Humitdity dome and clones ?'s

So its my first grow and i've tried 3 rounds of unsuccessful clones. im hoping someone can tell me why. So my first round i didnt let the rockwool cubes soak long enough so the PH was fucked...the second time i let them soak for 2 days in 5.5 PH water and they were going good but i let the cubes dry out.. and this time i let them go under the dome for 1 week and the day afterr i took the dome off and put in soil they were all withered and crunchy. wtf how long do i have to keep the dome on for and what am i doing wrong? i use powder rooting shit this was 2 hours after i took the dome off and i look this morning and there dead..HOWW?!

Is the rooting powder you are using designed for semi-hardwood?

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Light-Organic-Rooting-Hormone/dp/B001ACNWVQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1336571646&sr=1-1

thats what i got idk im at work now i cant check it. shud i try just using soil? i built a bubble cloner but i think i need a stronger pump.

im in flower now so ill have to wait til next time around to try again..i got some mater kush seeds going cause i cudnt get these clones to grow and i need something..i put those in rockwool and they havent popped yet..im not liking this rockwool shit

first, rockwool should be soaked for 1/2 an hour, it needs oxygen also and over wetting will keep oxygen out.
second, after taking your cuttings, mist the inside of the dome, do this everytime it dries out.
third, don't water the rockwool everyday, just put a little water in the bottom of the tray when you start.
next, the temperature where you put the tray needs to be around room temp,70 degrees. they don't need to be directly under a light, just off to the side is fine.
and finally, don't transplant to soil until there is roots popping out of the rockwool, about 2 weeks. and when you transplant, use something like pro-mix or light warrior(something not to hot) to get them used to soil.
and my final piece of advise, screw all those trays and get or make an ez-cloner, you'll thank me for that.

ya i did make a cloner but i my pump might be too weak..its only 1.5 gal i just feel theres not enough bubbles. i got mislead on here some1 told me soak for a day..i do mist it..only once a day tho it was 70% in the dome. i prob do need a heating mat. so those CFLs are too strong? i dont understand tht. and the soil cudda been the prob it was recylced..i flushed the shit outta it tho. Thanks


Soo its not the dome thing? a week in the dome shud be good enough right?

Don't give up on the rockwool. I have written many posts about cloning. Feel free to browse these posts and the threads they are written into.

your problems are nothing to do with ph
do not do anything to the rockwool other than making it fully wet
follow these instructions and your cuttings will root without fail

i am giving you help on how to look after the cuttings once they have been taken, i am assuming that you have taken the cuttings correctly
and that you have used some kind of rooting hormone , and that your problems are not with taking the cuttings themselves but making them root once taken

1 make sure your propagator/humidity dome is working correctly ( put a small amount of water in it , place the lid on, put it somewhere warm and wait and see if condensation builds up

2 knowing that your propagator/ humidity dome is now working and producing high humidity by the presence of plenty of condensation inside the dome place the cuttings inside
allow a small amount of water to remain inside the dome ( keep it shallow, no more than 0.5 cm deep but allow it to cover the whole bottom of the dome this remaining water will cause the high humidity .. do not worry about the water being still, it cant become stagnant in the short amount of time that it will remain in the dome (1 week) is fine

3 spray the cuttings with water only, do not spray them anymore than 2 times per week or every 3 days, they do not need spraying, keeping them wet delays rooting
there is enough water at the bottom of the dome to cause high humidity, it is the humidity that stops them from wilting
resist the urge to spray them too often

4 keep the vents of the dome closed for the first 3 days .. you do not need to do anything else at this early stage, just leave them in the dome vents closed

5 after day 3 you can start to open the vents for a few hours each day, do this every day until they root , after the first week in the dome, you can replace the small amount of water at the bottom of the dome with fresh water, .. keep repeating the same process until they root, if you take the lid off for long periods to inspect them give them a little spray before you put the lid back on,
but keep this fussing over them to a minimum , constantly opening the dome to inspect them lowers the humidity,
keep the propagator in a warm place under low lighting 50 watts of florescent light is enough for a small dome

6 you do not need to give the cuttings any food or additives during the rooting process, if you are having issues i would say cut out anything unnecessary as it can do more halm than good, do not use heat mats or a heated dome, these can also fail and cause more harm than good
keep it simple , cuttings will root 100% in 10-14 days

7 when you take rooted cuttings out of a high humidity environment (propagator) and put them in a dry low humidity environment
a very low number of the rooted cuttings could wilt very quickly, this will happen within 30 mins to 1 hour of taking them out
so always keep a close eye on the cuttings during this time
give any that wilt a little spray of water and place those that wilt back into the dome you will need to acclimatize these more sensitive cuttings by giving them access to dryer conditions more slowly over the next day or two, they will quickly grow accustomed to the new conditions, they just need to get used to using their roots lol

peace

bird mcbride said:

Don't give up on the rockwool. I have written many posts about cloning. Feel free to browse these posts and the threads they are written into.

Click to expand...

i think i might of read one..trust me man i do my research lol thanks

skunkd0c said:

your problems are nothing to do with ph
do not do anything to the rockwool other than making it fully wet
follow these instructions and your cuttings will root without fail

i am giving you help on how to look after the cuttings once they have been taken, i am assuming that you have taken the cuttings correctly
and that you have used some kind of rooting hormone , and that your problems are not with taking the cuttings themselves but making them root once taken

1 make sure your propagator/humidity dome is working correctly ( put a small amount of water in it , place the lid on, put it somewhere warm and wait and see if condensation builds up

2 knowing that your propagator/ humidity dome is now working and producing high humidity by the presence of plenty of condensation inside the dome place the cuttings inside
allow a small amount of water to remain inside the dome ( keep it shallow, no more than 0.5 cm deep but allow it to cover the whole bottom of the dome this remaining water will cause the high humidity .. do not worry about the water being still, it cant become stagnant in the short amount of time that it will remain in the dome (1 week) is fine

3 spray the cuttings with water only, do not spray them anymore than 2 times per week or every 3 days, they do not need spraying, keeping them wet delays rooting
there is enough water at the bottom of the dome to cause high humidity, it is the humidity that stops them from wilting
resist the urge to spray them too often

4 keep the vents of the dome closed for the first 3 days .. you do not need to do anything else at this early stage, just leave them in the dome vents closed

5 after day 3 you can start to open the vents for a few hours each day, do this every day until they root , after the first week in the dome, you can replace the small amount of water at the bottom of the dome with fresh water, .. keep repeating the same process until they root, if you take the lid off for long periods to inspect them give them a little spray before you put the lid back on,
but keep this fussing over them to a minimum , constantly opening the dome to inspect them lowers the humidity,
keep the propagator in a warm place under low lighting 50 watts of florescent light is enough for a small dome

6 you do not need to give the cuttings any food or additives during the rooting process, if you are having issues i would say cut out anything unnecessary as it can do more halm than good, do not use heat mats or a heated dome, these can also fail and cause more harm than good
keep it simple , cuttings will root 100% in 10-14 days

peace

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appreciate that dude, helps alot..the misting thing specially. and im impatient so i did check them like every 6 hours by lifting the dome lol..ill have to let them be next time..tooo bad there in flower now ill just have to wait til next time to try..thanks again man

its very simple m8, less is more so to speak ,, you do not need to do anything fancy for them to root, it is the humidity that does it all for you
be patient, i do not even look at mine, i forget about them for the first 3 days,
after the 3 days with slots closed i open the slots every day for about 5 hours
then i close the slots, i leave them for about a week, then i change the water and give them a spray
i do the same thing until about day 12 when i check them for roots, by that time 90% of them have rooted, it really is that simple m8
during this whole time i look at time twice lol

peace

Dutchmast3r said:

ya i did make a cloner but i my pump might be too weak..its only 1.5 gal i just feel theres not enough bubbles. i got mislead on here some1 told me soak for a day..i do mist it..only once a day tho it was 70% in the dome. i prob do need a heating mat. so those CFLs are too strong? i dont understand tht. and the soil cudda been the prob it was recylced..i flushed the shit outta it tho. Thanks


Soo its not the dome thing? a week in the dome shud be good enough right?

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It can take 2 - 3 weeks for roots sometimes. Temp at 80 - 90 is fastest. A few drops of water just to keep it moist inside the dome. Open the lid once a day for 5 min.(don't forget they wilt fast) this will prevent fungus/mold from forming. You want visible roots before transplant. Once all have roots, slip an air stone in the tray with just a slight crack of the lid, add plain ph'd water, enough to cover the stones. Also they need acclimation before transplanting. Take the lid off a little more each day (keeping it on, but sliding it down to let in more air flow) so they get used to the humidity drop. When the lid is completely off (about a week) then there ready to transplant. They should have low light (2 reg fluorescent bulbs, while in the dome) 12 inches above canopy until acclimated, then take your time for high light.

soo for the first 3-4 days im not watering the cubes? this seems like it takes longer to grow than starting from seed.

the benefit of using clones is ones they are rooted they are mature, since they come from a mature mother. So after two weeks, 3 tops you have a mature plant, with alternating nodes that you can put into flower, plus its a guaranteed female and pretty much guaranteed healthy if you took it from a healthy mom. Clones take a lot of time and hassle away from it. Starting from seeds is a way longer more detail oriented process.

Thanks +rep on that..so for the first 3-4 days im not watering the cubes?

Dutchmast3r said:

soo for the first 3-4 days im not watering the cubes? this seems like it takes longer to grow than starting from seed.

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Another benefit is you know the exact genetics/pheno. Seeds are a wide variation.

yaa..and about those cubes getting waterd for the first 3 days?

honestly just be patient and leave them in the dome until there are 15-20 roots poking out and a couple long ones until transplant. I do this and before i transplant i soak the soil with plain water, they are fine 100 percent of the time. Also where i live the humidity is extremely low.

lol wow u guys are like robot just keep answering the same question over and over when thats not what im asking...so for the first 3 day i dont have to water the cubes becuase i dont wanna lift the dome righttt?

Dutchmast3r said:

yaa..and about those cubes getting waterd for the first 3 days?

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Read post #11 ......I get 90% from this method

Dutchmast3r said:

lol wow u guys are like robot just keep answering the same question over and over when thats not what im asking...so for the first 3 day i dont have to water the cubes becuase i dont wanna lift the dome righttt?

Click to expand...

not sure where you got this idea from, it was not something i said
you always keep the rockwool wet, you do not want it to dry out, for the first 3-4 days you keep the vents of the propagator closed, if it does not have vents just keep the lid on, after 3-4 days of always keeping it closed, then you start to open the vents or take the lid off to allow them to breath for a while
at no time do you let the rockwool dry out

peace