cloning problems , cuts not rooting

hello all. i have been having a problem getting some of my cuts to take. in the past i was growing cuts off of a seed that i got out or a really good bag (lets call it "local") and it turned out to be pretty strong grower with good smell yield and potency, with that strain i was having a good 90% success rate sometimes even 100%.

i am using the olivas cloning gel along side the dyna k-l-n root stimulant and i throw in a drop or 2 of the super thrive. i place the cuts into root riot cubes and under cfl's watering them daily. the first 5 days i put a humidity dome on them. the air temp in around 70 and the water and tray temp is about 50 to 65 i think. i take the cuts at 3 to 5 inches and make sure i have 2 nodes above ground and 2 in the cube gel on the cuts. i have used this combo for years with good success i have never had a strain not root until now.

i have been having some friends getting on me for not having "name brand" strains so i got online line and bought some pineapple express-g13 labs, white widow-g13 labs, LSD-barneys farm, and shark attack from dinafem. all of these strains have been growing extremely well aside from the lsd, i have had a little nutrient trouble with that.

i have taken cuts off of all of them, and it has been a while now. the white widow took root in about 15 to 17 days and the local started showing at 5 days, now here it is 34 days in and my lsd, pineapple express, shark attack and a bubba kush a friend gave me still have no roots. they are still green, the lower leaf is dying off because the plant is eating it but no signs of new growth, roots or any change in the cuts for that matter.

so what i am wondering, do some strains not root, can you not take cuttings off some strains because of the genetics? do some strains take a very long time to root? or am i just doing something wrong? can someone help me out? and what rooting solutions are people having the best results with?

i need to do something before i take to many cuts and the plant's turn to bushes and out grows my area

could be your water. Is it city water with clorine? City water is known to change as they mess with the clorine content, as well as floride.34 days is much too long for any strain. If my clones don't show roots in a matter of two to three weeks I trash them and start over. Genetics does play a part, I've had some strains that are a bitch to clone and others that are very easy. I tossed my humidity dome as as it was causing more trouble than it cured. I just plop my cuttings into soil with a bit of cloning gel and place them in a warm part of my grow room with a couple of cfls for lighting. Also you do not want the soil to be saturated, as this will cause the stems to rot in the soil. Damp yes, saturated no. Take a close look at the stems that are in the soil on some of those that are not rooting. Are they discolored, brown or slimmy? (sp) or still a nice green all the way down?

i just pulled 4 out of the cubes. one or them was rottin looking, so the fact that half of them are taking and not some of the strains the odds are that i probably have a hard to root strains right? its the lsd and the pineapple that i am having the most trouble with. and yes i am using city water. i do have to drop the ph of it, it comes out the sink at 7.0.

has anyone ever heard of someone using floraduo part a as a root stimulant?

"......watering them daily........."



there lies the problem. i spray clones. i do not water them. and every day is excessive. lose the super thrive too.

try bottled water or other un clorinated water as well. If you cant do that then let the water sit for 24 + hrs to disapate the clorine.

without roots watering is useless.
spray them with mister gun a few times a day and make sure the incubator has high humidity.

i took clones of my ASH plant and they rooted within 3 days, just mist them the soil/medium youre using wont need water till there are roots, also try different mediums and as Randm said try bottled water, more succes with that for me

Be sure your rooting agent is designed for semi-hardwood.

Hang on - did you say Pineapple Express???? - an auto which will never veg/root due to Ruderalis content which makes it auto- flower.

Skywalker can take 21 days to root due to Blueberry hybrid.

Other clones of mine such as Melon Gum or Channel + root in 7 days.

ps - I wouldnt water too much in the first few days - prob washing away ur rooting hormone.

As far as I know auto's aren't practical to clone and in some cases perhaps can't be done.

i do spray them as well. i tend to leave them sitting in about a 1/8"th of water in the bottom of the tray. i have noticed that if i let them dry the tend to wilt like a bitch. every book does say that they cant take up water from the stem but i have had cuts that were never sprayed and rooted. could be a fluke. ill try spraying a little more with a little less water on the cubes and see if that works.

the pineapple is not a auto.

also the water i give them on a daily basis is mixed with the kln and is not plane water. i was under the impression that bottle water was not good for plants but i will give that a try with a couple of them as well. i have noticed that the stems on the p.e as well as the lsd are harder stems they are a little old now, i tried to lightly scrape a little bit off the stem with a razor before dipping them in the gel. with 2 of the others i tried to split the 45 cut on the end to see if that gave it more rooting sites.

the lsd and pineapple have not been a complete loss, i have had 2 of each take root out of 10 to 12 cuts of each strain but after like 20 +days

i am going to try out a couple of these methods with a one of each of the cuts and see if i get any different results, i will also take a couple new cuts and try to only mist them and only keep the cubes damp. i have had other strains in the same batch in the same cubes and watered the same root weeks ago. my local strain cuts are budding already and they were taken with the first batch of pineapple cuts, witch are still in the tray and are still green. taken on the first of last month

I always use thee same procedure. In a mini-greenhouse made from a clear plastic garbage bag I put a single layer of gravel and a 2" air/drainhole. I clone in rockwool cubes and after said plants are in the bin sitting on the gravel fill the cubes and mist them with a pump up sprayer and other then the drain/air hole seal the bin. Water again within 5-7 days depending on RH. Etc.

scroglodyte said:

"......watering them daily........."
there lies the problem. i spray clones. i do not water them. and every day is excessive. lose the super thrive too.

Click to expand...

kevb123 said:

without roots watering is useless.
spray them with mister gun a few times a day and make sure the incubator has high humidity.

Click to expand...

All excellent advise. Keep the rooting media MOIST by spraying them.
In MY experience the biggest thing to make or break successful rooting is the temps. The cooler the trays get, the slower the rooting until finally you get nothing! i have almost 100% success rooting in Jiffy Pellets or Rapid Rooter plugs, using just Greenlight Rooting powder and tap water for moisture. Either get a heating pad, or put the trays on top of the fridge or somewhere WARM!! It will fuckin' amaze you at the difference a few degrees can make.

I clone in a DIY cloner bucket I made for around $30...it works really well, it is just hard to keep the temps of the water down.

I mount my lighting to the ceiling and make a shelf to raise the bin up to it. Also, In winter if your op has a heating failure the clones will be the last to freeze.

Raising the temp. makes my strains root faster - 4 or 5 days and they are good to go.

cloning is not 100% going to happen every time you allways get some that react better than others and it doesnt allways work keep trying