Okay the switch has been flicked over to 12/12 today and the cuttings have been taken, gelled and put into rockwool cubes. Sitting in a tiny bit (2-3mm) of 5.9 PH water. Have a cloning kit but found the cuttings were too talk to fit in it so had to improvise, put the clones in a plastic tray sitting in the water (enough to keep the rockwool damp without the clones swimming in water) and put that into a box and plastic wrapped the top over. See pics. Running a simple 20W CF until they take root when it will move under a 250w MH. Is this okay? Its the first time for an indoor grow and first time for cloning indoor plants. Will that piss weak CF be enough to oversee them getting roots? The CF (and later MH lighting) is on an 18/6 timer. Temps are around 19-22c (66-74f)
did you use rooting hormone? ..also where on the stem did you make your cuts? If you made them just under a node (where the leaves were attached) you'd have a much better chance of success. Two things you could do now is spray them with water like drummersince99 said. Just a fine mist over them is good, especially on the underside of the leaves where the stomata are. That'll reduce transpiration. And give them bottom heat. That can make a big difference. Get a heat pad or just put them on something warm like a hot water cylinder. It stimulates root growth in a big way. GL man!
I'd try and get a light closer to them, or they're gonna concentrate more on trying reach the light source, than developing a good root system.........Peace out......Sid I find fluros good for this........they stay cool enough to get close......I find them useless for everything else though!....lol....
Thanks for the fast replies guys! I've been cutting them at 45 degree angles just under (about 3/4 inch, sometimes less) the 3rd node from the top. They are a bit longer than I expected thus not fitting in a regular clone kit but hopefully they'll be fine this way. I stripped the bottom node leaves off clean trying to drag a tiny bit of skin to the base all covered in the rooting gel. And trimmed the leaves above. As mentioned, yes I'm using a rooting gel compound. Blue gel, not sure of brand, lost its label. Clonex maybe. I wondered about the mist spray, something I used to do outdoors, wasn't sure if it was still done that way indoors. Makes sense, cloning is cloning isn't it. Didn't think about bottom heat at all. I have a heat belt for home brewing alcohol. I might get an electric blanket on the job tho for more kick I wondered about that, the only reason it's further away is because I read on another cloning lighting thread they recommended indirect light and to actually put it back a bit. My gut tells me closer the better too, so I'll adjust that now. Yeah like yourself I only use CFL's for early seedling days and now cloning. Got MH & HPS goodness for the rest Thanks guys. Keep the comments coming if something hasn't been covered yet
sounds like you did everything right! ..you must have read up well before you started!! mist to stop transpiration, and bottom heat are all I could suggest now. Right now you want to encourage root growth. You don't want them growing leaves, that's why its common to pinch out the growing tip.
Thanks amsterdamage, I've given you +1 rep for taking the time to help. And nice of you to notice my research, I tried to get the jist of it all before starting but did have the feeling there was still more I could do. For instance the information I read mentioned nothing about heat mats. So I'm glad I posted my question here I didn't think about pinching the grow tip either! Do you think I should do that? And if I do should it be done ASAP or can it be done 12hrs after the clones were cut? (I'm getting tired and just wanna sleep now lol) Oh I doubled the lighting, the original 20w CFL is closer matched by a 20w CFL on the other side. Should be enough to get them over the line for the awaiting MH lighting
don't worry about pinching them now, if you see the top growing before you have roots then tip them then or the plant will use its energy making top growth before it has roots to even give it water. Marijuana isn't called a "weed" for no reason. It grows really easy so some of the more advanced techniques, that would be required for other harder to grow plants, aren't really needed for marijuana. I think you're going to get great results!! GL man!
I dont even do all that humidity and keeping them in a box.. I just cut em, scrape em, dip em in root hormone, stick em in rockwool and 9 days later I got a rooted plant. works fine
Sweet as, I can't wait for these babies to be ready for the real world (proper lighting!) I think I've made the the clones too long tho (some are 10-12", others are shorter tho) but I've done everything else right so they should take. I'm learning. Next time around they'll be perfect. Likewise I left their "parents" in vege stage too long and they've gotten too tall also but they'll work and next time around I'll get it spot on. I just really enjoy this hobby Thats good to know, I've gone to a lot of fuss now so if yours take with that method mine should have no dramas.
Just wanted to add that 14hrs after going in the humidity box all 9 clones are looking very happy, standing tall and proud Sprayed them again as they were dry but everythings good. Temp was stable at 20c/68f and the electric blanket is keeping the bottom warm
dont let them sit in water. youll water log them and the roots will take forever to sprout if ever. leave the bottom dry and water it once every few days and justmake sure it doesnt totally go dry. you want it to get a bit dry to encourage the legs to grow out. poke some holes in the top of that thing too. its a nig-rig, but should work ok
Okay I can try that, although the water isn't really at the level where the stems reach into the rockwool, its just at the very bottom of the rockwool for the cubes to absorb water up as needed, well that was the plan anyway. The water is disapearing so the idea is seemingly working but I could be wrong. As for the holes , there are actually side vents in the box so I figured that'd be enough. Each day after a spray they are always dry the next time I check them (usually 12hrs later)