Forced Cloning

[jadins_journey]

Hey folks! I am new to the Farm but not really new to gardening and after reading Zoo's great post on cloning I thought I might share a method I use. A couple buddies of mine asked me to do a pictorial on the technique so I'll share it with you guys as you seem like a really good group. I must say I have not seen any of that BS back stabbing crap here like other forums have, COOL!!!!!!

I grow in a hydroponic system, rockwool as a medium for clones and hydroton for a growth medium. This entire system is built on one premise "speed". Hydro is fast so you have to keep up with it. If I wait for the clones to grow naturally it doesn't keep with the demand, so I "force" them to clone. Foregot to mention, I don't use mothers for cloning purposes, the previous generation provides the clones.

The donor plants in this thread are rooted 14 day old clones themselves. After the plants are rooted and new growth starts I trim off the newest growth just above the first new leaf. The amount trimmed off is tiny as you will see in the pics. Within 2 weeks there will be new growth from all the lower nodes which will become the new clones.

jj

 

[BITYmagicBeanz]

you cool. do you always clone of clones for your next crops?

 

[foreverherb]

you cool. do you always clone of clones for your next crops?

Thats what I do, clones from clonesand on it goes. Kindoff a cycle.

 

[jadins_journey]

you cool. do you always clone of clones for your next crops?

I keep a plant or so back each crop just as insurance but yes, cloning from clones is my primary source of propagation. Actually the plants in the test are spare's and will be tossed in the end, this project is for information purposes only.

jj

 

[Zoolander]

Man this is a cool thread :yes, I like how ya say these ones are just to spares and will get tossed since thats what I'm doing with mine LOL . Hey atleast we stay in training this way .

 

[hererisssh]

jadins are you rooting those tiny leaves that are shown at the base of those pots in the 3rd picture? I'm confused a bit.

 

[jadins_journey]

Zoolander, your kind words are appreciated. If I am counting correctly this is about the 13th or 14th generation of this plant but my girls in flower currently are only the 5th generation I have had time to flower out. If I could only count the number of clones and clonig methods I have tried and tossed LOL.

hererisssh, let me try and explain just a bit better. Those tiny little cuttings in the third pic in this thread are trash. All they are is the very tiniest growth tip which is cut off and discarded, this forces the clones to produce new growth at each node of the plant, this new growth will eventually be the source of my clones for the next generation.

I'll pos 2 pictures here to help. The first is plant #1 as it was topped off, the second is the same plant at 42 hours post topping. If you look close at the lowest 2 nodes of this plant you will see the new growth already appearing in just this short amount of time, this new growth is what I am "forcing" the plant to produce.

jj

 

[Smoking Gun]

This is certainly a tried and true method of forcing the plant to branch. I and plenty of other growers I know use this technique with great success. Its pretty good to do to flowering plants as well, more branches all stretching to be the dominant cola.

Imagine what the plant would look like if you used this technique on a mother plant.

 

[hererisssh]

Those tiny little cuttings in the third pic in this thread are trash.

Thanks that makes much more sense. I thought you had found a way to clone pieces that tiny. This is a good tutorial jj, thanks.

 

[jadins_journey]

Smoking Gun, thanks for visiting this little thread. If I tried to claim that I envented topping well heck I would be laughed off the internet. What this threads purpose is for maybe a new gardener can pick up a new skill as cloning can be a bit intimidating, well it was for me when I started.

For the more experienced gardeners out there like yourself maybe this thread will show what hydroponics can do, don't know but I have some down time in the garden right now and some equipment that needs a test run so stick around my new friend.

Today is day 4 after topping, new growth is starting in earnest now. Every node has a new stem coming off, an initial count shows these 4 clones will yeild 16 viable cuttings.

jj

 

[Smoking Gun]

Jadin, I enjoy watching any grow journal put up by a grower who loves his or her plants. Those are some very healthy looking plants, I am definitely eager to see how this run goes. It is definitely nice to see some one experienced put up a proper step by step tutorial. You are correct, often new growers are a bit fearful of training techniques because they are afraid to mess up. A proper tutorial would certainly be good for new growers.

I am glad I have a seat here. I am looking forward to see what your girls do.

 

[jadins_journey]

As usual I am a day behind. These pictures are of the girls at the end of day 6 and growth is clearly present at every node on each plant. If I do a total harvest of the plants for clones there would 21 cuttings.

Today is day 7 and the plants are going into flower (12/12) tonight. I worked with the system and have it flooding only 4 pots out of the 20 in this system, lighting is 1k HPS, the dual arc is still being used in another garden.

Total age of these plants is 21 days since they themselves were cut as clones. When taking these pictures there were roots extending from 2 of the 4 pots.

jj

 

[ProGroWannabe]

They look good man! I'm grabbing a seat right over here, ok? lol

 

[jadins_journey]

Welcome ProGrow to this little pictorial, glad you stopped by.

The plants are resting comfortably in their new home now. Not sure if I have seen this system here on the Farm yet but it probably is here somewhere as I am really new. I run an Ebb & Grow unit in my flower room, this system allows for maximum heigth utilization in your grow room with a remote reservoir feeding a control modul that contains a system of floats and pumps. It's a pricey system but worth every penny I paid for it.

Lights in flower are HPS so getting decent pictures is similar to pulling teeth, not much fun.;(

jj

 

[jadins_journey]

opps! clicked the wrong button:beer

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Well now I'm doubly happy to have found your thread here, JJ. I've been eyeing that Ebb&Grow system for a while, now I get to see someone run it....yeahhhhh:rock. I definitely don't have the room for it, but I'm gonna love watching you work your mojo with it.

 

[jadins_journey]

Of the 6 hydro systems I have running and the other 10 or so I tried, the Ebb&Grow wins hands down, this system rocks like no other I have ever tried. Sadly this thread will only show the unit for 7 days then these girls will be chopped down and cloned. Maybe I'll do a grow journal here some time and show you what this system is capable of.

jj

 

[ProGroWannabe]

That would be sweet JJ! Even if you just posted some kind of "hydro pics thread". It would still be beneficial for a lot of growers I think.

 

[jadins_journey]

Day 5 of 12/12. Plants will be cloned at day 7.

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Can I ask how many buckets you run from one reservior? Is it the standard kit as it comes, or did you buy extra buckets for it?