Clones stuck in neutral ...

[the image reaper]

I had this posted in "Advanced Growing', and really should have put it here, I guess ... sorry about the double-thread ... anyway, my first clones took very easily to their soil ... I used the standard cloning methods ... now, I have little clones, that look perfectly healthy, but after 3 weeks, or more, are the same size as when they were taken, maybe even smaller ... at first, I assumed the plants were just busy building a root system, but after this long, I am a bit stymied ... is this typical ? ... under 18 hour cycle, with plenty of CFL light ... again, they look perfectly healthy ... :confused:

[HARDDON]

Way too many intangiables for anything without pics.

Try adding some Schultz Rooting Hormone powder to your next few weeks of watering. A drop of SuperThrive would not hurt as well.

[mscaboo]

are you using a humidity dome?

[the image reaper]

no longer under dome ... over 3 weeks now since cloning ... , no visible problem, looks perfectly healthy .. just not growing larger ... I guess I'll just watch it and see ... :smokin:

[mountainman]

I agree, superthrive or thrive alive. If they're not wilting or dying, then they'll pull through. Maybe a mild fertilizer too, but be very very careful as they can't handle much at this point unless you use a mild organic like worm castings.

After that amount of time, I almost ALWAYS move my clones and seedlings over to HPS lighting, but only to the side where they don't get as high of an intensity and move them in further over about 3 days to harden them to the strong light. That should do the trick.

[mscaboo]

i beleive a heat mat would help.had the same problem as you clones where healthy but not growing,put them on a heat mat and they took off.

[ToKnoIsToGro]

how long did they take to take off after raising the temp with a heat map, my friend is using a bubble cloner, 2 weeks, they look good, no roots. We decided it would be best to pull clones further from the water to make the roots look for water.

[ToKnoIsToGro]

do u think raised temp. would also be good for bubbler? Oxygen is best retained in cold water though.

[ToKnoIsToGro]

what kind of soil are u using reaper?

[mscaboo]

tok, a heat mat will definatly help your bubble cloner.my clones showed signs of imporovement the next day.roots do not like cold water especially when you are trying to root them.

[latewood]

Harddon said it best.

I would be wary of people guessing and giving rememdies in this situation. lw

[the image reaper]

thank you ... actually, they are perking up, just since my posting ... about 3 weeks lying dormant ... I thought clones started growing almost immediately, maybe 3 or 4 days, so I assumed something was wrong ... is it common for them to just sit there for 3 weeks, before resuming growth ?? ... :smokin:

[Zandor]

tok, a heat mat will definatly help your bubble cloner.my clones showed signs of imporovement the next day.roots do not like cold water especially when you are trying to root them.

If you are trying to root them then there are no roots in the first place.

Cool water will hold more oxygen then warm water will. Warm water is how your get damping off problems. Once you have that problem give up the plant will not live for long. Damping off is terminal 100% of the time.

You don't heat the water in a bubbler system. You can add more bubbles yes but you don't add heat to the water bad idea.

Just make sure the plants have plenty of bubbles or water spraying on the stocks. There should be an air gap between the bottom of the stem and the top of the water too.

Anti-wilt is the bomb with cloning it will keep the stocks and leafs of the clone from drying out and give it a chance to root. That is the modern replacement of the humidity dome and less heat stress on the plant.

They root best under fluorescents lights more then HID lights to btw.

[latewood]

they have to root...during root formation, the plant remains dormant, basically, then after roots take hold and uptake nutrition form medium...they start growing again. NO nutes until they have 4-5 true sets of leaves, which in turn means they have a strong enough root system to sustain the plant...start with 1/4-1/2 nute strength for a week to acclimate plants to nutrient regimen. goodluck

lw

And, I agree with Z...clones root much better under fluorescent light. I found this out by trial and error...leaving my aero cloner in the veg room under HID contributed to my clone success rate dropping drastically.
I know for sure, because as soon as I put cloning op inroom wioth fluoros...all the roots and success % came back up^

[ToKnoIsToGro]

lw, what exactly is it that you would be weary of?

[betterhomesandgarden]

Are you over-watering?
Most commen mistake which results in stagnit growth.

Regards,
BHG

[zlessley]

I had a similar problem, I grew some little catpiss plants inside till they were about 12 inches tall, then transplanted them outside in june... september comes around, and they've grown 3 inches! the roots didn't even grow out of their original soil (although the soil around them was actually better, forest humus (sp?). So check a few things, nighttime temperatures, soil ph/moisture, and light. I'd suggest just repotting them, using a very fluffy soil mix and seeing how that works for ya.