Clones not rooting

[Track]

I've got 10 clones in root riot cubes in a humidity dome for about two weeks now, and none of them have rooted.

At first, I kept misting them every day but I read somewhere that if you keep doing that the plants won't grow roots because they'll get all the water they need from the spraying.

So, instead, I opted to stop misting them and I began to water them like a regular plant.

Ever since then, the clones have been absolutely fine without any misting and it's been about 4 days.

So, logically, I assumed that that must mean that they have rooted, but unfortunately that has not happened.

Also, one of the clones seems to have stem rot.. or something. The stem is soft like jello and it can't support the leaves.. although strangely, the leaves look good.

Another thing about the leaves is that some of them have turned completely yellow, but the rest seem fine.

What do I do!? My mother plant is already into flowering so I'm getting worried because I can't clone any more.

Please help!

 

[7greeneyes]

If it's not too far, you could pull the mother out of bloom and take cuts or just take cuts if she's only been in there for a couple of weeks while keeping the mother in bloom.


I clone in soil and not RR's, maybe someone else can help you w/ your stem rot problem.

 

[Hushpuppy]

With cloning you don't want to "water" them as that will cause "damping off" which is the stem rotting that you are seeing. You only want to keep them moist. You would have been better to keep misting but rather than misting the clones themselves, mist the rooters to keep them moist but not "wet". I usually use a medicine dropper when cloning in rooters and squirt about 3-5ml off water on each rooter every other day (depending on how quickly they dry out).

You also have to be very patient with cuttings as some strains will take as much as a few weeks to even begin to grow roots, while others will pop out roots in a matter of days. I don't know what kind of light you have them under but while cuttings are rooting they need just enough light to keep them alive but not enough to keep them in the veg function. The key to rooting is to cause the vegging ffunction within the plant to pause so that the rooting hormones can take over and cause the function to switch to rooting. I use a single 3000k T5HO bulb over my clones on 24/7

You will see some leaf yellowing on cuttings that take longer to root. This is normal due to the plant trying to grow in veg and not having access to the nutrients that it wants for vegging, so it takes them from the lower leaves. Yellowing is a sign that the cuttings have been taking too long to root, possibly because of the light being too bright for the veg function to pause. You can spray them with a small amount of Superthrive or rooting tonic like Technaflora's Root66 to help them to stay going and to encourage rooting.

I personally prefer to use a bubble cloner over the rooter plugs as I get much ffaster results and I am able to know that they are rooting long before you know with the rooters. I hope this helps you

 

[Track]

Wow, thank you all. This is very helpful.

I think the mistakes I've made (so far) have been:

1.) Wetting the Root Riot cubes, instead of dampening them. I squeezed out all the excess water a couple hours ago and there was a ton of it! I am really worried at this point that they have all succumbed to rot.. very worried. I can't find out until tomorrow when my plants wake up.

2.) Using powerful lights. At first, I had them under a 540w CFL array. I later reduced it to 270w. Now I am going to go down to 135w.. should I go lower? All I have besides the 135w is 25w.


In regards to the humidity dome.. should I keep it? Perhaps I could scrap it and see if things pick up with lower humidity? Or maybe I could plant the clones directly and see what happens..?


As for getting more clones.. My mother plant is about 6 days into flowering but the buds are already coming in (quite beautiful).
I am going to lollipop all my plants in the morning and hopefully I can utilize the cuttings for more clones..


On another note, has anyone here tried the water cup method? It's where you clone directly in water. Someone recommended it to me.. is it superior to using the root riot cubes?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

No, rooting in a cup of water is not better and will not give better results than rooter. However, you might want to check out making a bubble cloner. They usually work quite well. Also, multi has a thread on cloning using rock wool and baggies that you might want to check out. I think that keeping cloning medium too wet is common and causes rot problems like mentioned.

"I can't find out until tomorrow when my plants wake up." Don't you have your clones in 24/7 light? What are your temps?

 

[Track]

No, rooting in a cup of water is not better and will not give better results than rooter. However, you might want to check out making a bubble cloner. They usually work quite well. Also, multi has a thread on cloning using rock wool and baggies that you might want to check out. I think that keeping cloning medium too wet is common and causes rot problems like mentioned.

"I can't find out until tomorrow when my plants wake up." Don't you have your clones in 24/7 light? What are your temps?

Ah, yes. I forgot about the temps. They're <28C in the day time.

I don't know what the temps are at night because my plants are flowering and they must be in complete darkness.

Unfortunately, they share one room, so I can't enter it while the plants are asleep.

As for the baggie method.. props to multi for the guide, the pictures are great.. but I don't think it's for me. I have mixed results with baggies.. seems like your luck with them hasn't been quite promising either.

 

[Track]

only flowering plants should be kept in 12/12
vegging plants/cuttings are typically kept in a min of 18/6 i keep all of my cuttings and vegging plants in 24/7 light.

No, like I said in my original post - my plants are IN flowering (6 days so far), which why I am worried because I read that you can no longer take cuttings from flowering plants.

I was actually told to keep my clones at 18/6 because, quote "they grow roots when it's dark".. don't know if I should believe that or not.

 

[Locked]

N

I was actually told to keep my clones at 18/6 because, quote "they grow roots when it's dark".. don't know if I should believe that or not.

That is not true. I always keep my clones on a 24/0 light schedule. One of the mistakes newer growers make is keeping the cuttings under too bright a light. Too much light will inhibit root growth. I keep mine under a single 26w CFL. Some strains and even phenos within a strain are harder to get roots from then others. My Larry OG cut sometimes takes 3 full weeks to throw roots.

 

[rascal]

Some guy on Youtube says cuttings need a fair amount of PK to root , so why not try a very mild dose of bloom nutrient on them !

 

[Track]

That is not true. I always keep my clones on a 24/0 light schedule. One of the mistakes newer growers make is keeping the cuttings under too bright a light. Too much light will inhibit root growth. I keep mine under a single 26w CFL. Some strains and even phenos within a strain are harder to get roots from then others. My Larry OG cut sometimes takes 3 full weeks to throw roots.

That certainly would explain quite a bit.

Should I go down to 25w or stick with 135w?

 

[Locked]

That certainly would explain quite a bit.

Should I go down to 25w or stick with 135w?

It might help...or you can keep the light you have further away if possible. They don't need a lot of lumens while they are busy making roots.

I didn't see any mention of you using a rooting hormone. Did you? If not that can also slow things down. If your light is too bright and you didn't use rooting hormone, 2 weeks without seeing roots yet is not that abnormal.

 

[orangesunshine]

as multi said dump any rotted cuts---as hl said keep the lumens low---as somebody else said constant temps @72*---and yet another said don't over water

my 2 sense---if they healthy, green,and still standing---they will root for ya

 

[kaotik]

my 2 sense---if they healthy, green,and still standing---they will root for ya

always been my experience too.

don't over-love em

i find they root slower if it's colder too, so your temps might be dipping a bit at night (a green light would be a good purchase, for after hour emergencies )


not much more to add in. no worries if you must cut new clones a week in bloom either.

 

[sunakard2000]

i kinda had the same problem before, dont keep the rooters wet, but rather slightly moist. while in the cloning tray/dome i only directly "water" the rooters once every 4 or 5 days and with only about 3 or 4 sprays from a spray bottle of plain water, but thats just to make sure the inside near the stem is moist, with my daily spraying of the inside of the dome and trapping in as much of the mist as possible from about 10-20 sprays to ensure my RH% stays around 70-80%, is enough to keep the rapid rooters moist enough between "waterings"... moist is key, never never wet, otherwise rot sets in and spreads fast.

ps, iv taken clones with great and quick rooting results upto the 2nd week into flower, the plant isnt quite flowering yet but its close, if you take it before its in full bloom it will readapt to the 24hrs of light quicker and root sooner, how ever technially you can take a clone clipping any time but the later into flower the harder, at that point most people who refuse to give up the strain and usualy a last ditch effort to save that strain for another season will only harvest 2/3 of the plant and attempt to re-veg the lower 1/3, this can take a long time as hormones need to balance out in the other direction for vegging. but seeing as you are only 6 days into flower, when ever you have the chance to get in there, no real rush, take some more lower clippings and try again at cloning...

 

[Track]

It might help...or you can keep the light you have further away if possible. They don't need a lot of lumens while they are busy making roots.

I do keep the lights somewhat far away.. about 24 inches.

I didn't see any mention of you using a rooting hormone. Did you? If not that can also slow things down. If your light is too bright and you didn't use rooting hormone, 2 weeks without seeing roots yet is not that abnormal.

Sorry, yes. I used a generous portion of Clonex and the Clonex nutrient spray is what I spray them with.

my 2 sense---if they healthy, green,and still standing---they will root for ya

Yeah, that's what everyone told me but.. it hasn't really proven the case

 

[Hushpuppy]

You didn't clarify if you are keeping your cuttings in the same light cycle as the flowering plants. Iff so, that is a problem. It is causing 2 issues. One is the hormones for rooting will get held down by the flowering hormones that are given rise by the light cycle. Also the 12hrs off darkness is very likely allowing them to get too cool. You need to move your cloning station to a separate location where they can have a stable atmosphere off upper 70s not lower 70s, and at least 18hr light. I use a single bulb that is 54watts on 24hrs with much success.

You can actually use the water cup method for rooting but it isn't recommended because it can be tricky for those who are inexperienced. The rooter cubes work quite well when kept in the right conditions and proper atmosphere. I prefer to use a bubble cloner but I think for new growers the rooter cubes are the easier bet.