# 80% - 20% success rate cloning???



## The Poet (Apr 29, 2015)

Fellow Farmers,


     I was  shown how to clone in 45 seconds; it survived for a 100% success rate! 
 That was a year ago and I have had varying success since.
One time I may have an 80% success rate and the next time a 20% rate! 

      For a 4" plastic cup I cut a clone about 6". 45 degrees, split the stem  and peel off a node or two lightly scraping the stem. 
Drop the clone in  a cup of warm water and when ready take it out, dip in rooting powder  and place it in the bottom of a cup, in a hole in wet cocoa or organic  potting soil. I like to have the stem go all the way to the bottom of  the cup. 
     I start the clones under fluorescent light and with no  fan. {A fan would be the opposite of a humidity dome} and in a warm  place.
In a week or two one can tell if the clone is standing on its  own and it should be transplanted to a 2 litter soda bottle. Pretty  simple except sometimes it works 80% of the time and other times 20%!

     Now I started using water with no cloramine, I haul it from a friends but am planning a 10' gutter and a rain barrel.
The city water here is alright for adult plants but young clones don't like it and 5 gallons lasts months.
I have seen those cloners and may try one, {an 8 unit for $40./ or a 25 unit for $200.}
But cloning being so important needs to be studied more and perfected. 
In conclusion: I try and keep many clone mothers for my 4 strains 2 or 3 each!
Plus a lot of clones! 
      I can't loose my Satori strain. For instance I have 3 clone mothers of  the Satori and won't take clones till they are 2' tall; then clone an  entire plant. Some times they will re-generate and I have one OG  re-generating now but most of the time after cloning from them they die. 

    I just found this 'propagation' section of the forum and am really  interested in cloning. I only flower 6-9 plants at a time, enough to  last almost till the next crop is done but an interesting subject cloning is  and I am learning. 


                                 Thank you...


                                          The Poet...


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## RubyRed (Apr 29, 2015)

> Drop the clone in a cup of warm water and when ready take it out,



:confused2:



> {A fan would be the opposite of a humidity dome}



Where did you read this?



> {an 8 unit for $40./ or a 25 unit for $200.}



DIY  is cheaper.  I think this site has a DIY  one for under $20

read read read


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## The Hemp Goddess (Apr 29, 2015)

Cloning is an individual thing.  Multi used to swear by his rockwool and baggie method and how easy and successful it was, but I never had one clone root using that method.  I also do not like coco for cloning though some swear by it.  You may have to experiment with different methods to find one that you like and works for you.

Most of us do the final cut underwater to prevent getting an air embolism in the stem.  Make sure that everything is clean and sterile.  I do not really understand your statement where you say that you leave it in warm water until it is _ready_? 

I don't really understand keeping 2-3 mothers and then taking so many clones that it sometimes kills them?  How many plants are you growing?

Cloners can be made very simply.  Why not post up what you are looking at and someone may have a better price or some way to DIY it up easily.


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## The Poet (Apr 29, 2015)

Hemp Goddess,


     If I take clones from a plant which is 18" - 20" tall, it is limbless and dies. 
Leaving a few limbs is pointless. The plant is useless, just a tall stick. 
   I 'flower' 6-9 plants at a time but most of my clones, 20% - 80% die!
   And by 'ready' I mean: I cut clones then place in a can of water till they are all cut and I am planting. 
I guess I mean till 'I' am ready.

Cups are already full of soil and soaked with water, a pencil sized hole down to the bottom. 
I take a clone from the water and dip in rooting powder, then into the soil. 

   Final cut underwater... is a good idea as is keeping clean... 
Maybe I should cut and plant clones one at a time too...! Three good ideas already! 
Less clones may enable mothers to live after 'only a few clones' are removed. 

   Do cloners help with survival rates? And should I get a cloner, 
even an 8 unit cloner for $40?


                                   Thank you...

                                            The Poet...


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## The Hemp Goddess (Apr 29, 2015)

How many cuts do you take at a time?  An 18-20" plant should supply you with several dozen cuts without leaving it limbless.  

Yes, if you are keeping a mother, you take a few cuts, but not enough to destroy them.  Otherwise she is not a mother, she is a donor.  I often have a lot of undergrowth to trim and use that for cloning.


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## The Poet (Apr 30, 2015)

Hemp Goddess,


        I 'flower' 6-7 plants at a time but it takes 30-40 clones to end up with that 6-7! 
   I am wasting clones is my point. 
   As I take 6" limbs for my clones and an 18" plant has limbs in the number of 10-12, that is all the clones I can get. 

   Now I have thought about those 'grow cubes' and planting very small, little branches in the cubes. I could get many more clones that way from one plant but I was taught to use potting soil and that's all I am familiar with.
Is it possible to do this with the grow cubes and smaller clones?


                                 Thank you...


                                           The Poet...


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## zem (Apr 30, 2015)

I have to disagree with you on this one THG, I think that there is a method that is more flawless or foolproof than the others and that is a medium that is inert, cannot be overwatered and neutral. I found what works best all in all, and I think that you maybe have not tried it, thinking that it was similar to rockwool, when it's really not. Go to the nearest flower station and grab some oasis blocks, they come in blocks of 3x4x9" I just cut the 3" side in 1/2 and make many cubes about 2x2x1.5", soak them in water, sometimes i add h2o2, when i didn't, i never noticed a difference, seriously, with this medium, I can't remember a bad cloning session, when the conditions are okay, that is in the 20 something degrees C, I rarely lose a clone, even the ones that i think are too tiny and hopeless when i cut them, surprise me by rooting, I know you would say it's just another personal preference, but i tried like everything to clone, from bubbler to coco to soil mixes and what else, a bubbler can give the same results, but why all the fuss, and risk of failing equipment, when oasis cubes are matching or exceeding it? I can remember my old days, when I was a maniac in researching, I actually made a side by side trial, bubbler and oasis, optimal conditions, i remember 40 oasis clones, and more in the bubbler, i had 40/40 rooted, and i think i lost 2 in the bubbler, at least 2, can't recall, the stem just rotted from the water, on just a very few clones. coco's problem is that it can hold a lot of water, so to do it right, it is very tricky, to be able to tell when they need to be watered, but i actually had a 100% session in it by accident when i was forgetting them, and letting it dry lol i also tried soil mixes the last which i thought i made perfect by mixing perlite peat moss and potting soil, made a great dome, because i had many that were to be grown outdoors, it was a failure, i had like 40% success. I insist that you go get an oasis block, chop it and plug some clones in it, if you are not satisfied, i'm ready hold all the blame 

oh btw, big commercial farmers who sprout seeds in automated methods, use oasis cubes specially cut for that. they are excellent seed starters too. i made a simple 3 blade device to cut the block in cubes 3/4 of the way down, this provides for a common block to hold moisture better, but can be removed individually by hand after they sprout or clone  I will take pics of my spinach seeds sprouted in them


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## The Poet (Apr 30, 2015)

Zem,


         I appreciate the information about 'Oasis Cubes'! I'll go down to the hydro/store and buy some next week! This may be the missing cloning information I need.

                            Thanks again!


                                      The Poet...


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## zem (Apr 30, 2015)

you're welcome Poet. I just took a few pics of the cubes if you look at the pic with no plants, you can see how they are cut about 3/4 down, but the base of the block is kept common, i tried to mimic it with a diy 3 blade device which i use to cut, after sprouting i removed them with my hands the cubes just break off individually. i hope this helps 

View attachment 20150501_005646[1].jpg


View attachment 20150501_005738[1].jpg


View attachment 20150501_005807[1].jpg


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## rickyjack9 (Apr 30, 2015)

ive evolved with cloning. I use rapid rooters. clonex is kinda purple. I used some old clonex that was black. it killed all my clones, so start with good 'purple' clonex. next planting deep in a 'strong' soil will kill clones due to lack of air, I think. also use a weaker soil for clones would help such as happy frog.


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## The Poet (May 18, 2015)

Growers,


     My cloning skills are already improving in that I took a clone from a Satori; 
one clone: had soaked my fingers in alcohol as well as my old razor  blade; made the final cut underwater and {turned the fan off} and she is  alive! 
A 100% survival rate!

   I wouldn't have ever made a crop without the help of the fine folks here on the 'M' Passion forum. 
Now I am on the way to not wasting half of my clones and I am a happy man. Next crop: OGS/OG then... Satori!
I don't have to worry about my Satori clone mothers as I do have only  three and I don't ever want to go through customs again if I don't have  to.
My Satori moms will last me 'a coons age'. 
{Meaning a long time}

                                                                     Thank you...


                                                                                      The Poet...&#9834;


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## The Poet (May 18, 2015)

Growers,


     I just took clones from a 2' Satori. 
The way I have been taught is to take a 6" - 8" clone, almost an entire branch. 
There is enough growth to regrow the limbs in order to 'flower' or 'clone again'  the old clone mother.
    Enough length is taken for the clone to be above the rim of a 6" cup, 
while touching the bottom of the cup. 

     A 24" clone mother yielded 8 clones and I can re-grow the mother and use her again. 
   The last clone, 'with the advise of the help of the Hemp Goddess', 
     Thank you...
     I took with: 
Clean hands sanitized with alcohol. 
I made the last cut underwater using clean water with no clorimine, 
and did them one at a time fast.
Then put them under a low wattage cfl, 100 watt bulb 
{using only 25 watts} 

     The last clone I took a week ago is still alive! 
So I took a chance and cloned 8 more. 
If most of them live I'll have a crop of Satori!

   My Mastodon will be harvested this week. 
Next crop will be OGS/OG then my favorite... 
Satori.


                                   God is Great Sabu...


                                        The Poet...&#9834;


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## next (May 18, 2015)

I just took 6-7 cuttings ranging in size from 6" down to 2" from a Satori. I used a razor blade that had been used once before, was kinda dirty, didn't wash my hands either, did the cut inside the tent, trimmed bottom set of leaves, cut it at a 45, walked over, dipped it in the bubble cloner water, then elevated them in the cloner. No rooting hormone, no clonex, just pure r/o water. I took the cuttings from the bottom 1/3 of the plant, just small trim that would be wasted. I don't take full branches, unless I am topping a plant I will use those.

Will see how my success rate is, didn't know the satori was a hard one to clone. I applied the, "don't care method" will see if it works eace:


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## next (May 19, 2015)

This sickly looking, uncared for mother has provided me with close to 20 cuttings, was germed from seed about 2.5 months ago 

View attachment 20150515_123259.jpg


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## The Poet (May 26, 2015)

I found the final missing answer to my cloning problems.

"A warm window sill that receives NO direct sunlight is perfect."
                                                  xlimited

    The clean hands w alcohol on hands and razor. 
Final cut underwater, cut stem at 45 degrees and split it, peel off a lower branch, use non-clorimine water and:
    The window sill light! 

     The window sill light! 
Better than low light florescent, or anything else for rooting clones. 
I have 8 Satori clones doing fine and I'm taking more every day. 
They love the window sill light and are really going to town! 
Even those that were apparently dead have made a come back!
   Some where in everyone's house there is a window sill that clones love!
It's the place they want to be.


  Next I'll learn to use oasis cubes and with 'my desert island four' I'll get by.  


                                   Thank you...


                                         The Poet...&#9834;


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## zem (May 28, 2015)

on a windowsill, you might want to make a dome to hold some humidity. it can also get cold at night. I would rather put up a fluro in a closed cab JMO


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## next (May 29, 2015)

So far I have 3 outta 6 with roots using my DNGAF method 
4outta6


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## The Poet (Jun 14, 2015)

Amigos,


     I was doing fine with the window sill light and thought about a long 4' florescent I had. 
I hooked it up for a day and they nearly all laid down and died! I guess I'm still learning. 
    I added water to the trays under the clone cups and they are all under a 125w curly bulb ed fluorescent. 
Some or many may recover but I am still searching for the cloning knowledge that would get my survival rate up above 27%. 
I even pulled a 2' Satori from the next batch for another mother. I've 2 living Satori clones, two big clone mothers and if I loose the rest of the clones that's it! 
I could loose the strain but that's not going to happen! I think I'll pull another Satori from the next crop as I am having terrible luck...  good enough to keep them going but just not efficiently. 

    They liked the window sill but lots of them were laying down so I tried the florescent. 
 I guess with a crude setup for cloning ie. no humidity dome, ???  no rockwool cubes... just a cup with potting soil in it... I can expect to loose 73% so should just plant many more in order to be able to put up with the 27% survival rate. 
If I want 7 clones... plant 21. 
Simple!

     Then again... 
   The cost of rockwool cubes, trays, domes and fancy cloning stuff one needs to buy in order to clone is expensive and if  'potting soil in a cup' and 'a window sill' will produce clones and costs nothing, I'll just plant 75% more than I need. 
The clones cost nothing and I re use the soil again so...


                                      Thank you...


                                             The Poet...


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## next (Jun 14, 2015)

I was 100% on my dngaf method. Try out a bubble cloner, its so easy to make one. My clones had almost 3 foot long roots when I checked them the other day.. I took the one with the most roots and the others are just hanging out in there. 

I used domes, I've misted, i've done it all, and the easiest method I have found is using aerated water, with the cones suspended above it. Because of the aerated water directly underneath the clones, they receive some residual moisture that comes up from down below, it goes right where it needs to, on the under sides of the leaves. There is no wilting, just happy clones.

**The thing about clones is it is supposed to be free, you don't need an expensive setup unless your looking for massive amounts of rooted cuttings. If you just need a dozen or two at a time, a bubble cloner will cost you $20 for an airpump, tubing, and an airstone. You can probly find something you already have to use as a container. It shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg to clone a plant**


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## next (Jun 14, 2015)

My extremely small bubble cloner is about the size of a shoe box, and it has 10 holes for cuttings. I take small cuttings so it works out nicely for me. If you want big clones, you might want more surface area, a shallow 2'x3' tupperware would do you nicely.


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## The Poet (Jun 15, 2015)

Next...


        Thanks man. 
The hydro supply has a 5 gallon cloner, 8 holes I think and I'll buy one next time I'm down there_._ Some grow cubes too as I do a crop of only about 8 units.


                                    The Poet...


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## next (Jun 15, 2015)

My DIY bubble cloner holds about 2 liters of water, nothing too big


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## The Poet (Jun 16, 2015)

Next....


     Check out this commercial cloner at the Hydro store. I'm not mechanical but I could buy one of these. 
6-8 clones is all my pool will hold and the cloner does 6.

                                  The Poet...

http://www.dfwhydroponics.com/The-Baby-Maker-BBMKR.htm


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