1 Week Old Clones having some trouble...

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by WeeeZ, Sep 6, 2012.

  1. Hey guys, I'm a first time grower and member here and i'm looking for some advice. I bought 40 clones from a friend of mine and picked them up from out of town. I placed them under my 2 42' F5 florescent lights and keep the humidity dome on them all the time. I have a nice small square room that is covered in Mylar that will eventually be my veg room. I've been using bottled water to mist the clones about ever 2-4 hours as my friend reccomended. I've had them for 1 week and many leaves are starting to turn yellow. I investigated and they do not have good root systems at all yet.

    Just went to the store today and bought a temp and humidity gauge, along with some PH strips, and a root growing enhancer called RapidStart Rooting Enhancer. I tested the PH (without the RapidStart as I haven't used it yet) and the PH of my water seems to be at 7-8 ish. I am not sure what I should do about getting my plants back to healthy conditions at this point... The PH is a little high but I am not sure how to go about lowering it or raising it slightly, I have some PH up and PH down solutions but I am not sure if they are meant for clones so I want to be careful.

    The temp is around 70-75, the humidity seems to be reading at around 55%.

    I've attached some pictures of the room and plants... Please give me some insight on what I need to do to get these babies back on track!!


    PICS:
    http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...0/814126ed.jpg

    http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...0/921dd1c6.jpg

    http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...0/b53b6c4d.jpg

    http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...0/7bea049e.jpg

    http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...0/1a4662fc.jpg

    http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...0/217bf549.jpg

    http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...0/482848e3.jpg
     

  2. none of your links work atleast not for me
     

  3. raise humidity level and lower ph this i know for sure but to what extent not sure "just starting out aswell"
     
  4. I can't view your pics either. From what I can tell, your humidity is way too low. Have any of the clones developed any roots yet? Some yellowing of the leaves is completely normal for clones, they are just using up some of the food stored in the lower leaves. I grow organically so I don't measure pH or mess with pH up/down at all, but I would definitely not use the pH up/down in the water for the clones. Use distilled or reverse osmosis water for now, the pH should be fine.

    Also, your humidity is way too low for clones. Get a seedling tray that has a humidity dome and put them in there or put a large ziploc bag over the pot that the clone is in. Clones need high humidity to form roots. Also, try misting the inside of the container/the ziploc bag instead of directly misting the clones.

    It took a few runs for me to get my cloning technique dialed in. The first time, I had 1 clone survive. The 2nd time I had 2 clones survive. 3rd time I had 5 clones survive. Now I have 100% survival. It takes some practice. Here's my setup: I have the potted clones in a tray with a humidity dome. There is a heating pad (just a normal heating pad, not a fancy seed-starting pad) set on low underneath the clone tray (bottom heat helps stimulate root formation, this also works for seeds). I actually do not spray any water at all, instead I leave a small amount of water (a few tablespoons) in the bottom of the tray, then the potted clones sit in the tray, then the humidity dome on top. The heat from the heating pad causes the water to evaporate and collect on the humidity dome, then condense and fall back into the tray. This way you maintain a constant, even humidity level. My tray has slits in it (it's a typical Jiffy seed starter tray w humidity dome) so the pots are raised up slightly above the water level so the clones aren't sitting in water.

    You could accomplish this same thing by taking a plastic container/tray, etc., putting a single layer of gravel/pebbles in the bottom (so that the clones aren't sitting directly in the water), then adding a small amount of water (just a few spoonfuls) to the tray. Then set your potted clones on top of the gravel and cover the whole thing with a large ziploc bag. Set the whole thing on a heating pad on the low setting. Take the ziploc bag off a few times a day to allow air exchange, and add another spoonful of water to the bottom of the tray once a day or so as the water evaporates. I also leave as much leaf on the clone as possible and don't cut any of my fan leaves (but that's a discussion for another day.) The clones stay under a weak CFL on an 18/6 schedule while rooting (I think that they need dark time). My cloning technique is a little different, but it works very well for me. My clone survival rate drastically increased when I started doing the water in the tray vs spraying the inside of the tray. This way the humidity level is constant and even, whereas with spraying the humidity fluctuates. There are many different ways to clone, you just have to find the right one for you. This way works really well for me.

    If you have to, you can re-cut the clones, dip them in rooting hormone, and start over, but I think that the problem is your set-up and too low humidity. Try fixing that first. HTH, good luck :smoke:.
     
    • Winner Winner x 1
  5. hey guy, you don't need to misting them all the time. 2 times a day is plenty. some folks don't mist at all. just don't let whatever you're rooting them in dry up. as for the ph, forget it, not necessary. remember what adjusting ph is for. it's to allow the roots to take in nutes. you don't have roots yet. i never ph cuttings....
     

  6. hmm nice to know, lol not my thread still learnign stuff thanks!
     

  7. What about a humididome and humidity in general. In your opinion are they needed and if so to what extent? Thanks!:smoke:
     
  8. I'm thinking that if you purchased the clones, they should be already rooted. That would be my definition and I wouldn't buy one that wasn't rooted. If that's the case, why the dome? Too much humidity in my opinion, I keep fresh cut clones in a dome for 1 week max, taking it off a few times a day and venting the chamber. Within a week or after I see new growth, I pull the dome and watch them close. If they start to fail, I put in back, have only had to put it back once and for a day.

    I ph everything, it's simple, when I don't, I have problems. My tap water is so alkaline at 8.9 out of the tap that I'm basically poisoning them if I don't. Know your waters base, if you've got tap water that's coming out of the tap at 6.5, then don't trip, but if you don't, check your ph balance. You can water anything just about and it might grow and or live, but if you want to grow beautiful, healthy, bug and disease free plants, know your PH.
     
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  10. Great cloning suggestions 5 or more I will add to my efforts thanks! shaman007
     

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