TechnoMage
Well-Known Member
I've had a couple of people ask me about how I do clones. I started growing back in 2006 and was a member of the HG420 forum before it disappeared. One of the old timers on the forum taught me this method and it's never failed. Might not be the fastest but it's easy and reliable. I figured I'd pass it on.
Things you'll need:
Donor plant - This should be a healthy plant in a vegetative state
Rapid Rooters
Rooting Powder/Gel
Cup of water
Scissors/Trimmers/X-Acto knife
Seedling tray
Humidity dome/tray
Heating pad
Low light area where your clones cans sit for a week on the heating pad
First thing I do is cut a slit down the side of the Rapid Rooters. This make is easier to put the clone in without scraping the rooting powder off. I also pre-soak my Rapid Rooter but you can skip that part and water them down later.
Now you want to take a fresh cutting from your Donor plant. You want something with a lot of fresh growth. I tend to take very short clones but feel free to take a longer cutting.
Now you want to trim your cutting down. What you're looking for is a stem with just a little fresh growth on the end.
Now to prep the rooting end. I like using an X-Acto knife for really sharp cuts. You want the end stem cut at an angle. I also scrape off the outer layer of stem above where the cut starts. This will encourage root growth to the entire portion of the stem that the rooting powder/gel is in contact with.
Now take your cut stem, dip in some water and then dip into the rooting powder. If you're using rooting gel, you can skip the dip in water part. What you want is a nice heavy layer of rooting compound on the stem.
Now wrap you slit Rapid Rooter around your powdered clone. This is the entire reason for the cut, so I don't scrape the powder off when putting the clone in.
Now you just slide your cloned Rapid Rooter into the seedling holder.
Here's what a tray clones looks like ready to go. My humidity dome tray is raised in the middle so I can have water in the bottom without the seedling trays with Rapid Rooters sitting in water. Your Raid Rooters at this point should be moist without being dripping wet.
My Seedling/Cloning cab is setup with 2x14 T5 lights (3000k, 6500k) and a heating pad. I'll stick the humidity dome on and often cover it with a light cloth like a dish towel. You don't want a lot of light at this stage, you want your plants growing roots looking for nourishment. I'll usually check in on them every few days to make sure the humidity level is staying high and the Rapid Rooters haven't dried out but my last batch, I setup before I went on vacation and came back 10 days later to rooted clones. Good roots can show up as early as 4-5 days or take a couple of weeks. Tends to be very strain dependent.
After a week or so you'll have clones with their roots pushing out through the Rapid Rooter and ready for final planting.
I don't expect this to be the fastest or most efficient method of cloning and it's probably not appropriate for larger grow operation. But for someone who only needs a small number of clones, I've found it to be very easy.
Things you'll need:
Donor plant - This should be a healthy plant in a vegetative state
Rapid Rooters
Rooting Powder/Gel
Cup of water
Scissors/Trimmers/X-Acto knife
Seedling tray
Humidity dome/tray
Heating pad
Low light area where your clones cans sit for a week on the heating pad
First thing I do is cut a slit down the side of the Rapid Rooters. This make is easier to put the clone in without scraping the rooting powder off. I also pre-soak my Rapid Rooter but you can skip that part and water them down later.
Now you want to take a fresh cutting from your Donor plant. You want something with a lot of fresh growth. I tend to take very short clones but feel free to take a longer cutting.
Now you want to trim your cutting down. What you're looking for is a stem with just a little fresh growth on the end.
Now to prep the rooting end. I like using an X-Acto knife for really sharp cuts. You want the end stem cut at an angle. I also scrape off the outer layer of stem above where the cut starts. This will encourage root growth to the entire portion of the stem that the rooting powder/gel is in contact with.
Now take your cut stem, dip in some water and then dip into the rooting powder. If you're using rooting gel, you can skip the dip in water part. What you want is a nice heavy layer of rooting compound on the stem.
Now wrap you slit Rapid Rooter around your powdered clone. This is the entire reason for the cut, so I don't scrape the powder off when putting the clone in.
Now you just slide your cloned Rapid Rooter into the seedling holder.
Here's what a tray clones looks like ready to go. My humidity dome tray is raised in the middle so I can have water in the bottom without the seedling trays with Rapid Rooters sitting in water. Your Raid Rooters at this point should be moist without being dripping wet.
My Seedling/Cloning cab is setup with 2x14 T5 lights (3000k, 6500k) and a heating pad. I'll stick the humidity dome on and often cover it with a light cloth like a dish towel. You don't want a lot of light at this stage, you want your plants growing roots looking for nourishment. I'll usually check in on them every few days to make sure the humidity level is staying high and the Rapid Rooters haven't dried out but my last batch, I setup before I went on vacation and came back 10 days later to rooted clones. Good roots can show up as early as 4-5 days or take a couple of weeks. Tends to be very strain dependent.
After a week or so you'll have clones with their roots pushing out through the Rapid Rooter and ready for final planting.
I don't expect this to be the fastest or most efficient method of cloning and it's probably not appropriate for larger grow operation. But for someone who only needs a small number of clones, I've found it to be very easy.