here are my experiences (and i have cut a LOT of clones for friends)


first of all i'd suggest a hydro system (i.e. ez-clone or selfmade one's) , but since that's what you don't want i'll talk about my "soil ways"


i have taken cuttings off a healthy motherplant (about 3 nodes are on the cutting, and i cut about an inch below a node) in an approx 45 degree angle with a SHARP razorblade..
then i trimmed them off shortly below the lowest node (remove the leaf of course), and then dipped them into clonex.

like this i put them into jiffy's, those into a tray to hold all of them and that into a small plastic "green house".. the bottom of this greenhouse was filled with nutrient and it was heated, the jiffy's on that tray (with holes) didn't fully stand in the water, but it touched them).. then i put the hood on top of the greenhouse, leaving a little hole open (i had this "slider" on the greenhouse-top) for some fresh air and circulation (i let a small fan blow by that hole, not into!).. this hole was still so little that there was still approx 90% humidity in there.. this top was opened twice a day for new air

i kept the temp at 25 degrees celsius and had approx 85% success after 9 days.. (which might not sound good to some of you, but i'm talking about thousands of plants here)

the nutrient/water mix in this green house, had usually a PH of 5.5 to 6.3 and a EC of 1,0 to 1,4

cloning worked better using a self-built cloning system (with mister) though, but for the "homeuse" this solution is definitely the cheaper and easier way