# Trying to Get My Cloning Skills Back



## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 1, 2014)

Trying to get my cloning back on track.  For some reason, I have been having a terrible time getting things to root.  I put some Larry OG, Nurse Larry, and Larry OG x GSC (which I believe they are calling Boy Scout Cookie, so I will call them that) cuttings in the bubble cloner yesterday.  I ordered l new cloning solution and gel.  I sterilized everything....twice.  I wore gloves.  I pH'd to 5.8.  I didn't use RO water, but my water is about 50 ppms out of the tap, so didn't think it necessary.  I have a thermometer in the water which seems to be holding at a pretty steady 75F.  The air temp is at about 80.  I have a 12" 8W T5 over the top of the cloner.  I am not using a humidity dome, but am misting several times a day--RH was 15% yesterday.  Hope it is not a mistake to not dome them, but they still look good this morning.  

 Can anyone think of anything I should be doing that I am not?


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## Hackerman (Aug 1, 2014)

Do you sing to them? I mean, you have just about everything else covered. LOL

You could always experiment with some of the "enhancements". Like scoring the stem. Or, wrapping it in gel/cloth. Put a piece of rockwool around a couple. I have read a zillion of these "tips and tricks". LOL

I must admit, I scored the stem on 2 of mine and I notice the roots are starting to form right at the scores. No sooner than they are on the unscored clones but, still, kind of neat that I can pick where I want my roots to sprout.

I like the idea of wrapping the clone in cloning gel soaked cheesecloth. Seems like it might work. Have not tried that one, yet.

I am running several experiments right now. I'll let you know if any one method seems to produce better than another.


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## MR1 (Aug 1, 2014)

I know how you feel THG, my cloning skills come and go. I usually use a bubbler but my last attemp was 50/50 so I tried the Super Simple Cloning method, http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42786. I had 100% success with this method compared to the bubbler. 14 days. Maybe try a couple with this method along side your bubbler to see if it works with your Larry.
View attachment 006 (640x427).jpg


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## P Jammers (Aug 1, 2014)

I haven't seen your cloner, but if it is the A typical type I'd drop the misting. It causes more issues than it's worth, and plants should damn near fall over before standing on their own in 36 or so hours. As long as you have those stems submerged, you can have a RH of 10 and they will be fine if everything else is.

When you say cloning solution and gel, what are you using specifically? I normally use straight tap PH'ed at 5.8, and clonex gel and have near 100% always.  

Were new air stones also added? Perhaps they are leaching using a solution of some sort? Are you using all aquarium rated equipment as in air pump, line and stones?

Is the container PVA rated?

Many cheap plastics will break down and off gas if you are using chemicals other than straight water.

I mean it sounds like outside of the misting everything else is good to me, but that very well could be the issue as well, especially if you are not using a sterile water to mist with. If your cuts are going soft at the base, it's the misting for sure.

:farm:


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## Rosebud (Aug 1, 2014)

THG, i take a cutting, dip it in clonex put it in a solo cup that is filled with wet seed starter mix. I put them at the back shady part of the t5 light, mist for 3 days only and that is it. It takes a long time to clone, but i have quit with my homemade bubble cloner and I get 90-100 % babies.  Back to the way i did roses for all those years and it is the only way i do it.  simple.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 1, 2014)

Hackerman--I do not sing to my plants and if you ever heard me sing, you would understand why.  I scarified some of the stems and some I did not.  I have been following your clone thread.  I will be looking forward to seeing your different results.

MR1--I will give the rapid rooters another go--I am just out of them now.  However Amazon Prime can have me some here by Tuesday.

PJ--It is actually an Oxy Cloner that I removed the useless "Oxyhead" that came with the unit and am using air stones, so I believe that the plastic should be okay.  The air stones were not new, but they are not very old and I did clean them very well, too.  I Olivia's cloning gel and because I have had such problems, I got some Olivia's cloning solution, too.  I will quit misting.

Rosebud, I was thinking these will probably be going into a hydro unit rather than soil so I was going to do the bubble cloner.  Interesting though that both you and MR1 have quit using bubble cloners.  I will be taking some cuttings of Satori and Pink Z in the next week or two and will try some other methods.  I have successfully taken a plant that was in a solo cup in soil and put it into a net pot for hydro.  

Thanks for the advise and help--the Hemp Goddess just needs to get her groove back.


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## MR1 (Aug 1, 2014)

THG, for hydro you can use Hick's method from his soil cloning guide, it is pretty much the same as the one I posted.



> Through the experience of getting cutting to root from a pretty difficult to root strain, I was shown, what I" consider a better, more efficient medium/method.
> EXACTLY as above, with the exception, use 100% perlite as a medium, and keep about 1/2 inch of water in the tupperware tub. This will allow you to check the rooting progress easily.
> After two weeks in the perlite, you can fill a bucket or pan, deeper than your pots, with water. By submerging the entire pot ib the bucket/pan, the perlite floats, and you can gently remove the cutting to check for roots.
> If no roots, or not enough roots are present, simply push the cutting back down into the perlite, and give it another week.
> If enough roots are present, they can be placed/planted into containers containing soil, or the growing medium of your choice.


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## BobBuckman (Aug 1, 2014)

I'll start off by saying I haven't a clue on cloning..  I read a lot however and purchased the two items below..

I cut with a scalpel from the host, then cut 45degree off the bottom of the clone (to expose more of the base of the stem), dip into olivias (I think?), and then put into the cloneking (2" or so of stem inside the box)..  I trim the leaves as well so that the clones can focus on roots.. every single clone has grown roots fast (100%) and transplanted into coco and perlite hempy buckets without issue.  I usually take a LOT of clones, then pick the strongest to move to hempy in a week or two and toss the others.

The setup is in my closet and the temp gets pretty hot in there (no air circulation), and the water temp is 85 or so. no issues with algae.. the light is about 2' above the cloner box.. The cloner runs on 3gal of tap water and I do not PH or add fert.  It will go about three weeks before I have to add water again. its been super easy to do.

one time for kicks i let a bunch of them go for a month and a half.. they grew like crazy but i wasn't paying attention and some of them started hugging the light and got a little burned.

and full disclosure.. i did kill a bunch of them one time because they ran out of water after a few weeks.. i was traveling a lot at that time and wasn't paying a lot of attention (easy to set up and forget them)


hmmp://www.amazon.com/Clone-King-Aeroponic-Cloning-Machine/dp/B008NRQJC0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406930055&sr=8-1&keywords=clone+king

hmmp://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-FLCDG125D-Fluorowing-Compact-Fluorescent/dp/B001UV6P9I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406930756&sr=8-1&keywords=fluorowing


i have no interest in the companies selling these products.. i just bought them and they worked amazingly well for me, a complete noob.  have only cloned feminized white widow, bubblegum, and og kush..  need to save my pennies for Larry


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## vostok (Aug 10, 2014)

Larry OG is well known, in the east for having dodgy genetics, but has great bag appeal, smokes great looks great ..and if you got seeds germ lots as many will be hermies ...srry goddess ...

this I feel is the future of many of todays strains


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 10, 2014)

I have had a proliferation of male Larrys, but no hermies.  Out of about 16 seeds I've started, I have ended up with only 3 females, 2 of which are near the end of flowering now and the other one was just put into flowering.  I took 4 cuts.  I have had zero hermies.   I will only keep stable genetics in my closets.  There are far too many great strains out there that ARE stable to screwing around with ones that aren't.

I can't really understand this proliferation of hermies.  Even 10 years ago, hermies were almost unheard of.


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## Dman1234 (Aug 10, 2014)

she doesnt need advice on how to clone or what metheod works better. she knows what she is doing, bad cloning agent or temp swing is likely the problem. jmo


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## orangesunshine (Aug 10, 2014)

Dman1234 said:


> she doesnt need advice on how to clone or what metheod works better. she knows what she is doing, bad cloning agent or temp swing is likely the problem. jmo




:rofl::yeahthat::yeahthat:

how are things looking today thg


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 11, 2014)

LOL--thanks dman and orange.  Things did not go well.  I am chucking everything and starting over.....again.  I really cannot figure this out and it is driving me crazy.  This time, I am not going to use those little collar things.  That seems like where the problem starts.  I am going to do some with the multi's baggie method, some in rapid rooters, some in a bubbler where the cuts go right in hydrotron.  I found that I could order an EZ cloner manifold for quite inexpensive, so ordered one of those that I will put into one of  own totes.  I am putting everything in a separate room where it is easier to keep the temps down.  I am taking the water temperature down a bit.  And I am going to mist and/or dome things, since not misting/doming has not worked.  I am really starting to get a complex about this.  Jeez, even the air layering did not work.

Thanks for checking in.  I am going to take pics this time and if anyone has suggestions they can chime in.  I have some Pink Z and some Satori ready to clone.  Satori usually clones fairly easily and I didn't have a lot of problems with the Pink Z.  Planning on doing this this evening unless something comes up.

Thanks everyone.  I just love all you guys!


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## 7greeneyes (Aug 11, 2014)

WOAH...even the air layering huh? 

Rooting mojo for you *Goddess*. I've had a few difficulties lately with cloning too. 

I've heard internet scuttle butt about the Larry Line being a real bear to clone.


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## Hackerman (Aug 11, 2014)

Based on my recent experiments I could certainly suggest tossing a couple cuttings into some Fox Farms Light Warrior.


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## MR1 (Aug 11, 2014)

One thing I noticed last time using my bubbler was my water level was to low , I thought the bubbles would be enough to keep the stems wet but I noticed they did not all get misted very well so I raised my water level to just below the stems and I got roots. Just a thought.


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## vostok (Aug 11, 2014)

*REP:   Even 10 years ago, hermies were almost unheard of.*


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## vostok (Aug 11, 2014)

The Hemp Goddess said:


> I have had a proliferation of male Larrys, but no hermies.  Out of about 16 seeds I've started, I have ended up with only 3 females, 2 of which are near the end of flowering now and the other one was just put into flowering.  I took 4 cuts.  I have had zero hermies.   I will only keep stable genetics in my closets.  There are far too many great strains out there that ARE stable to screwing around with ones that aren't.
> 
> I can't really understand this proliferation of hermies.  Even 10 years ago, hermies were almost unheard of.


*
I am of the believe that sex is selected at conception, and over the years have seen very little to dissuade me from this, did something happen at conception of these plants, as there are many threads out there suggesting that the reason why so many growers have 70-90% males, or females, .. rather than the balanced 50/50 is due to local growing condition, for example to hot, to wet, to high(N) to low(N) etc etc ...?
*


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## rickyjack9 (Nov 14, 2014)

I cloned 100% using only coco in 18 oz plastic cups.
I had my doubts, but it actually works. I didn't use a dome.
just don't let the coco get too dry. watered initially, planted 2-3 inches deep,
lightly misted 1st couple days. watered once more about 4 days in, then let it get drier
and roots formed easily. it really works, wow. no dome. wow.
so cloning is easier than ever using coco and no dome. no fan, temp 70-80.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Nov 15, 2014)

I have tried that method, too ricky and did not have any better luck.  I will just keep trying......


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## Wetdog (Nov 16, 2014)

What stuff do you have _besides_ the cloner? People give them up for a reason and I really think that's your problem. RH of 15 and no dome is iffy also, at least for the first few days.

If you have any rockwool or even used organic mix that hasn't been re-amended yet, that would be great. The RW would be better for later hydro transplant.

Wet


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