frankfooter32

Ok guys, sorry but somehow in all the hustle of building my grow room the last month and working I lost my camera charger. I just ordered a new charger and cant post any pics until I get it

I have been working with a female that I got about 2 weeks ago when she was about 10" tall. I waited until about 1 ft and took a few cuttings to make clones. I have them in a tray with a bubble hood enviro-dome thingy by Hyrdofarm (not scientific term. LOL). They are in organic soil with bat guano, blood/bone meal, kelp, dolomite etc. I have had them on 24 hrs of light under my 400 w MH light. The temps are around 78-81 degrees with humidity fluctuating between 40-52%. I have an AC unit that I have to regulate to make sure everything stays at the right temps/humidity. Also the top of the dome is about 26" underneath the light and it is not even warm at the top of the dome.

My question is, should I be taking the clones and the mother to 18/6 hrs schedule? I have kept the mother under 24 hours light for the past few weeks that I have had her. Im not sure if it will hurt them or help. About 3 out of the 4 look good, but all have started to wilt some the past day. Is that a sign that my set up is wrong? Should I just run my veg with the mother and clones in there at 18/6 always?

Please help, as I dont want to lose the clones.

Thanks

discingolfer

I'm not sure how helpful those nutes are in getting your cuttings to root. I've always used a rooting hormone, and so have most people I believe. Did you not use a rooting hormone? How long ago did you take the cuttings? How did you prepare the cuttings before you planted them?

__________________

GreenDragon2k

Clones root just fine on 24/0 lighting. I used to think they rooted slightly better on 18/6 but I have no problems rooting on 24/0 either so it doesn't really matter.

Rooting hormone isn't really necessary it just speeds things up a little.

The 400w MH light is too much for unrooted clones though unless they are very far away from it, probably at least 6 feet, off to the side. And is probably contributing to the wilting.

I usually use floresent light on the clones, they really dont need to photosynthesize, they just need to know what time it is

Be patient, usually takes about 10~14 days to start getting some good roots.

I'll just scoot this off to the propagation forum while we're at it

__________________
"Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done. " ~Linus Torvalds

HellRaiZeR

Its normal for clones to pout (wilt) a little after cutting. Humidity will help perk them up some.. Do you see any condensation inside your humidity dome? Ive also known clones to wilt if they have been watered too much. Let your medium dry up before adding anymore water next time.. As far as your light schedule they will all be fine at 24/0 but since your using an MH I would suggest cutting it to 18/6 just for the $ savings alone.. The light change shouldnt affect anything right now.
Also no nutes til roots.. Straight PHd water is all they need.. Some kelp (foilar) wont hurt either
Yeah if you have the room get some floros like GD2K says and save the MH for the mommas!

__________________

frankfooter32

Thanks for the great responses.

I used root gel hormone (although mine was a powder that I dipped the clones cuts into). I do not get much moisture in the dome and sometimes I just spray water with a water bottle onto the inside of the dome and a little on the leaves and stem.

I think I over watered and I am letting the clones dry up before I water again, per your suggestions. I bought a moisture meter so from now on I dont mess up on watering again.

So the consensus is to move the light schedule to 18/6? Also should the clones be closer to the light, since mine are about 26-30" away from the top of the dome?

I am worried that I ruined them, but your posts give me hope that maybe they will pull through.

Thanks to all.

analog

If you're continuing with MH, that's probably too close.

A single CFL in a clip-dome could cover up to a a half dozen, then the light could be, I don't know, 3-6" away. I'm down now to using a 23w CFL for two clones (could fit 4). I've read here (Knna?) that even 10-13w is okay.

From what I gather from the pros posting in this thread is that less light is better with clones, so that's what I'm doing now. We want them to grow roots, not foliage.

The patience thing is hard. Mine are a week old and I just watered them today. They keep going just on the misting and humidity

__________________

Dukey

I dont think the top of the dom concerns anything, its the clones and the lights there to close...

frankfooter32

Then how far away should the clones be from the light? As it is now, they are already almost 3ft away (from clone tops, not dome top) and the dome is not even warm (as I have a pretty high powered fan blowing on it). Is the heat the issue, or the exposure to too much light? If you guys are concerned of the heat, I can assure you that it is almost cold on top of that dome thingy.

I guess I am wondering if I use MH 400w with 5 sided reflector, how far away should the clones be if they are on a 18/6 schedule? From the dome top? From the top of the clone itself?

Also, how long do I use the hydro-dome in the clone process? Its only been a week and they look like they could be under there for a while? What is the average time to stop using it? The clones have grown to about 2 inches or so from the top already.

Thanks for all your great info, as I am totally lost.

funkjunky2

when I used a dome to clone I put it off to the side so not directly under the light and used a reptile tank heat pad under it to keep the clones warm but only for like 6hrs a day cause thats all I needed really.if you do this and spray the inside of the dome and the clones themselves it will get nice and humid like you want.when using the heat pad though you will need to keep a good eye on them because it will dry out your medium thus lessing your chances of success rate.

you should spray your clones at least once a day no matter how you clone.this is how they take in nutrients until the roots form and start feeding from below.also,I found I could usually put them under direct light after about 3 days maybe 4 and remove the dome by day 5 and into pots by the 7th.I think I keep the light about 24" above them.

hope this helps

xyz

I always root my clones under shop fluros 24/0.
I sometimes use a dome sometimes not. If not I mist a lot.

Keep an eye on how much leafage your clones have.
If there are too many leaves you may want to clip a few off.

I also saw a pic around here of someone clipping off the ends of individual leaves. I have done that sometimes as well.

You don't want the clone to have to support too much leafage.

__________________

Recent Projects

A New Root System For My Mom. Air-Layering A Whole Plant - complete

Colchicine Experiment - complete

Grow Journals

Sideways Growing In & Out-xyz Channels His Sativa - complete

Hempy Mobile Scrog-Hempy Group GJ - complete