thought this would help the newbs

[JBonez]

OK, this is my first time cloning.

so far so good, i just want to stress the importance of one thing.

contact.

what do i mean by that? well hear me out, this WILL help you. hopefully

now, i did everything by the book on this, using techniques from what ive learned, here is what i did.

i used rapid rooters
clone dome or chamber
clonex
cuttings about 3-4 inches long and average about 1/8th inch in diameter
superthrive 5 drops per gallon of water

ok, here was my problem, twice a day i sprayed the leaves and the dome keeping the temp and humidity up. i have them about 7 feet away from my 1000w mh, combined with the moisture on the dome that helps reduce the lights intensity. Now all thats good to go.

my problem was that the stems were smaller than the predrilled hole in the rapid rooters. This is where contact comes into play.

the sides of the stem were not directly touching the inner part of the rapid rooters, only the bottom of the stem was. I noticed that root bumps were forming like crazy, but not on the sides of the cutting, only the angled cut on the bottom.

here is the fix for rapid rooters to ensure premium contact.

Use two small zipties, one at the top, and one in the middle of the rapid rooter, to ensure that it is closed properly around the stem so there is no gap between the stem and the rapid rooter. Hope this helps, this is my first time cloning and i realized that contact must take place or root bumps will not form.

 

[bud.uncle]

here is the fix for rapid rooters to ensure premium contact.

Use two small zipties, one at the top, and one in the middle of the rapid rooter, to ensure that it is closed properly around the stem so there is no gap between the stem and the rapid rooter. Hope this helps, this is my first time cloning and i realized that contact must take place or root bumps will not form.

Great tip....................:aok:

 

[JBonez]

yeah, i just noticed that the holes were a bit bigger than the over all circumfrance of the cutting's stem. and root bumps werent forming, another plus side to soil or perlite, you can push it nice and snug around the stem, rapid rooters arent perfect, but they do there job i suppose.

 

[andy52]

good tip there jbonez,i also use the rapid rooters for cloning.i put a rubber band around them also.

 

[shakeymacd]

is rapid rooter rocwell?

 

[andy52]

nope

 

[vermont_farmer]

You can get info on rapid rooter plugs at horticulturesource.com.

VF

 

[Metro]

is rapid rooter rocwell?

I'm sure you mean Rockwool. No they are basicly composted tree bark.
I will use my current supply of RR and then go back to peat pucks. I did a side by side comparison and the pucks rooted 2-3 days faster. That said, I got 100% roots from both. Pucks can be as much as 50-75% cheaper in cost. They are available at most garden supply stores and you don't have to keep them moist for storage. People mention that pucks are acidic but this has never been an issue for me. They can go right in to soil, hydro, coco.

Water from the bottom when possible. Peat pots and peat pellets are perfect for bottom watering systems. Bottom watering also reduces the risk of becoming infected with many foliage and stem bacteria and fungi. As a side note, you should excercise caution when bottom watering, not to keep the peat pots and pellets
continually soggy, as this can weaken the plants defenses, and increase the risk of your plants succumbing to a root or intravascular disease.

When roots grow out of the peat pellets and are exposed to air, the tips of the root die, and further back along the root, it begins to branch out. This means that rather than having girdling roots and stunted plants, you end up with well branched healthy plants.

No, I do not sell peat pucks!