Trouble getting Clones to root

[jalapeno]

I've had 1 really good cloning experience using Nebula's tutorial, and several near or complete failures using it, Mr. Green's tutorial, and a Clone King aeroponic cloner. The first success, was with cuttings taken from my originally purchased clones (AC/DC), while they were still quite young, right before switching them to 12/12 lighting. Since then, I've been keeping one of my plants in veg to get clones from when I need them, and it has been those cuttings, that seem to take forever to root, IF AT ALL!. By the time any of them root, they're already starting to look a little pale and frail, so it takes longer before the transplanted clones start to grow vigorously.

I won't go into all the details of each attempt right off the bat here, but I have a 'theory'. All my plants end up in 2 gallon cloth pots. These are a good size for Sea of Green or ScrOG in my little 2 x 4 tent. Usually about 6 weeks veg, and then 8 weeks bloom. However, it's possible that the ones I set aside to be the next 'momma' plant are getting a little root bound. The momma plants seem vigorous, and happy looking, but I wonder if they reach a point where they are suppressing root growth, and the cuttings are continuing to do so.

Has anyone had similar experience, or can corroborate or refute my theory? My next move I'm going to transplant the Momma into a 5 gallon pot, give it a week or two to adjust, and try again. Will add photo of the Momma shortly.....

[jalapeno]

Here's the Momma that the cuttings that won't root have been coming from. She's now in a 8 or ten gallon plastic pot full of Ocean Forest Soil. Once I've (hopefully) got some successfully rooted clones from it, I'll probably set it outdoors and harvest it in the fall after it's naturally bloomed. Just as experiment, and get some extra product without increasing my electric bill or buying any new equipment.

[WeirdWiredWolf]

How long are you giving the clones to take root? I do mine in soil with cloning powder/gel and it looks to take about 2 weeks before I see any signs of new growth. I also use the smallest pot I can (just a 3.5" plastic pot from the hardware store).

(right now I have two clones in a 2gal pot that I'll probably just flower next month while they're still short, I didn't plan on them surviving and am running out of room fast)

[DankwingDuck]

Are you using rooting hormones and cutting you clones at a 45degrew cut with a razor just below the node cutting the leaves of the node as well and then clipping the leaves of the clone off about half way . Cutting the fingers of the leaves will help to reduce upward growth and promote root growth . Also reducing feeding of the mother plant will reduce the N in the plant and help the plant to root instead of producing new vegetation. I’ll see if I can find a diagram but here is one I drew (drawing isn’t my strong suit is enjoy 😉) my experience with cloning is in rockwool But I hope this helps you . Also you should use a razor not scissor if your not already . Scissors can crush the stem and make it harder for roots to form . Clean the razor with alcohol and make sure it is brand new and very sharp . If you are already doing all these things then it’s just up to luck at this point .

also I’m sure you already awear but you need lots of humidity for your clones to root . Not only will this hell with root growth but it will help keep the cutting healthy and alive till the roots form .

Also you should place you clone into water or it’s growing medium right away so you don’t get air bubbles in the stem . Air bubbles will make it harder for the cutting to root.

(As always I am not an expert . This is merely the method I use and I have found successful. I have never cloned marijuana as this is my first grow but I have cloned many vegetable plants with great success ) with you using this aero thing which have never done these methods may not work for you .

I hope this helps you in some way.

[Inuart88]

I don’t have a humidity dome or use any misting cut clone machine pot. So I don’t believe humidity is a big issue to effecting the rooting rate.

[WeirdWiredWolf]

I'd give soil cloning a try if aero isn't working. I have one unintentional water clone (no hormones, just stuck it in water ~2 weeks ago; roomie moved it and I forgot about it until yesterday) that I started the same time as my other two soil ones...soils are thriving and while the runt-in-a-jar isn't showing roots it hasn't died either.

[Qwertywill]

I have a diy cloner, works fine. Took 10 days for all to root. I would cut off all the lower leaves and clip the tips off the remaining fan leaves. I use phed tap water and clonex. 45 deg. Angle cut and scrape a little from the cut up... no issue.

[jalapeno]

Thanks. At one time or another, I've tried all of those. When I first had problems with my store bought (Clone King) cloner, they said to never use Clonex or scrape the stems in an aeroponic cloner. When I did it that way with just pH'd water, it worked that time (on cuttings that had already been in the cloner for a couple of weeks with Clonex), they did eventually get roots, and did eventually become healthy potted plants, though it took a long time before they 'recovered' from being on a diet of just pH'd water for so long. This time, I did it exactly as they had suggested from the beginning. I did get a some kind of wimpy looking roots on 3 or 4 of a dozen cuttings after 3 weeks or more, and have them in 16oz. solo cups in soil now. Having tried all these tweaks, and gotten very slow and inconsistent results, I wondered if there was something about the state of the mother plant when the cuttings were taken that was affecting how long it would take for roots to appear.

I'll keep experimenting until I find what seems to work best. Fortunately, I have a big healthy Mother plant to work from, so with a virtually endless supply of cuttings, I suppose I'll get it right eventually.

[oldjarhead100]

when I use a mother plant I give her clonex solution for 2 weeks prior to taking the clones this puts rooting hormones everywhere then when I take them they go right in clonex solution after I have all my clones ready i take one recut at 45 degrees , scrape tissue off and dip in clonex gel and stick it in a root riot then spray with clonex solution 4 times a day

[oldjarhead100]

it takes about 10 days for them to get roots if they haven't done it by then I dont think they will .I had half a dozen plants that were standing up looking great except no roots

[jalapeno]

Are you using a humidity dome, or just an open tray? I will definitely try adding Clonex to my spray bottle for the current batch, and then to the Mother before my next batch. The mother has just been transplanted from a 2 gallon cloth pot into an ~8 gallon plastic pot. This was to test my theory that a potentially root bound plant might suppress rooting hormones temporarily in new cuttings. Adding Clonex to the BioThrive Grow that I'm watering it with probably won't hurt it, as it now could benefit from extensive root growth itself. My plan for the Mother, is to let it grow outdoors for the summer, take cuttings from it as needed, and let it bloom naturally in the fall. That will be my first outdoor grow attempt. My property gets very little sun at the ground level, but decent exposure on the roof, so I'm building a platform to to go up there and see what happens Thanks!

[KingKush]

Use a little fertilizer in the cloner water like a teaspoon of some made for hydro.
I love aeroponic cloning! Keep at it.

[Inuart88]

I have a turbo clone and have a 99% rate of cloning. Only time I get one to not root when my sprayers miss a clone. I do the normal cloning cut clonex. In 2-4 days I add 2ml of rapid start per gallon my clone machine is 2 gal so 4ml. I never change the water and use a shitty old light for them. And my rate of rooting is amazing. Also when I transplant leave the machine on and just take em out 1 by 1. Anyway that’s how I have done it works good make sure u oh the water down to 5.6-6.2 they like lower ph in clone machine.

[jalapeno]

Thanks to everyone who responded! There are few ideas in there that I haven't tried yet. Some of you seem to do well with an aeroponic cloner using cloning solution etc, but when I tried that the first go with my Clone King, and had no roots after 2 weeks. the Clone King people told me that the cloning solution was the problem and should NEVER be used with an aeroponic cloner. Clearly this has not been a problem for several of you. Need to figure out which of these, or some other unidentified variable is making what seems to be easy for most so difficult for me.

I have a some cuttings in peat pellets in a dome right now at day 10 with no roots showing yet. I may try adding some Clonex solution to the sprayer, and to the tray, and see what that does.

[DankwingDuck]

I would double check the main factors . Heat and humidity. Make sure the clone king is working properly . It might be something wrong with it not your method.