Best Cloning Procedure

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I have been wondering what everyone believes is the most effective way of taking a worth-while clone off of some primo genetics!

My techniques in the past have always included a rooting powder from the local nursery and a wonderful soil blend. After operating my first hydroponics grow, I am waiting for the first sign of the plant's sex before I root some clones from it. I was wondering, since the plant is now on 12/12 for four days now, what anyone suggests for the best method of taking a clone to export to a soil medium in my friend's medicinal layout. I have previously purchased a plastic cloning tray that I would fill the bottom of with Perlite and H20, and I would cut off some branches at about four nodes down, slice the bottom leaves off and cut it at an angle at the base with a new sterile razor blade.


I am just wondering if placing the clones in this tray for a few days inside of Rockwool would work best before transitioning the cube into the soil. I also have some cloning nutes I picked up from my local hydro store, I beleive it is called Clonex. I was going to mix up a mild solution of this with filtered water to add to the vermiculite tray.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and thanks to everyone that has their own style and technique to share! :jointsmile:

theres 1 thing i noticed u didnt mention that i do and may help u out. befor u dip it in the powder or gel w/e i would grab that last node and slowly tear it down the stem so it exposes the inards of the stem a little bit. it worked well for me. just sharing. good luck:pimp:

Here's a tip for ya!! Instead of waiting for the Donor plant to show sex... Why not take cuttings and sex the cuttings. Then you would not have had to wait for it to veg back,befor you take cuttings.Label the cuts from each donor and you'll know which donor is male or female.:thumbsup:



Ga Grown!

...there is an excellent tutorial around here for basics of cloning, but key points are:

Make your 'final' 45 degree cut on the bottom of the clone-to-be under water. Then wrap in a bit of cotton from a q-tip, dip in your clonex, and insert into your rockwool/dirt/rapid rooter, etc.

Then make sure that your rooting medium stays moist, but not soaking wet, your humidity (underneath a dome, of course) stays at 85-90% for the first few days, and spray 'em every now and then (and the inside of the dome) with pure water. I like to add a bit of CO2 to the dome with exhalation.

Do NOT give your clonelets anything but gentle lighting until they're rooted.

You can also build a bubblecloner/aerocloner for relatively cheap, that will help you increase your success rate. Mine consisted of an icecream pail, some aluminum tape, a cake dome from the bakery at work, and a cheapie aquarium pump/airstone combo. Total cost, about 20bux.

I also just heard about another technique here that I'm dying to try: fill a black coffee mug about halfway with water, put cellophane over it, and punch the cuttings thru the cello until their stems are halfway into the water. Wait 5-10 days, and roots should be showing on the little ones. This method might be very well suited for clones going into hydro. Always be careful of the new rootlets; they're very fragile.

GaGrown has a good tip, too--take some clones, then sex the clones. That way, you can let the mother(or dad!) veg until they're ready to flower, or keep it for mum purposes, and just grow her chilluns to maturity :)

Do some research, and then take care; you should have a nearly 100% success rate if you do things right.

I've gone from 4 rounds of clone hell, to 1 batch 50%, to 3 batches of 100% success. First, what NOT to do:
Do not spray directly onto the clones, never have big drops of water sitting on the leaves or growing center tips or it will cause mold. Don't have temps too high, over 90F will also make them rot and mold. Nothing should be wet and drippy except the clone dome lid. Don't pull them apart to "check progress". Don't use gel that's several months old as it goes bad. Don't allow your pets to eat the clones. Don't have dirty hands or work area and tools. I had fair luck with peat pucks and bad luck every time with Rockwool cubes.

What I did to change my life for the better:
Use good products like rapid rooters and clonex and PH'd water in a good spray bottle that can deliver a very fine mist. Sterilize tools and hands with peroxide. Yes, do your 45 angle cut underwater before dipping into jell, not powder. Scrape, peel or notch the bark as usual. Put a temp/humidity digital meter into your clone dome. a small 10-20 watt CFL is all the light you need at about 12" up. Open or twist your lid askew so as to let in air to regulate your humidity to 80-90% at first and around 70% after a few days. If/when it's hard to keep humidity up give each rabid rooter plug a spray or two or dab with a pipette dropper. Damp or moist, never wet and soggy. Ideal temp is around 75F-80F but under 90F will get the job done if you keep it all dry and clean. If I do get big water drops on the clones I'll dry each one with a Q-tip. Trim dead leaves after there is no more green on them. I went from 0% success with wet, hot, soggy rock wool to 50% success with extra care in peat pellets to 100% with same care in rabid rooters.

For extra credit I've also starting doing this special step I read somewhere:
About 3 days before taking your clones trim off the extra fan leaves and leaf tips from the shoots you'll be rooting. Leave them on the plant. After that they can recover some and have less stress when you clip and root them.

Yes, it is possible to clone any time including up to late flower. It's not ideal, but it's better than loosing the chain reaction "perpetual harvest". It's surely better to clone during veg, no question.

Also let them get fresh air a few times a day for about 15 min or as soon as they start to wilt. Spray the inside of the dome after each airing out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ocotillo

I've gone from 4 rounds of clone hell, to 1 batch 50%, to 3 batches of 100% success. First, what NOT to do:
Do not spray directly onto the clones, never have big drops of water sitting on the leaves or growing center tips or it will cause mold. Don't have temps too high, over 90F will also make them rot and mold. Nothing should be wet and drippy except the clone dome lid. Don't pull them apart to "check progress". Don't use gel that's several months old as it goes bad. Don't allow your pets to eat the clones. Don't have dirty hands or work area and tools. I had fair luck with peat pucks and bad luck every time with Rockwool cubes.

What I did to change my life for the better:
Use good products like rapid rooters and clonex and PH'd water in a good spray bottle that can deliver a very fine mist. Sterilize tools and hands with peroxide. Yes, do your 45 angle cut underwater before dipping into jell, not powder. Scrape, peel or notch the bark as usual. Put a temp/humidity digital meter into your clone dome. a small 10-20 watt CFL is all the light you need at about 12" up. Open or twist your lid askew so as to let in air to regulate your humidity to 80-90% at first and around 70% after a few days. If/when it's hard to keep humidity up give each rabid rooter plug a spray or two or dab with a pipette dropper. Damp or moist, never wet and soggy. Ideal temp is around 75F-80F but under 90F will get the job done if you keep it all dry and clean. If I do get big water drops on the clones I'll dry each one with a Q-tip. Trim dead leaves after there is no more green on them. I went from 0% success with wet, hot, soggy rock wool to 50% success with extra care in peat pellets to 100% with same care in rabid rooters.

For extra credit I've also starting doing this special step I read somewhere:
About 3 days before taking your clones trim off the extra fan leaves and leaf tips from the shoots you'll be rooting. Leave them on the plant. After that they can recover some and have less stress when you clip and root them.

Yes, it is possible to clone any time including up to late flower. It's not ideal, but it's better than loosing the chain reaction "perpetual harvest". It's surely better to clone during veg, no question.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ocotillo

Don't use gel that's several months old as it goes bad.

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Just for history searches sakes I did an experiment.......

I used my "stale" 7 month old orange jell (never dipped/contaminated) with rapid rooters and the latest technique and these couple test subjects are doing well.

Previous tests failed due to rot from moisture/temp issues.