Ebb & Flow

Hushpuppy said:

That looks good to me. Just don't whack one of the trays with your elbow and send it flying, like I would do :doh:

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Hushpuppy said:

Oh yeah picking the right branch is important. That is the bad thing about cloning; there are several parameters that are important and lots of variables that can screw them up. I look for branches that are low on the plant but also are strong and healthy. I look for stems that are sturdy but not yet "woody". I try to find the stems that are about 6" long, with at least 4 leaf nodes. I like stems that are generally about 5mm in diameter. I try to get branches that I can do a final cut 1/4" below a leaf node, so that I can cut off the leaf flush and expose more inner flesh where roots develop, but still have a good 4-5" of stem.

I cut off all but the top 4 leaves, and those I cut in half if they are big. I do my final cut after everything else is ready so that I can dip it quickly into my cloning gel to prevent embolisms, then stick it into my solo cup of medium. When I used the "Rapid Rooters", I used a pencil to open the hole in the plug to slide the cutting in place about 80% of the depth of the plug.

Its critical to keep them either covered or in an enclosed environment where you can maintain 75-80f and 70-80% humidity. Then I place them under bloom spectrum light at about 50-60% of the lumens for veg. Then just keep the plugs moist but not soaked. When I used the RR plugs, I kept the hydroton wet beneath them but never got water on them. I instead checked them 2x a day and added about 8-10ml of water to each plug if it felt/looked dry, which wasn't but once a day until they got their roots going.

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DirtyDiana said:

Too complicated. Aero cloning is uncomplicated. I get about 90 to 100% of my clones.

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Hushpuppy said:

I spray my clones when I put them in the 2ltr soda bottle domes, and I spray the domes as well. I do this once a day for the first week. then less as they seem to hold their own.

I can't spray these wimps, the weight of the drops.
they bend eventually, that's what happens, see pic, two in front promising, one in back is what the end up looking like, don't get it,

Then I start removing the domes for short periods and then longer periods. You will find some variation in how much misting the plants like depending on the strain. I also put just a couple drops of rooting tonic in my misting water so that they get a little foliar feed to help them along. Some plants love this, and some hate it.

my clones aren't having any of this , ready to throw in the towel

I personally don't like to leave my rooter plugs open like you have yours because it allows for too much drying, too fast, but under the larger dome it may not be an issue.

mine are still damp to touch 24hrs later, I ca watch color shade on side of plug go down the plug
3 ft from 2 x T5 room temps, 80 - 95 HUM, I remove dome at 90 until 80 again, spray dome,

I also cut off any larger leaves before putting them into the cloner, and only leave smaller leaves or cut them in half. It seems to help hold the plants in suspended animation while the rooting hormones take over.

doesn't seem to help, should lamp be off ???

If you have large leaves under light, they want to do their "veg" function and that slows the rooting function, and the leaves continue to lose water due to normal "veg" function which robs the clone of moisture that it currently has difficulty retrieving from the plug due to being cut. The cut stump will absorb moisture through "capillary" action but it is no-ways as efficient as what just a couple roots are able to do. That is also why we keep the air very moist. It prevents the cuttings from losing water as fast and allows them to take in a little from the air.

aha, nevermind
thanks as usual, HP

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