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™» .
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.
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™» .
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.