Clone question.

[floyd2zapper]

When you take clones people say give them no nutrients until you get roots.
So if i clone into jiffy pellets will it be ok as they already have nutrients in.
Thanks for looking

floyd2zapper Reviewed by floyd2zapper on 09-08-2006. Clone question. When you take clones people say give them no nutrients until you get roots. So if i clone into jiffy pellets will it be ok as they already have nutrients in. Thanks for looking :) Rating: 5

[invision]

nothing just water

[BlueBear]

Yes it should be OK, but I just cloned and soaked my mediams in ph'd water with a few drops of Super Thrive. Out of 15 clones 14 are looking good 3 days later and the 1 is looking like it still mite make it. That is almost a 100% rate.
Adieu

[floyd2zapper]

Hi bluebear.

What medium r u using is it rockwool.if so do you go into small starter cube or just start with the 4 inch cube.

[BlueBear]

I use rapid ruders. They are pre soaked so you don't have to pre soak them they are a small composted bark cube that stands about 2 1/2 in high. I have a friend that uses RockW and has pretty good success, he pre soaks the cubes in 5.5 ph adjusted water for 24 hours, takes out of the water gently shakes, puts the clones in and puts in a trey with misted humidity dome. when the RW cubes start to dry out a little he will put a light layer of water on the bottom of the trey. With RW you can use the 1 in and then when roots start to show you can get the bigger cubes with the 1 in holes all ready in them so you don't have to pull the clone out of the one in just put the little cube into the larger.
I can go over my cloning technique if your interested in using the Rapid Ruders. The reason that I am using them is because they don't have to be pre soaked so I can just cut when I am ready, for instance the other night when I was ready and had time, my RW cubes weren't, but the Rapid Ruders were. I didn't start my clones strait in the dirt because I like to know when it is starting to root and you can tell threw the ruders.
Hope this helps some.
If you are going hydro I would think about using peatmoss pellots, or the RW cubes.
Adieu

[floyd2zapper]

Hi Bluebear.

Yeah if you dont mind could you give us a instructional on how u clone as the more info i get before i clone myself the better.

Her's a few pics of the little ladies i hope.:thumbsup:

[BlueBear]

Sorry partner the pics don't do me much good, have vision problem, but my wife will check them out later and give me the run down. The technique that I use is similar to Zandors FAQ on cloning. Now remember I walked my wife threw this process and she had never took a clone in her life, got to love her. Well, The plants that I just took clones from were 3 and 4 weeks old grown out from seed, the only reasons I took clones from them so young is because I will keep them in veg for months to come, if I was slapping them right into flower I would probably not have a great harvest for the fact that the parents of these clones are not that mature. Basically all this means is if you want to get clones from a plant to put into flower try to make sure it is a mature plant at least 6 to 8 weeks old, sorry to be so long wended.

OK, I use Rapid Ruders, scissors, razor, Clonex cloning gel, anti wilt spray, 10x30 trey with humidity dome and a heating pad.
First step is to sterilize everything with rubbing alcohol and thoroughly wash hands. I have a small bowl of water ready to dip the clone in as soon as the clone is cut, I mean right when that clone is snipped, boom right into the water as to not allow any air to inter the cutting which can create an air bowless in the root that will block nute and water up take. Then while under the water the stem where the cutting was taken will be shaved a little with the razor to expose a little more of the root tissue to allow for better root exposure to water and so on giving a greater area for root development.
At this point the clone has been cut, dunked in water and shaved a little. At this point large leaves may be pinched off of the clone as well leaving mainly smaller new growth on the clone, reasons for this is because the bigger leaves can way the clone down when it goes threw its shock making a greater strain on the little ladies and 2, leaving bigger leaves on the clone can make it take longer to developed roots because the clone can draw stored nutrients from those leaves instead of sending out new roots to look for food. Remember the goal when cloning is to get the clone to root.
OK now after leaves have been pinched then the clone is put in another dish, the antiwilt spray, we dip it to get them completely covered with the anti wilt spray mixture. This spray can be expensive, 25 bucks for a small bottle of concentrate that makes half a gallon of stuff, but you only make a small portion unless you are taking like a couple hundred clones.
So once we take the clone from the plant, to the water, to the anti wilt spray we then dip the root in the clonex gel. The gel is a must IMO you can slide without the spray but not the gel.
Now once the clone has been removed from the gel then you are going to place it in the Rapid Ruder. Like many grow media there is a pre made hole for your clone stem, but we choose to turn the Ruder over and make our own clone hole, and the way the ruder is shaped it sits better on its head.
So lets recap the steps,
1. cut clone
2. Place into water
3. Shave stem
4. Pinch excess leafs
5. Place into anti wilt mix
6. Put into Clonex gel
7. Stick clone into Rapid Ruder
8. place into trey. OK, the ruders are pre soaked so it is not necessary to put any solution in the bottom of the trey, but you can still spray a light mist in the lid of the dome, remember just a light fog like mist. Depending on the strain and atmosphere of the cloning chamber with the anti wilt spray you can sometimes go without misting the lidbecause the anti wilt spray is supposed to help seal in the moisture that the plant already has stored inside the leaves making for faster root development by drawing only on the plants nutes to process roots quicker, which is really a faster process than dome misting, but I will not explain all of that right now, this is all ready turning into a FAQ of some sort. I have found out that it seems that some plants have a different level of condensation, in this case meaning that the water may escape from the plant in spite of the anti wilt sprays efforts to seal it in.
OK so I all ready have the heating pad under the 10x30 trey before I start taking cuttings, I keep mine on low. It seems that newly developing roots like a root temp zone of about 75d to upper 70's maybe even a little higher. Then after all of this, the dome is closed. Maybe check every 4 to 6 hours, depending on the chamber you have them in, the dome may demist quick and you will need to re mist. Do not just put water in the bottom of the trey, wait for the Ruder to tell you, if you squeeze the bottom of the Ruder and feel no moisture then you can either put a small layer of 6.5 PH adjusted water in the bottom of the trey to soak up, or in my case I will put the water in a dish and just sit the Ruder in it until it has soaked up the water about half way. In this water I put about 3 drops per gallon of Super Thrive. In my misting bottle I have nothing but water.
Some strains take as quick as 8 days to root while some take up to a month, but a good average is about 10 to 14 days. Remember, when the clones have established roots, you do not just take the dome off they can just die for the fact that the un humidified atmosphere will shock them. Wean them off of the humid dome by going in a few times a day and taking it off for 10, 20 minutes at a time working your way up until they look like they are handling it all right.
Big thing, do not be surprised if your clones look dead a few hours after you take them, they seem to go between this life and the next deciding which one they prefer. I remember after we took these clones, the next morning my wife comes running into the room saying that the clones are dead and she was ready to open up the big cab and start taking more, but I slowed her down and everything is fine now. It was pretty ugly, they were lying flat on the trey like they were praying to the god of greenery.
Well, I hope that you can follow my garble and it can help in some way or another.
Adieu

[floyd2zapper]

Hi Bluebear.Thank you very much for giving me the break down on taking clones.Very helpful could'nt of asked for more info. GREATLY APPRECIATED.Good luck with your growing mate.

Best Regards (floyd2zapper)

[fishens]

Hello
I have only cloned 6 times, so I don't profess to be an expert. Every time I have done it the same way. I take a cutting from a lower branch, put her in seedling soil(nothing is added), wet her, and put her under floros 24/7. I keep her wet until she roots and then treat her like a baby in veg until her root system is strong, then off to grow up. They rooted every time and grow up to be very nice ladies. Just another idea. Happy Growing and Good Luck.
Fishens:rasta:

[BlueBear]

KISS, Keep it Simple Sweety. The simpler the better, but cloning is one of those things that has a certain amount of fear involved so many just stick to what works. I have a bubble cloner that I haven't tried yet because I am just so comfortable with what is working now.
Adieu