Cuttings problem - need help please

hi all
I have taken cuttings years ago and had no problems. This time I am have a ami Hayes mother plant and the cutting I have taken don’t seem to take. I am splitting them at the base at 45 degrees, dipping in clonex and planting them in a jiffy cube. They are in an seedling tray with a lid, with a 110w light above them as you can see in the pic and I am spraying them with a fine mist two to three times a day . As you can see by the other pic the stem is just withering away. Any ideas folks?

jayme001 said:

hi all
I have taken cuttings years ago and had no problems. This time I am have a ami Hayes mother plant and the cutting I have taken don’t seem to take. I am splitting them at the base at 45 degrees, dipping in clonex and planting them in a jiffy cube. They are in an seedling tray with a lid, with a 110w light above them as you can see in the pic and I am spraying them with a fine mist two to three times a day . As you can see by the other pic the stem is just withering away. Any ideas folks?

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I would stop spraying them. A humidity dome is all the moisture cuttings need.
Also i used to split the bottom stem also as I've seen in grow books. I stopped doing that as a light scrape with a blade is all thats needed(if even that).
Hope all works out.

yeah, spray the dome, not the plants, that will keep the humidity up without soaking the plants

Some of those cuttings look a bit woody, you might need pHed rockwool for those.

All they need is a dim light and a place that doesn't dry out. I make a deep tub by putting two clear totes together face to face. Fill the bottom with moist coco and my clones go on top of that. only use dim light, too much, in the beginning, drives photosynthesis and this sets of a chain your plant is not ready to deal with.

My last batch of clones was the best yet, I just filled small nursery bags with extra punched holes with some coco coir mix, pressed the clones in, dipped in in water so it all sucks together around the cutting when you lift it out. Then I just put it on the coco bed where it could drain out into the bottom coco to keep humidity up. Don't touch the bags for two weeks. Then they should be filled with lots of roots. I like using the same medium for rooting as the plants will be kept in. As it modifies the roots to suit the environment.

Too wet.

Use coco squeezed out till just more than damp. I don't use a dome. Spray once or twice a day if necessary. If you use a dome have the vents opened.

jayme001 said:

hi all
I have taken cuttings years ago and had no problems. This time I am have a ami Hayes mother plant and the cutting I have taken don’t seem to take. I am splitting them at the base at 45 degrees, dipping in clonex and planting them in a jiffy cube. They are in an seedling tray with a lid, with a 110w light above them as you can see in the pic and I am spraying them with a fine mist two to three times a day . As you can see by the other pic the stem is just withering away. Any ideas folks?

Click to expand...

Two steps you didn't mention (others have but I'll put them in one place).

1) How much moisture is in the rooting cube. The cube itself and how much, if any, standing water in the tray.

2) Method for exposing cambium layer. Most will scrape a bit of skin, usually right under a node. I just peel the node back by pinching the petiole and new branch stem together and pulling them back. How ever you do this it's a pretty critical step.

I used to have a hard time cloning because I thought I needed a dome, gels and hormones. I'd always get root rot. So I quit using gels, hormones and domes.

I simply cut the cutting off the plant, instantly dip it in water and then transplant into a rockwool cube that is ph to 7.0. I keep clone in the shade of my 4ft t5 and I haven't lost a cutting in a while and they bust roots in 7-10 days.

The gels and hormones are a waste of money and domes are not needed for me.

ANC said:

Some of those cuttings look a bit woody, you might need pHed rockwool for those.

All they need is a dim light and a place that doesn't dry out. I make a deep tub by putting two clear totes together face to face. Fill the bottom with moist coco and my clones go on top of that. only use dim light, too much, in the beginning, drives photosynthesis and this sets of a chain your plant is not ready to deal with.

My last batch of clones was the best yet, I just filled small nursery bags with extra punched holes with some coco coir mix, pressed the clones in, dipped in in water so it all sucks together around the cutting when you lift it out. Then I just put it on the coco bed where it could drain out into the bottom coco to keep humidity up. Don't touch the bags for two weeks. Then they should be filled with lots of roots. I like using the same medium for rooting as the plants will be kept in. As it modifies the roots to suit the environment.

Click to expand...

That’s exactly what I do but use perilite in the bottom but I do use the rootriot cubes and I get roots starting to poke at 6-7 days.

thenotsoesoteric said:

I used to have a hard time cloning because I thought I needed a dome, gels and hormones. I'd always get root rot. So I quit using gels, hormones and domes.

I simply cut the cutting off the plant, instantly dip it in water and then transplant into a rockwool cube that is ph to 7.0. I keep clone in the shade of my 4ft t5 and I haven't lost a cutting in a while and they bust roots in 7-10 days.

The gels and hormones are a waste of money and domes are not needed for me.

Click to expand...

I use gels, heat pads, and humidity domes and most strains strike their first roots between day 3-5 and are almost 100% potted up by day 7.

I heard sativas are finicky to clone and like the guys are saying the wetness is a problem cause the sativas are used to dryer environments. An indica those would probably be rooted. I scrape and score the bottom twice so roots grow out the sides.

They look dampened off. They nailed it above. Your media is to wet. It is worth noting that cuttings will root with just water but only at the node pionts. With rooting gels/ powders roots will form on the stem also.

I cheat and use 2L pop bottles. Cut them in half and singe the edge of the bottom so it curls in a bit and the top will fit right on. Makes a good little humidity dome. I have made 6 inch plus clones with them. Makes the veg time speed up a bit.

Thanks all for the wise words. Have taken a few more and will see how they get on

Dynamo626 said:

They look dampened off. They nailed it above. Your media is to wet. It is worth noting that cuttings will root with just water but only at the node pionts. With rooting gels/ powders roots will form on the stem also.

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I get roots out the sides on water sitters.....Just saying.

As someone said - low light...I just do indirect..

Here's something no one has ever brought up in this site.... Might as well give out a tip...

If you have a strain that has been a breeze to clone. Now it's hard as fuck.....You do everything the same....No matter what you try, they just don't "want to" throw roots?
It may have a systemic fungal/mold infection...Easy to cure and then clone from again. Right back to it's previous vigor..

Treat a plant you will be using for a mother with Eagle 20....Yes, you heard me right.....Eagle 20.
You will NOT grow out and use the treated plant. It's a mother. Take clones from it and when she's done...pitch her....Eagle 20 is a normal - No NO.. But in this case it's "curing" the systemic infection. The clones you take from this plant should now act like the clones from original the strain, when you got it...

This is not as rare as many think...The solution above, for those that actually have this problem, , , works!

Dr. Who said:

I get roots out the sides on water sitters.....Just saying.

As someone said - low light...I just do indirect..

Here's something no one has ever brought up in this site.... Might as well give out a tip...

If you have a strain that has been a breeze to clone. Now it's hard as fuck.....You do everything the same....No matter what you try, they just don't "want to" throw roots?
It may have a systemic fungal/mold infection...Easy to cure and then clone from again. Right back to it's previous vigor..

Treat a plant you will be using for a mother with Eagle 20....Yes, you heard me right.....Eagle 20.
You will NOT grow out and use the treated plant. It's a mother. Take clones from it and when she's done...pitch her....Eagle 20 is a normal - No NO.. But in this case it's "curing" the systemic infection. The clones you take from this plant should now act like the clones from original the strain, when you got it...

This is not as rare as many think...The solution above, for those that actually have this problem, , , works!

Click to expand...

I know that a standard practice in commercial nurseries is to take only cuttings from the top of fast growing donor plants. The idea is that if that plant is growing fast enough the infection won't have a chance to colonize the new growth. It could also work the same for getting cuttings off of a treated plant to reduce the amount of the Eagle 20 in the donor tissue.

That's also assuming that Eagle 20 is a systemic. I'm not sure about that part. It would make sense that it would be for treating a systemic infection but if it's not then the cuttings of new growth would be clear of infection and the Eagle 20. The main method for clearing the plant if the treatment used is to grow out the new cutting to exponentially decrease the amount of the substance in the plant. Done a couple of times you can pretty much guarantee that the plant is free of it.

It's a lot of words but the short version is that using something like Eagle 20 is totally safe as you suggested as long as it's done right and it's really pretty simple (I know we've butted heads before so I just wanted to clearly state that this was all meant to support and exoeand on what you're saying).

I take a cut with at least 3-4 remaining nodes on it, use a sterile razor blade and cutting board, cut the stem at a 45 degree angle for the most rooting surface area, and then I scrape the skin off of the bottom half inch of the cut. I place it into "life" rooting gel, and then into my cloning vessel (aeroponic sprayer).

For your sake, Lets say I use cubes and a humidity dome. (Because My aeroponic rooter has no humidity dome, I give my ladies 2-3 foiler sprays a day with a mild rooting hormone.. as that is how they are getting food in that stage)

Make sure the cubes are not too moist, you want them wet but not soaking wet.
I would mix up a mellow, MELLOW spray bottle of supplemental rooting hormones, p.h. that to about 6.1 and give the plants a light spray once a day for the first 4-6 days. Spray the dome 2 or 3 times a day (as needed)
Keep temps in the 70 F area and remember they barely need ANY light.

I place my clone domes close to the floor, between my veg lights roughly... 3-4 feet from the actual bulbs and not directly underneath them.

After 5-6 days you should see your first signs of roots, I personally give em about 10 days so I have developed a nice chunky starting root mass.

I have 99% rooted within 7 days, ALWAYS!

There are a million different ways to clone, just find what works for you and GO FOR IT!

Remember, its just a weed!