Deadstill
I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.
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Many growers have this happen at one time or another - you take a bunch of clones, and even though you sanitized everything, wore gloves and followed every proper procedure down to the letter - after a couple of days in the dome, you notice that damn dreaded white fuzz forming. This is the time to act.
You kept up on changing the water in the tray every day, even provided them with fresh air by taking the dome off for a few minutes each day, you did everything right. How did this happen? What can we do to save the clones?
Unfortunately fusarium is one of the most common fungi and it's spores are pretty much everywhere. I'm not a scientist or anything but here's a simple method I've used and continue to use to this day- to save clones from this common problem.
First of all - allow me to explain my cloning procedure and method.
I use the standard tray and dome, with one of these racks -
^^ I prefer these Grodan racks because they are sturdy and will last forever if taken care of, and they keep your plugs raised from the bottom of the tray better than the other racks I've seen, and this is important!
As far as cloning media I prefer these -
^^ Root Riot plugs or Rapid Rooter plugs. I prefer these over rockwool cubes for many reasons, but I won't get into that right now.
Now, using these items, we take our clones, (I'm assuming you already know how to make and manage clones) and the most important part is maintaining your clones until roots stick out of these plugs. Here's what I do:
My trays will hold just about 1 gallon of water exactly. Filling the tray up most of the way to the top will bring the water level a little over halfway up the plugs. I usually add 1/4 cup of Aloe Juice
to a gallon of water, then fill the tray. Allow the plugs to sit in this for at least a good 10 minutes, with the dome off (I let them sit like this for about an hour, you'll read why below) You can even use a small syringe, a turkey baster, or a cup or something to irrigate the top of each plug with the water, ensuring each plug is getting a fresh drink of water (and flushing out the old).
Then, after every plug has been good and saturated, drain about 3/4 of the water out, so the water line is BELOW the plugs (not touching the plugs, but not totally dry, either, you want some water in the bottom).
Then, the next day, you drain out the old water, wash the tray and dome (simply set the rack of plugs/clones aside and wash, rinse and sanitize the black tray and the dome) EVERY day at least once a day. Leave the dome off of your clones for at least a good hour while you are doing this, every day, as well. This will help prevent fusarium/mold in the first place. So, I'll take a look at the clock before I start this procedure each day, take note of the time, and start cleaning. Once it's all cleaned and I've added the water/aloe juice mixture to the tray and have the rack of plugs sitting in it, I'll leave it to sit like this until an hour has gone by (with the dome OFF!). This helps dry out the leaves and stems a little so mold/fungus does not grow on them. As long as the plugs are sitting in water the clones will be fine, although many or all of them may start wilting due to lack of humidity, this is normal and the clones will be fine. This usually happens the first few times you remove the dome, especially if they are newer cuttings without roots.
Now, here's what to do if you start to see fusarium (white fuzz) developing on your clones -
First, if you can quarantine the infected clones, do so. If you can wear gloves or wash your hands very well before and after handling the infected clones, especially before you touch the ones that aren't infected. If you cannot quarantine them (say you don't have a spare dome) don't worry. Not a big deal.
Next, after quarantining (or not) you should change the water in the clone dome, and wash the bottom tray and the dome itself, and sanitize with either a weak bleach solution, hydrogen peroxide, or rubbing alcohol. (Personally, I do this every day, as a part of my regular cloning procedure, I change the water and clean the tray and dome once per day until I see roots)
Then, take a spray bottle or sprayer or whatever you have that can produce a mist spray. Mix at a ratio of 1:1 water and 3% Hydrogen Peroxide U.S.P (The stuff in the brown bottle from the pharmacy, NOT FOOD GRADE). So for reference let's say you use 1 cup of water, you would add 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide.
Next, spray the clones with a fine mist until they are completely coated. You'll start to see the infected areas start to bubble as the H202 is killing the fusarium.
Then, ensure the leaves and stems of the clones have dried off before you replace the dome (I use a fan on low, pointed at the clones, to dry them off faster) Oh, and it helps to make sure they're all soaking in the water, as mentioned above, before you spray.
Finally, after spraying and allowing the leaves to dry, proceed to clean the tray and change the water again, to make sure you remove anything that might have fallen into the water when you sprayed.
Key points -
I hope this little guide helps someone and I hope it makes sense LOL
I've found over the years that as long as I follow these simple rules I have nearly 100% success rate every time. Keeping the temperature STABLE and water FRESH and CLEAN are the keys to cloning success. And knowing how to solve problems when they arise is a huge plus..
I've seen a lot of folks throw out entire trays of clones that could have been saved. And I admit, this is not the end-all solution and I am NOT a scientist but I can vouch that I have used these methods for years with no problems and much success. Fusarium can be quite the adversary of even the most seasoned growers - but I do believe my method of prevention and control in clones is quite relevant.
I bring this up because I just saved a bunch of clones I took from flowering plants using this method, and in my opinion, clones from flowering plants are the hardest to maintain, as the bud sites tend to hold more moisture than clones from vegging plants, thus more opportunity for pathogens and problems. At any rate...
Just a bit of advice from your friendly neighborhood DHS
If anyone has anything to add- questions, comments, concerns, want to tell me to go F myself? Feel free! I will try my best to accommodate
Happy Farming!
You kept up on changing the water in the tray every day, even provided them with fresh air by taking the dome off for a few minutes each day, you did everything right. How did this happen? What can we do to save the clones?
Unfortunately fusarium is one of the most common fungi and it's spores are pretty much everywhere. I'm not a scientist or anything but here's a simple method I've used and continue to use to this day- to save clones from this common problem.
First of all - allow me to explain my cloning procedure and method.
I use the standard tray and dome, with one of these racks -
^^ I prefer these Grodan racks because they are sturdy and will last forever if taken care of, and they keep your plugs raised from the bottom of the tray better than the other racks I've seen, and this is important!
As far as cloning media I prefer these -
^^ Root Riot plugs or Rapid Rooter plugs. I prefer these over rockwool cubes for many reasons, but I won't get into that right now.
Now, using these items, we take our clones, (I'm assuming you already know how to make and manage clones) and the most important part is maintaining your clones until roots stick out of these plugs. Here's what I do:
My trays will hold just about 1 gallon of water exactly. Filling the tray up most of the way to the top will bring the water level a little over halfway up the plugs. I usually add 1/4 cup of Aloe Juice
to a gallon of water, then fill the tray. Allow the plugs to sit in this for at least a good 10 minutes, with the dome off (I let them sit like this for about an hour, you'll read why below) You can even use a small syringe, a turkey baster, or a cup or something to irrigate the top of each plug with the water, ensuring each plug is getting a fresh drink of water (and flushing out the old).
Then, after every plug has been good and saturated, drain about 3/4 of the water out, so the water line is BELOW the plugs (not touching the plugs, but not totally dry, either, you want some water in the bottom).
Then, the next day, you drain out the old water, wash the tray and dome (simply set the rack of plugs/clones aside and wash, rinse and sanitize the black tray and the dome) EVERY day at least once a day. Leave the dome off of your clones for at least a good hour while you are doing this, every day, as well. This will help prevent fusarium/mold in the first place. So, I'll take a look at the clock before I start this procedure each day, take note of the time, and start cleaning. Once it's all cleaned and I've added the water/aloe juice mixture to the tray and have the rack of plugs sitting in it, I'll leave it to sit like this until an hour has gone by (with the dome OFF!). This helps dry out the leaves and stems a little so mold/fungus does not grow on them. As long as the plugs are sitting in water the clones will be fine, although many or all of them may start wilting due to lack of humidity, this is normal and the clones will be fine. This usually happens the first few times you remove the dome, especially if they are newer cuttings without roots.
Now, here's what to do if you start to see fusarium (white fuzz) developing on your clones -
First, if you can quarantine the infected clones, do so. If you can wear gloves or wash your hands very well before and after handling the infected clones, especially before you touch the ones that aren't infected. If you cannot quarantine them (say you don't have a spare dome) don't worry. Not a big deal.
Next, after quarantining (or not) you should change the water in the clone dome, and wash the bottom tray and the dome itself, and sanitize with either a weak bleach solution, hydrogen peroxide, or rubbing alcohol. (Personally, I do this every day, as a part of my regular cloning procedure, I change the water and clean the tray and dome once per day until I see roots)
Then, take a spray bottle or sprayer or whatever you have that can produce a mist spray. Mix at a ratio of 1:1 water and 3% Hydrogen Peroxide U.S.P (The stuff in the brown bottle from the pharmacy, NOT FOOD GRADE). So for reference let's say you use 1 cup of water, you would add 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide.
Next, spray the clones with a fine mist until they are completely coated. You'll start to see the infected areas start to bubble as the H202 is killing the fusarium.
Then, ensure the leaves and stems of the clones have dried off before you replace the dome (I use a fan on low, pointed at the clones, to dry them off faster) Oh, and it helps to make sure they're all soaking in the water, as mentioned above, before you spray.
Finally, after spraying and allowing the leaves to dry, proceed to clean the tray and change the water again, to make sure you remove anything that might have fallen into the water when you sprayed.
Key points -
- Change water and clean tray/dome EVERY day
- Allow fresh air to clones at least once per day by removing the dome for about an hour
- Quarantine and/or spray infected clones IMMEDIATELY and at least once per day until you no longer see white fuzz or clones are ready to come out of dome
- Don't mix 3% Hydrogen Peroxide spray stronger than 1:1
- Allow the surfaces of the leaves and stems to dry out after spraying, before replacing the dome!
I hope this little guide helps someone and I hope it makes sense LOL
I've found over the years that as long as I follow these simple rules I have nearly 100% success rate every time. Keeping the temperature STABLE and water FRESH and CLEAN are the keys to cloning success. And knowing how to solve problems when they arise is a huge plus..
I've seen a lot of folks throw out entire trays of clones that could have been saved. And I admit, this is not the end-all solution and I am NOT a scientist but I can vouch that I have used these methods for years with no problems and much success. Fusarium can be quite the adversary of even the most seasoned growers - but I do believe my method of prevention and control in clones is quite relevant.
I bring this up because I just saved a bunch of clones I took from flowering plants using this method, and in my opinion, clones from flowering plants are the hardest to maintain, as the bud sites tend to hold more moisture than clones from vegging plants, thus more opportunity for pathogens and problems. At any rate...
Just a bit of advice from your friendly neighborhood DHS
If anyone has anything to add- questions, comments, concerns, want to tell me to go F myself? Feel free! I will try my best to accommodate
Happy Farming!
