Bopper's guide to taking cuttings / clones (With pictures)

[Bopper]

Hi folks, please don't think I'm trying to teach anyone to suck eggs here, it's just that infinateawesome hit me up and asked for a few tips on how to take cuttings, so seeing as how I had some time, a camera and the need to take some myself, here's a short guide on how I do it.

OK, so firstly, lets go through what you'll need in order to complete this:

A sharp blade
Some potting compost
Rooting powder / gel
A pot
A zip-lock plastic bag
A 'Mother' plant

OK, so when's good to take cuttings? Well in my experience it's best to take cuttings while the mother is still either in veg or has just been put into flower (12-12) but I've regularly taken cuttings within 2 weeks of 12-12 and equally have been successfully rooting cuttings from plants in full bloom, although they can look a bit wierd when you do that (but they taste just fine! ) More important is the maturity of the Mother plant as the stems you select will need to be mature enough to have developed some nodes of its own - more of that in a moment...

So where to take the cutting from? Well personally I've noticed that the bottom stems never get as much light as the top ones and so I generally use these. In the following pictures I have selected a lower branch and have looked for one which already has two sets of 'nodes' - places where the leaves sprout out from) and once the cutting has been taken you will need to trim off the bottom leaves so that you are left with a modest stem and just the top set.

While doing this, time is of the essence so don't fuck about, the cutting will get stressed, possibly dehydrate and die, so lets get busy and see it through quickly - lets also not forget how hermies get generated!

So by now you will have selected a branch from your mother, removed it at or just below a lower leave node and removed the lower leaves....

[Bopper]

Once you have your cutting prepared as shown, you will need to apply some rooting powder or gel to encourage new root growth. Pewrsonally I use both, but that's because I've already got both, so it's your choice, but if you elect to just use powder, remember to dip your cutting in warm water first so that it adheres to the stem.

Next, make a small hole in the potting compost with your finger and pop the cutting in, using your fingers to firm the soil around it to keep it upright.

Note - while the plant is developing roots, it will still need to feed and photosynthisis (which I bet I've spelt wrong) so before you do anything else, spray your cutting with some water using a mister (spray gun).

Now you should carefully place your plant in its pot inside your zip-lock bag before misting it again - this is the only nurishment and fluid it will get for a while and plants feed through their leaves as well as their roots, but right now, that's the only way your new plant will get any grub!

To recap then, apply some rooting powder or gel to the stem of your cutting and plant it in potting compost before spraying it with water and sealing the bag

[Bopper]

Now it's time to place your new cutting in a bright place so it can establish itself, grow roots and so on. It's important that you don't leave it somewhere wehre it will be exposed to extremes of heat or cold, and certtainly something like a 150W growlamp would be ideal for this - that's what I use in winter!

What next? Well at least once a day, maybe twice, you should revisit your cutting, open up its plastic bag and let it breathe. In addition, you should also be misting it at least once a day too - remember, until the roots grow, this is the only nurishment and fluid it will get although keeping it in a sealed plastic bubble will result in a warm and humid environment which it will love.

Beware though, because mold can set in if your cutting gets too damp or if you let it's remaining leaves touch the compost! That'll fuck it right up and that's for sure!

Anyway, if you don't fancy having your cutting in a plastic bag, another way to enclose it is through using the base of a plastic bottle. I use both methods, depending on what I have available at the time and here are some pictures of a few variations on this theme.

OK, so cocoa growers and rock wool lovers - what about you? Well, I don't use rockwool, never have and I've no experience of it, but I do grow in cocoa now so for those that do, you can use a 50-50 mix of potting compost and cocoa for your potting if you like, or just the compost. Compost is good because it does hold a bit more moisture than cocoa and once the plant has taken root you'll be potting it on in a bigger pot anyway so it's no biggie.

How long to keep it in the pot / bag - well, rooting can take anything from 5 to 15 days, sometimes longer, but you'll be looking at your clones every day as you spray them so look out for signs of wilting, yellowing and death - none of which result in the propagation of the species!

[seeofgreen]

If you remember i asked a ? or two myself and did good my first time with a 100% rate out of 8 that i took....its a class i dont miss
Thanks again....

Hey mods?...make this a sticky......

[Bopper]

Here's a few more pictures for you, this time of a small plant that I've grown from a cutting - this plant is 'Pot of Gold' and was taken from it's mother about 3 weeks ago.

This is the original pot that I planted it in and today was the first time I've lifted it out for a lookie lookie (the knife is in there just for scale guys) anyway, this is how your clone will look after a few weeks - oh, btw, removing the dome or bag should be done in instalments guys, otherwise your plant could go into shock.

My advice would be to start exposure during the evenings for 2-3 hours for a couple of days before removing it entirely, but watch and monitor the health of you plant so you can tell if it's thriving or suffereing. Like with so many aspects of growing anything, patience is a virtue and if you have to put your cuttings back in the bag for a week or so longer, so what, it's not a race, right?

OK, so that's me done, I hope this is of interest / benefit and if you have any questions - post 'em here and we'll get back to ya's!

Happy growing Blades!

Bopper out!

[pemberton]

Great guide man, perfect for people like me who have never cloned a plant before. Definitely make this a sticky!

[DierWolf]

Good Guide Bopper.... One word of suggestion to all those would be cloners out there...

In this guide bopper only has 1 node (1 fanleaf pulled off at the bottom) where roots can grow out of.

Its suggested you select a cutting that you can get at least 2 nodes under the soil, this gives you a much higher percentage of success.

If your plant was grown correctly internode spacing should be very very close and you should have no problem getting even 3 or 4 nodes below ground.

In addition, you dont have to rush anything once the slip is cut, what i do and always do is put the cutting in water as soon as it is cut and let it sit in the water for about 5 minutes before putting the rooting hormone and placing it into soil/rockwool. This allows the cutting to soak up some water which will help it survive much better as well.

[seeofgreen]

Well said dier,id give rep but i gots to pass some around

Thats how i did it....

[DiAmOnD RaStA]

nice guide bopper, might take some clones off my BB mom if it comes back after the transplant lol

[Purilite]

Some one sticky this my cloning ordeal would have been so much better !

[Bopper]

Dier - nice thought mate, I'll give that a go next time - thanks.

Guys, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't have all the answers and would have loved to include rockwool and so on in this, but I don't use it and don't have the experience so that'll have to be down to someone else - sorry.

Anyways, if anyone has any questions or further thoughts, there's lots of helpful folks here that will take time out to give advice and guidence.

Good luck Blades and happy cloning!

Bopper out

[infiniteawesome]

Holy crap Bopper, this is so much better than I had expected! Thanks alot! +rep if I can, but I've saved this thread in my favs as this is a technique I've been looking for.

It will be a while before I can come online again as my grow just started and I have to do everything I can to save electricity, BUT I do have a few questions about this and will come in from time to time to see how it's going.

Bopper, I've heard that clones don't need a great deal of light to survive, as long as there is something of substantial light intensity and proper wave spectrums. Is one or two 60 watt fluorescent flood lights acceptable for lighting clones?

Also, I've heard of a technique where one clones to rockwool, then, once rooted, transplants to soil by placing pearlite around the rockwool and then surrounding it in soil. Do you think such a method would work?

Thanks also to Dierwolf.

Of course, anyone is welcome to comment in regards to my above questions.

Thanks in advance.

[wolfiejp]

nice guide buddie + Rep, what i would like to know is can you some how stall or halt the rooting process as im going to be takin some clones b4 i go on holiday and i wont be back for 8 days so is there anyway i can do this, i remember reading some where that you can put them in the fridge but i cannot find the post anymore.

so if this is possible could you or some other Guru explain what i would need to do to keep them alive for up to 8 days.

And no theres no one i can trust to look after them and im out of the country so i cannot take them with me either

Thanks for the input

[infiniteawesome]

Originally Posted by wolfiejp

nice guide buddie + Rep, what i would like to know is can you some how stall or halt the rooting process as im going to be takin some clones b4 i go on holiday and i wont be back for 8 days so is there anyway i can do this, i remember reading some where that you can put them in the fridge but i cannot find the post anymore.

so if this is possible could you or some other Guru explain what i would need to do to keep them alive for up to 8 days.

And no theres no one i can trust to look after them and im out of the country so i cannot take them with me either

Thanks for the input

I've also heard of using a refrigeration technique to store clones for a short period of time. I believe if you simply wet the cut area and encase it in some paper towels, then put it in a small air tight container, the cuttings will last about 11 days or less. The success of rooting will be lower obviously, but you get to hold onto your cuttings for a little while if you don't have space for them right away.

[yinyang]

good post. i nominate a sticky!