What am I doing wrong?

[BigEd72]

I have had moderate sucess in the past with my technique, but I just had a completly unsucsefful cloning operation. Zero plants produced roots out of 25 clones. Im going to tell you what I did, maybe someone will see where I screwed up.
First, I use an ultra lightwieght starting mix for cloning and seedlings. I soak in a mix of water and Olivias cloning solution. I use 72 cell trays suspended in the cloning solution. Use a pen to put a hole in each cell. I use a brand new razor blade to cut the growing tips, trying to get about 3" or so of stem if I can. I imediattly put the cutting in a bowl of cloning solution, and cut it again under water. I let it sit there for about 30 seconds. I then put a blob of cloning gell on the end, and put it in the cell. The tray is on top of a heating mat. I have a small air pump and an 18" flexible bubble wand to bubble air into the cloning solution. I put them under florescent lights about 6" above them. I waited 2 weeks, and all I had was stems with the cloning gell still on them. What did I do wrong? Thanks everyone for your help.

BigEd72 Reviewed by BigEd72 on 04-16-2009. What am I doing wrong? I have had moderate sucess in the past with my technique, but I just had a completly unsucsefful cloning operation. Zero plants produced roots out of 25 clones. Im going to tell you what I did, maybe someone will see where I screwed up. First, I use an ultra lightwieght starting mix for cloning and seedlings. I soak in a mix of water and Olivias cloning solution. I use 72 cell trays suspended in the cloning solution. Use a pen to put a hole in each cell. I use a brand new razor blade to cut Rating: 5

[RamblerGambler]

did you use a humidity dome?

[Mr. Clandestine]

Is the medium having a chance to dry out at all? If it happens to contain peat - which many seedling/cloning mixes do - then it might be soaking up too much water, preventing oxygen from getting to the stem. I've never personally tried the 'bubble cloning' method, but I'd imagine you would have to be extra careful when using any kind of soil-like medium along with the standard nutrient solutions, air-stones/wands, etc., so that the medium isn't staying totally saturated.

Also, you might consider moving the unrooted clones a bit farther away from the lights. Rooting clones really don't need much light at all, since the focus is less on foliage production and more on developing a root system. I usually have no more than 2 32W CFL's hanging about 20+ inches over the tray (which can hold roughly 50 new clones in Jiffy pucks), and have never, at least to my knowledge, suffered any problems due to lighting. I have, however, experienced problems when trying to root clones when temperatures were too high. You mentioned using a heating pad, but didn't say anything about ambient temperatures, so this may or may not have had anything to do with it.

Sorry to hear about the clones, though. I'm sure someone will drop by who has more experience with bubbler/aero cloning methods who might be able to offer some other opinions.

Best of luck in the future. :thumbsup:

[phatsesh101]

mr c said it i was wondering about a dome and temps myself

[BigEd72]

The Dome! It was right next to me. Thats it, no more smoking an hour before I do it again. The temp seems good in the room, a little cool 68-70 or so. I have a space heater going. Thanks folks for waking me up.

[cigarettes42]

was that 6 inches you said your light was away from your clones? i would say that is way to close. back the light up.

[Rusty Trichome]

You forgot the dome...?

[phatsesh101]

sounds like sarcasm but 68-70 might be a lil chilly and may make things take longer

[haole007]

also, maybe check your pH of your cloning solution.

4' from hid, 24" from 4' 4bulb T5, and off to the side.

cuttings like 90-95% humidity for first few days.

you meticulous in your movements, maybe the dome is all you need.

i use no fancy clone machine.
i do use a 6" tall dome, with vents at top. closed first day, barely crack vents next 3 days, open a bit more to about 25% open.

plain old tray with 50 slots for rapid rooter pods (tray, pods, and all can be had in one package, or once you have trays, buy only the pods). jiffy pucks work OK, but i like the rapid rooters mo' bettah. i use the 24 slots in the middle, and use the vacant slots to monitor water level. i rotate the tray every day, as those heat pads CAN be inconsistent and have heat spots.

i don't bother recutting, but i do place cutting in cloning solution while i trim leaves off, and cut remaining leaves in half.

i soak rapid root pods in same solution i put the cutting in, and use to keep the pods moist for 7-18 days. i employ a heating pad under the tray.

solution...
1 gallon distilled water, less a turkey baster full .
8 teaspoon Clonex rooting solution (not the gel)
1/2 drop of No Damp. (not absolutely needed)
drop or two of hydrogen peroxide.
1/4 teaspoon SuperThrive.
1/4 teaspoon Humboldt Roots.
1 tablespoon liquid seaweed.
pH down to 6.2.

Turn OFF any nearby fan! cuttings sensitive to wind.
-cut with razor blade.
-put in small glass, trim leaves.
-transfer to Clonex or B'Cuzz cloning gel (both good, i prefer clonex).
-"swish" around in gel for 20 seconds.
-place directly into tray pod slots, after removing DOME, and immediately replacing dome.
-when done, open dome, give a quick mist (i use water and small bit of liquid seaweed),
make sure there is water in bottom of tray (16oz), close dome, and mist them twice a day, whisper sweet nothings to them, mist them, and be patient.

keep them MOIST, not soggy. NEVER let get too dry, better to error on a bit too wet, than too dry.

in a week, they got roots, in two weeks, they usually ready to go into 4" pot with fox farm ocean forest.

THIS 4" pot, i place in a tray, and use a dome for next week or so, but no heat pad, and place them about 12" from T5. when plenty new growth evident, i move out of dome.

i find that i can keep them in these little pots for long time, if needed, but prefer to send them into bloom when 12" tall, and healthy. i have x-ferred them into 3 gal pots the day i move them into bloom, and i have waited, also, to x-plant to 3 gal, and let them veg a while. either under the T5, or a 400halide, or both (rotate).

noteworthy...
some types/strains take longer to root.
i have an old indica (medicine)that roots fast.
i have a different type(recreational) that takes longer.
i have played with some strains that it isn't worth the aggravation to even try to clone them. but im still a novice, and always learning.