Troubles with coco-cloning!

[Endendros]

I know how easy it is to typically clone with coco coir - previous to my recent attempts I was seeing >90% success rates with multiple strains.

However, over the last month+ (I'm assuming since the onset of winter here in Cali) I've been having problems! While one of my sativas that I cut a few weeks before it got cold rooted 11/12, I had a 100% loss rate of one of my indicas (14 out of 14 cuts) from the same time period, and I've also had to save at least 8 of another indica variety (pulled and put into plain tapwater - wish I would've thought of that before I lost the others!) while waiting futilely for the others still in the choir to root.

I've been using proper cloning practices to avoid contamination and air bubbles in the stems; cutting leaves to reduce transpiration, etc. etc. I've been using a dome though it's not completely sealed. A few of my cuts would wilt temporarily but typically with a little additional water it would seal up their contact with the medium and they'd perk back up. The cuts that I had the 0/14 success rate I was also using a rooting hormone (go figure). My most recent cuts I decided to just try straight coco with no hormone since it didn't seem to help last time and many say it's unnecessary anyways.

My cuttings have just been sitting, looking normal for maybe a week or two (OK maybe longer - it's hard to keep track) and then would start to shrivel up. It seems to me like the stems are either drying up or rotting 'cause I've been able to save some of these wilters by pulling them from the coco, cutting a little more of their stem off and placing them into straight water - the majority of them perk right back up!

I've been trying a heating pad the last week+ but no improvement - though no worsening either at least. In many of the failed cuttings I noticed mold growing at their base or on the surface of the coir so this may be a dampening off issue? Keeping the coco too wet? I've only been rewetting every few days as the coco appears to dry out so... I do notice that the coir is definitely not drying out as fast as it was back in slightly warmer weather. My apartment stays about 70*F, and I think around 45% humidity. The clones sit about a foot and a half under a 125W CFL in my little veggie box and have been partially obscured from above by the previously rooted sativas vegging.

I know that this is a lot of info but any help would be greatly appreciated! =D

 

[HortiLab]

Hi Endendros, sounds like your cocos is a little bit too cold and wet. Try a heating pad with thermostat on the lowest setting and only re-wet if really necessary. Good luck.

 

[swisscheese]

My coco gets the white powder too if I keep it too wet for too long too and obviously hort knows what they're talking about.

 

[Green81]

cloning in coco difinately needs an almost drying-out period, not to dry as you then get ph fluctulations, good luck.

p.s

Someone also advised me to use a heated mat for much faster "takes" on the cuttings.

G81

 

[Bud Spleefman]

Use the Hydrofarm Heat Mat w/ thermo, the whole set-up was like 30 bucks... the Heating Pads for your bed get too hot, too fast... I guess maybe on a proper thermo they'd work okay. But yes, your prob, as everyone has stated, sounds like cold coco... coco hates to be cold!

 

[Endendros]

Muchas Gracias!

Thanks all of you! I'll begin working on the solution!

 

[crossouttheiis]

Why not build an aero cloned and just transfer from there into your coco

 

[Bobby Smith]

Why not build an aero cloned and just transfer from there into your coco

I have 144 clones sitting in Jiffy Pellets in a humidity dome right now on top of my EZ Clone 120 with a chiller hooked up to it.

Got tired of worrying about losing clones in my EZ............a $700 (EZ and chiller) waste of money.

Nothing like a medium (rockwool, coco, Jiffy Pellets, take your pick), a humidity dome, and a heating pad.

May take a little longer but (for me, anyways) they always root.

Gonna convert my EZ to an HP aero setup and see if that makes things easier............when it works it works great, but it's a fucking bitch losing 120 cuttings because you didn't hit every nook and cranny with bleach.

 

[ganjherbsmoke]

whats up with coco pellets? i have a bunch and have had so little success with them compared to peat, they get dry so fast am i supposed to let em dry or keep them moist, peat just seems easier to deal with imo

 

[Surfr]

Just grab a riot rooter tray thingy from the shop and bam, good to go...

 

[saltr]

Ever since I read this from HighTolerance, I've been hella successful with my coco cloning:

"Technique: Tea mix in R/O
Base nutes @ 1/4 strength
Cal-Mag @ 5 mL/gal
Roots Excelurator @ 1 mL/gal
Great White @ 1/2 scoop/gal
Ful-Power @ 15 mL/gal
Molasses @ 7 mL/gal
Silica Blast @ 5 mL/gal

Depending on the base nutes the pH should come out very close to 5.5-5.7.

Coco: Put the coco in a small container, I usually cut the top half of a small plastic water bottle and poke a lot of whole on the sides and bottom of the lower half. Fill it with coco, and flush with the tea mix from above, with 50 percent run-off. Put it aside for a few hours or even a day to get the bacteria growing in there. Then just dip the stem in cloning gel/power/solution. I have only used clonex, I am sure others will probably work fine. After dipping poke it in the coco about 75% deep. If the cuttings are weak then a humidity dome would be necessary, but I never use the dome for cloning in coco, I just flush it with the tea once and forget about it until the roots show up. As
the coco drys, the start to grow crazy in search for water, if you humidity is too low and the coco dries up just use the tea at half strength and pH it to 5.5-5.7...

***For RW and Coco, if you aren't using special mother nutes, then putting the clones in a cup of RO for a day or two has really helped in cutting down the rooting time. I am thinking it helps leech or at least give the plant a chance to eat up a bit of those stored nutes."

Thanks again to HT!

 

[sfzoo]

^will try.

although, this notion of 1/4 strength nutes is a bit confusing. Different companies have different schedules.

wouldn't it be better to say, use a certain ppm of base? rather than 1/4 strength?

either way, i'm the Farms worst cloner..so i'll try anything at this point.

 

[leadsled]

few things that I found help with cloning in coco.
make sure the coco stays moist.
make sure the stem stays in contact with the coco
be carefull top watering can disturb the coco and then the stem loses contact with the coco
I find wicking/bottom feeding works better until roots are established.

The self watering trays with 2.25" pots work well. (pic attached) home de pot osh etc carry them. After 2-3 weeks there is roots coming out the bottom.

dip the clone in rooting gel and wet the coco with 5.8 ph water. easiest method and works on hard to root strains.

I recommend it to people having hard time cloning with other methods, may take longer to root sometime but very easy and solid.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

I use a botanicare aeroclone 74 most the time. Never had a problem. Had a ez clone 60 no problems either. When I just want a few cuts I use plastic cups, canna coco, ph tap. I take a cut dip in rooting gel. I push my finger down into the pre saturated coco. Insert dipped cut, put another cup on top. No additional water untill it roots. No heat mat just put off to the side in veg. room. Temps 75-85. I take the top cup off for a sec. couple times a day so they can get fresh air. Takes a little longer than aero but not that much. Once I see roots hitting the side the cup the top cup comes off. I hope this makes sense. Easie peasie

 

[OGONLY]

If your room temps are a consistent 75-80 deg. you won't need a heat mat to get roots. But for those of us who prefer not to run the heat that much in the winter a heating device definitly speeds things up 50%.

I was using my DVR (VCR type thing for those that don't know what a DVR is) as a heating device to get my seeds to germinate. The thing stays warm all the time, even when it is not on. The seeds cracked in one day.

So I figured I'd do the same thing with my clones using 1 inch rockwool cubes, 3 black trays (stacked on top of each other) and a clear plastic dome. Well I didn't have a spare DVR to bring into that room so I ended up finding an old VCR in the garage. I figured out that the bottom side of it (with the DVR its the top side) stays warm when it is turned on.

I just flip the VCR over, place the tray with cuttings and dome on top (fits perfectly) of VCR. It keeps the cuttings perfectly warm, and causes evaporation in the dome which is ideal for the humidity they need. I stack 3 tray because I feel like if I went with just one it might be too warm. I also vent the dome a little bit because it gets pretty wet with condensation.

Works like a charm every time. BTW, I use tap water (275 ppm) 1 drop of Cal Mag, 1 drop of G.H. 3 part bloom (the pink one) and 6 drops roots excel per quart of water.