Here's how I do it and I usually get a 100% successes rate. Not every clone will be super strong, but thats why you take more then what you need, and pull out the healthy one and discard the rest.
You'll need....
A bottom tray, a dome for the tray and the insert that goes into the bottom on the tray.
(I use these trays, but not the cross pattern one thats in the middle. Just the bottom tray with the square holes and the top tray and dome.)
Then get some rockwool cubes... ( I use these ones)
And some rooting hormone. I like Rootech better then
Clonex. Rootech in thicker and sticks to the stem better. I've used both rootech and
clonex and I've always had better results with Rootech.
5 Gallon bucket.
Big cup.
Then get a sharp razor blade and some scissors. I use a scalpel instead of a razor blade. The sharper the better.
Once you have all that, I'll fill the 5 gallon bucket up with tap water and adjust the ph to 5.5. I also like to toss an air stone in there and let it sit overnight.
In the morning check and adjust the ph again, because its probably raised some. Then let it sit for another hour and check and adjust the ph one more time. I like to add a tiny bit of either Roots Excelerator or Rapid Start. Its not necessary, but it DOES make a difference. Roots grow much faster with RootsExcel or Rapid Start in the water. Just make sure your PH is stable and at 5.5 before adding the rockwool to the water.
Let the cubes soak in the bucket for about an hour. Take em out and break the the cubes apart. You dont want to use this type of rockwool when its all stuck together. Roots will growing into other cubes. So separate the cubes. From the the sheet there all attached to.
Get your big cup and put some of the water out of your bucket into it. Take your cup of water and scissors to your mother plant and find branches from the bottom to middle of the plant that have at least 2 nodes that you can cut off later. Cut the branches with scissors and put them straight into your cup of water.
Then get your rooting gel ready and razor blade and take each clone out and cut off a node or two. Then I like to scrape the side of the branch in-between the nodes that you just cut off. I scrape one side, then scrap the opposite side. I scrape just the outside layer of skin off of the branch. Then right below the last node on the branch, take your razor and give it a fast slice at a 45 degree angle. Then immediately dip it into the rooting gel. This is the point where you can get an embolism, so doing this part fast is best.
Then I let the clone sit in the rooting gel for a good 5-10 minutes. Then stick your clone in the predrilled hole in the rockwool and apply a little pressure to get it down in there good. Just make sure not to go too far, and poke out the bottom. Then put the cube inside one of the square holes of the tray insert.
The tray insert that I use keeps the rockwool cubes elevated off of the bottom of the tray, so the cubes dont stay too wet.
The next part I think is the most important. I read earlier in this thread not to spray your clones directly. I dont know anything about not spraying them, but I do spray them and it doesnt seem to do them any harm. I spray the clones and the inside of them dome 2-3 times per day for the first 2-3 days. Then after then 3 day, I'll only spray them once per day. Clones and inside of dome. I spray once per day for the next 5 days. After that I'll give the inside of the dome a light spray every day to every 2 days. On about the 8th day, I stop spraying and slowly start to open the vents on my dome. By the 10th day, I want to be able to completely remove the dome.
Also... very important.... make sure your dome fits the bottom tray good. If its loose it wont hold the humidity and you'll probably loose your clones within the first week. So make sure you buy one that fits tight and doesnt have gaps around the edges between the dome and the tray.
The spraying part I think is the most important. If you keep them too wet, you'll hurt them, if you keep them too dry, you'll hurt them. You have to keep them perfect.
Here's my spraying schedule, since it got a little messy above.
Day 1-3 - (Light spray clones and inside of dome 2-3 times per day)
Day 4-5 - (Light spray clones and dome 1 time per day)
Day 6-7 - (Only spray the inside of the dome 1 time per day)
Day 8-10 - Stop spraying and start opening vents on dome SLOWLY
Day 11 - You should be able to remove the dome completely.
As far as lighting goes, I would always use florescents. One 23 watt compact florescent about an inch or 2 above the top of the dome is perfect. It creates just enough heat to keep everything warm in the dome, eliminating the need for a heating pad. I HATE heating pads. Every time I've used them, they've done nothing but cooked my clones. With or without a temp regulator. The heat from the compact florescent bulb is plenty. Just keep it close to the top of the dome.
So this is how I do it. I get 100% rooted clones most of the time. Every once and a while I'll have one or 2 die, but thats about it.
I still think that EZ-Cloners are the best way to go. Super easy and they produce amazingly strong clones that dont miss a beat. My leaves dont yellow, or show really any signs of stress in the EZ-Cloner. But my rockwool method works just as well, just requires more work and maintenance.
