help with cloning setup

[jon.hatcher]

oh yeah, not a dehumidifier, a humidifier ($20).

[PharmaCan]

I had success with my setup. I bought a plastic tote (The one that is 2' x 2' x 3') and any dehumidifier that you can direct the flow of moisture with.

I used a plastic kitchen bowl that fit over the exhaust of the humidifier (moisturized air) and directed it through plastic tubing. I put the tubing through a hole I made in the side of the tote and sealed it up with duct tape. Another tube is put out the other side to open fresh and reduce the chance of the plants not getting enough CO2. Once you turn the humidifier on, the humidity inside should peak around 95 -100%. This will help your clones get enough water and flourish (since they can't absorb with roots they don't have).

I also put a layer of pearlite on the bottom of the tote. I put the clones in small jiffy pots and put them halfway down into the pearlite. The pearlite will help moisture for the new roots.

Hopefully this helps. I will try to get a picture up of mine for you to see.

Very creative, Jon! :thumbsup:

... and it really goes to show that there's a lot of different ways to skin a cat and not necessarily any particular "right" way. A lot of it is just what you're comfortable with and what works for you.

Jerry, the whole idea behind cloning is to keep a cutting alive long enough for it to grow roots and survive on its own. As jon pointed out, it can't get any sustenance from roots it doesn't have. So, for 5-10 days you need to keep the cutting alive via its leaves, AND you have to keep the lower stem moist enough, to encourage root growth but not so wet that it rots. The leaves will also rot very easily, so you want the environment to be really humid, but you don't want the leaves to be wet. Once you get that concept straight in your head, and familiarize yourself with the basic techniques, you can adapt a whole lot of common household items to fit your purpose.

Re. the jiffy cubes - if you are talking about those peat thingies that expand when you wet them, those suck for cloning.

Re. the lights - one 26w cfl will work fine until the cuttings get some roots, then you can up it to two bulbs.

PC :smokin:

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

I'll take your word on only one CFL.
I am wondering why low lumens in first stages of cloning though,
I like to know just for knowledge.

Thank you everyone, this was all very useful information.

[jon.hatcher]

I'm not talking jiffy cubes. Jiffy pots. The ones that are like cardboard and the root grow through them so when you transplant, you just put the whole pot in and there is no harm to the plant. This helps in cloning because even after they grow some roots, they're still pretty fragile.