Cloning with a Lunatic

[LdyLunatic]

As i promised to ice#1...here is how i take clones :)

My utensils:

Peet pellets presoaked until fully swollen
tray lined with perlite lightly wet throughout
scissors
razors
Wilson Root Gel (or similar product of your choice)
Spray Bottle
Chop Stick (or similar circular object)
Dome with Vents

I begin with first setting up my tray with perlite lining the bottom and gently sprinkle water to make it nicely wet so all is damp but not soaked

I gently squeeze out excess water from the pellets so they are not dripping, they are still VERY wet

Place the pellets in the tray in rows and make holes in the center for the cuttings using your chop stick.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8049&d=1166846801

Have your root gel or powder jar open and ready for dipping. Select your place to cut allowing for new growth and cut on an angle.

I always cut off as close as i can to the node leaving extra space for a taller clone.


http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8050&d=1166846801

Insert into gel right away.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8051&d=1166846801

Remove from gel and remove all leaf matter from stem. Dip again (i am an avid dipper to keep things sealed)
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8052&d=1166847353



Hold your stem firmly and gently score the stem that will be covered with your razor. Being careful only to just lightly break the skin of the stem. Dip again.
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8053&d=1166847353



Recut stem on an angle and dip again. Trim leaves edges to about half size on the lowest node leaf.
Insert into pellet gently squeeze the pellet so it is holding the stem firmly and encloses all around.
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8054&d=1166847353

Place clones in tray and spray lightly with a mist. Mist the inside of the dome. Close and put under light source.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8055&d=1166848136

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8056&d=1166848136

Clones are misted a couple times a day the first day (unless it is during dryer times such as winter, then mist first two to three days)

After the first day the dome is fresh misted a couple times a day for about 3 days.

Then nothing while we await the showing of roots. If nothing is showing on anyting with in 10 days we throw them out. In our opinion anything that takes longer than that to root is weak and not worth it. Start over ;)

[LdyLunatic]

Over view and side shot of the cuttings. these specimans are Cherry Hemmingway male cuttings

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8057&d=1166848322
http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8058&d=1166848322

[Rockdog840]

Nice how to LL. Pics are great. Well done:gthumb: :greatjob:

[budmama]

Very nice tutorial LL. Easy to understand and you make it look so simple. Kudos. :cheers:

[Fred Lemonjello]

THX LL!!
And yes folks it's as easy as LL described it!
However, if I may point out.... pay attention to the lite distance & intensity..... you don't need a lot of light close to the clones jus a simple shoplight about 10" off the top will work excellent. Your temps are also important, try to keep them between 70f & 85f. I have the best results when temps are 75f - 80f.
And remember...... keep your peat pellets damp, not soaking.

Good luck everyone!
Fred

[Mr. Bud]

Great job with those photos... Really made it look easy, have you done this before? lol...

Do you use a heating mat under the planter?

[LdyLunatic]

Mr Bud ..the clones are in a closet and are room temp...if it does cool and we think its too cool then yes a pad is used...but generally its perfect temp inside for rooting

yes...i have done this once or twice :D

[Mr. Bud]

I took my clones about 4 weeks ago. They rooted and for the most part did great... Transplanted at week two and a half and they looked to have a pretty good root ball. The only down side was that they had spider mites... I got rid of the mites using 50% ISO and 50% water with a few drops of dish soap added... Sprayed them twice a day for several days. I thought that they were gone but, they came back... Used the same treatment but with Neam Oil in my watering water. This did the trick, mites are gone... Problem is I think that it stunted their gorwth.. Temps in room have been 70 to 80 so I don't think its a temp problem... Plants are taking off good now, nice dark green bushy tops with lots of new growth. If these were stunted because of the mite problem will they ever get to that two foot mark so I can start flowering? I'm thinking that your are going to tell me to be patient.. Lol... My thought is that it will just take longer before I can put them into blume... :tree:

[drumin]

Hey LL (and anyone else), you leave a lot of leaf on those clones. I read somewhere that you shouldn't have too much leave because it puts a strain on the plant for nutes and light when there are no roots an little light... Yours seem to do well despite this. :shrug:

Also, what is the purpose of the pearlite?

[LdyLunatic]

Mr.Bud...we usually try to contain the mites with some diatomaceous earth until they are a bit bigger....small clones that get sprayed can as you mentioned become stunted

we also use some Einstein Oil (neem based also used againt mildew) and a new product...Bio Soy (I) which has proven to be an amazing product in killing mites that no other product would kill

had some KGB (Killer Green Bud) clones once brought in from an outside source and they had mites...which were the resilient hard to kill red dotted mites (two wee red dots on the head)

we did treat them with AVID and it didn't do a darn thing against these buggers....we put the short clones into flower and they stayed short...but they did produce an almost solid bud all the way up the stalk...this plant was about 16 inches tops

so you may end up with some shorter plants this go around....i hope this helps you out some :)



drumin...from what i have read and seen it is recommended to have about three nodes on a clone...no neccessarily fully out and grown...but three visible growths..

i do sometimes have a tendancy to take large clones..zen thinks im crazy and can't believe that half the clones i take root...so in all honesty...i really don't know what to say to your question :hmmmm: (take this time to thank the clone gods for rooting for me ;) )

the perlite is for some extra moisture control in the tray and dome and also provides some stability to the clones...i put enough perlite in to allow me to gently cup the bottom of the pellet so they sit properly and don't fall over...this also allows a place for the roots to expand under

[The Hooded Claw]

I'll give my own tuppence on this.

I understand the perlite to be a two part catalyst. One is so the pellet gets an ambient temperature around its body and two, the pellet has draining capability. If the pellets were on a hard surface then the outside temperature of that box/cab would convect through to the pellet, so any temp gauge inside the cab/dome would not reflect what the pellet temp is.
As for drainage it speaks for itself. Anything damp left on a non porous surface will hold moisture and even go mouldy (back to the air around the pellet) so as said, I believe its a two part use.

Ldy I'm pleased you mentioned the 'squeeze' of the pellet once soaked. I've seen some people post with failed pellet clones only to find amongst bad drainage/ambient temps, they've not squeezed the excess out. The peat pellets are so so well designed (although simple) that when you 'squeeze' the excess out it expands again drawing air in, which we know we need......

You know, I thought I was the only one who squeezed the pellets giving that 'coned' effect at the top :cool: I still don't know why I did it but it damn well worked!!
I aero clone now but peat pellets are just as good. Also, peat pellets fit perfectly into the large holed rockwool cubes!!

Nice show. Top dollar......

[Lungus]

I have always given my peat pellets a squeeze once the cutting has been placed in, as far as I know that is the only proper way.

[The Hooded Claw]

I have always given my peat pellets a squeeze once the cutting has been placed in, as far as I know that is the only proper way.

No. If you want to kill them DO NOT SQUEEZE!

[Lungus]

Once the cutting is in the pellet and the peat has been squeezed up against the cutting I don't touch it again for fear of tearing any tiny roots. I have put cuttings into pellets and not squeezed by accident and sometimes there is a gap bettween the peat and the cutting inside the pellet allowing the cutting to dry out. Just a little squeeze to get the peat around the stem of the cutting so it won't dry out, not a bone crushing death grip, lol. After that I disturb them as little as possible until roots appear out of the pellet.

[The Hooded Claw]

After that I disturb them as little as possible until roots appear out of the pellet.
I agree Lungus.
I tried the coir pellets but they dry out far far too quick for my liking.

Any more pics of the clones Ldy or was that a past clone session?

[Lungus]

I tried the coir pellets but they dry out far far too quick for my liking.

If your pellets do dry out and need to be rehydrated, don't pour water over the pellets because it will tend to push the peat away from the stem and tear little roots as it goes. If your pellets are in a tray pour water into the bottom of the tray and let the pellets draw water up into them, and don't get carried away, just get them moist again not soaking wet. If you want to water individual pellets just be very careful not to twist or pull on the cutting in any way and place the pellet in a bowl with a little water in the bottom until it soaks up a little water, then put it back under the light. This is where having some perlite around the pellets helps (which I haven't done cause I tend to be a lazy SOS) keep them hydrated.

[LdyLunatic]

I agree Lungus.

Any more pics of the clones Ldy or was that a past clone session?

i shall take some soon...i was just in looking and see no roots as yet

[The Hooded Claw]

If your pellets do dry out and need to be rehydrated, don't pour water over the pellets because it will tend to push the peat away from the stem and tear little roots as it goes. If your pellets are in a tray pour water into the bottom of the tray and let the pellets draw water up into them, and don't get carried away, just get them moist again not soaking wet. If you want to water individual pellets just be very careful not to twist or pull on the cutting in any way and place the pellet in a bowl with a little water in the bottom until it soaks up a little water, then put it back under the light. This is where having some perlite around the pellets helps (which I haven't done cause I tend to be a lazy SOS) keep them hydrated.

I don't use coir pellets and in fact not even peat any more, but when using peat pellets try a hand water spray bottle setting the nozzle to give a jet of water. I found I could water pellets from one spot squirting across the field of pellets and not having to raise the lamps etc. Also, I imagine the jet gives a little DO which can't be bad if it does?
I also stand my water bottle in the cutting area so the water is as near the peat pellet temp as possible, avoiding good ole root shock.

Ldy. Looking forward to an update. Aero cloning takes away the anticipation that soil cuttings gives, which IMHO is a shame.
Hydro is great, but I do loose some of the love :o

[Mr. Bud]

Ldy, do you ever pinch your clones back?? If so could you do a thread showing how you do that... Is pinching mostly for keeping the height of the plant down or will it help the yield as well?

Thanks for the info on the mites as well.. They are gone for now; only four plants went untreated the rest look pretty stunted... These are two of the stunted ones...

[LdyLunatic]

Mr.Bud...depending on how long we have vegged we have pinched before...most times we have pinched is to try for a good FIM (getting more than one main cola growing) takes practice...and i still am not too good at it ;)

most of our clones go into flower at about 4 inches to 8 depending upon strain...we end up with nice thick main colas and little popcorn growth...plants end up about 16 inches to 20 in smaller posts...and about 3 feet when in a larger pot

good to hear those mites have been tackled

[ice#1]

i like that way looks neater than the way i do it which is either 4 clones to a 16 oz cup or 9 to a 6" x6" square going to go pick some other those pellets up and a few trays

[Sticky_Budz]

:greatjob::gthumb::pass::420:

[Dawg]

12-26-2006 04:44 PM

Wow old one.

[Sticky_Budz]

old one:rolleyes: but a good one at that:D