Cloning question

wow cloning advice is looking bleak, this is the second post i've seen with no responses. I'd dip your rockwool cubes in some balanced h20 once every day or two depending on how quickly the cubes dry up due to temp and humidity. Don't drench em, but soak and let dry out to an even dampness before resoaking.

 

no, don't move em and I'd say no on the heat mat. saw youre using cfl's, I'd recomend getting t5 or t12 flouresent tray when you get the loot

 

I've had clones in rockwool for almost 1.5 weeks now. I've watered in a dish underneath them about a cup every 3-4days when they start to dry out. What I took away from people is if you can't shake any water out, the next day is a good day to water.

This is my first time but since there's a lack of response I'm sharing what i've done.

 

I have them inside a box with temperatures of 75-80 and humidity 35-60%. Two CFLS both 27w 1800 lumens each. I'm sure the heating mat is fine as long as they aren't getting too dry.

 

can you not see roots coming from the bottom of the rockwool? they should probably have grown roots since then. i like to drench and dry the cubes to ensure h2o and o2 are getting to the roots.

 

Since I put mine in rockwool (8days?) I have yet to see roots. The plants show no signs of weakening but that don't mean jack. I did cover my rockwool up as I saw some greenery coming in (algae?). Other than that, no news.

 

Are you in a dome plastic cover? The purpose of which is to keep the leaves from drying/dying until the roots appear and start to send h20/nutrients up to them. A heat mat is a great boost to cloning- that is warm root area and cool leaf area. I always soak my cuttings, for any kind of plant in rooting hormone solution several hours before putting them into the rooting medium. I don't use rockwool anymore, if you are planning to go to a hydro system in makes sense put I only do soiless now. I use #4 mix or peat or perlite with good success. It just needs to be damp, not soaking wet. I think more clones are killed by being too wet than too dry. That is why the dooms work. Before roots are formed the cuttings really only need a damp or moist or humid, however you want to say it, area to hang out in until bio-chemistry does its thing. Misting the leaves with a fine light spray I think provides enough water for the rooting area. Watch it close and if it appears the rock wool etc. is really dry than give it a little water. No ferts needed until roots are well established, although you can do a very light foliar feed and the run off of course goes into the rooting medium.
You will get some algae growing on the medium. No big deal usually. You can use a little No Damp, I use Serenade sometimes. I figure the strong survive and the weak don't which is probably a good thing. Always do more than you will need. A plant that starts off weak will always be behind the stronger ones and will piss you off because it will be shorter and less productive and waste a bit of your growing space. Cloning is very easy. Practice. Take one of the extra ones out of the medium and shake the roots clear and see how it rooted. You can learn a lot by careful observation. Patience, you always lose a few for what ever reason.
PS, it can take up to 2 weeks to see roots

 

I am new but have a very high clone succusscrate and I do EXACTLY what Buddy Banana does. Rockwool is very dry and hard to use let alone keep moist. That's just my opinion. The peat moss cubes work great for me. Clone X works wonders. And use 1 tsp of rooting enhancer to 1 gallon of water. I always pour some into the bottom of the tray, plug in the heat pat, cover with the dome and let them go. Just like Buddy Banana said, don't let them dry out. Also Amazon has a complete kit on sale right now for 32.00 which includes the tray , dome, medium, heat pad and clone X.
Best of luck and happy cloning....

Alisa

 

I should have read more before i took clones. I assumed because I've cloned many other plants in just plain old still water in a glass that it would be just as easy. I did take extra precautions such as having clean surfaces and such. I'm still seeing no roots and actually took one of the ones in rockwool out to scrape some of the bark away. I figured if it's been this long and I have no roots yet that it wont hurt. I've already called them losses.
What i'm curious about is how long they'll survive before i totally toss them. Today is day 13 for the rockwool. No signs of roots but no signs of death either except some nutrient def appearing in the leaves. slight though.

 

ive used DIY machines and Rockwell cubes but nothing is easier than root shooters the cubes have the solution in them already all I do is cut and stick out of 50 I get no less than 48 usally 50/50

Amazon.com: Advanced Nutrients Plug Root Medium Shooters Tray: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

Mine came through after 15 days. I knew about conditioning rockwoll but didn't have a PH meter to do so, therefore I never did that step. However, I think this is a very important step..as 1-2days after watering with PH 5.5 I saw roots. 2 days prior I actually pulled one out to see what was up and there was nothing there...not even nubs. So 100% positive that was my issue.