cloning medium

Basically, Root riot or rapid rooter??? also how well do they store???

my local store stocks them both but I need to buy 100 of them or 1400 of them and 100 would last me a decade. like 30 bucks for 100 a tray of 50 cost the same.

I have a few more decades in me, I hope, but it seems like a long time to store them. I only need like 2 every other month..... maybe there is soewhere I can order them in smaller amounts. Even a 20 pack would have to store over a year

I haven't been able to tell the difference between root riot or rapid rooters in terms of which is better. when it comes to storage tho the rapid rooters have a resealable ziplock thing where as rapid rooters don't. they both store well tho, if they dry out you can just re-wet them.

Rapid rooters!!!! Much better design for taking clones. They store pretty well i keep em in a drawer in my refrigerator but if you live in a more humid climate you should be able to store them in any old place. My location is a little dryer than most though.

Word, looks like a sheet of 98 rapid rooters for 20 bucks

You should give soiless dirt a try

Mason Jar 92705 said:

You should give soiless dirt a try

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soiless dirt????
I don't know what you mean but if you just mean a soiless mix like peat and perlite or vermiculite then I have..... a lot.


that wasn't the questiion but please explain

tusseltussel said:

soiless dirt????
I don't know what you mean but if you just mean a soiless mix like peat and perlite or vermiculite then I have..... a lot.


that wasn't the questiion but please explain

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Sorry, just skimmed over ur question. I've had terrible experience using rockwool/rr until one day I ran out of rockwool and had to use promix in a clear cup then put the clear cup into a colored up. I'll never go back.

Since ur only taking 2 everyother month, I would use dirt and be done with it.

Mason Jar 92705 said:

Sorry, just skimmed over ur question. I've had terrible experience using rockwool/rr until one day I ran out of rockwool and had to use promix in a clear cup then put the clear cup into a colored up. I'll never go back.

Since ur only taking 2 everyother month, I would use dirt and be done with it.

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yea thats what I do noe I use pro mix some cheep rootin powder and 2"round pots that I just put a bag over to keep humidity in works ok, it takes 3 weeks to root most times. I was just looking for a quicker more reliable way... well I guess reliable not so much as I have not lost a clone in a very long time. maybe I should just wet the promix down with a liquid hormone and keep rollin. I don't know then it is only 20 bucks for rapid rooters what do you think.

Mason Jar 92705 said:

promix in a clear cup then put the clear cup into a colored up. I'll never go back.

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That's exactly what I've done my last couple starts. Planted seed in clear solo cup and put that cup in a red cup to keep light off the roots. You can really keep track of how the roots are developing. I like it.

AimAim said:

That's exactly what I've done my last couple starts. Planted seed in clear solo cup and put that cup in a red cup to keep light off the roots. You can really keep track of how the roots are developing. I like it.

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hmmm never thought of that, being able to see the roots. I just use black 2" round pots. I thought thay whole roots and light don't mix shit was proven to be an urbn legend... at least one of the hydro shops I go to has a display hydro setup that is clear and you can see the roots just a danglin their asses off exposed to light. of course it is lettuce but I figure lettuce is a much more tender plant than MJ. Really if you look at what Sub does his roots are poking out of the cube exposed to light and it seems to not hurt

The past few rounds of cloning I've used a few different mediums, I did a cell tray with coco-coir that had a reservoir and a mat that sucked up the water as the coir dried, it wasnt bad but took forever, 2-3 weeks similar to using a cup of soil-less or whatever.. It takes forever but basically easy and doesnt require a whole lot of input other than filling the reservoir once in a while and checking for roots every now and then. I did rapid rooters, they are great but require a lot of input and I when I took the first cuts off of my young from-seed plants the stems were so soft that they couldnt take the moisture required and rotted the stems on those, but on a normal mature plant they work fine.

I also have an ez-cloner which is 60 sites which is way more than I need at the moment but it is the easiest and fastest way to clone... Instead of running the huge 60 site ez-cloner I've decided to make a DIY bucket cloner that will cost a few bucks but is the way to go...

Heres a few that I've been looking at....

The first one is closest to the way an actual ez-cloner is setup but it costs quite a bit more than the others but this one will probably get you the fastest and most well rooted clones. Once you get your method down (water temp etc...) you can go from a fresh cutting off the mom to rooted clone in medium in less than 10 days or better once you get good at it.

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/263011-diy-clone-5gal-bucket.html

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/504147-clone-machine-under-20-a.html

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/430426-my-20-dollar-less-cloner.html

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/6678-cheapo-aero-cloner.html


A few tips... higher water temps get you roots faster but the res will get funky and stink, they really dont need oxygen until they have roots so 70-72 water temp is fine, some folks add a little bleach, pool shock, I've heard quite a few things but a little peroxide wont hurt, it keeps the oxygen levels up (again, not necessary) but it keeps microbial life down, I usually will just change the water completely the first few days with water straight out of the tap, nothing keeps microbial life down like chlorine and everything else that comes straight out of the tap (city water).... when using these types of cloners, you really dont need a humidity dome, some people still use them but I dont, I may try it again once I get something built, if you make something thats only using air stones rather than the pump style you may want to use a dome however.. Those round 2" black hockey puck looking things are the best bet for what to use to hold the cuts rather than the "engineered" things that some of the folks in the above threads use, thats what the actual ez-cloner things use and they make it easy to suspend the cuts. They sell them separately usually at hydroshops, just make sure to drill the holes a little smaller than the puck.....

Some people dont like the hydro style of cloning but I cant say enough good about it.... I used to use only this method with my ez-cloner but I have no need for 60 clones at a time, and its a fairly big machine to have laying around to get used every once in awhile, so I put it in storage. The rapid rooters are great and do the trick but I always screw them up by either letting them dry out too much or I drown them. These type of cloners are idiot proof as long as you keep the water decent and your power doesnt go out, basically all you do is put them in and check the water here and there until they have enough root for your liking... this is the other thing I like about this, of all the methods I've used and tried and failed at, this method allows you to pull each one out and see exactly how much root you have going on each cut.

I've been cloning with Pro Mix the last 5 runs with 100% success rate. Within 2 weeks all rooted and cranking. Here's some clones 10 days old all rooted using Pro mix.

I think i'm just gonna stick with the promix in a cup deal but I do have everything to build a areo cloner like youre suggesting, Whitey. One thing for you in a cup with pro mix people, In my travels earlier I came accros someone doing the same thing although they were useing a clear cup as their dome right on top of the red cup...... I actually use a glass 1 pint mason jar but its kinda top heavy I also latly been just poping a zip lock bag over them.... anyhoo I think for now I will just stick with what I'm doing... I'm really not in a hurry or anything, just like fiddlin with diffrnt shit ya know

Don't give away all my secrets tusseltussel!! jk

I used the clear cup inside the red cup to get a baseline of how long it took to root that way, and for me it was around 7-10 days generally. Strain and overall plant health have a big impact on how fast you can make the magic happen! $.02

Now i just fill the red cup up and use the slimmer clear cups to dome the top. Works like a dream! DUB

tusseltussel said:

Basically, Root riot or rapid rooter??? also how well do they store???

my local store stocks them both but I need to buy 100 of them or 1400 of them and 100 would last me a decade. like 30 bucks for 100 a tray of 50 cost the same.

I have a few more decades in me, I hope, but it seems like a long time to store them. I only need like 2 every other month..... maybe there is soewhere I can order them in smaller amounts. Even a 20 pack would have to store over a year

Click to expand...

I bought a tray of AN Root Shooters. Loved them. Even when they dried out a little water sprayed over them made them usable 100%. Excellent to clone and germ seeds in both. Store them in zip lock bags to keep moist. Cut the tray into sections.

My favorite cloning medium? Tap water.