cuttings in veg idea

I know that some people take cuttings from plants in veg and then force the cuttings to flower so that they know the sex of the older vegging plants, but...

i want more plants than i currently have so i would rather just keep my cuttings in veg (say one cutting from each plant so that my number of plants is doubled) without flowering them, and then when the original set of plants flower and have been sexed i can throw away the cuttings from any males. I was planning on labelling my original plants 1, 2, 3 and so on, and cuttings from number 1 would be labelled "1a" and if two were taken the second would be "1b".

this way i could double my number of plants for the second crop, and as long as i check the originals everyday i'll be able able to remove them and also will know the sex of the second lot of plants which is more important to me as i dont mind waiting for a better yeild.

So effectivly i'd end up flowering my original plants so id know which cuttings to keep so that i have in the end alot more female plants to grow, all from cuttings, which i dont mind at all.

Plaes let me know what you think of the idea and please let me know if im unaware of any more benefits of flowering cuttings, i can only think of the obvious that if a male popped up in the cuttings and possibly pollinated the others then it would only pollinate the cuttings not the main grow, but as my flower room is right next to my veg compartment it would still pollinate them all, so i thought i might as well watch them like a hawk and just wait and see.

any help would be much appreciated!
thanks!

to me its better to keep the origional plant for a while and once you find your keeper clone from that, i dont think it will be as effective to clone then flower every set cause all the down time of plant repairs. after you take the initial clone that plant will provide abunch more clones in the near future and every few weeks you could get anywhere from 10+ clones

wouldnt i still have to take a cutting from more than one plant so i have a better likelihood of having a female for my mother plant? or do u mean i should take a cutting after they have flowered?

how much down time of plant repairs is there after a cutting?

usually 2-3 weeks on average is a downtime/repair time after cloning before you should go into flower.
a mother plant you can take as many cuttings as she has foliage.

mums

so do you mean downtime/repair time for the plant which has a cutting cut from it?

or repair time for the actual cutting to root and veg before flower is that long?

if you were to cut the plant for a clone it is better to wait because it needs to repair itself. i like 2-3 weeks, or when new vegitation starts to grow

new cuttings can take anywhere from 10-21 days to grow a strong set of roots, and maybe a week in veg. if the roots are strong and big enough you can go into flower when you want. experiment with it and go through the link mums and read more in detail

thanks for all your help tg much appreciated, just read through the mums article and i'll hopefully i'll be putting it to good use soon.

The thing is i have 2 rooms one for veg and one for flower. my vegging plants have another week til they move to the flower and i would like to start more plants vegging as they go off, is my only option to get more seeds? i really dont want to set the current ones back 3 weeks by cutting them?


also how do i decide which plant to take a cutting from in veg, a mother plant shouldnt be flowered should it? so how will i know which plant to take a cutting from if i dont know its female? im puzzled lol

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

also how do i decide which plant to take a cutting from in veg, a mother plant shouldnt be flowered should it? so how will i know which plant to take a cutting from if i dont know its female? im puzzled lol

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My favorite way of sexing plants grown from seed is to let them veg for about a month, or until there are numerous areas to gather viable clones. Take each clone and be sure to label it so that it responds from the plant it was taken from. After your clones are well-rooted, which can easily be done under a few fluorescent lights, get the clones in a medium and immediately put them under 12/12 lighting. After another week or so, you should be able to start determining who the males are, and can weed them out of the big crop. Females usually show a short while after, so you'll have assurance that you have no late-blooming males. What you do with the female clones at this point is entirely up to you. Flower them under fluorescents, move them back with your vegging plants, whatever. But at least now you'll know who your ladies are. Pick the most vigorous plant that shows the most favorable characteristics to be a mother.

Cloning from a good mother plant is the most efficient way to consistently produce sinsemilla crops in the least amount of time. Good luck! :jointsmile:

Cheers Mr C, that was along the lines i was thinking. i'll go ahead with taking cuttings tomorrow and root them in a propagator for a week and a half under a 24w blue spectrum flourescent.

I have 2 of these flourescents but have been told you dont want too much light for cuttings as they try to grow too much foliage before having rooted properly, still im not sure if 48w would warrant too much though... any thoughts?

Am i right in thinking you have to wait for them to root before putting them on 12/12? or will they root while flowering?

Well while my cuttings are rooting or flowering my originals have another fortnight or so to veg which i defo think they need as theyre only 7 inch tall due to some ph problems that have just been sorted.
What height is the minimum you guys would flower, my book say 12-18 inches, i dont mind changing to flower while shorter than that but i was hoping for 2oz a plant, would the flowering schedules' growth compensate more if the plants are short or does it just multiply what they have gotten to in veg?

Now when i take cuttings tomorrow do you think i should wait to repot them another day because it'd be too much stress at once? they are due a repot though so might not be an option this grow but i'd like to know for next time.

With cuttings in a propagator though, should the vents be opened or closed to start with and opened gradually as with seeds? i have a couple of books and have read alot of posts here and know what to do in steps but havent found the reasoning behind what position these vents should be, could you explain what goes on?

quite a few q's there but i wanna get this perfect :bonghit:

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

I have 2 of these flourescents but have been told you dont want too much light for cuttings as they try to grow too much foliage before having rooted properly, still im not sure if 48w would warrant too much though... any thoughts?

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I use a dual 4" fluorescent fixture for my seedlings and clones and haven't had problems with it. Can't remember the wattage, but I'm sure it's over 48. I keep it about a foot away from the tops of my trays/domes. But you're right, you don't want too intense of light while they root, so I'd make sure to keep any fluorescents about 8-12" away during the first week.

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

Am i right in thinking you have to wait for them to root before putting them on 12/12? or will they root while flowering?

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Yes sir, 18/6 or 24/0 light until you've got a good root system going. I'm not even sure if it would be possible to root under 12/12, but if it is, I'm sure it would be hella stressful for the clone. I wouldn't do it.

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

What height is the minimum you guys would flower, my book say 12-18 inches, i dont mind changing to flower while shorter than that but i was hoping for 2oz a plant...

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Different growers will recommend different times to flower when growing from seed, but it's generally taught that you don't switch to flowering before the plant is mature enough to show its sex. This usually takes about a month from germination, but can be shorter or longer respectively. Pre-flowers and alternating nodes are good indicators that the plant is ready to flower.

How many dry ounces you'll get per plant is going to depend on lots of things; like light, nutrients, container size, training/selective pruning (topping), among other things. Amount of time in veg is also going to play a factor if you're hoping to end up with copious amounts of bud sites.

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

Now when i take cuttings tomorrow do you think i should wait to repot them another day because it'd be too much stress at once? they are due a repot though so might not be an option this grow but i'd like to know for next time.

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You might consider transplanting first, then taking cuttings from it when there are visible signs of new growth. I'm sure they can both be done simultaneously, but it's likely to shock the plant and may slow growth down considerably for a little while.

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

With cuttings in a propagator though, should the vents be opened or closed to start with and opened gradually as with seeds? i have a couple of books and have read alot of posts here and know what to do in steps but haven't found the reasoning behind what position these vents should be, could you explain what goes on?

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I just use a propagation tray with a clear dome, and no vents. I'm definitely not qualified to answer any questions about fancier propagators, but I can tell you that you'll want to keep the humidity as close to 100% as you can for the first week, then gradually harden the clones off as they root. Adjust your vents accordingly.

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

quite a few q's there but i wanna get this perfect :bonghit:

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That's perfectly understandable, but don't be too hard on yourself if things don't go exactly as planned. I was terrible at cloning when I first started, and gradually got better with practice. Hopefully you'll have more luck than I did. A good precaution when cloning for sex is to take two cuttings per plant, just in case one dies. Good luck with it! :jointsmile:

Cheers dude! shame like but i had to both repot and take cuttings today cos its the only chance i had this week. Think it went well though.

couple more q's for ya!:

What should i do about large droplets of water forming on the leaves? should i dab them off with a peice of tissue or are they harmless?

Should i be watering the rooting cubes too? or is the misting INSTEAD of watering?

My clones leaves are quite shrivelled now, only 5 hours after cut is this normal?.. i cant help thinking ive gone wrong somewhere?

Would i need high temps for the cuttings? 27 degrees C like big plants? or do they just need room temp' like seeds? i just have them in a heated propagator which is just warmish, and its in a cold room...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

Cheers dude! shame like but i had to both repot and take cuttings today cos its the only chance i had this week. Think it went well though.

couple more q's for ya!:

What should i do about large droplets of water forming on the leaves? should i dab them off with a peice of tissue or are they harmless?

Should i be watering the rooting cubes too? or is the misting INSTEAD of watering?

My clones leaves are quite shrivelled now, only 5 hours after cut is this normal?.. i cant help thinking ive gone wrong somewhere?

Would i need high temps for the cuttings? 27 degrees C like big plants? or do they just need room temp' like seeds? i just have them in a heated propagator which is just warmish, and its in a cold room...

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I don't spray the clones, and just spray the inside of the dome itself a couple times a day, or when things are starting to look a little dry. About the condensation, I shake it off the leaf when I notice it... but I've also seen people keep clones pretty wet, and didn't seem to have much problem with it. They aren't kept in these conditions for much longer than a week, so I don't think it's anything to worry about.

I've never used rockwool before, but I'm sure you don't want to let the cubes dry out. Don't keep them soaking wet, but make sure they're evenly damp. Also, I've heard that you're supposed to let RW soak in water at a certain pH for 24 hours. I'm not sure the specifics, but you should be able to find out pretty easily. Just head over to the hydroponics section, or do a keyword search for "rockwool".

Wilting is common in the first few days, and will USUALLY resolve itself as the cuttings take root. And 27 degrees C is perfectly fine, it's the extreme temperatures that you want to avoid. Good luck my friend, I hope all goes well for ya! :jointsmile:

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Wilting is common in the first few days, and will USUALLY resolve itself as the cuttings take root

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this's made me feel alot better, i was convinced id knackered somethin up lol

what would u say is the perfect temperature for cuttings?

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Originally Posted by smackhead1984

this's made me feel alot better, i was convinced id knackered somethin up lol

what would u say is the perfect temperature for cuttings?

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I wish you much better luck than I had on my first go around! I tried to scarify those poor bastards, didn't have a clue what I was doing & probably gave them about 30 embolisms... a piece. Make sure you keep the clones or the inside of the dome nice and moist, you want the humidity to be high. As long as they aren't drying out too fast, you shouldn't see quite as much wilting. I've got some of this stuff on order right now: Wilt-pruf Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I've heard good things about it. In the world of anti-transpirants, I hear it's one of the best.

As for temperature, 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit is where you want to stay... I'm not quite sure what that translates to in Celsius. Heat shouldn't be too much of a problem if you're using low output fluorescents, but cold sometimes can be. Below 65 degrees and root production practically stops.

thanks for the replies again, i'll put my thermometer in the propagator tomorrow morning i reckon it'll be above 65 :thumbsup: