Easiest way to clone and hit 100% survival

Shockfluid

New Member
A lot of crew will use all kinds of elaborate aero type cloning setups and there's nothing wrong with that. But if you don't have the budget or the time to run this type of setup here's a dead easy and cheap way to clone.

Just set up a small tent with a seedling/clone led, I think my light is 30 watt. Take a 2 inch rockwool cube swish in the same tank the mum is feeding from and drop your clone in. Gel is optional, I personally can't be arsed with the gel these days and I haven't noticed any difference not using it. Then the most important step, close that tent and forget about them for at least a week and a half. The only reason you need to open it is to check the cubes haven't dried out too much.

The key points.
1. When you swish the cube in the feed tank you need to thrash it around pretty vigorously to correct the pH of the rockwool which is naturally too high and needs adjustment. Squeeze a bit of water out too, it'll give you the right air to water ratio.

2. Keep the tent warm. I put mine on top of one of my tents and that keeps it around 30 degrees C. If you can't maintain a temp of over 27 then you won't get the same results.

3. Sterilise the scissors. Never take clones with unsterile scissors. Clean any gunk off and hit them with metho before you start.

4. The quicker from cut to cube the better. Always have your cubes ready to go before you cut. The plant is constantly moving water upwards from the roots to the expiration through the leaves. If you are quick to get it into the cube the branch can continue with this process.

5. Take your cut from the mid level canopy. A good healthy strong branch but younger than the main tops usually works best.

Its really is that easy and I haven't lost a clone in years. It's the same as most of the successful grower techniques, keep it simple and just let the plant do what she does naturally.
 

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yep simple works. I stick mine into seedling pots full of recycled coco. 0 cost. keep em warm and just low light. If the nights are cool i leave the light on 24/7 or use a heated mat.
 
Pretty much the same way I do it, but I use root riot plugs instead of rockwool cubes. My method as of late has been:

1. Take cuts, and temporarily place in cups of water until put into plugs. Sterilize the pruning shears between cuts. I like fresh tops, with green, pliable stems. I prefer these to hardened-off/woody stems, but if you have no choice, those will work too.

2. Prep. Cubes get soaked in a mild nute solution. When ready to use, I squeeze them out until they're just damp.

3. Re-cut the cuts & plug. Here I use a razor blade and make my 45-degree cuts. Again, sterilize between cuts. Dip in cloning gel to get about an inch of gel up the stem. Then into the plugs they go.

4. Plugs are put into labeled solo cups, with a tiny bit of water in the bottom of the cup to keep the plug(s) hydrated for a bit. All the solo cups with plugs are put into my humidity dome.

5. Maintenance. Just spray the inside of the humidity dome once every couple days or so as needed. Allow for a dry-back cycle to force those roots to go out looking for more water.

Most show roots for me somewhere in the 5-10 day range. There are some outliers, but typically those are known slow rooting genetics, like og's. For those, once I notice they are drinking from the bottom of the solo cups, I'll plant them into dirt, even if they haven't shown roots yet. For some og's I've waited over a month to see roots, so I've found it's better to give them about 2 weeks in the plugs/dome, then just plant them in soil regardless of whether roots are visible.
 

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Yea hopefully it stays working. I have my method but Im paranoid it will stop working with no answer as to why. Happened to someone before. Im clone only so that would end my grow until alternative reached.

What would you do if it stopped working is the question. Nothings worked for me other than my method I learned from here just heat mat and ACI dome with root riot.
 
Yea hopefully it stays working. I have my method but Im paranoid it will stop working with no answer as to why. Happened to someone before. Im clone only so that would end my grow until alternative reached.

What would you do if it stopped working is the question. Nothings worked for me other than my method I learned from here just heat mat and ACI dome with root riot.
Maybe this will make you feel better about it. For all the surgical fuss we do to take clones, there's plenty of folks who just shear cuts and stick them in dirt and have great success. I think you'll be good.
 
I thought so but I already have cuts delayed and one not root last time. Usually I hear you find a method and youre good but sometimes I hear things that end up being my situation. Then I start advising about it. This aint my situation, yet but could happen.
 
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