Rapid Rooter Plugs

[KP419]

as most of you know i have had some trouble cloning this time around and nothing has worked for me for some odd reason bad luck im guessing this time around and it sucks. I have heard from a few people that these rapid rooter plugs have a good water/air ratio and work well. Does anyone else here use them? and what are your opinions on these plugs?

 

[Hushpuppy]

I have used the rooter plugs with success. I ended up buying the "root shooters" from Advanced Nutrients and like it. I actually cut mine up into smaller sections so that I could set the tray in a container with hydroton beneath so that I could keep the hydroton wet so that the plugs don't dry out as fast. Here is a link to the ones I use but I suspect any of this type of rooting plug is good: hxxp://www.advancednutrients.com/hydroponics/products/root_shooters/root_shooters_product_information.php

General Hydroponics also has the same kind and I suspect works the same as mine. I have such success with my aerocloner that I don't need the root shooter plugs but I have kept mine for back-up as they do work good.

I think the key with them is to not let them get too warm or cold, I try to maintain 76-81f in the clone cabinet whenever cloning. And then keep it moist but not soaked. That is why I liked keeping the few inches of hydroton beneath the rooters as they drain well and will dry out quick if they don't have something to hold the moisture next to them.

 

[HemperFi]

I have great success with Rapid rooter plugs -- nearly 100%. I put root toner down into the plug as well as on the cutting and then put the in the tray with some weak nute solution in the tray with the dome over them. I spray them in the morning and at night before bed and ignore them the rest of the time. I get roots in a week or so, and in 2 weeks they are busting out with roots. I hope this helps -- good luck.

Peace

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Yup yup...:beatnik:

I've used them for about 7 yrs or so. They work great... but so does any other cloning method most of the time. I used clone bubblers for several years and they worked killer too but when things weren't popping it was difficult to put a finger on the problem so I went back to tried and true Rapid Rooter plugs. I've always used a cloning gel along with plugs but lately I've played around with using NO products and they seem to root in about the same amount of time. Lately I've had great results with plain water but I'm experimenting with using mychorizae in the wetting solution and they seem to stay a bit 'happier.'



Recently another brand of similar plugs has come on the market called "Root Riot" plugs and they work great too. They are a tiny bit smaller than Rapid Rooters but they're plenty big enuf and work just as well imo. Also, Root Riot plugs come in bags of 100 for about $22 and the Rapid Rooters are closer to $15 locally for 50 plugs although you can find them cheaper online.



One thing I've learned after rooting dozens of strains is when you have slow rooters its more often than not strain related and probably nothing that you're doing 'wrong.' The difficult rooting strains are slow no matter what method you choose. After some experimenting I learned that the eager rooting strains will root sitting in a cup with 2" of water in a couple weeks and wont get funky if you swap the water out ever few days.



When you wet your plugs don't over saturate them as you can get stem rot if they are kept too wet and domed. I like to use a turkey baster which my gf:angry:soon proclaimed was my "Garden Plant Baster" and was banished from further kitchen use after she bought another new baster for kitchen use...



Good luck and happy cloning~!

 

[Growdude]

I just tryed these things for the first time with 100% success.

I put them in the plug then put that in a solo cup with some soiless mix with very good drainage.
Watered them once a day with no dome and they rooted and grew well until transplant.

 

[KP419]

I have never had problems with cloning besides this time around. I have an 30 spot ez cloner, they kept dying so I tried the pellet pucks that expand and got mold from them where stem meets soil. Now I am using the rapid rooter plugs and still very slow and losing clones. Heres exactly what ive done this time so you could tell me if i did anything wrong. I have a tray with a dome, I soaked the plug in a very weak root 66 solution for just a few minutes. I cut my clones at a 45 degree angle that are each about 6 inches in height, scrapped the outter skin from the stem that's going to be inserted in the plug and soaked them in clonex cloning solution for about 10 minutes with at least one node buried. I inserted them into the plugs and put the dome on with a CFL bulb over them which is what I always use to clone. I spray them in morning and at night and leave alone in between. Only thing I have done different is i don't have a heating pad under them anymore because I have seemed to lost it. The plugs are kinda cold at times which I know is not good but I've rooted without one before but i know it helps. They all end up dying on me I have had around 3 that has rooted and took those weeks to root and the rest just keep dying one by one and im running out of clones to cut. Im getting a heating pad today hoping it helps them root. Am i doing anything wrong? Now I am out of clonex rooting gel but I do have some powder rooting hormones, does powder hormones work as good as the gel?

 

[juniorgrower]

Do you cut your 45 degree angle under water? I have done it both ways and making the angle cut under water works better for me. I just cut 11 clones and 10 rooted without the use of a heatmat.

 

[KP419]

I never have before but untill this lack of success this time around I tried cutting under water still no luck. its weird and dont know why they keep dying

 

[HemperFi]

Sounds like you are doing everything right -- higher temps might be the key -- I put two cfls over the dome and some real weak nutes wicking into the plugs -- good luck.

Peace

 

[juniorgrower]

I know how frustrating losing clones can be, hope ya can get the problem figured out.

 

[KP419]

thx everyone for the input

 

[Hushpuppy]

I think you may have a pathogen in your garden. I had some issues a while back and found it was a pathogen in my soil. I think you should take your ez-cloner and wash it out thoroughly with alcohol or H2O2, and wash down everything that touches this setup. Then get it in its place (or move it to a new location that is isolated, where you can keep a couple low-level, soft white CFL bulbs over it(not right on them, but about 1 foot away). Mix up your clonex solution in it and add some of the rooting powder to the solution rather than trying to put it on the cuttings. When you set up your water/cloning solution, make sure the water is exactly 80f (get a meat thermometer to stick through one of the neopreene pucks to keep an eye on the water). (by the way, make sure those neoprene pucks are washed well with the peroxide as well before using them).

When I take my cuttings, I try to get them about 6-8inches long and stick them into water right when I cut them, then move all of them to the cloner for final cutting and setting. I trim off the leaves until I have just the top growth and 1-2 leaves. If the leaves left on the cuttings are a little big then I cut the tips off about 1/3(don't know exactly why it helps but it always does). I then cut off another section of the stem so that I have about 1-2cm of stem just below a leaf node that the leaf was removed from. I use my scalpel to slice the stem on a long angle on either side so that it goes to a point, then stick it in the cloner.

After doing that, turn them on and try to maintain the air space at 78-80f with only a very slight breeze and don't put the dome on it. I have found that the dome can cause them to hold too much moisture. Try to leave them as undisturbed as possible and make sure the sprayers are working good before starting everything. You can still spritz them once a day but try to maintain the temps in the water and air and I bet you will have roots inside of 10 days. Root grow mojo Bro

 

[CasualGrower]

I know you have probably had several different types of cloning proposed to you...... I amnot gonna tel you what is THE BEST way..... All Depends on your grow and circumstances.....

I have tried SEVERAL ways myself, My first was with a drip system and using rockwoll and a hormones. Did Very well, 11 for 12.... BUT had to put a couple in Intensive care for a bit ....not a bad way to go.....

HAVE to share the EASIEST and MOST SUCCESSFUL way I have found and THE ONLY way I use now..... I now use a Bubble Cloner like you find in the DIY section of this forum......I have twelve spaces in the one I made.....I have at least a 99% success rate using this method with a baseline of approximately 500 clones.

I am not gonna explain it all here .... but I will put up a few bulletpoints....

* Make sure Cloner/scissors/HANDS/ANYTHING that might touch the cutting is disinfected.....

* Make sure Cutting is long enough to put end in the Oxygenated water slightly....

* the cutting I take is ......NORMALLY .... Top leaf/and 2 nodes lower........... Usually trim off the lower node leavse to leave enough stem in cloner to put the stem IN the water...

* light 24/7........ couple CFL Daylight bulbs over cloner is plenty....... Use a hood for about the first 7 days......and spray the leaves down at least twice a day......

* Keep temps steady as steady as possible...70ish F is GREAT....

* For rooting I find PH and other water measurements are not too picky..... ( I use straight tap water...... MAYBE just a little bit micronutes in the cloner)........... NOW THIS TIP IS DEPENDANT ON HOW YOUR TAP WATER IS........ OF COURSE>>>>>..... Since I cannot tell how it is..... I cant answer this for sure.....

............
* this works AWESOME for me.... I will see root bumps in 7 or 8 days........in 10 days they will be about 4 inches..... in 14 days i lose a few roots pulling through my clone location drillholes and they are about a foot long.

Hope this might help ya.......not trying to say how to do it.......... JUST what works for me )



GL to ya. Hope this helps ya IF ya go to a bubble clone in future......... Parts of this might help in your current technique too.

CG.