There are quite a few good cloning tips out there and I'll simply paste
a thread from Laughing Moon where Shabang gives some great advice.
But first I'll add a few of the little things that work for me.
Update - I've since gotten lazy and often
ignore the clones for a couple weeks with the domes left on. They seem
to do well and are uaually rooted when I check. So the daily no-damp misting
isn't needed, but is more a precaution.
This is a brief description of how easy it is to successfully
make clones of your plants. The first
requirement are the plants to be cloned, preferably they should be
growing on a vegetative light cycle (18 to 24 hours of light) and not be
overfed. Excess Nitrogen in the stems dan slow down rooting. You can take
cuttings from plants that are blooming and heavily fertilized, but your
success rate would probably be lower.
Materials you need:
Fresh razor blade or X-Acto or scalpel
Gallon of distilled water (not tap, mineral, or
spring)
-mix this with 1/4 strength bloom fertilizer (more
below)
Containers, 3-inch or planting tray
Spray Misting bottle
Rootone, rooting hormone (avail. Home dePot, everywhere)
Perlite, 1 bag
Vermiculite, 1 bag
Start by mixing your gallon of distilled water with
your bloom fertilizer. This fertilizer should be
something with higher P and K values-- like 10-30-15 or 10-60-10, or
preferably a good hydro formula like General Hydroponics. If this isn't
convenient you can even skip the fertilizer until they root, but they will
look better if you use it. You want to mix it up very dilute-- 1/4 strength
of normal.
Next combine your perlite and vermiculite. Fill your containers and thoroughly saturate it. If you're only taking a few clones, go ahead and use your bloom water, but probably you'll want to use another gallon of distilled and save the fertilizer for later. In each container make a hole for the cutting with a screwdriver, drill bit, pencil, etc.
Prepare your area by getting it CLEAN. This is a very important step many people forget about-- wash your hands, your razor blade, and the cutting table. You want your cuttings to be between 3 and 6 inches in total length with at least 3 sets of leaves.
Cut the branch from the mother plant and remove the bottom leaves so that when you bury it, there will be at least 1 node under the mix. You want to leave just a few leaves on the top so the plant can produce food. Dip the cutting in the Rootone all the way up to the bottom leaves, stick it gently in the container, and pat the mix in around it.
You can water it in with the misting bottle and fertilizer water. Your area for the clones should be under fluorescents and hopefully its not very dry.. You need to keep the clones humid for the first few days; if your area is too dry you'll need to buy a cloning dome or make something to trap the humidity (think wire hangers and saran wrap).
Mist the clones a few times a day for the first few days and make sure the medium stays moist. Rootone has shown to be very effective in rooting and keeping away stem rot.. Most strains root in 7 to 12 days, rarely will one die. Also if you have it, throw in some worm castings to the clone's mix for a better start.
Hope this helps,
~s
Posted by Vic High on February 17, 1998 at 21:30:38
In Reply to How to take cuttings posted by ~shabang~.
Great post! I just want to add a couple of notes. I've screwed around with the cloning by using potting soil, root cubes, sand, perlite, many different rooting hormones, not using rooting hormones, size of clone, etc. and always good to great success. The one factor that I find really important is that I keep the clones warm (25-27 degrees), cold clones just won't root for me or take 6 to 8 weeks. In addition to using rooting hormones, I have found that misting and watering the plants with Nutrilife's NutriBoost 1 makes all the difference.
- since posting this, I've found that misting with NutriBoost actually slows the rooting. I now only use NutriBoost for soaking the medium and mist with no-damp
==============================
Question:
Are the humidity tents or domes important? I know moisture is important,
but if I mist regularly do I really need them? If so can I use 2 liter
coke bottles with tops cut off and turned upside down over the clones?
Again this is my first grow and I hate learning the hard way, so any help
would be appreciated. Thanks to all for the info I've gotten from you by
lurking. Keep up the High work.
Shabang:
It really depends on the ambient humidity in the grow room / closet.
Is it cold and dry or decently warm and humid? If its dry (under
40% humidity), I'd say you want to build a dome. Its really easy and doesn't
have to be nearly airtight since they need to breathe. Try taking wire
hangers, unbending them, and forming an arch over your cloning tray. Secure
it on both sides with good amounts of duct tape then wrap saran wrap around
the arches and you have an instant greenhouse for your cuttings.
Your two liter bottle idea would probably work-- you want them to be
clear though, without any
wrappings, etc. A good hint for taking firm cuttings is really drench
the mother with light-bloom water a few hours before taking the cuttings.
Having said that, I don't use any humidity domes. I mist a few times
a day for the first few days then once a day until about 8 days when they
start to root.
Posted by Vic High on July 11, 1999 at 09:24:35 PT:
In Reply to: Another stupid question...keeping mothers posted by Lord Jaxom on July 10, 1999 at 11:51:31 PT:
Hey this could be the basis for a new webpage, lots of info to get out here.
1) cut back on lights if you want to slow growth
a) go with flos, the cool whites have a healthy spectrum without
blasting tonnes of lumens or heat.
b) reduce the amount of light per day. Your timer can go a long
way in manipulating the growth rate of your plants. One
trick is to set the timer to 6 hours on, six hours off. This
way, you are down to 12 hours per day without triggering
flowering.
2)keep it cooler - good idea having it at the start of your air circulation path.
3) cut back on ferts - but like someone else mentioned, make sure
your fert is complete. Growing in soil, I get good
results keeping plants going with Alaska fish ferts, it seem
very complete. Just feed when plants when they start to loose
their colour or just after cutting back. DON'T feed just prior
to making cuts, it will reduce your cloning rate. Actually, I
think it's a high N content in the plant tissue that reduces
clone survival rate or slows rooting, the one bad point to using
the alaska fish ferts.
4)Root pruning - although risky for a newbie, this is a good way
to keep your moms fresh whether using soil or hydro.
a) In hydro, it's easy, just give them a hair cut, make that
hippy beard presentable, hehe.
b) Soil is a little more tricky. Oldtimer1 may be able to explain
this better,he was the first to post on this. Or maybe
someone actively involved in comercial horticulture. Anyway,
when a plant is looking old, I severely cut it back, roots
included. Leaving the excess roots on can be dangerous, as the
excess ones will die off and expose the remaining one to
root rot. I use a knife (serrated like a bread knife) and hack
off about a third of the rootball (others are braver, others
less, hehe). I then repot back into the same pot, using fresh
soil to replace the missing rootball. Using a transplanting fert
or tonic like Nutriboost at this point wouldn't hurt.
5) avoid a salt buildup if growing in soil. When you water, water
to point where water runs out the bottom of the pots.
Also, A good flush every now and then is good. Your plants will
tell you when and how often.
well my brain is drawing a blank right now, I know I've missed lots, but that's it for now. Good Luck!
TOPIC - making plants
DATE - 00:32:19 6/05/99
FROM - oldtimer1
Is this what you wanted :-
Well folks we have been using H2O2 for several years we buy it from industrial
chemical suppliers. Industrial grade 35% stabilised it works out at about
$20 for 5
litres so you are doing something wrong in selecting your suppliers. This
was
something I did for a local commercial grower who was having trouble with
pythium
on their hydro tables. Since they took it up the production has improved
by over
100%. For organic growing the Formulex can be replaced with a balanced
liquid
organic fertiliser with a slightly elevated nitrate level. Nitrozyme is
similar to triple
strength Maxicrop pro.
CUTTING BLOCK TREATMENT AND SPRAYS
Treating rockwool cubes for cuttings :-
pH down lukewarm Ro water to 5.5
For each litre add :-
1 ml H2O2 [ hydrogen peroxide ]
5 mls Formulex
soak until saturated then drain and take cuttings immediately.
Once cuttings are set in blocks lightly mist with lukewarm Ro water pH
6 :-
and per litre add
5 ml Formulex
1 ml H2O2
1/2 ml wetting agent
2 ml Nitrozyme
cover and put under lights as usual.
For perking up mumís, enhancing plants in veg and early flowering use the
same
formula as above but instead of 2 ml of Nitrozyme use 5 to 10 ml this is
called rocket
fuel and is best sprayed just after the main lights go off to give the
leaves plenty of
time to absorb it. This should not be used more than once a week and stop
using it
completely after week 3 of 12/12 hrs [flowering]
Make the above spray mixes and use immediately. If you have spray left
don't keep it,
empty it into one of the tube tanks and wash out the sprayer.
For clean up of Hydro and ancillary equipment normal 25 ml to 10 litres
at least a 1 hr
soak. If you have had pythium 50ml to 10 litres is used.
This mix is also used in a pressure sprayer to mist to run off, Walls,
floor, ceilings and
any surface in the area to that needs sterilising if fungus present use
mix below to kill
spores. When misting take care it will burn skin on contact.
For infected equipment use 100 ml to 10 litres.
The above measurements is for H2O2 at 35% double if using 17.5%.
This is a repost of something I collected. Enjoy.These are based on the
35% H2O2
solution. For sterilising, these figures should provide an adequate concentration
to
do the job. If anything it should be much greater than that needed if the
instructions
were meant for the 17.5% product. At worse you'll pay a few pennies more
for H2O2,
but you'll rest assured the equipment will be sterilised.
If you don't have instructions that came with your product, beware of using
too high
a concentration of H2O2 with living plants.
25ml Oxy Plus @ 35% H2O2 to 10 litres water for sterilisation. Or 2.5ml per 1 litre
3.785 litres = 1 gallon
3.785 x 2.5ml = 9.46ml/gal or 10ml/gal Oxy Plus for sterilising.
Drug store H2O2 is 3% solution, Oxy plus is 35%. Will need 11.7 times more
drug
store H2O2 to do the same as Oxy Plus 35%. 11.7 x 10ml = 117ml/gallon drug
store H2O2 to sterilise, OR 1/2 cup per gallon.
Below are the recommended concentrations for various mixes from each set
of
instructions included with the 17.5% and 35% products. The parts per million
of
H2O2 for each is also noted for comparison.
Will assume that 20 drops = one ml for the below.
H2O2 content 17.5% = 175ppm at 1ml per litre.
35% = 350ppm at 1ml per litre.
Increase oxygen content in hydro systems, for use 2-3 times a week = 17.5%,
5 ml
per 10L 88ppm
35%, 2.5 ml per 10L 88ppm
Increase oxygen content in hydro systems, for use on a daily basis = 17.5%,
5 ml
per 20L 44ppm
35%, 2.5ml per 10L 44ppm
Optimum H2O2 Levels for hydroponic systems. 30-50ppm for the 17.5% solution
30-100ppm for the 35% solution
Note: 30-50ppm seems to be safe for hydro systems/tanks, and up to 100ppm
may
be OK for a short period of time. Use your best judgement.
Seed germination
17.5% : 20 drops per Litre, 175ppm
35% : 15 drops per Litre, 262ppm
Misting solution
17.5% : 15 drops per Litre, 131ppm
35% : 15 drops per Litre, 262ppm
Treating Rockwool
17.5% : 30 drops per Litre 262ppm
35% : 15 drops per Litre 262ppm
Sanitising
17.5% : 50 ml per 10 Litre, 880ppm
35% : 25 ml per10 Litre, 880ppm
The above concentrations translated into US Gallons :
2.5ml per 10 Litre or 0.25ml per Litre or 0.95ml per Gal
5.0ml per 10 Litre or 0.50ml per Litre or 1.90ml per Gal
25ml per 10 Litre or 2.50ml per Litre or 9.50ml per Gal
50ml per 10 Litre or 5.00ml per Litre or 19.00ml per Gal
5.0ml per 20 Litre or 0.25ml per Litre or 0.95ml/Gal
15drops per Litre or 0.75ml per Litre or 2.84ml per Gal
20drops per Litre or 1.00ml per Litre or 3.79ml per Gal
30drops per Litre or 1.50ml per Litre or 5.68ml per Gal
The needed amount of a 3% H2O2 solution to produce the above PPM values
:
5.5ml per Gal 3% H2O2 for 44 PPM
11.0ml per Gal 3% H2O2 for 88 PPM
16.5ml per Gal 3% H2O2 for 131 PPM
21.8ml per Gal 3% H2O2 for 175 PPM
33.2ml per Gal 3% H2O2 for 262 PPM
111.2ml per Gal 3% H2O2 for 880 PPM
Happy mixing :-)
RO is Reverse Osmosis water (similar to distilled water, but obtained with
another process, try
http://www.millipore.com for info), the stuff you can get at houseware
stores for ironing...
Jiffy sucked me a few times.
I've lost 10 Thai/skunk#1 from DP and 9 Haze/skunk#1 from DP. but I realized
it was my fault (too
hot/wet).
Now I feel comfortable soaking them in that mix, and plant directly premium
seeds in.
Don't use them: if you fell the will not work they'll do...maybe plant
in 50% perlite/50%peat (is what
nursery people suggest)
Aloha!
Dr.Turnerô