MoJo

I know it is possible to do it the old fashioned way, but there must be a reason why everyone swears to cloning gels, powders etc.

Now, this question is more for the benefit of the group of growers that can not order grow supplies online, nor have a local grow shop to go and pay in cash. Now I realize that this may be covered in another thread, but for the life of me I can not find it. It is very hard to search for this (a negative statement search where the negative term undoubtedly will be be present).

I am in no hurry at all, but I would like to tell you first what I have learned on the subject, then hopefully you have some constructive criticism to give

- Let a mother plant grow to a decent size and age (8 weeks or more on a 24/0 or 18/6 light cycle.
- Have rockwoll or similar grow medium ready, watered (moist not dripping), with holes for the stems.
- Take cuttings from fresh branches (using a sterile blade, the top if you want to keep the mother short and bushy, or lower branches. Lower branches are rumored to be easier to root. Cut large fan leaves in half, trim the lower nodes (note I don't ask about cuttings, I've read all about them).
- Take the cutting and drop the stem in a saucer filled with the same water you water your plants with, this water could also contain a few drops of chlorine to sterilize it and help protect the rooting clones.
- Make a 45 degree cut of the stem while still under water in the saucer to avoid an air bubble to form in the stem.
- Plant in rockwoll, secure it but not to hard.
- Mist and put in humidity dome, make sure it gets air
And so on...

Now, I might have forgotten a few steps here but the major difference is, no root medium after cutting and before putting in the rockwoll or similar.

Also, as I've read that using a tiny amount of bleach/chlorine in the saucer where one do the 45 degree underwater cut may sterilize the root some and avoid rot.

Anyone know any other DIY tips for clones when you don't have access to Clonex, rooting powder etc.?

xyz

Welcome to GC

It appears you have all the basics down pat.

I sometimes use rooting powder, sometimes not.
A lot of growers swear by it.

One thing I have been doing lately is when I make the 45 degree cut, I hold the blade at an angle to the stem that makes the cut in such a way so as to expose more stem material.

I also try and cut through a leaf/stem node as I do this.

Good growing to you.

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sillysister

Welcome Mojo!

Yes. Cloning can be done without benefit of rooting powders/gels. These products probably give one a little extra insurance and raise the odds of successful cloning. Personally, I make my own rooting tea with willow stems.

ss

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tripps

I admit I've always used it, but I've noticed that a lot of the people that I would consider the leading experts around, say "I don't bother, no difference, or not necessary".

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MoJo

Thank you for the warm welcome and your answers

I think I'll go without at first and see how it goes. Maybe fate will bring me by a grow shop or a willow tree in the future and I can pick up some supplies?

Again, thank you for the welcome, and for making this forum so good. It's full of great links, discussion and other interesting info!

Cheers!

n_d_shadows

I've never seen where the hormones speed up the cutting throwing out roots, but will say the ones I used homones on always had more of them in the same time period.

GreenDragon2k

different kinds of rooting hormone give me different results... People swear by rootech but that stuff doesn't work any better than using nothing at all for me. I now use vita-grow rooting compound and it does exactly what NDS was saying; more roots in the same amount of time.

Aside from that, I've cloned just fine without it...For what its worth; I've also been skipping the bowl of water re-cutting step for the last 4 years, usually use a pair of sterilized fiskars for the process, never a razor blade... I also almost never cut at a 45 degree angle... Usually with about ~ 90% success rates. Just make sure to get that trimmed lower node into the medium.

I guess my point is everyones got their own method.... and cloning is much easier than it sounds. But by far the most important part of the process is keeping the temperatures between 75 - 80 F during rooting or you'll be waiting a long time to see roots.

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xyz

I kind of did a side by side without trying to.

Long story short: I suspect that a plant that has just been re potted (new root growth?) will produce better cloning results.
I have seen this in air-layering as well as snips in a glass of water.

No real data to back that up, but it seems to be true from my observations, and makes some common sense as well.

Anyone else notice this?

I just mention this because it may be a confounding/more significant factor than hormones.

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Oh So Grow So

Hey mojo, xyz just touched on something no one else has mentioned. The ol cut and drop in a glass of water. This method to me seems like the fool proof 100% success rate method. I had never cloned successfully before trying this, I took a cutting off of a big bud plant that was in the 7th week of flower and dropped it in a glass of water and it rooted. its now my mother. All you really need to do is make sure the water stay fresh. I change it every couple of days. All you need is a double shot glass size cup or a little bigger (coffee mug works fine).

I bubble clone now. My process is - cut with a razor blade, immediately submerge in water, then remove all the lower branches and nodes ect., then shave just a bit more of the stem around the 45 degree angle cut (which I made to begin with, no need to recut) to expose more area for roots. I do dip in rooting gel, cuz.. well I have it. might as well use it.

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MoJo

Rooting gels are not that common where I live, but I might be able to legally import some powder but I won't stress it.
Building a bubble cloner on the other hand might be quite doable.
I'll see what I can get done.
Thanks for the interesting replies