Clones in RR's, Help Please!

[GDS StonerBoy]

Ok i've seen alot of people cloning in Rapid Rooters and Peat Pellets and i decided to give it a try. My first attempts at cloning were with the Cheapo aero cloner and i've had 100% success but changing the res all the time is getting annoying. I've had some Rapid Rooters collecting dust so i'd like to make use of them. I bought a 12 pack of Jiffy Peat Pellets from Wal-mart today just for the dome and tray but then decided to take 4 clones and try 2 in RR's and 2 in peat pellets. After going through the whole cloning process i wake up the next morning to see the 2 in RR's wilting badly but the 2 in the Peat Pellets are still erect. Can anyone tell me why the clones in the RR's are wilting and what i can do to fix this.

[GDS StonerBoy]

does no one here use Rapid Rooters anymore?

[texas grass]

i just started to use rr and i have no problems with them, i have also done in aero and rockwool. i like rr the best. thats odd that the rr would wilt and the other not, especially if the same strain. is the rr wet or did it dry out, and it looks like you have been misting them

[Dreadscale]

HI :)

I am not even going to attempt to advise you on this, I am the worst cloner ever.
What I have found out while torturing my cuttings was my Jiffy Peat Pellets had a PH runoff of 4.0.
"I needed the humidity dome that the pellets come in also"

I tried for weeks to root some cuttings, finally removed them from the pellets and 4 of the 8 survived.

I guess some people have great luck with the pellets, not me.
I'm not familliar with the Rapid Rooters.

Sorry, I can't help you, but thats my :twocents:

[stinkyattic]

Did you add water to the rapidrooters? They look wet. They are intended to be used right outta the box with no additional water, which will lead to rot. Your peat pellets look a lot drier.

[GDS StonerBoy]

Did you add water to the rapidrooters? They look wet. They are intended to be used right outta the box with no additional water, which will lead to rot. Your peat pellets look a lot drier.

Your not supposed add water to RR's?! Wow i though you had to add water as i was advised to do this when popping seeds and doing clones. Ok so i'll take another cutting tomorrow and try this again but wont it be hard for the roots to go through that rapid rooter if its dry? They seem extremely hard and dry when you take them out of the package. And i soaked them in a diluted mixture of Technaflora's B1 Red as mentioned on the bottle. Just stating that in case that is part of the problem.

[stinkyattic]

If they were hard and dry out of the package, they are no good and you should return them to the store. They are supposed to contain living soil microbes and should be moist when you get them home.
If you have to use dry ones, then yes, soak them in tap water and then squeeze the excess water out so they are just damp.
Now you are talking about the product that is composted bark and looks like a sponge, not the one that is compressed peat and looks like a small hockey puck, right?

[GDS StonerBoy]

Here is a few pics of the product i am talking about. I thought thats how they were supposed to come so i never returned them and now is far too late to try that but do you think the soil microbes could still be alive? Anyway i squeezed the RR's out and there fairly dry. I have been doing what you have stated and just misting the inside of the dome. All of them seem to be doing well now and the two that were wilted are now reaching for the light so i assume that they are doing better. How long does it normally take for them to root this way?

[stinkyattic]

I leave mine under the dome for 2 weeks. Some strains root faster. Out of the package, they should feel moist, like a loaf of fresh bread, or a new cellulose sponge. For comparison, take a wet cellulose (the good kind, like the yellow 3M ones, not foam) kitchen sponge and squeeze all the water out of it until you can't get any more. It's still wet, but a good comparison to a RR with the right moisture content.

[GDS StonerBoy]

Ok i have some roots showing from both the RR's and the Peat Pellets. This first time cloning this way has been a success so far but what is the next step. I've read about clones dying after the transplant what should i do about keeping my clones alive after taking out of the dome. Should i mist them more often?

Also how am i supposed to remove the netting from the peat pellets if there's roots growing through it? Wouldnt this damage the roots?

[stinkyattic]

Don't remove the dme all at once. Take it off for abut 15 minutes a couple times a day and put it bqck on as soon as you see signs of wilt. Keep taking it off for longer and longer until the lil dudettes stay perky. Then they are acclimated and ready to go. You can do this before or after repotting them; it doesn't really matter as long as the pots fit under the dome. I've used baggies and plastic wrap in a pinch too.

[GDS StonerBoy]

Ok i've been leaving the dome off for a little at a time each day but today i left it off all day while i went to work by mistake yet they didnt wilt at all so i assume there ready for there new homes, Correct?

I'm not sure what helped me have the 100% success this first time but im sure it was either the Rootech, the B1 Red or both working in conjuction. The peat pellets and the RR's both performed equally as well although the RR clones seem to look better as the picture shows.

Anyway i like this method of cloning now and i'll definitely be doing this until i use up all of those old RR's.

Thanks alot stinky for all of your help but i have one more question? Will that netting around the Peat pellets harm the roots once they get bigger? It seems like pretty tough stuff i think the netting might cut into the roots as they get bigger, whaddya think?