Now here is a brief tutorial on cloning. I have tried bubble cloning, I have tried rapid rooters. Both work great. I am the one that failed on the bubble cloner though. I just could not watch it well enough and they died as it dried out. Just too much to do and not enough hours in the day!
BUT anyone that is good at caring for their plants (LOL! Like I thought I was before NOW!) it is a fast and easy way to go. Try it, you will like it.
Rapid rooters, also worked great. I found they dried out faster though, and had a higher ratio of mortality with them.
The one and simplist and cheapest way I have found, that works best for me, and this is key, WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU!!! is good old Peat Pellets and a heating pad inside a container. I use those see through plastic tubs you get lettuce in from the grocery store. I use them for all sorts of things in the grow room. Good to use for harvest, for draining plants, for cloning, lots and lots of things. And easy to store as you can stack them.
Here we go. Just a few to start, then more as I go.
What I have found about cloning:
1. Make sure everything is clean. Sterile is great. I wipe things down with alcohol. Blades, surfaces, everything. Then at least you start off clean.
2. WASH YOUR HANDS WELL AFTER DOING THIS: Many people forget to keep their hands as clean as their equipment. This is the easiest way to kill your clones. Wash them well and pay special attention to in between your fingers and under your rings.
3. Use a sharp thin blades. I use good old Wiltshire blades for old style razors. If you can find them, they are thin and easy to use, but watch you don't cut yourself as both sides are sharp.
4. Try and get a couple of nodes below the surface. cut on an angle to add more rooting surface. I find it helps them root better. I also remove part of the cambiam layer, the "bark" as this also helps with rooting.
and then just wait. Keep them under water if you precut them or take in advance of rooting. Some growers also soak them in rooting hormone for a bit.
The last picture is of my set up for clones. It is a cookie sheet placed on an old heating pad, and in a sealed container as I described above. Now I have it placed on the hotest part of the heating pad. So far they look nice and green. No leaves dieing off. I also trim the leaves so there is not as much leaf to support but they can still make food to make roots out of these leaves. I have them under a simple florescent tube light, just one tube, a T-8. This is very low light, but enough for the clones. As they grow roots, I move them up to my 2 flouro set, same size, T-8, and gradually over to the T-5, which they love.
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