JUST ONE successful clone leads me to believe that cloning is a myth. Now I know that sounds silly but from MY experience it's just the hardest thing on earth yet I continue to try and I continue to fail. has anyone else been this unfortunate in cloning? Or is cloning just really not for me? I can grow very well. Cloning is another story. Help me? At the very least share your early cloning failures with me and help me understand what I'm missing here

I cloned for years and could write a book on cloning in Pro Mix or rockwool. (humidity is so important) Nowadays I just pop them in a Clone King and check back in 10 days. Perfect clones every time.

^^^^ this

Grow Harder said:

MY experience it's just the hardest thing on earth yet I continue to try and I continue to fail

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I've had nonsense follow me so I have.

"I do the Same and I get a rotted stem. Am I taking clones that with "too thin" stalks?"

Possibly, but whatever. You're looking too hard. Thinking and doing is two different things. Don't do when you think. Think less, do more.

I grow in an aerocloner, and I've never had problems. That's all I'd like to say.

A dude I knew used to cut the stem at 45 degree at the joint where the leaf is growing out from, with a sterilized scalpel, then place immediately into a small pot of moist soil, tie a small, clear, polythene bag around it (for humidity) and leave in a shaded area and boom within a week roots were coming out the bottom. I tried same method and always came back to a mouldy mush of black green shit....

It does have a huge learning curve for some but you just have to keep trying and it will eventually pop for you...I used to get frustrated as fuck and have killed hundreds of clones …...now I can take a cutting from a plant put it in plastic bag with little water and leave it in the fridge for a couple days and still bring that girl back to life ….you will get it

You may be right about over thinking it. At this point sounds like a aerocloner or something similar is just what I need. I've just jumped into perpetual growing and its growing well but locking in this cloning thing will just really keep this thing rolling smooth and I'll only have to pop new beans if I want to try something new. I'll tell ya, this 4 week perpetual harvest thing is alot of work all the damn time. Thinking about doing 8 week perpetual instead. it's for personal use anyway, I just always run out b4 next harvest because in the past I'd chop and start from scratch instead of having plants vegging to be thrown into flower immediately after. Went on a tangent but I digress, areocloner it is. And humidity is KEY. U guys r good lol. Thanks for the feedback

Don't give up. What do the cuttings look like when you cut them? You could be taking too new of growth. I always take them from towards the bottom of the plant. Not new growth where you can easily smash the stems between your fingers.

spliffendz said:

A dude I knew used to cut the stem at 45 degree at the joint where the leaf is growing out from, with a sterilized scalpel, then place immediately into a small pot of moist soil, tie a small, clear, polythene bag around it (for humidity) and leave in a shaded area and boom within a week roots were coming out the bottom. I tried same method and always came back to a mouldy mush of black green shit....

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Moist is the key. Too wet of soil or coco will cause the stems to rot.

spliffendz said:

A dude I knew used to cut the stem at 45 degree at the joint where the leaf is growing out from, with a sterilized scalpel, then place immediately into a small pot of moist soil, tie a small, clear, polythene bag around it (for humidity) and leave in a shaded area and boom within a week roots were coming out the bottom. I tried same method and always came back to a mouldy mush of black green shit....

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same! . Lol Idk how these guys do it man. Its magic to me

First key is to have very healthy mothers.

I just use a tray of rapid rooters with a dome. I always keep just a little water in the tray, the dome should have condensation.

Cut, dip in rooting gel and stick in the rapid rooter. Wait 14 - 20 days and you have rooted clones.

I tried aero cloners and they didn't work for me. Everyone has to find what works for them. I have been using the rapid rooters since about 2002 and love them. Before that I just cloned in clear solo cups with some soil and soda bottle bottom domes lol.

onegreenthumb said:

It does have a huge learning curve for some but you just have to keep trying and it will eventually pop for you...I used to get frustrated as fuck and have killed hundreds of clones …...now I can take a cutting from a plant put it in plastic bag with little water and leave it in the fridge for a couple days and still bring that girl back to life ….you will get it

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Thanks. Yes, growing in itself has been relatively easy for me from the beginning so I've never been so discouraged with anything growing related and as far as cloning i went it with that same " this wont be that hard" mentality. I was super confident at first. i say that to say thanks for the encouragement. Cloning for me has been a humbling experience thus far. I respect tf outta the process. Like I said, to me it feels like magic. Silly but true. Shits amazing

xtsho said:

Don't give up. What do the cuttings look like when you cut them? You could be taking too new of growth. I always take them from towards the bottom of the plant. Not new growth where you can easily smash the stems between your fingers.




Moist is the key. Too wet of soil or coco will cause the stems to rot.

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So there's a really fine line here between the right amount and too much moisture. that's tricky. But I feel like once u recognize where that sweet spot is u cant go wrong

Renfro said:

First key is to have very healthy mothers.

I just use a tray of rapid rooters with a dome. I always keep just a little water in the tray, the dome should have condensation.

Cut, dip in rooting gel and stick in the rapid rooter. Wait 14 - 20 days and you have rooted clones.

I tried aero cloners and they didn't work for me. Everyone has to find what works for them. I have been using the rapid rooters since about 2002 and love them. Before that I just cloned in clear solo cups with some soil and soda bottle bottom domes lol.

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Very true. I just haven't found what works yet. I'll find it tho. Eventually, especially with u guys dropping all these gems here on RIU! Thanks for taking the time

Grow Harder said:

So there's a really fine line here between the right amount and too much moisture. that's tricky. But I feel like once u recognize where that sweet spot is u cant go wrong

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And I have never had the too much moisture problem, for me it's always been wetter the better. Once rooted I have to harden them by opening the vents on the domes for a day or so before I pop the dome off. Otherwise they get pissed lol.

If you have issues with cuttings wilting there is a product I like called Vitagrow antiwilt. Dip the cuttings in that before you put them in the rapid rooters.

Also, I have never used a sterilized scalpel or anything, just cut with some fiskars microtip scissors, I also use them to gauge length of the cuts so they are all the same.

I like to take the blade of the scissors and scrape one side of the end of the cutting about 1/2" worth before I dip it in the rooting gel.

Technique and environment. Cut at nodes not in the internode space.

Ive made hundreds of clones in sugar cane feilds.
Ive pumped 400 clones a week off grid with a 1500w generator for 9 months straight.
Ive air layered cannabis. For smaller growers this might be a good option.
Soil, oasis cubes, 5 gal buckets of just water from forgetfulness, jiffy pots, rock wool and a 60 site ez cloner. With or without domes.
My worst experience is my 128 site ez cloner. I get less than 50% success rate. My 60 site one is auto matic, 100%. I cant figure it out. I made 4 maps to see if not enough spray getting to cuts. But every run in that cloner has a different pattern to failure. I check and lift many many of the clone collars to ensure spray hitting them.Water pH'd, with clear rez and clonex is all i use in ez cloners. Change the solution weekly. Im ready to sell it or give it away and get 2 60 site ez cloners. Or use my oasis cube bubbler system.

Renfro said:

And I have never had the too much moisture problem, for me it's always been wetter the better. Once rooted I have to harden them by opening the vents on the domes for a day or so before I pop the dome off. Otherwise they get pissed lol.

If you have issues with cuttings wilting there is a product I like called Vitagrow antiwilt. Dip the cuttings in that before you put them in the rapid rooters.

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The VitaGrow Anti Wilt does work. I used it years ago when I was making tons of clones. It's put out by American Agriculture. It's the oldest hydro shop in Portland and I've been going there for years. I can walk there in 10-15 minutes. Years ago before legalization we were paranoid to be seen going into the shop. Not too long ago when I went there a couple people were sitting out front smoking meth. I told the guy inside but he wanted nothing to do with them. Times sure have changed. I use their dry nutrients to this day.

I cut at the node too i leave the node attached to the clone, i dont give a shit about my rh its about 40-50%, first few days I spritz with water and leave them sit in water with a few drops off kelp and tranplant fert for rooting. My last round I left under my flower light about three times as far and they go to budding, It takes 25 days but it worked. Temp is important.

xtsho said:

The VitaGrow Anti Wilt does work.

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Yeah that stuff is gold. I always keep it on the shelf with the extremely low ambient RH% we have here. You can use it to help prevent shock when you take rooted clones out of a dome and put them in a room with air circulation and a much lower RH% than the dome had. You have to spray the undersides of the leaves, I do it as I am potting them, just dipping them usually so the spray isn't going everywhere lol.

I wonder what it really is, just some cornstarch or something to block the stomata?