DubB83's Method of Easy Cloning W/ ZipLock Bags and Rockwool (NOT DIALUP FRIENDLY)

no in cloning, the medium must stay soaking wet thats why some people clone in straight up water but iff its actually growing the rockwol shouldnt be soaked

mario60185 said:

Maybe I missed it...do you open the bags to spray the leaves with water during the coarse of the day ? If so how many times?

And If the rockwool doesnt seem to dry up would you open the bag more often or one good amount of time to let things dry out a bit?
I know clones need alot of humidity but isnt it bad if rockwool stays soaking wet?

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Thanks for stopping by.

I shake the majority of the water out of the cubes. They are damp not soaked. I do not ever spray them.

The less you mess with them the better the rate of clones. Just keep them damp.

So you just open the bags a few times a day, no spraying the leaves with water ever.....?

Then you take them out of the bag once roots are poking through, or do you let them stay in the bag until theirs alot of roots?

Thanks again man.

how long do you wait til trans planting?

mario60185 said:

So you just open the bags a few times a day, no spraying the leaves with water ever.....?

Then you take them out of the bag once roots are poking through, or do you let them stay in the bag until theirs alot of roots?

Thanks again man.

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I do not spray at all, I may get high and leave the bag open and they dry out, in that case you dip a bottom corner into the solution until the rockwool. I believe the plant will get it's moisture where it can, and I try to force it to get it through the cut on the bottom.

I usually leave them in the bags until I see a few strong roots but before they get too long to put into 2" net cups.

mrduke said:

how long do you wait til trans planting?

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If they are under 2 100W Equivalent 6700K CFLs I would say on the average of 7-10 days at 80* (size and strain dependent), lately they have been getting colder at night and I'm not sure how to keep them warm just yet, but this batch will take longer due to abient winter temperature.

Hey dubb, if the temps get too bad u can always use a heating pad, maybe set it up so it comes on at night through ur timer. I'm havin to use one right now to sprout a seed in a peat pot, the peatjust gets a bit too cold when it gets watered ya know.

richjames said:

Hey dubb, if the temps get too bad u can always use a heating pad, maybe set it up so it comes on at night through ur timer. I'm havin to use one right now to sprout a seed in a peat pot, the peatjust gets a bit too cold when it gets watered ya know.

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I still have a spare rooting heat mat laying around, just looking for an acceptable place to put it and regulate the temp on it. Last time I used it the darn thing baked my clones and I have been afraid to do use it again until I have a new box for it and everything. I might get an aquarium T5 and use another tray and humidity dome. Usually I take 25 clones at once and let them hang out for a while and the ziplock bag gets a bit annoying with large amounts of clone.

DubB83 said:

I still have a spare rooting heat mat laying around, just looking for an acceptable place to put it and regulate the temp on it. Last time I used it the darn thing baked my clones and I have been afraid to do use it again until I have a new box for it and everything. I might get an aquarium T5 and use another tray and humidity dome. Usually I take 25 clones at once and let them hang out for a while and the ziplock bag gets a bit annoying with large amounts of clone.

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LOL.... Ya, I could see how 25 zip-locks could end up bein a bit in the way. Iwas a bit worried about my regular heating pad bakin my seedling, but so far it's worked out quite well, considering the ghetto-ness of the situation.

I just never liked the humidity domes because they kept the plants too wet it seemed. I may fill the tray with perlite and place the rockwool in it for better water absorption, similar to a wick cloner. The bags give me complete control over each environment and that is what I like.

Before I move on, more cloning tips:
Take clones just before a dark cycle, placing the clones in the dark for 4-6 hours after cutting will improve your success rate.
Always take more clones than you need.
I only need 18-20 clones so I take 25 just to be sure this method, while being reliable, is not a sure fire 100% success rate.

Back on to an update:
(pics will follow soon)

One H3 clone died the first night, seems it is one of the harder strains to root.
The other H3 clone is doing just fine.
Both of the H1 clones are doing as expected.

The H3 phenotype was a seedling I was growing to determine if it had ruderalis genetics or not, it started producing massive amounts of pollen sacs under 2 100w equivalent 6700K CFLs. I deemed it male and ruderalis and it was uprooted. The other H3 clone will be killed off soon, unless someone in my area wants a ruderalis male to create their own af variety. J/K! I'll find a good home for it over at my friends where my old ruderalis setup still lives.

Thanks for the info! Looks like a great method to try.

Dubb:

why dont you place something in between the heat mat and the cube to take care of the heat issue? Maybe a piece of cardboard or something.

Not a bad idea, I'm going to work on my clone box tonight. I'll have the pictures of the plants from a little bit ago and the updated box tonight.

Sorry about the delay, here is what I have going on for this thread. I decided that the more I move the bags the more the clones success rate goes down. So daily photos are out, I will give updates and show the entire process though.


Dead H3 Clone, Rockwool was either too wet or there was air in the fresh cut.

Living H3 Clone

Living H1 Clone

Living H1 Clone

The thing to remember is to make sure the top growth is green and searching for light and don't worry about what the lower growth looks like, most likely you will lose it anyway, but new growth will fix that.

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crzywhboy6669 said:

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Thanks for the kind words, and the +rep. Updates soon with pictures, I have not been around the plants much lately though.

crzywhboy6669 said:

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Ditto

Thanks for the kind words, I tried to keep these clones separate from my standard population and placed them in a mother box. I became violently ill and my friend gardener has not made it here yet due to legal complications so needless to say the clones did not receive the best of attention, and neither did the mother plants or flowering plants. The clones looked well but were developing a white mold, so in the trash they went.

Had they been properly maintained they would have been fine in the system as other clones that have been taken in the same manner are doing great. I am running a test run of complete aeroponic clones in my system once again for less maintenance but more complex way of cloning.

Sorry to end the thread early, but it came to be. See you in one of my other threads/log some other time.

Edit: I promise the method works.

dogglet forever said:

your not sterilizing that metal blade at all with that alcohol... your only killing staph germs which i doubt you have in your home alcohol is a antiseptic. sorry i work in the field and could not help but correct you... and this is from Wikipedia...

Alcohols

Alcohols, usually ethanol or isopropanol, are sometimes used as a disinfectant, but more often as an antiseptic (the distinction being that alcohol tends to be used on living tissue rather than nonliving surfaces). They have wide microbicidal activity, are non corrosive, but can be a fire hazard. They also have limited residual activity due to evaporation, which results in brief contact times, and have a limited activity in the presence of organic material. Alcohols are more effective combined with purified water—70% isopropyl alcohol or 70% ethyl alcohol is more effective than 90% alcohol, because the higher water content allows for greater diffusion through the cell membrane. [3] Alcohol is, however, not effective against fungal and bacterial spores.[3]


heat will sterilize metal... i never clean my scissors when i clone and have no problems....

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I too work in the health field and It's true, you can't sterilise with alcahol, only decontaminate, to sterilise you need 134 degrees for 3 minutes.
Being pedantic aren't we.
But this is a stoners forum, not a medical forum, so for all intensive purposes, we know what you mean.

I apologize to all of you in the medical field, I did not mean to insult you.

I still recommend the alcohol to anyone... If it aint broke don't fix it.

Not like the alcohol can hurt anything.