quick question, please help.

[xblackdogx]

hey,
was wondering:
w/ rooting gel, can you place a clone directly in soil?

THANKS!! i truly appreciate any/all help!

[stinkyattic]

Yes you can.
The soil must be totally free of pests though, and of fungal spores... so you are safer using something like rapid-rooter cubes that hold moisture better and are CLEAN!!!

[xblackdogx]

SWEET!

if soil is brand new... should be no problems right?

[the yeag]

not nececerily..if it is new bad soil it might have some little hatch lings ready to come out...and these little bugs might even be from a foreign land..they will be hungry and munch your seedling..just maybe

[stinkyattic]

they hatch hungry!!!
Same goes for the containers.
Seedlings are way more vulnerable than grown plants to pests. Clones are most vulnerable to fungal, bacterial, and viral infection. You can't tell for sure if your soil carries any of those. For example, I bought a bag of cow manure at Walmat and ended up with a lovely mushroom garden. That was lucky... mushrooms dont' harm your plants... but some other fungus can!

[xblackdogx]

ic..
i guess i will have to just take the chance, b/c i am on a low budget.
so if i take the cut,
put directly in water,
dip in rooting powder
put in soil medium (a large container, where it will spend the entirety of its life)
mist daily
put under 24/0 of light
until it roots then i will:
if all goes well, have a healthy plant?

[dutch.lover]

i clone in plain old potting soil. ie. cheap stuff that just has sand, perlite, and peat moss in it. i have had 100% success in my cloning endeavors, and i am also a noob grower, so hopefully your cloning works out as good as mine.

[dutch.lover]

^^As for the technique, after you cut the cutting off the plant, put it in water and cut AGAIN under the water. Like, just cut the end off the cutting. This prevents air from being trapped in the stem, as the hole is filled with water right away. If air is caught in the stem, the clone won't do very well and may die. It's called an embolism, and i believe the clone dies from it because the plant can get an internal infection within it, and the bubble (embolism) will prevent transfer of water and nutes from the soil to the plant. Also, just have the clones under dim light until they root. Too bright of light will have the clone focusing energy on photosynthesis and not making roots. You should also mist daily, as you said, but make sure the plants get some fresh air for about 5 mins once or twice a day (more won't hurt either). If you use a humidity dome, just remove it for 5mins and sort of fan the plants with it. Everything else about your technique sounds good

[madeline]

A bag of 50 gro-cubes is under 10 bucks. Come on man, if you can't afford that how will buy the power to run your lights? (you do have lights...right?)

[GaGrown]

I use Rootone with the fungicide.Metro Mix or Pro Mix for cutting's,I use the Pro mix from start to finish!50 lb. 14.99 for the metro and bout 25.00 or so for the Pro.

Ga Grown!

[4x5]

just bake your soil on a pan in the oven at 300 for half an hour, that'll get rid of all the badness.

[stinkyattic]

MMMMM!!!!
While I know that 4x5 you are totally right... I also know from experience that dirt does not smell as good as brownies whilst baking... I would prefer to bake brownies and just use rapidrooters for the clones! Then you have healthy clones AND brownies!

[deftdrummer]

haha stinky you always make me laugh.