Rooting Hormones.

[UncleSativa]

Instead of rooting hormones i put kelp and Superthrive in a gallon of water but the clones dont seem to be doing very well. Is rooting hormones neccesary? Thanks everyone!!

 

[JBonez]

Alot of people just use ph'd water, i have roots excelurator, but i havent used it on my clones yet, ill post results when i do!

 

[leafminer]

Yes , rooting hormones are necessary. I found out the hard way. All my clones died. I have 5 new clones of 4 days now, doing just great. Keep the clones away from heat and use lower level lighting than you give your plants. I'm sure there are plenty of good guides here.

 

[Tater]

Leafminer you are wrong, You don't need rooting hormones for clones. You just need to take large clones (4 inches plus) off of healthy plants and supply them with a humid environment for the first 5 days of there life. I haven't used rooting hormone since the very first time I tried to clone and it failed miserably. Later I discovered it was me that was killing the clones. Go figure. I don't even do a second cut under water anymore. All I do is soak my rockwool cubes in ph'd water, take my cuttings strip the growth from the lowest node, put the cutting into the rockwool put it in my humidity dome and then go play video games. After 5 days of playing Halo3 I go back and take the humidity dome off, give them a bit of water (you want the cube moist NOT wet, dunk them in a pale and give them a light squeeze and you'll be fine) and then I go back to playing video games for another week. By that time I have roots and they can begin their veg cycle. I have a 95% success rate which could easily be 100% but I'm lazy and don't really care if a couple of my clones die, in a month I'll have so many again that I need to throw them out anyways.

Good luck and remember.... KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid

If you are going to worry about your plants to death you may just succeed.

 

[Hick]

I probably have a lower success rate 'without' hormone, but it definately isn't "necessary".

 

[CasualGrower]

I never use hormones anymore..... I just take a good sized cutting... and I use a bubble cloner now with straight tap water.... I usually dont even worry about the ph too much heh... Just add a lil shot of Liquid Karma and maybe a lil Pure blend Grow for good measure..... Let them sit.. after about 5 days I have good root bumps and 8 inch roots after 2 weeks.....

Success rate is close to 100 percent for me using this method.

 

[THCPezDispenser]

Success rate is close to 100 percent for me using this method.

Same strain? Word is some strains root in water easily, while others don't. For anyone with a new strain they are not experienced with I think it would be prudent to test a single clone in water before finding out the hard way and ending up with a hacked up mother and a whack of dead clones.

 

[Tater]

Due diligence is always worth it in the end. I got a couple strains that take a few days longer than the rest and like to wilt really bad on me but they always make it in the end lol.

Oh and to clarify my first post I'm not saying don't use rooting hormone if you have it about, I just wouldn't worry about rushing to the store to get some. Its not necessary but "probably" helps ;P

 

[leafminer]

I found the hard way that without rooting powder it doesn't work - however I don't have fancy equipment, the air is arid, and the last time I tried it the ambient (outdoor) temperature was 42C. Clones don't last long at 42C.

 

[Tater]

Do you consider an ice cream pail water and light to be fancy equipment? Because thats all you need. If you your humidity is to low use the ice cream pail. Flip it upside down and drill a couple holes for ventilation and put it over your plants (got that from a member on this site). Also if you can't keep your room temp ( I assume your room was this hot as well otherwise why mention the ambient outdoor temperature) at a decent level you shouldn't be growing or cloning until you have that sorted out. I'm not trying to pick on you here but you are misinformed.

 

[POTUS]

Let's do keep this simple.

If used properly, rooting hormones will help a plant develop more root mass in less time than without it.

I've tried both in several types of conditions many times throughout the years.

The best gadget I've ever owned is my rooting machine. I fill it with water, add the proper amount of rooting hormone to it, put the cuttings into some hydroton filled net cups and drop them into the machine for 14 days.

When I take the lid off, 14 days later, all the cuttings have roots about a foot long hanging into the water. Lots of roots. I sometimes have to use a razor to cut them apart.

I've never seen this dramatic of an example of fast and profuse rooting in any other form of rooting methods.

Is rooting hormone necessary? No.

Is rooting hormone a good thing to use if you want really profuse, healthy, and massive amounts of roots to show in 14 days? Yes.

It's no big deal. The stuff is cheap. It works.

I see no issue here.

 

[That crazy vancouver guy]

here's some visual aid on what POTUS is talking about (profuse root growth using rooting hormone).

I took these cuttings the first week of the month - once scraped and coated in rooting powder, into pot it went. took out today when I did a mass culling and took some pics and threw it into a glass of water to flower in the windowsill :hubba: - the crazy man's at it again....

notice all the rootgrowth is all over where I scraped the sides of the cutting?

 

[greenfriend]

vancouver, do you just use a razor to scrape tissue off the sides in addition to the diagonal cut on your clones. those root masses look great! i am cutting, dipping in cloning, and put in dome in moist 4in rockwool cubes but am not seeing the 95% success that others seem to have. im new to cloning tho. thanks

 

[Tater]

It's no big deal. The stuff is cheap. It works.

I see no issue here.

True, but the question was, is it necessary.

 

[Tater]

Greenfriend, yes you can scar the sides with a razor or knife or scissors. I just use my thumbnail. You basically want to scrape it (gently) until you see the inner white hurd exposed.

 

[POTUS]

True, but the question was, is it necessary.

Necessary? Absolutely? No.

Eating a balanced diet of grains, fruit, vegetables and meat isn't "NECESSARY" for humans either.

You can survive and live from eating nothing but potatoes and the proper vitamins.

Will you be healthier if you ate a balanced diet of food? Yes.

Will cuttings root faster, root more and be healthier when properly using a rooting hormone.

Yes. Every time, but it's not "necessary" if all you want is the plants to survive.