Cuttings to Clones. Just how I do it!

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Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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Clones: I thought I would being a new thread, rather than hijacking other people's, where I can post information and photos, explaining and showing an A to Z of how I do it.
I am aware there are as many ways to do this as there are strains of cannabis. What I do only works for me 100% of the time. You may have a different experience and that's on you.
I use a small nft system that can hold 70 cuttings at any one time. I llke to fill it up each time as that gives me a good selection for my next grow.
The nft (nutrient flood tank, I believe) sits under a 2 ft x 4 tube T5 fluorescent light unit. The unit this sits in is an old ferret hutch. The ferret died and no longer needs it. â™» đź‘Ť.
I try to take cuttings/clones from plants I've grown from seed and are proven to be " true" females. This avoids any disappointing results later, such as hermaphrodites. Female plants that produce male flowers are undesirable.
Clones carry the genetic age of the donor plant, worth remembering.
Cuttings can be taken from plants as late as 21 days into flower but its less stressful and more likely to be successful if the cuttings are taken from plants still in the vegetative state.
Temperature matters, cuttings do seem to grow roots faster in temps around 22-24 c. A small fishtank heater can be placed within the nft if and when necessary. I have two 200 watt compact fluorescent lights on directly below the tank, this along with the heat from the T5 seem to be just right at around the low to mid 20's.
I always have 100% success and end up dumping half of the clones I've grown but it costs very little for the rockwool cubes, the system would be running anyway and the cuttings are free. If you take the cuttings from the plant carefully the plant will produce two more for every one you take.
I usually take the cuttings from the last cuttings, that are by then at least one foot tall plants that have been in a vegetative state for 3 or 4 weeks. I do this because I only have the one room to flower plants in so I cannot have plants I need to keep in veg in the flower room when the lights switch to 12/12.
When the clones are no longer cuttings I transfer them from the nft system into a soil mix in 1/4 litre square pots and under the 2 x 200 watt CFL, one red and the other blue.
They can stay there until they are ready to transplant into 5 1/2 litre pots and move under the 2 x 600 watt Lumatek Pro LED's in the flower room. I will veg them in there long enough for them to recover, adjust to the new lights and settle in, about two more weeks.
Just the day before I switch the lights over to 12/12 I take two cuttings from each of the plants in what is about to become the flower room, again.
When this all starts to seem like work, its probably time to quit.
Here's a look at the latest cutting that has just shown roots two days ago, after 20 days in the system. The temperature has dropoed and I believe this has had a negative impact and slowed things down. It usually takes no more than 10 days for cuttings to show roots through the rockwool cube.
Due to the design of the system I have adopted to produce clones, it allows me to introduce nutrients to the clones/plants at an early stage and this in turn gives me some extra time to play with. I am very limited for space and I am trying to keep the power bill below what I would spend on cannabis, these are the main reasons I operate as I do. My lights in the flower room come on at 7pm and off at 7am, keeps a negative differential of around 10 degrees. 25c lights on dropping to around 15c lights off.
I will do my best to keep this thread up to date and as informative as possible.
 
Cuttings to clones just how i do it
Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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The NFT system adapted to root 70 cuttings at a time.
There is a duel air pump, one line to a barrel of rain water and the other to a flexible air curtain (used in fishtanks) to oxygenate the water in the tank. The tank holds about 16 liters.
The lights are a little bit close and everything is a tight fit but it works.
 
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More cuttings are showing roots today but its oh so very slow. No matter, I found even the most hopeless looking clones, once rooted and potted into a soil mix soon pick up and take off.
Here another shot of the new root and another shot of whats below the NFT system, in the old ferret hutch.
There's also a photo of the humidity/ temperature reading, which is maintained with the heat from the lights above and below the tank.
 
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Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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your light is way too close
I know! But only in the summer, in winter, its just right. Besides, I only have 2 of the 4 tubes on. Cuttings don't need a great deal of light just to grow roots. If you check out the temperature you see its not too bad. Its like the beginning of winter, we just skip fall, here and that kit is not in the house so its pretty cool out there. I have noticed a slow down in root growth but all that has changed is the external temperature. If the lights were any further away it would get even cooler. I could adjust things and put a heater in the tank. But I don't usually bother fixing things that aren't broken.
Those are the last cuttings I rooted in that system, under that light.
 
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Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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This is a Bubble Gum cutting/clone from the system I use. I took that cutting from the plant about 25 days ago. The root growth has slowed down but it doesn't matter. I have plants in the flower room right now and they will be in there another 4 weeks. Its good to have options. I will pot up the clones with roots into a 1/4 litre square pot with a soil mix and worm castings before placing them under the 2 x 200 watt clf. I find that that is more than adequate for growing them on. There is room for 40 potted up clones. I could keep them under those for around 4 weeks. They sometimes grow into the lights if I am waiting for the plants in the flower room to finish. I just trim them, take any burnt leaves off and re-pot them into 5 1/2 litre pots before placing them under the 2 x 600 watt pro Lumatek LED's. I usually give them at least a week to settle in before switching over, two weeks is better.
 
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Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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A closer look at the NFT and low hanging T5. Did I mention space is at a premium around here? It is, mainly because I am growing lots of cannabis in a ferret hutch!
Anyway, here's where we're at today.
 
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Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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Directly below the NFT system there is room for 40 1/4 litre square pots. There reason its 40 is because thats the number I can fit onto the tray that sits just nicely inside the old ferret hutch. I have 2 x 200 watt cfl and a carbon filter above the try. I adjust the height of the try rather than messing about with the lights, its a tight fit and the carbon filter sits in between the two reflectors. You would be forgiven for thinking I built the box around the grow kit.
 
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Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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Experimental Bubble Gum Clone. I wouldn't usually bother putting something in this state into a pot, seems like a waste of soil, right?
We'll see, watch this thread, I will post up to date photos of this sad little "clone" and hopefully I can get it into shape for the flower room. In around 4 weeks from now, 10/23/20. I shall transplant it into a 1/4 litre pot, All mix and worm castings, watering it in with about a 1/4 to 1/2 a litre of Biobizz Root Juice @ 2 ml per litre of water.
I will place it under 2 x 200 watt cfl (one red, one blue) and post a photo here.
 
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Beachwalker

Beachwalker

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This is a Bubble Gum cutting/clone from the system I use. I took that cutting from the plant about 25 days ago. The root growth has slowed down but it doesn't matter. I have plants in the flower room right now and they will be in there another 4 weeks. Its good to have options. I will pot up the clones with roots into a 1/4 litre square pot with a soil mix and worm castings before placing them under the 2 x 200 watt clf. I find that that is more than adequate for growing them on. There is room for 40 potted up clones. I could keep them under those for around 4 weeks. They sometimes grow into the lights if I am waiting for the plants in the flower room to finish. I just trim them, take any burnt leaves off and re-pot them into 5 1/2 litre pots before placing them under the 2 x 600 watt pro Lumatek LED's. I usually give them at least a week to settle in before switching over, two weeks is better.
You have good luck with that rockwool! I've never tried it but I keep watching you and now I'm thinking about it
 
Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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You have good luck with that rockwool! I've never tried it but I keep watching you and now I'm thinking about it
I use a scalpel to take the cuttings, cut at an angle and then dip into clonex. I pre soak the rockwool cubes in a Root Juice Solution, 4 ml per litre. I just soak them overnight, gets rid of any dust and lose stuff. Its Biobizz root juice, seems to help but its not essential.
You don't need the NFT system, that just supplies oxygenated water (with some root juice) and stops the cubes drying out. Its handy if you might be away for a day or even two but a plastic tray with a clear lid might work just as well. I have never tried that method. I do like the NFT, I can even keep the cubes in the tray the 77 cubes come in, I have to cut 7 off the end so it fits into the system but it does fit, very neatly but again, I am sure theres a plastic tray that would hold that many. If I didn't use that system I would have a little bit more space so it does have that one disadvantage, and it holds 16 litres of water which is a reasonable weight but the fact I can leave it for days at a time outweighs the disadvantages. I can also start feeding them nutrients while they are still in the system and those 1 1/2 " square cubes transplant into the bigger 4" rockwool cubes if you wanted to move them into another hydro system. The system has some flexibility. I think I paid 60 pounds or there abouts for that NFT, came with the water pump, I bought an air pump to oxygenate the water in the tank.
I don't think I've forgotten anything. If I have just ask, I am happy to help.
 
Beachwalker

Beachwalker

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Thanks for that explanation, I looked into nft just before I quit growing in the mid-90s, in fact I bought this book and quickly realized that I wanted to stay with the simple flood and drain system that I was using with great success lol! these days I'm loving soil, Hydro is a beautiful thing but too much work for me at this point


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Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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Thanks for that explanation, I looked into nft just before I quit growing in the mid-90s, in fact I bought this book and quickly realized that I wanted to stay with the simple flood and drain system that I was using with great success lol! these days I'm loving soil, Hydro is a beautiful thing but too much work for me at this point


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Yeah, I like soil too. That hydro isn't for me, Ive dabbled a bit here and there and many years ago a friend of mine converted his pool table into a flood and drain system but he was always having problems with pumps, timers and running out of water. It was as much to do with the remoteness of the grow and not being there every day but I think that's the appeal of hydro to some. If its done properly then its probably easier than soil but the quality sufferers when cannabis is grown in water, st least I think so.
I try and stick to organic every thing, from soil to root juice and fertilizers. I believe this makes a huge difference to the end results.
I started growing clones in a home made "bubbler" but that meant cuttings/clones with long stems and these would be more difficult to transfer/transplant into either pots of soil or larger rockwool cubes. I was managing OK transplanting into soil but anyone getting clones from me for hydro would struggle a bit so I came up with this solution that suited everyone. Its not just so easy moving them from A to B when they are in cubes, not as easy as wrapping them in a wet newspaper and sticking them into a zip bag but its not impossible, you just need to take a little more care but moving them from that little system into pots is as easy as it gets. I find those rockwool cubes don't choke the stem of the plants when they are growing in soill. I find them and separate them from the old soil when the plants have been cut down. I re-use the soil and dump those old cubes or whats left of them into the trash. I am very cautious about what I put into my trash here. I found officers from the " Murder squad" searching my bin late one evening. When I ask them what they were up to they told me they were looking for the weapon that had been used in a murder earlier that night! I always took " grow" trash to the dump. You can never be too careful, you never know who might be going through your trash!
Here's the experiment potted up.
 
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Sh311Sh0ck3d

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If you remove some of the bulbs in that light or raise it you’ll get less yellowing before they root. Otherwise nice setup.
Thank you. I only use 2 of the 4 bulbs. Its taken 3 times longer than usual for these clones to be ready to transplant into soil abd I believe that is due to the change in our weather, its gotten really cold and Ive notices a 3 to 4 degree drop in the temperature in and around that system. Its the only thing thats has changed since the last cuttings I rooted in that system. So, to the yellowing, it took 23 days for these cuttings to show roots. The good thing about that set up is that now they have roots I could add a little nitrogen to their water to help them along but I only do that in the event that I was unable to just transplant them straight into soil.
Thanks again and thanks for stopping by.
 
Beachwalker

Beachwalker

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I can relate to being cautious with the trash, after they went full legal here I used to throw mine out with my regular house trash and then one day I saw a trash picker throwing my trash all over the street including cannabis leaves and branches looking for cans that weren't there, and some of them don't put it back this particular one didn't, they often they just leave everything all over the place, since then nothing's gone out in City trash everything goes into the compost in the backyard
 
Sh311Sh0ck3d

Sh311Sh0ck3d

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Here's the very first Biker Kush clone that rooted. I took this, and several others from the " Magnificent Seven" now known as the "Fantastic Five" who have now been in flower for 5 weeks.
I hope more of these root but they have been extremely slow. They were the heads of the plants. Its been my experience that rooting time may vary depending on the location the cutting came from on the plant. But! Its also been my experience that cuttings from clones seem to root easier ( quicker ) than cuttings from plants grown from seeds, and this has been the case now with these Biker Kush.
 
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Sh311Sh0ck3d

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Here's some Bubble Gum Clones taken from the plants on the 09/20/20, just over a month ago.
 
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