Advice on cloning flowering plants

[DrPhoton]

Yea although more leaves has the potential for more water loss, you control this through humidity. With humidity control and spraying you control how much water is lost. I like the fact that once roots have formed, more leaf area is available for photosynthesis. But this is just my opinion, preferation.

[GreenhouseEffect]

Wow, that's a whole bunch of really good information Dan, and a bunch of it that I didn't even know about, thank you very much!
I think I will try leaving the leaves on this time to, always heard that you should take them off to slow down moisture loss, but it seems like having them on could help a bunch to deal with the light issue.
The most successful clone I've had so far, was stuck into the soil right bellow a big plant, kind of makes a lot of sense know after what you said.

[DrPhoton]

Its been on my to do list to write an article about cloning. I did good research some months ago about the science of cloning which gave me great insight into the principles of cloning plants.

Flowering clones are termed monstercropping. Due to the unorthodox growth patterns of the clones when they revegetate. Its typically more difficult to do than clones from a vegging plant. Likely because of the slower root growth and the extended duration before vegetation starts.

But basically, regardless of the method used, the following is what is ultimately the goal for successful cloning.

Temperature:

Plants respire to create energy and this is best with higher temperatures. If temperatures are too low, metabolic activities are slowed and overall, the growth and developement is slowed. 72°F - 75°F (22°C - 24°C) is the ideal range for clones.

Humidity:

Its common to keep the humidity high to prevent as much water loss as possible, this is because without roots there is no water potential. By raising humidity, water that is already located in the cutting is prevented from transpiring and instead can be stored for vital functions during the cloning process. For example root development and photosynthesis. Some like to trim leaves to extend on this factor, but i personally dont. As long as humidity can be kept high, water loss will not be a problem and the extra leaf surface area will speed up development once rooted.

Light:

This is very important because too much light can really exhaust the plants beyond their capability. You ultimately only want to provide just enough light to entrain them to stay or convert into a vegetative state and satisfy a plants compensation point, which is required for a plant to make enough energy for simply staying alive. The ideal light is between 60-75umols (5000-6000 lux) but up to 90umols can be fine (7500 lux). 24/0 light cycle is recommended.

Oxygen:

Using a medium that has plenty of air space is very important for root development as roots require oxygen for respiration. I know people who put clones straght into water but as soon as roots form they transfer to airated medium otherwise further development is stunted. So mediums such as rockwool, oasis, rapid rooters or jiffy are common starter mediums for clones.

Water:

Water is important but only a little to support roots once they begin formation. Too much water in the medium drives out oxygen and suffocates roots. Spraying the environment helps raise humidity and spraying plants provides some water through osmosis in leaves.

List of tips:

Use rooting hormones to stimulate rooting, double dip methods are sometimes used.

Take stocky and thick cuttings, at least 6 inches or more. The thickness should be no bigger than a pencel. Cuttings that are more woody are harder to root, so try and use softer cuttings.

For the first few days, keep vents closed and maximize humidity, you do not want the plants to dry out while roots are developing.

Use no nutrient solutions, just pure water. Plants are not actively growing so nutrients are not strongly required and increased solute concentration limits water potential. Also PH water or mediums if required. Rapid starter is sometimes used with good results.

Take cuttings with 2-4 nodes, you can remove lower leaves if you desire.

Take the cut at a node, this may provide more surface area for roots but more importantly node hormones may be higher. Some people cut at 45° for a larger surface area for roots.

Make sure the stem has a tight fit and not loose in its medium. Loose fitted cuttings can fail to root as they dry out easier and rot. Take a bit of the medium and place it around the stem to create a tighter fit.

Put fresh cuttings in water as soon as possible to prevent air embolisms. The same type of embolisms that can wreak havoc on our cardiovascular systems in people.

Keep not only the ambient temperature in the recommended range, but the roots and medium. Heat pads are often used for these reasons.

Sterile and clean cuts are important, bacteria can rot the exposed tissue at the sliced end. So be sure that the tools used for cutting is clean and sterile to prevent contamination.

Just after root formation, you want to begin climatizing the cuttings by opening vents or lids. This is so that the cutting can start to transpire and pull water and nutrients up. This takes practice to know when its too early or too late and for how long.

Cuttings from the bottom of mothers root faster and are even better when mothers are a couple of months old.

Be patient, dont attempt to want to check for roots in the first few days, you do not want to upset the fragile roots or dry out the plants too much by leaving the lid off for too long.

Make sure cuttings are taken from healthy moms that are well hydrated and not overfed. This is important because roots will be using energy that is available from the cutting from previous photosynthesis. Also any available water and stored sugars that resides in the cuttings.

Hope that helps. Subscribe for this article in the future.

[GreenhouseEffect]

Humboldt strain from Seedsman

[GreenhouseEffect]

Ya, I know, but it's not an Auto, it's a photo period.

[strainsgrow]

You cannot clone autos. Especially in flower. Genetics being the reason.

[GreenhouseEffect]

So I've cloned plants in vedge successfully before, and I have this Blue Dream in the puff ball stage of flowering( lot's of pistils, but not full on buds yet). Think it's the best plant I've grown so far, and really would like to preserve it's genetics. My ultimate plan being to make a clone put out male flowers with colloidal silver, and pollinate a sister clone, since it's the only plant of this strain I have.

Does anyone have any advice for cloning plants in flower? I know folks do it, and I have heard you can, that it takes a long time, since you are revenging also. Tryin to set myself up for success as best I can, any tips from those that do this greatly appreciated!
I'd really like to post a pic, but still on a borrowed computer and don't want to push my luck downloading pot plant pics on it.

Thanks!