Rockwool or Rapid Rooter plugs?

[KingTut144]

I'm approaching the point in the next week or so where i can clone my females. I have about 4 females (i think my other 3 might be male, haven't gotten that far into flowering yet to tell) and they're all about 12" tall with tons of potential clone material (i plan to make at least 65-72 clones). I don't care if the mother(s) live or die, they're in my hydro system as well but only to jump start my grow, i will proceed to soiled mothers once i've filled up my 144 sites of much needed growth. (the mothers will end up being 3rd generation clones)

Anyway, onto the point.

What works best for you guys as far as jump starting clones? Rockwool cubes or the r.r. plugs?
I see people using rockwool a lot, but the guy at my greenhouse uses r.r. plugs and gets great results... he uses Azos powder (50/50 mix with water). He soaks about 5 or 6 of same strain cuttings in a shot glass for 20min. Then puts them in the plugs. Then uses another 50/50 mixture (unused for dipping cuttings) to pour over the plugs. He claims he gets 100% rooting.

This sounds great and all, but i guess i'm just not a fan of the plugs and i haven't tried anything different to really know what i like to use best. Any of you other guys have some input on how you do your cloning with good success rates?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I generally root in a bubble cloner with no medium. However, I have used both rockwool and rapid rooters with about equal results. Rockwool needs to be soaked in a solution pH'd to about 5.5 before using. Rapid rooters just need to be moistened. Why don't you try both and see what one you like or which one works best for you?

Just curious what you are going to do with 65-72 (or 144) clones--that is a bunch of clones!

 

[Locked]

I have been trying different cloning methods this season. I used to use my bubble cloner with no medium but I didn't get very good success rates. This year I am using rockwool in my bubble cloner and the cuts are shooting roots out quick and hard. I also have tried just putting the cuts into rapid rooters in 2 litter soda bottles that I have cut down and I let them sit in my veg tent far from the light. Those are throwing roots as well just not as fast. I will take some pics and post them here.

 

[Locked]

Okay here is my current cloning methods.

This is my bubble cloner..I use rockwool and dip my cuts in clonex. The foil tape is to keep light out.




This is the 2 litter soda bottle method I have also been trying out. I am using Rapid Rooters but have also used Rock Wool with great success.

 

[jmansweed]

I'm a Rockwool guy personally. I used EZ cloners for years as well. Clones take a bit of practice and methods vary depending on your environment and strain. You'll find some folks here clone with no humidity domes and others you loose clones over night to a lack of moisture. Its worth trying a few methods to see what works best for your situation.

I keep it relatively simple. I disinfect the area, use powdered rooting hormone, rockwool and a humidity dome. I rarely loose any....

 

[DrFever]

Rockwool is still pretty expensive to clone , i found miracle grow seedling mix soil works well, 1 cap full of H202 into 2 liters of water mixing soil till you can grab a fist full of soil and it squishes pretty good, place them into 1" trays take cuttings
Also over the years of cloning plenty of clones the over priced rooting gels is not needed and don't fall for that gimmic.
cheap 3.00 Schultz's rooting powder works just as good walmart / rona / homedepot rooting powder is all you need
Important part of cloning is strerilization of razors and tools needed and proper temps and humidity and you will have 100 percent success rate
just let them do there thing 90 percent of time failures are from growers constantly bothering them clone mist dome and walk away come back 4 days later and start misting once a day after that

 

[DrFever]

Here is my take on cloning first off you need a healthy plant in order to have good rates, secondly week to two weeks prior to cloning feeding schedules should stop and only water, given to plant to rid plants of its nitrogen content
There are many myths on where to take a cutting on a plant. some say bottom of plant and so on , i say where ever you get a good cutting period is where you should take them , topping a plant and cloning it ?????
Will root but as you actually took clone from a main stem its going to take allot longer to root.
so when choosing where to take cuttings try not to take them from main stem area's
In a perfect environment a healthy cutting will not change color like we so many times see some coloring leaf changes occur when cutting was taken from a plant high with N , or a unhealthy plant to begin with or during transition change ( Transplant shock )
here are pics of rooted clones getting ready for transplant green and as well 8th day after transplant vigirious growth healthy and please note the lower leaf in pic 2945 that was original leaf trim on clone day and there green
you want healthy clones or bottom line your dealing with stressed out plants and nothing but issues

 

[williamraed]

I'm approaching the point in the next week or so where i can clone my females. I have about 4 females (i think my other 3 might be male, haven't gotten that far into flowering yet to tell) and they're all about 12" tall with tons of potential clone material (i plan to make at least 65-72 clones). I don't care if the mother(s) live or die, they're in my hydro system as well but only to jump start my grow, i will proceed to soiled mothers once i've filled up my 144 sites of much needed growth. (the mothers will end up being 3rd generation clones)

Anyway, onto the point.

What works best for you guys as far as jump starting clones? Rockwool cubes or the r.r. plugs?
I see people using rockwool a lot, but the guy at my greenhouse uses r.r. plugs and gets great results... he uses Azos powder (50/50 mix with water). He soaks about 5 or 6 of same strain cuttings in a shot glass for 20min. Then puts them in the plugs. Then uses another 50/50 mixture (unused for dipping cuttings) to pour over the plugs. He claims he gets 100% rooting.

This sounds great and all, but i guess i'm just not a fan of the plugs and i haven't tried anything different to really know what i like to use best. Any of you other guys have some input on how you do your cloning with good success rates?

I think Rapid Rooter Plugs is the best work for you guys as far as jump starting clones because of They will root just excellent upside down, status up on the smooth top all on their own.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

LOL--I often turn rapid rooters over and poke my own holes, too.

Dirt is well and good if you are growing in soil, but if you are growing hydro, you need some other medium.

 

[stonedagain714]

ive had good success with rapid rooters also.it seems that you do have to turn them upside down and make your own hole,because the manufactured hole is usually to big to keep a good contact with the stem.

 

[maineharvest]

Haha flipping them upside down is genius! Why didn't I think of that? I love rapid rooters but stopped using them cause they will tip over so easily. Now I can just flip them over. I used to use rockwool but have not in a couple years. Lately I've been using jiffy pellets and I find they work juat as well as rr or rockwool but take a lil longer to root.

 

[KingTut144]

okay, so, i'm trying the rapid rooter plugs out right now... one question i have though is does it matter how early on after flowering you make the cuttings? And is there a minimum size to how big the cuttings have to be?

I ask because i went ahead and trimmed up my ladies and decided that since i need to fill up my sites (i have x4 36 site GenHydro root drench system) i would try out cloning the cuttings... some cuttings are quite small and some are a bit larger but none of them are the size of what i would THINK they need to be... and i'm not expecting 100% success, but at least a few more ladies would be nice...

No answer the above question, i need that many clones because right now i have two 36 sites running... only 7 plants per site right now so 29 spots are going unused. To add on, i have them covered up with duct tape and it seems that the reaction to the sticky side of the tape is affecting the nutrients (so much that it's giving effects of Calcium deprivation so i add about 1ml every 3 days to keep the ladies healthy). The sooner i get the sites filled up, the less tape i have to use (cuz i haven't found another effective method using household materials).

 

[Hushpuppy]

I have used rapid rooters with good success, but I have a plug holder tray that each rooter sets in so that it will stay upright and the holes in mine were smaller so that I didn't have any trouble with setting cuttings. However I only use them for germing seeds now since I built my new bubble cloner.

A couple tricks that may help you though, as you said that you weren't sure about taking cuttings. Here's a few things to know: you can take cuttings from almost anywhere on the plant and at most any time but for best success rate and the quickest turn around time, you need to be more particular. First, it is best if you can take cuttings from lower parts of the plant as those have less "grow" hormones and will switch over to "rooting" hormones quicker than cuttings taken from the top of the plant.

Second, it seems best for me to take cuttings that have 3-4 leaf nodes and are at least 4-5" long. I cut mine pretty long then when I have several, I go and cut them again with a sharp clean razor blade about 1/4" below the 3rd or 4th leaf node, and on a 45degree angle. I also cut away any leaves except the top 2 sets(4 leaves), and those I trim in half if they are bigger than the diameter of a quarter. I then use the razor to skin some of the outer tissue off of the stem around the bottom 1/4" so that the softer inner tissue is exposed(not the white stuff), then dip it in clone gel and allow to sit for 20-30min. before putting it into the cloner.

I have found at this point that if I keep my cloner and/or rooters in an enclosed space and maintain 78-82degrees in both air (and water for the bubble-cloner) and then have only 1 flourescent light in the "warm"(bloom, 3000K) spectrum, which is on a timer so that it turns off for 30min out of every 3hrs. I learned this by trial and error back in the summer because I had to turn the light off periodically to cool the space. But I found that it increased my success rate and shortened the time to get fully rooted.

Here is a couple pics of my cloner with cuttings that are 7days from the cut

 

[KingTut144]

So what exactly is a Bubble Cloner and how it it different than the average clone tray?

 

[stonedagain714]

i made a home made one by taking a large tupperware bowl with a lid.drilled several holes in the lid the size that some larger aquarium hose will fit in snug.cut hose into half inch to inch peices.place cuttings in hose.add water.add an aquarium pump.water should not touch bottoms of stems but the bubbles hit stem

 

[Hushpuppy]

As you can see in the pic, it is just a shallow rubber/plastic tote with lid. I modified it some by cutting out another piece of flat lid from another that I wasn't using, and glued it to the lid of the cloner. I cut 1" holes through the lower lid and made the upper part holes big enough for the black neoprene inserts to fit and be held in place. On the inside of the tote is water with clonex solution and root growth stimulator mixed in. then there is 4 air stones connected to 2 good and quiet aquarium air pumps so that the water churns with bubbles constantly. I also have a heater to maintain 80degrees in the water. As you can see, I get roots in 1 week. I don't like to use the hose method like Stoned because I like to let them get a good rootmass before I plant them in coco, and the smaller holes make it tricky to get them out without damaging the roots when the rootmass gets bigger.

There are several ways to clone that all work well enough. I have a friend who used to clone in the little plastic dixi cups with just plain water. He would change the water twice a day until the cuttings threw a few roots, then he would transplant. He got at least 50% success, but I like to get closer to 100% success, and the aeroponic and bubble cloners seem to have the best results for me.