You don't need anything to clone a plant other than a HEALTHY mom and a sheet of rockwool cubes.
Fill a bucket with water, it doesn't have to be R/O water. PH it to 5.5
Use a plastic mesh tray like this one:
Put that inside of another plastic tray without holes like this one:
Pour enough water in the lower tray to almost fill it to the top with the PH'd water. Dunk the rockwool sheet (held by the mess tray) into the water and let it fully soak up the water.
Remove the rockwool sheet and hold it on it's side to let excess water to run out, Do the same on the other side. You want the rockwool to be moist but not soaking wet. When you tip the rockwool sheet in the mesh tray on its side, you should have minimal water dripping out. NOW the sheet is ready to poke clones into.
Use a cloning gel like
Clonex. Cut your clones on a angle and dip them into the cloning solution about an inch up (basically the amount it will be poked into the rockwool sheet). I don't scrape any material off the bottom of the clone as I find it unnecessary unless the cuts are old and "woody". At that point it is just better to use a fresh mom, but sometimes you have to make do with what you have. Always use a fresh razor blade, and wipe down your work area with alcohol or some other sterilizer. The more sterile you are, the more success you'll have.
Place a humidity dome on top of the clone tray and open the top vents a tiny bit.
A humidity dome looks like this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VGLR0FA?psc=1
Place the tray on a heating mat like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-190...50049&sr=1-12&keywords=heating+mat+for+plants
I like the above brand as it allows you to plug the mats together and save electrical outlet space.
Set the clone tray in a area with some light. A simple CFL light or T5 strip light works well, but make sure the bulb is far enough away to not create heat at the clones tops. If any of your new clone leaves go yellow quickly it means the lights are too close. You can even place your trays on the floor on the sides of your main growlights, as long as they get some light they will do fine.
After one day, take the humidity dome off for 1 minute. If any moisture is built up on the sides, wipe it off with a cloth or switch it out for a news dry dome. When you put your dome back on, open up the top vents all the way.
The next day, take the hood off for 5 minutes, again wiping the excess water from inside of the dome.
On the third day leave the hood off for 30 minutes.
On day 4, take the hood off and leave it off. If you notice any of the plants willing a bit (shying away from the light), put the dome back on and wait 1 more day to leave the hood off.
The idea here is to ween the clones off the high humidity environment as soon as possible. To much humidity encourages Pythium and other molds, and your clones rot.
Also on day 4, check the moisture level of the rockwool sheet. If it feels dry (lighter than whe you first dipped it), then PH some more PLAIN water to 5.5, and re-dip the rockwool tray.
For the next few days, you don't have to do anything except give them a gentle light source and make sure they don't get cold.
You will see roots appear after 10-14 days. I know other people say 5-7 days, but I usually see nice phat fuzzy roots in 10 or so days.
At that point, you want to add something like "
Roots Excelurator" or "Rapid Start" to your clone water. These products will make the roots branch out and create fine fuzzy hairs to extend from the roots, as well as providing the small amount of nutes that the young clones need.
Once the full tray is showing roots, you can add 1/4 strength amount of your main nutrient line or use a specialized clone nutrient like "
Clonex".
The number one mistake people make is adding nutes to early. Any nutrients in the water discourages root growth, it is like caustic acid to them, they just won't grow.
The second mistake people make is leaving the dome on too long and spraying the clones with water and nutes. Both encourage fungus and disease.
Once you have it down, you should start seeing 98-100% success. Once in a while a side clone dies on me, but that is usually because I smash it with the dome or another plant "shades" out a smaller one.
Hope that helps, feel free to ask questions :smoking:
