I cloned a flowering bagseed plant from my friend a week ago, and it was doing ok until the past few days. When I first cloned it, I used Clonex gel and a pure-water-soaked rockwool cube. Then I put the cube in a 1/4 strength 'water culture' hydro system under one 4' red spectrum flouro, and one 4' blue spectrum bulb, but no humidity chamber. After a couple days a leaf died, so I built a cloning chamber with a tray, some pearlite, a heating pad, and an inverted clear plastic box. It seems to be doing well in there, but I'm concerned about another leaf dying as well as the stem: I think it may be rotting ... either that or its blowing up due to cloning solution. This is my first time cloning, but I've grown before. Anyone got any ideas? I realize it will take longer to revert the flowering back into veg (it was about 3-4 weeks in), but it's already been a week.
Its not uncommon for a leaf or 2 to die off while cloning, remember before it develops roots its surviving solely from the sugars stored in its leafs. Give it time, it will come around, clonex has never failed me yet.
You were right, the brown stem actually looked like it was dissolving, and then yesterday I started seeing bumps in the morning, and by night I had white nodes all along the brown part. Pretty exciting, I'm guessing by next weekend I can move it to my 'deep water culture' tank.
Perlite is the first step...which you have figured out. Second, keep your clone(s) under a high Kelvin flouro. My past cloning technique...almost (literally) 100% success rate: -10 gallon aquarium- -and hood-accomodates 20 inch flouros...you need 6500 Kelvin. -half-inch perlite (soaked in water, then drained via strainer..just like spaghetti) on the base of aquarium. -keep interior humidity of aquarium at 80-100% while clones are within. I have still never killed a clone since using this method, if done correctly.