clone issues, tell me what you guys think.

[FLIP515]

hey guys, this is my first stab at cloning, im on day 8 now and things arent lookin too good...not terrible yet though.

im using an ez cloner, ph never goes outside of 5.8-6.3 range. water temp stays between 75-80º. air temp is set at 70, humidity is usually around 90% and nothin fluctuates much at all, im able to keep all that stuff pretty consistant.

roots started showing on day 2, and only a few of them are showing really good root growth, thre rest just have some roots here and there. but my main concern is the way the plants look, which im guessing is causing slow root growth. the plants just never perked up, all are just droopy and sad looking with leaves slowly dying off. im guessing it has something to do with my LED lighting (bought some panels to do a side by side grow and am using them to clone/veg also.) what do you guys think? lights are reccomended distance away.

oh yeah, since most of the plants were showing roots i went ahead and gave them some nutes which hasnt seemed to help, def hasnt hurt either though.
2.5mlaqua flakes, 1.1ml roots excelurator and .4ml drip clean.

FLIP515 Reviewed by FLIP515 on 03-03-2009. clone issues, tell me what you guys think. hey guys, this is my first stab at cloning, im on day 8 now and things arent lookin too good...not terrible yet though. im using an ez cloner, ph never goes outside of 5.8-6.3 range. water temp stays between 75-80º. air temp is set at 70, humidity is usually around 90% and nothin fluctuates much at all, im able to keep all that stuff pretty consistant. roots started showing on day 2, and only a few of them are showing really good root growth, thre rest just have some roots here and Rating: 5

[cigarettes42]

wow those look bad. you shoulda kept the water clean with out nutes. i got an ez clone too and dont use nutes in it at all, i just use a little bit of root hormone(mostly used to prevent air bubbles cause you really dont need hormones for bubble cloners). when i place the cutting in it, the cuttings will perk up in like 3 hours and stand up like normal plants. here was my check list. tell me if you followed it. it also maybe the intensity of your light.

1. leach out the mother plant with h2O a week prior to taking cuttings off.
2. the day of cutting your mother give it another watering.
3. prep all your tools
4. make a cut 3-4 nodes down, place cutting directly in some water or root hormone to prevent air bubbles in the main stem.
5. trim the fan leaves
6. make sure the cloner temp dont get past 78! mine got hot so i just placed a little fan on it and it cooled it down

if there is something i missed guys add it in please!

[FrostAie]

Before you put the cuttings in take a sharp razor and lightly shave at the bottom 1/4 ' of the clone this will stimulate the roots to poke out a lot easier because the outer part of the stem isnt coated as hard

[FLIP515]

wow those look bad. you shoulda kept the water clean with out nutes. i got an ez clone too and dont use nutes in it at all, i just use a little bit of root hormone(mostly used to prevent air bubbles cause you really dont need hormones for bubble cloners). when i place the cutting in it, the cuttings will perk up in like 3 hours and stand up like normal plants. here was my check list. tell me if you followed it. it also maybe the intensity of your light.

1. leach out the mother plant with h2O a week prior to taking cuttings off.
2. the day of cutting your mother give it another watering.
3. prep all your tools
4. make a cut 3-4 nodes down, place cutting directly in some water or root hormone to prevent air bubbles in the main stem.
5. trim the fan leaves
6. make sure the cloner temp dont get past 78! mine got hot so i just placed a little fan on it and it cooled it down

if there is something i missed guys add it in please!

the clones were already cut when i got em so im not sure how he did it. the guy does have a lot of experience, so i dont think the problem was before i got em.

the light guy suggested 12-36'', i started out at 36'' and been lowering little by little tryin to find the sweet spot but im down to 14'' and they havnt responded to the light height at all. they just slowly lose leaves from the bottom up. the main stem stands up but all the fan leaves stay droopy.

what about co2 levels? i run a sealed room and i currently have it set at 350 but when i work in there it can easily raise well above 1500.

[cigarettes42]

how did he give them to you? did he protect the stems from air bubbles going into them or did he clip and put the cuttings in the cloner for you?

[FLIP515]

they were dipped and then put into a cup of water, 30 to a cup (60 total) and then gave them to me taped up in a coors box. i got them to my place and put them in to my cloner that was set to the specs mentioned above.

[VapedG13]

Try a clear lid/dome for the first 4-5 days....my starts will droop for the first day or 2... then they stand up

[Rusty Trichome]

Ease-up on lighting. The idea is to get the buried stem to produce roots, and keep the foliar growth to a minimum. I veg with a 400w MH, which remains about 12-18 inches from my rooted youngsters. Unrooted clones I keep at around 24 to 30 inches. Just enough light to keep 'em alive, but not enough to get mad growth above ground.

Keep the enviornment humid by using a dome or cover, but don't spray the clones every 20 minutes. Humidity stress (constantly wet leaves) will prevent the leaves from 'breathing', and it will eventually stop taking any moisture from the soil. This can stop all root development, and cause mold or fungus to grow. Remove cover for a few minutes, once a day at least, to provide fresh air.

Also, I scrape the lower part of the stem, down to the cambium layer. (just below the stem outer layer) I lightly scrape the bottom 1 inch or so of the stem with scissors or a knife....on opposing sides of the stem. Don't go overboard. Just enough to remove top layer of stem. that will get coated in the dipping gel, or whatever you use. It is this layer that produces the root cells. Stem layers - Cambium Also, keep in mind the pix in the link are a tad out of scale for cannabis clones, but it gives you a good idea what I'm talking about.

Like cigarettes42 mentioned...keeping the air bubbles out of the stem is rather important. Vegetable matter, along with stagnant air and water, usually results in rot. If you purchased the clones, I personally would still make a fresh cut while the stem is underwater, and let it remain in the water till it's time to dip and plant 'em.

[flipwithit]

ive been slimed! opened her up this morning and brown slime everywhere! from what i read, im F-ed in the A. anything? should i expect this in my ebb and flow system now?

[Loafyboy]

ive been slimed! opened her up this morning and brown slime everywhere! from what i read, im F-ed in the A. anything? should i expect this in my ebb and flow system now?

What kind of airpump/stones do you use with the system, almost sounds like a lack of oxygen in the nutrient solution?!? Probably best to use plain pH'ed water, thats all I use.
Also, what type of LED's are you using? I had one of those boards that are about a foot square with 225 LED's and it was worse than useless... I now use 6400k CFL's and all is good.