Frustration

[crucialbunny]

A little over 3 weeks ago I took 3 cuttings from my dwarf plant and set them to clone. Two in rockwool cubes and one in a Jiffy Plug.The cuttings have been under the dome and everything was looking good. They never wilted at all and even had a little new growth but no roots ever appeared. Today I gave one a little tug and it slid right out and absolutely no root growth. Meanwhile the 3 Kush cuttings I took rooted no problem. I experienced the same problem last season with the seed mother. I followed the book using Dip'nGrow as a rooter and Clonex solution. Used a 20/4 lighting schedule. It's weird because the cuttings remained healthy looking the entire time. Are there strains out there that just can't be cloned? I'm running out of ideas. Any suggestions?

[Catfish22]

I don't mess with clones but have family that does. I know she sometimes uses a scalpel to split stems to the center, not all the way through.

[azorahai]

In my experience it's a thousand times easier and faster to just put the cuttings in plain water and leave them for a week or two somewhere they can get some indirect light. Usually I'll just put them in dark glass bottles and don't even bother to replace or aerate the water, but I've had more success (and they grow quicker with a lot more roots) with my DIY hydroponic cloner, which is basically a small plastic container with holes in the lid that can fit something to hold the cuttings upright, and an airstone through which air is pumped 24/7.

[Mr.furley]

Turn your light off for the first 3 days or block direct light. you don't want them to grow, just root.

[crucialbunny]

Your comment makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you for the input. I'm just confused as to why the Kush rooted so easily. Everything was done identically.

[SoOrbudgal]

I would just keep them going in some soil, set an forget them. I'm sure you did scrape a tad off the stalk an cut at angle? I've had very slow rooters but they did grow roots took them at least a month just like yours. Some slow some are faster but they will root if you got the time? Sorry to hear those struggles crucialbunny

[crucialbunny]

When I first began taking clones all I did was dip stems in a honey & water mixture and place them in benign soil. I usually had a 70% success rate. When that didn't work last season I picked up the store bought rooting products. I'm beginning to think there's just something about this strain that doesn't want to go.

[SoOrbudgal]

You could be right on with that particular strain?? Bummer

[Rwise]

I find some strains are very easy and other strains hard as hell to get a clone from. If its worth the work keep after it.

[DeadlyFruit]

I don’t normally grow clones and I don’t want to suggest I am even remotely an expert on the subject but I was experimenting a little with the pieces of plant I topped when manifolding (I always feel guilty chucking out something with a little life left in it), seeing if they would grow... I literally just jammed the cut ends into solo cups with the same peat mix from my pots and watered them when I watered the plants I grew from seed (I typically have good luck watering daily although I know not everyone does it that way). No domes, kept them off to the side of the same lights as the full size plants so the light was weaker, etc. No special treatment. I think I have about an 80% success rate so far. I currently have three cups that were growing so well I just left them to continue growing in the solo cups (I am at my plant limit and wouldn’t have room directly under my light anyways so I didn’t put them in a larger pot to grow properly). I even topped them because they were getting too tall in the cup and would fall over when the substrate started to dry each day. I am about to start harvesting them. The nugs are not giant but they are certainly respectable given they spent their life in a pint size solo cup (2 mimosa evo and a liberty haze). Once I harvest I’ll rinse off the root ball and see how well they rooted (and how badly root bound they are from life in a cup).

[9fingerleafs]

I take clones all the time. Some plants are hard to clone. Some are super easy. Temperature is a big variable. Also mold. If you find your clones molding before rooting you need trichoderma harzianum disolved in be water you soak the cubes

[crucialbunny]

There hasn't been any mold issues but one thing that sets this plant apart from other strains I have cloned is that the stems are ribbed kind of like celery and is hollow like a straw. I'm thinking of perhaps trying a rooting gel next time. I appreciate the advice.

[Rwise]

I have read about a cloning gel formulated for cannabis, I have not tried it but maybe that would help with hard to do clones.
I have not done this recently but one can wrap the limb with dirt/soil and keep it moist. The limb is still attached and being fed by the mother, and should grow roots into the wrap.

[SoOrbudgal]

Yes crucialbunny that sounds like not enough youth to the cuttings too old no ability to uptake to me anyway. I mean maybe they will root but it may take a month to stimulate something within the cells. I'm a huge fan of gel clonex.