why are my clones not rooting?

hey everyone. i have had another failure attempting to propagate clones. i have been using rapid rooter plugs, with clonex gel, cutting at an angle and putting the whole tray under 2 100w cfls. after 2 weeks, still no roots. i gently pulled one of my cutting out of its plug, and there was no sign of any root formation.
i am not quite sure what i am doing wrong. any advice on cloning would be greatly appreciated. maybe just some techniques that have worked for some people.
thanks

I think that the most important thing is to cover them to keep moisture inside, plastic paper will work, poke a few holes and keep spraying water on the leaves whenever you can, they can only feed through the leaves, they will not sprout new roots unless its moist in there.

What strain is it?

My skunk #1 had a hard time cloning. The way it was corrected was by using an actual humidity dome which it sounds like you are doing and I have a heat mat under it. It keeps the inside like a tropical forest. It took a little getting used to. My mat doesn't have a thermostat so there were some overheating problems at first but now as long as I unplug the heat mat every other day or so all of my clones have been successful.

Something else you may want to try is to gently scrape the outer edge of the stem right above the angled cut to scrape off some of the outer skin. This is supposed to help. Also you might want to try this. After cutting at an angle and scraping off the skin, split the end about 1/2" using a scalpel or razor blade.

That works for me.

Good luck

hey everyone. i have had another failure attempting to propagate clones. i have been using rapid rooter plugs, with clonex gel, cutting at an angle and putting the whole tray under 2 100w cfls. after 2 weeks, still no roots. i gently pulled one of my cutting out of its plug, and there was no sign of any root formation.
i am not quite sure what i am doing wrong. any advice on cloning would be greatly appreciated. maybe just some techniques that have worked for some people.
thanks

maybe try using less light next time? I'm just starting to get the clone thing down after so many failures. One of my problems was i gave them too much light too early..

gl and keep at it you'll figure it out man.

The most important thing is to give them bottom heat. Use a heat mat made for rooting cuttings.

This should fix your problem.

thanks everyone. is it too late to still have hope for the clones that did not yet root? can i pull the cutting out of the plug, split the stem, and stick em back in? or maybe add heating pad asap and see what happens?

There is no reason that you couldn't try it. It would be best if you had the cuttings to start over with. It takes a lot out of a cutting to grow roots. It seems like by the time the roots start to grow the leaves have seen their better days. I don't know what would happen leaving a cutting with no nutrients for 4 weeks.

Even scraping and splitting the stem didn't work for me until it was placed in a humidity dome with a heat mat.

hey everyone. i have had another failure attempting to propagate clones. i have been using rapid rooter plugs, with clonex gel, cutting at an angle and putting the whole tray under 2 100w cfls. after 2 weeks, still no roots. i gently pulled one of my cutting out of its plug, and there was no sign of any root formation.
i am not quite sure what i am doing wrong. any advice on cloning would be greatly appreciated. maybe just some techniques that have worked for some people.
thanks

To root they need two things.. Low light and high humidity.

The best method that has always worked for me is to use two clear plastic cocktail cups, moist medium in one and then tape the other on top. Check for links to this method.

The clear plastic allows you to see roots when they form on the bottom and keeps a constant mist bath going inside (critical for life) the semi sealed container and allows a modicum of light in--too much light and you will create temps much too high--green house effect.. Each day squeeze them open slightly and blow some CO2 in there.

In about 6 to 12 days you should see roots from the bottom, then remove the top and gradually give more light.

I use root powder with diagonal cut but I bet this method would work with no hormones.

I have also heard that putting cuttings in the fridge for a few days (dark) before cloning increases number that root..

BM

I'm sort of the anomaly here...

I've put cuttings into rockwool or rapid rooters, using clonex gel... cut holes in a 5 gallon bucket lid, placed them in hole.

Attach airstone and submerge into bucket of water, ph'd to 5.5, superthrive, and 150ppm nutrients. Placed 3 feet below 400w MH. Put a humidity dome on the bucket.... and a small container of water under dome.

clones in 10 days.. some dead ones but hey... worked for me

i'd go do some reading in the stickies to get a good idea what you may be doing wrong. you really don't need anything fancy to root clones. i've know people that put them in a glass of water in a windowsil. in the colder months, it's best to have a heat source for the rooting area. a humidity dome will also increase your chances. i don't think you have to worry about too much lighting. i usually use a t-5 about a foot away. as mentioned, if you use a dome, open it a couple times a day for 5 or 10 minutes to exchange the air. keep your cubes (or whatever) moist but not soaked, there needs to be air.

I use an Easy-Clone machine, and I can produce roots in 4 days. I used to scrape the end of the cutting just above where I cut, and I DO NOT recommend this. When I switched from rockwool to the Easy-Cloner I noticed that my roots would never grow out of where I scraped. They would always grow above it. So DO NOT SCRAPE!!! My advice to you is always cut at or just above a node. The roots seem to like to come out of the nodes fast. I also recommend using Roottech cloning gel. And if an Easy-Clone machine is conducive to your system, I recommend them as well. I can take a cutting, let it sit in the open air for days, cut off the bottom couple of inches stick it in gel, put it in the machine and have roots in a week. The clone machines are great, as it has eliminated the need for veg. I can take a 12" clone and as soon as it has roots I throw it in bud.
Oh yea.. don't pull the cutting out of the cube to check for roots. If it did have any you just pulled them off by pulling it out. If it still looks healthy, like a growing plant, leave it alone. You will see roots soon enough.

One of the most common mistakes made when cloning happens before you even cut the clone. About a week before taking clippings, you should flush your mother plant with only a mild dose of nutrient. This will ensure that there are significantly lower levels of nitrates in the plants system. Cuttings will only "start" to produce roots once majority of nitrates have been metabolized, so starting with less nitrates is a must to guarantee roots in less then a week, not an E-Z clone machine........no offence.


Peace!

One of the most common mistakes made when cloning happens before you even cut the clone. About a week before taking clippings, you should flush your mother plant with only a mild dose of nutrient. This will ensure that there are significantly lower levels of nitrates in the plants system. Cuttings will only "start" to produce roots once majority of nitrates have been metabolized, so starting with less nitrates is a must to guarantee roots in less then a week, not an E-Z clone machine........no offence.


Peace!

Oh, I'm offended!!!! jk. I have never seen anything produce roots as fast as the EZ cloner. There are many factors that contribute to proper propagation. All I am saying is that this machine works great. No other system has worked as well for me.

Oh, I'm offended!!!! jk. I have never seen anything produce roots as fast as the EZ cloner. There are many factors that contribute to proper propagation. All I am saying is that this machine works great. No other system has worked as well for me.

yes, there are many other important factors when cloning, water temp being one of em. All Im sayin is that itit is possible to get big fat hairy roots in under a week in a normal tray.

I agree. The machines are just so much fun. You get to watch it all happen. The only down side to them is the cost, but I made a nice one once with some watter sprinkler heads attached to a sub-pump set inside a sweater tub. The whole thing cost about $50.

nice, how many clones @ a time are you rooting?

yeah get some humidity onto those plants. Make sure there isnt alot of leaves. if they big, cut them inhalf. The feeding needs to focus on growing roots instead of going to the leaves. You just need a few leaves to make the photosynthesis work. a bubbler works the best for clones. ill soon be posting all my pics of my shit and ull see. ive never lost a clone to date using this method

Put your lights on 16/8 while rooting clones, they can only truly root during darkness, when photosynthesis has halted. While photosynthesis is occurring, rooting is slowed dramatically due to the plant committing its activity to photosynth... Trick is, when you make the cut, cut it underwater to prevent air bubbles from causing any trouble. Cut the clone then cut again under water. Next, stick in a humidity dome (even an aquarium) and moisten the shit out of it, even the walls of the aquarium. Afterwards, make sure you water the leaves often so that your clones can eat a bit, feeds nutes if desired. Make sure the light isn't too strong and that the cycle isn't too long, as said before, the plant won't root under light. Don't keep it in complete dark at all times, just a good 16/8 schedule will do, since the plant will focus more on rooting, hope this helps.