First & foremost, sounder like he's pretty well versed in growing, I dont think it's you or your methods. I honestly think it has to do with the new mothers. I'm going to assume you got then locally, from a club or patient vendor? If you did, the chances are you got a watered down cutt from a overly weathered mother. That's the downside too california clone stock, gotta shuffle thru alota front's & lies to get to the gold. It's sadly become more about the $$$ then sharing prized, head stash genetics. This is why i highly respect people like motarbel, who is one of a handful that are properly preserving & creating new lines.
Anyways, if that isn't the verdict then your probably just trying to hard, sit back & let them do there thing. From your description of the swollen stalk, I think tomuch moisture is being applied to the medium,which is always the case with rockwool if your not conservative. I use small dixie cups filled with ph treated coco,any Rhizotonic ( any root excel will work), always cut ur selection at an angle & provide small slits for the rooting hormone. I'll even givem them a small foiliar feed with a minimal dose of
Earthjuice-Microblast, I use no dome & get a 100% success rate in 1-2 week, depending on strain! You can even use
hydrogen peroxide in extremely small amounts to ensure a sterile growing environment. Hope this helps, best of luck & keep it simple man, just give water when they ask for it(drooping) & more so to her foliage then the medium!
CC
