# Why do all my clones keep dying?



## emuman (Dec 1, 2009)

what am I doing wrong? I took these clones about ten days ago
a few were put into a makeshift bubble cloner, a few in a 50/50 mix of new dirt and perlite, and 1 was put into a Tbl spoon sized cup of water.
oddly the one in water still looks somewhat ok also the ones in the soil mix were dipped in root1 hormone. and as far as I can tell none show signs of root


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## HippyInEngland (Dec 1, 2009)

Hello emuman 

Are you using a dome to cover them?

eace:


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## emuman (Dec 1, 2009)

HippyInEngland said:
			
		

> Hello emuman
> 
> Are you using a dome to cover them?
> 
> eace:


no I am not, should I be?
I do spray them with a mist bottle daily


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## Tater (Dec 1, 2009)

This is all my opinion but heres some things that may help you.

1: your clone selection looks poor, choose older cuts with thicker stems and cut off clones that are 4 inch's or so and leave one node on there with just a couple leaves.

2:  Your bubble cloner is going to suffer from disease problems unless you block the light and manage the heat.  Anything above 21C encourages disease.

3: Quit mucking around with multiple cloning attempts and focus on getting one working.  The easiest by far (unless you have a working bubble dome) is to take some clones stick them in damp rapid rooters or rockwool and put them in a tupperware container with a lid, or buy a humidity dome.  Opent he lid once a day for the first week then take it off entirely.

4: Leave your plants alone.

Most people who fail at cloning fail from mainly the same things, over watering, lack of humidity, lack of stem contact with the media, disease.  The most common is the first two.


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## legalize_freedom (Dec 1, 2009)

Great advice from Tater!


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## fleshstain (Dec 1, 2009)

are you using the clothes pins to hold the clones upright? you may be crushing the stem of the cutting.... if you are, that's almost always going to lead to a 100% death rate.... 

i'm with Tater.... get some Rapid Rooter plugs and a nursery flat with a humidity dome and focus on getting 1 method right....


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## emuman (Dec 1, 2009)

fleshstain said:
			
		

> are you using the clothes pins to hold the clones upright? you may be crushing the stem of the cutting.... if you are, that's almost always going to lead to a 100% death rate....
> 
> i'm with Tater.... get some Rapid Rooter plugs and a nursery flat with a humidity dome and focus on getting 1 method right....



yes the pins are holding them upright, but I was careful to make sure they're not pinching just holding (there is no pressure being applied to the stem of the cutting)

also Tater I believe I am guilty of over watering, tho what does not make sense to me is that the cutting that looks "best" to me is the one in the cup, shouldn't that be over watered? it is in a cup of water
and why is it the more you water them the more they look like they need more water (sorry that last part made sense in my head)


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## OldSkool (Dec 1, 2009)

If you like you can dip them in hormone powder and just leave them in a clear glass container. You can see when the roots develop and there's no fear/danger of under/overwatering them. Just a couple leaves on top and leave two nodes if possible under water. Or, you could stick them directly in wet sand. It's a great medium for clones. Taught in schools. Just keep the sand wet, and the lights not too close or hot. Works like a charm for me my friend!


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## OldSkool (Dec 1, 2009)

I'll tell you what I think you did wrong by the pics...
You spray them right? The water droplets act like little magnifying glasses to COOK the tender leaves. The closer to the light source the more cooked they will get. I made the same mistakes. I DO NOT spray my clones anymore!
I put some in water, some in sand, and leave them be.


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## greenthumberish (Dec 1, 2009)

Dude....i did a science project for amusement....If the 1 plant is all you want to clone, get rapid rooter (li'l plug lookin deal with a hole in the top) get it damp, but not soaking....take your 2-6 inch cutting, trim the tips of your fan leaves off, to about the middle, on all the large ones, leave the fresh baby ones on the tip alone, take a saucer, and a clear 1 pint beer glass (smaller cuttings work best) And then put the puck/cutting on the saucer, turn over your beer glass, and set it under 24 hour light, mist every other day, replace dome, after 3 days take the dome off for an hour here or there, and viola, 10 days later....roots

oh,forgot to mention I use clonex rooting solution, just a tiny dab of it on the freshly cut bit


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## greenthumberish (Dec 1, 2009)

Oh, also, the light doesn't need to be very intense, infact it's better if it's not, it just has to be in a lit area, that is constant light...worked 100% sucsess for me


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## me myyself and I (Dec 1, 2009)

hmmm, I use a bubbler setup with plain ph'd water under low light,and I just take the cuttings and put them in, 10-14 days later wa-la! maybe your bubbler aint make'n enough bubbles?


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## greenthumberish (Dec 1, 2009)

Why even bother with a bubbler if it had to be jerry rigged in the first place....Get a tupperware tub, and a small ziplock food container, the not a bag but a plastic dish, and a piece of plexiglass, put the dish with your clones in rooting media in the tub, mist lightly, put your plexi or real glass on top of it...and hang 1 CFL over it in a coat closet or somethin...no bubbles needed, use a rooting compound, dont over water it, and mist it every other day or so...and 10-14 days without bubblers or messes and 100% sucsess ratio...


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## fleshstain (Dec 1, 2009)

greenthumberish said:
			
		

> and 10-14 days without bubblers or messes and 100% sucsess ratio...



if it were that easy then no one would have problems with cloning.... everyone goes through a learning curve and figuring out what technique is right for them....

emu.... Rapid Rooters and some form of container that will light penetrate seem to be one of the best methods for cloning beginners.... when i used them in the past i would flip them upside down and poke a new hole for the cuttings.... by doing this, the flat part that is usually the top now forms a nice little base for it to stand itself up....


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## dirtyolsouth (Dec 1, 2009)

OldSkool said:
			
		

> If you like you can dip them in hormone powder and just leave them in a clear glass container. You can see when the roots develop and there's no fear/danger of under/overwatering them. Just a couple leaves on top and leave two nodes if possible under water. Or, you could stick them directly in wet sand. It's a great medium for clones. Taught in schools. Just keep the sand wet, and the lights not too close or hot. Works like a charm for me my friend!



OR use Hick's cloning method with a cup full of damp perlite with holes in the bottom of the cup and sitting in a tray with a half inch of water to wick moisture up and keep the stem in contact with the perlite moist...  

Peace!


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## greenthumberish (Dec 1, 2009)

fleshstain said:
			
		

> if it were that easy then no one would have problems with cloning.... everyone goes through a learning curve and figuring out what technique is right for them..


 
It actually is that easy - that's the sad part...people still have problems
Cloning hormones have alot to do with it however....some people use too much, others not enough....really though it is that simple..people, present company excluded  are stupid by general rule


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## fleshstain (Dec 1, 2009)

personally, i've found my success rate plumits if i use any kind of rooting hormone.... i've gotten every strain i've ever tried to clone to eventually root using plain water....

there's many more factors involved in taking good cuttings too.... everything from is your light to close, is the stem too thin/thick, top or bottom of the plant, medium choice, humidity stability, the mother plant's health, to did you use a clean instrument to make the cut, etc.... when you add it all up, unfortunately, it's not as easy as it seems....


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## emuman (Dec 1, 2009)

greenthumberish said:
			
		

> Why even bother with a bubbler if it had to be jerry rigged in the first place....



hey my bubbler is no more "jerry rigged" than the one in the diy forum...
so he uses 1 inch pieces of tube to hold them up I use a clothespin other than that? the reason I am bothering with it is because it seemed simple and almost foolproof plus I had the material just laying around



			
				fleshstain said:
			
		

> if it were that easy then no one would have problems with cloning.... everyone goes through a learning curve and figuring out what technique is right for them....
> 
> emu.... Rapid Rooters and some form of container that will light penetrate seem to be one of the best methods for cloning beginners.... when i used them in the past i would flip them upside down and poke a new hole for the cuttings.... by doing this, the flat part that is usually the top now forms a nice little base for it to stand itself up....



I have always been able to make the simplest of things far more difficult than needed

but these Rapid Rooters where dose one find these?


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## fleshstain (Dec 1, 2009)

check you local grow shops or head shops.... almost all of the head shops around here have a nicely stocked growing section....


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## fleshstain (Dec 1, 2009)

emuman said:
			
		

> I have always been able to make the simplest of things far more difficult than needed



that's just part of that learning curve i was talking about.... a lot of beginners and newbies try to replicate difficult setups they've seen in magazines or grow journals and discover quickly that it's not as easy as you'd like to think.... usually wind up finding out the hard way that sometimes, and usually from my experience, simpler can be better....


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## legalize_freedom (Dec 1, 2009)

I didn't have any luck with the bubbler, I'm not sure what I did wrong, but they were all wilted the next day, luckily I had half of my clones in rapid rooters....the way I have always done it, and had success.  I do think that people tend to overcomplicate it though...it is not rocket science.

Also some strains are just plain difficult to clone, and some strains are easier than "the norm".


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