Weird shit going on. Need an extra experienced gardener for a cloning question

I believe I may have posted this problem 6 or so months ago and I never found a fix. So I am back again to ask for some help with a fungus problem that starts on the top of my clones and works its way downward.

We all went over the most major fixes like getting all new trays and tops, new cutting utensils, cleaning and checking the whole house for mold spores and spraying with a h2o2 solution mixture.

Well the problem keeps occurring. As usual it happens around 6 - 10 days after taking the cuttings.

I have come to 2 conclusions and if they don't work then I'm done with cloning. There is only 2 things that I have not changed since the problem started 12 months ago and has got worse every time after.

1) Raid Rooters. I'm still using those while I have changed everything else.

2) The air in my clone room. It's the only thing that's the same that I can't change.

Can it be the Rooters? I highly doubt it because it doesn't happen to every clone I take but it usually happens within the same plant I took it from. Which leads me to think it has to be something in the air.

Why? Because I started using a vaporizer last year and I keep it on all the time in the room where I keep my clones. There is no other place to put them because I have no room. I vape quite often and the room has smelled since I started vaping in there.

Another reason I believe it's something in the air is because clones have to breath thru their leaves. This fungus starts on the tippy top of the new leaves on the top bud site. Then progresses down thru the bud and down the stem. If it's not this then I'm doomed.

I moved the vaporizer out of the room and smoke far from that room now. I don't know what else to do. If this don't work I will have to do seed only and that sucks because I like to keep the awesome ones. I also grow my seedlings and veg plants in the same room as the clones and nothing ever happens to those. I believe it goes back to my idea that it is the air. The vegging plants and seedlings are getting oxygen thru the roots and not the leaves. The clones have no roots and therefore breath thru the leaves.

What do you guys think? I'm out of ideas

If your cloning from a flowering plant the bud will start to die as it goes back in to veg. Maybe drop the humidity a little bit? im not sure, Ive never had that problem

No, they are from vegging plants. Humidity is fine.

I used to have problems with fungus in a dome. All I do now is take the lid off for about a minute or so everyday. Be careful they are very fragile & will start to wilt fast but recover once the lid is back on a few minutes. I keep almost no water (a few drops) in the tray until I see roots, the rooters have enough moisture in them. When I see dew forming on the leaves I remove the dome & let the air dry them off (this can be difficult because they are delicate) sometimes it takes more than a minute or so. Good luck...... cloning can be the most difficult step.

I think it's getting too wet/soggy and u need to exchange the air more often like Tri Purple says.

lahadaextranjera said:

I think it's getting too wet/soggy and u need to exchange the air more often like Tri Purple says.

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Also, 6 - 10 days after cutting u should be taking them out and transplanting them. Mine are quite dry at this point but the roots are damp/wet. I think the wet/soggy medium is also delaying ur rooting time. I've had clones that took 20 days before but they were Blueberry mix and know to be slow (Skywalker, I think). My clones usually take 7-10 days before they root.

try leaving the dome off completely and mist them a few times a day instead ive done many clones wth and wthout a dome never had tht problem mold r mildew lives thrives in damp climates try leaving the dome off if u hav one and just mist them a coupla times a day they dont have to be wet all the time

OK guys. Thank you for the suggestions

To laha - I usually don't get roots until about 2 weeks in so I couldn't transplant them at 6 - 10 days.

I may try squeezing some of the water out of the Rapid Rooter before taking the next batch of clones. I started leaving the light on 24/7 (14 watt cfl) and I usually mist them once a day.

All my trays are under domes. I tried leaving the domes off one time and they all wilted within hours. I will do what I can to lower the moisture content in the dome. I have the air vents at the tops of the domes open now for fresher air. I noticed they got dry fast but they aren't wilting. So this may be a good sign.

Thanks for the help

rule out everything for less than $20, build a simple 5gal bubble cloner. a bucket, air pump and stone. when you get 1-2" roots transfer to your medium.

blue lemon thai will root in 6 to 7 days i have 8 clones my mother plant the last 2 were taken 4 weeks into flower 7 days i transplanted put them in 12/12 wth the rest and buds r still growing and starting new sites 1 of the easiest plants i ever done

This is ready for transplant. About 7 -10 days depending on strain.

You could always consider a faster strain.

hotwired.. hey i also was using rapid rooters.. wit cloning gel.. and shit.. the things would rot sometimes.. dont wet rapid rooters there wet enough in the bag they come in ... and get a bucket and cut the clones off.. put into water.. make another cut underwater.. dip in cloning POWDER and put into rapid rooters.. and take the dome off everyday for 10 mins.. if rapid rooters are too wet they rot.. ive had lots of problems wit clonex n shit.. wen i switched to powder i been fine.. and its 16 bucks cheaper. lol home depot.

I would use Oasis cubes as opposed to rooters or rockwool, and dont drench them. Ph your water, soak oasis and drain. I used the 2" cubes to keep air flow and space between when I started. I now still over water the rock wool and use a mesh tray over my catcher tray to raise the cubes up. If the dome has moisture drops on it.. its too much. You can also try misting with a foliar spray such as a B1 or B2.

Yes guys I noticed my Rooters were soaking wet!! I had to actually take all of my clones out and squeeze the water out of my Rooters.

I believe I was spraying the clones WAY too much. The water then slid down into the rooters and soaked the shit out of them. So last night I took all the clones and squeezed out the excess water from the Rooters. I then opened up all the domes fully so they have fresh air inside. Some of the newer clones wilted from being dry so I lightly misted and closed the dome vents. They came back overnight.

Do I need to redo all of the clones I had to squeeze with Clonex? They had no sign of roots yet anyway, even after 10 days. I laid them back in the Rooters as they were. I hope keeping the water off them does the trick.

Thanks for all the help!

Hotwired said:

Yes guys I noticed my Rooters were soaking wet!! I had to actually take all of my clones out and squeeze the water out of my Rooters.

I believe I was spraying the clones WAY too much. The water then slid down into the rooters and soaked the shit out of them. So last night I took all the clones and squeezed out the excess water from the Rooters. I then opened up all the domes fully so they have fresh air inside. Some of the newer clones wilted from being dry so I lightly misted and closed the dome vents. They came back overnight.

Do I need to redo all of the clones I had to squeeze with Clonex? They had no sign of roots yet anyway, even after 10 days. I laid them back in the Rooters as they were. I hope keeping the water off them does the trick.

Thanks for all the help!

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You will most likely lose 1/2 due to the extra time taking now to root, they will rot and die. But it sounds like that is your problem. best of luck.