Hey all. Sorry for the long post but maybe it can help me as well as many others in the future. I’ve researched this ad nauseam but theres just so much info I can’t even deal. Really wanted your opinions. Especially from the growers who are insanely confident about their cloning process. I’m going to try Jiffy Pellets next time. Thanks for any and all help. Really looking forward to seeing some answers to my questions.
I just murdered 3 trays of 20 clones each in a 6 week period. Starting to really get frustrated and discouraged big time. Cant for the life of me figure out what I’m doing wrong. Need step by step info so I can figure out how to keep these poor things alive as I’m going to try again next week. My process and questions are below. Please let me know what I could do better. Hopefully when it’s done this post will help me and others in the future.
Been growing successfully for 11 years but have always gotten rooted clones from a friend to start. I want to do it myself now since I have 2 genetically amazing mothers he gave me. After reading below, can you guys give me advice on what I should add or subtract from my process to make it better, as well as answer the questions I posed please and thank you?!!
CLONING MATERIALS (If anyone can add or subtract from/to this list of materials please do!!!)
** STERIL PLATE TO CUT CLONE ON AT 45 DEGREE ANGLE ON IF I DONT GET A GOOD CUT DIRECTLY OFF PLANT**
**RAZOR/SCALPUL (NEW RAZOR FOR EACH MOM/DIP IN ALCOHOL AFTER EACH CUT)
CLONING GEL(I USE CLONE-X)
CLONING SOLUTION (I USE CLONE-X)
RAPID ROOTERSOR JIFFY POTS OR ROCKWOOL
CLONE TRAY AND DOME
**SHOT GLASS FOR CLONE-X GEL
CUP OF WATER TO PUT CLONES IN BEFORE DIPPING IN GEL
CLEAN SURGICAL GLOVES
HEAT MAT W/DIGITAL TEMP READOUT
PROCESS PRE DOME
CLEAN DOME AND TRAY WITH SOAP AND/OR ALCOHOL
**FILL UP A BUCKET WITH 48 HOUR AERATED WATER FOR RAPID ROOTERS/JIFFY PELLETS OR ROCKWOOL TO SOAK IN. WATER SHOULD HAVE A LITTLE CLONE X SOLUTION IN IT. (10ML PER GAL) AND BE PH’D TO 5.5 FOR ROCKWOOL AND 6.0 FOR PELLETS AND RAPID ROOTERS.
USE STERILIZED SCALPEL TO MAKE 45 DEGREE CUT THREE NODES DOWN AND NEAR NEXT NEWEST GROWTH ON MOTHER
PUT CLONE STEM IN WATER,
BRING CLONE TO CUTTING STATION TO REMOVE BOTTOM LEAVES AND BOTTOM NEW GROWTH OFF LEAVING ONLY TOP LEAVES AND TOP NEW GROWTH
CUT TOP LEAVES IN HALF
LIGHTLY SCRAPE BOTTOM OF CLONE AT ROOT SITE
DIP IN CLONE-X CLONING GEL FOR 15 SECONDS OR SO
PLACE CLONE INTO PELLETS, ROCKWOOL OR RAPID ROOTERS
PLACE CLONE IN CLEAN DOME
PROCESS INSIDE THE DOME
KEEP INSIDE DOME TEMP BETWEEN 74-78 DEGREES
KEEP DOME AT ABOUT 60-80% HUMIDITY ???
DONT TAKE LID OFF DOME FIRST TWO DAYS
STARTING DAY 3 REMOVE LID FROM DOME FOR 5 MINUTES TWICE A DAY, DRY THE DOME WITH PAPER TOWEL AND RESPRAY DOME WITH FRESH WATER
STARTING DAY FIVE CRACK BOTH SIDES OF DOME 1/4 OF THE WAY OPEN
EVERY DAY CRACK THE DOME 1/4 TURN MORE OPEN UNTIL THEYRE FULLY OPEN ON DAY 9 OR WHATEVER IT IS
TAKE DOME COMPLETELY OFF THE PLANTS AT ABOUT DAY 12ish
ROOTS SHOULD APPEAR ABOUT DAY 14 (According to some a few days sooner even)
Here’s a shot of my poor clones after 6 days. Everything looked okay before that. 4 were pretty much dead after 24 hours 10 were okay for 6 days or so then they looked like this, where only a couple are still looking strong. I wanna cry!
QUESTIONS
Is the best water to use for pre soaking the Jiffy Pellets/ Rockwool or Rapid Rooters bottled water, filtered water or tap water that’s been aerating/bubbling for 48 hours? (we have no chloramine in our tap water but do have Chlorine)
Is it common to have to REhydrate the pellets/cubes/rooters after a week or 10 days? If so when do you do it? When they’re completely dried out? or just when theyre noticeably getting way drier than they were?
I answer to #2 is yes, HOW do you rehydrate? Using a baster or eye dropper and water from the top of cube? The bottom of the cube?
If you have to rehydrate the medium, should it be “soaked” again or just lightly watered?
Should I have water in the grooves at the bottom of the tray NOT touching the pellets/cubes/rooters so as to get more humidity in the dome as the heat mat warms the water? Or should there never be any water in the tray bottom whatsoever?
Is it possible to have too much water in the rooters, rockwool or jiffy pellets after removing them from the pre soak? Should they be lightly shaken out to remove excess water or just let them be totally soaked as possible before inserting the clone into them?
What humidity level does the room the clone dome is in have to be once you start opening the vents? The same as the room they will be vegging in once rooted?
If you open the vent at any point and the clones start to wilt or look sad after several hours or the next day do you close the dome fully again until they get better then open the dome again? Or just close it back to where the last point you had it open was? ie. open dome from 1/4 turn to 1/2 turn and clones look sad. Go back to fully closed or back to 1/4 turn?
I cut the shoot at a 45 angle scrape the side with the scissors a little bit. dip in rooting powder and place in damp soil. About 2 inches deep in a red solo up.
Water it with about a table spoon of water. Cover with a clear cup.
Keep the dome wet, if its foggy leave it alone. Lift it once a day for a couple seconds to give fresh air.
10 days later place the clear dome slightly over the side so its not completely sealed.
at 14 days remove the dome.
90% success. Just my method.
BTW, welcome to the forum. Lots of good help here.
They appear to be under watered. Are you misting the leaves? Since they don’t have roots, they can only draw moisture from the air, through the leaves.
They’re not dead yet, get em some more water, they might pull through.
The rockwool cubes look too dry, need to keep them moist (but not soaking wet) give them a good spray down (with water at like 5.6 - 5.8 ph) and then a little squeeze to get rid of excess water and keep humidity in the dome more like 80-100RH and don’t open the dome so much (or open the sides) the first week.
If you want effortless cloning with a high degree of success, consider a cloning machine like the Clone King or EZ Cloner, makes it too easy and no messing with cubes, domes, daily spraying, etc… Best money I ever spent was on the Clone King and they don’t cost that much.
My recipe for 100% clone rooting is Clone King + Clonex Cloning Solution + EZ Clone Clear Rez
All of my cuttings root within 2 weeks, every time, without any daily spraying or intervention (just add more clear rez every 5 days to keep away the bad bacteria).
Hey I am a true Jedi at clone killing! At least this time around I was able to get a few to survive!
I bought some of those cheap 6-plant plastic thingies you see in the nurseries to support the cubes (I use root riot cubes). Spray the dome twice a day but instead of just misting the top of the cube/clone. (Here is where I depart from your approach) - I pull them out of the 6-packs individually and give each side and the bottom a spritz IF they feel dry. If they are still moist I don’t. My success rate is better than before but not where I would like to have it!
You’re right. Screw it. I’m getting a cloning machine. Thanks for the suggestion. A few questions.
I see there’s no dome for the cloning machine. I live in Colorado, a dry climate. Therefore will I’ll have to use my humidifier in my veg room while clones are in the cloner? If so any idea what the RH should be in the room so the leaves can have some Humidity? Seems like I’d have to have like 80% RH in the room which is pretty high. Or do u know if they sell a dome for this thing? I cant seem to find one. Also,
I was reading there’s little “net cups” that hold the discs in place. Do the roots ever grow into the cups and become difficult to remove?
When and how do you use the EZ Clone Clear Rez? Is that for cleaning after you are done using the machine?
How much clonex solution do you put in there with the water
Can I use city tap water thats been aerated / bubbled for 48 hours to root the clones in this machine? Or do you use filtered water?
I live in the desert, an even drier climate and don’t use humidifiers and not a fan of high RH, no dome needed, no humidifiers needed, no spraying needed, don’t worry about RH, the cut stems will allow the cuttings to absorb all the water they need.
The Clone King 25 (the one I have pictured above) came with net cups, I cut them off below the collar so the roots won’t get tangled up in it (can see in my pic above where the net cups have been cut off). The Clone King 36 does not come with net cups but a little smaller collar and the holes a bit closer together. I knew about the issue and went with the 25 anyway with the intention of cutting the net cups as I wanted to give the cuttings a little more space. Under the lid, the Clone King 25 and the 36 are exactly the same, same parts, same size.
The Clear Rez is a water sanitizer to be used during the cloning process, keeps away the bad bacteria which hurts root development/growth. In hydro or aero cloning (Clone King is an aero-ponics machine) there are 2 schools of thought to keep you water clear from bad bacteria, either keep the water temp low (like under 65F) or use a sanitizer like Clear Rez to prevent any bacteria from growing in the water. The sanitizer method is the way to go, I’ve tried to do the keep water cool thing with frozen water bottles and such but it’s a fool’s errand and probably introducing more bacteria from opening the machine up on a daily basis to swap out the water bottles.
First I clean the machine (hot tap water and a little bleach, let run for 4-8 hours), rinse it, then fill again with water (even tap water is fine), then add 30ml of Clear Rez and then about 60ml of Clonex Cloning Solution (label instrusctions say 5-10ml per liter so I go with 20ml per gal), adjust ph to 5.6-5.8 and the machine is ready for your cuttings. Then I add 20ml of Clear Rez after 5 days (repeat every 5 days til done).
I’ve used RO and tap water without issue and my tap water is horrible (near 500ppm), they rooted faster with the tap water. I didn’t even aerate the water first, as the machine will aerate the hell out of it and won’t be roots for a while anyway so no worries about chlorine, a little chlorine is probably good for keeping away the bacteria as well at the beginning.
I start mine in straight pro mix. I use the rooting powder and have about 95 percent success. Good luck, the best advise I can offer is to root them as fast as possible after cutting them.
Mm. I basically do the same less the clear rez I do ro and clonex solution PhD to 5.8 cut clones on the 45 and dipin clonex gel. The gel to me just seals the end of stalk from sucking up air in stem but after 3 days of running the cloner I top off the bucket with fresh ro water only usually have roots withing 5 days at most it’s been since getting the cloner. Some 6 to 7 days for roots but fastest best way I’ve found so far
My first attempt at cloning I used CloneX gel and root riot cubes in ice trays under a dome on a heat mat and got 16 of 20 in 10-14 days.
I had an awesome SoG grow so it inspired me to further pursue cloning. I took inspiration from, meaning I completely stole @StonedCold13 s idea and design for a cloner.
In all honestly about the same price I could buy one for minus shipping costs.
It took all of 2 hours to build and was quite fun actually!
I thought about sliding by a home construction site to scavenge for pipe but I already had some for scrog frame building. Got the fittings and tub at Lowes for like $25 max, spray nozzles, pump and neoprene pucks from Amazon.
12 Super Skunk clones in 1g bags in a 2x4. Got about a pound after 8-9 weeks of flowering.
I vegged for 3.5 weeks +/-. The top of the frame at 15". edit: From the floor, I should say!
Next time I’ll veg for 2w after planting and limit each plant to 3 colas. And I’ll slam fill the tent wall to wall. I had enough space for another 3 or 4 1g bags that run.
Even with a quick veg and smaller plant I think the yield will be about the same.
Cloning is great fun and can generate a quick weight if you just need some extra.
Summer is coming!
Yo Hellraiser! I just recieved my CK 25. I don’t want to screw this up so I had a couple more questions if you’re around.
Do I have to use the Clear Rez the first 5 days or is it cool to just use the tap water and then add some Clear Rez after a few days?
How much water are you adding 30ml of Clear Rez to? I just filled the box with water up to about an inch under the sprayers. Was a couple gallons. Didn’t see if there was a line or marker that shows how much to fill the box but I read to fill to just under the sprayers. Are you using about the same amount of water as that? (just under the sprayers?)
Are you still using the clonex GEL on your cuts before inserting them into the inserts?
Is there a reason you use clonex SOLUTION in the water as opposed to the rooting powder they send?
the instructions to the machine say PH DOWN will kill the clones. How do I get water to 5.6-5.8 without using pH down?
Does the water in the reservoir stay the same temp as the room or should I have the room temp set a little higher than i want the water temp?
Really appreciate the help breh. And yes, typo, meant 3 gallons not 2. Okay onward. If this doesn’t work it might be time to quit growing altogether. Losing 4 trays of clones in 8 weeks has given me anxiety and PTCD (post traumatic clone disorder)
Hey Hellraiser. Sorry to bother man. Thing is, I’m not sure if I’m giving my clones enough light. I have a 2 foot long 4 bulb T5. It says it’s 24 watts. One bulb just burnt out though. Will buy another but is 24 watts enough? If so how far above the clones should the light be? Thanks and sorry to bother again. I’m descent once we get to veg but this clone thing is killing me.
