Tried Cloning for the first time, it went horribly. Why?

Hello everyone. Today I decided to try my hand at cloning for the first time. It was awful. I clipped the clones making sure they were 2 nodes long. I took them from the bottom of plants, because I felt they weren't getting enough light. After clipping them, I dipped them in Garden Safe Take Root Hormone, then stuck them in FFOF soil that I had lightly sprayed with water. I placed them under 4 CFLs, and just went to check on them about 2 hours later. They are all slouched over and dying. Is it because I didn't use cubes? I am just curious as to how I can avoid killing them for next time.

Thanks

Clonning isn't hard to but there is a process. If you can afford a auto cloned life's great. But if you don't imo I would use a humidy crib creates a humid eviroment you can control and heat and cool

Soil has nutes in it.

Ps ...clones like an ideal environment.

they need a humidity dome to survive. Ffof is not good for cloning. You need nursery mix (ph adjusted peat)

You have to use a dome and spray water on the dome not the plants unless they droop. If you have a clear tote spray the clones and tote and they will perk up.

As for why your clones aren't happy is they now don't have any way to take in water other than there leaves. And constantly spraying them is time consuming and only cause them to droop more often. Have a humid crib allows for the moisture in the air to be traped and create a humid environment they need. But I am no expert by any means just my opinion

Ocean forest is too "hot" for clones/seedlings. it is full of nutrients. you need to use plugs/peat or rockwool

I forgot to mention I do have a humidifier going in the tote the plants are in. Sounds like the soil is a no no and this is just a live and learn mistake. I will try and put a clear tote on them and see if they perk up any. Thank you for the advice everyone

You were better off just letting them sit in a cup of water. But humidity dome like others mentioned is the way to go. The point is to get root growth, soil ain’t gonna cut it. Use peat pellets or rock wool cubes. I get 100% success rate every time in about 10 days. Sometimes less. The pellets seem to root faster. If you are looking for a cheap way, get the peat pellets. You can get like 16 pellets, tray and dome for like $10 from Walmart.

1. Jiffy pellet/ rock wool cubes.
Soak cubes or pellets with water ph at 6.0 for about 30 min in a bucket
2. Superthrive.- place 1 drop into the water the cubes sit in
3. Hormone powder- which you have
4. Clonex gel- ***A MUST***
5. Humidity dome with tray.
6. The right light- which you have

I don’t dip my clones in the powder, I only sprinkle the powder in the hole the clones sites in. I dip the ends of my cuts into the clonex gel. Make sure to have a cup of water handy after you make your cut, place the cut immediately in the cup of water, prevents air bubbles from traveling up the stem. While the cuts sit in the water, squeeze out the excess water from the cubes or pellets. You want them wet, not saturated. This is probably the most important part of the whole process, because saturated cubes or pellets will just rot your clones. Cut the tips off of all your leaves, this stops the clone from trying to use photosynthesis to grow, but instead forces it to produce roots. Make a hole in your cube or pellet, sprinkle the powder in the hole, take clone out of water and immediately dip into the gel, stick clone in cube or pellet. Spray the inside of the dome and clone, put the clone on the tray and cover tray with dome and walk away. The only time you need to do anything is when the dome or the cubes/pellets are dry. Remove the dome, spray it down, place it back on the tray. In about 5 days the cubes or pellets will start to get dry. Pour a little water in the tray and I mean a little bit of water, the cubes or pellets will wick up the water. Put the dome back on. Around the 8th-10th day, you will see roots.

Dontjudgeme said:

You were better off just letting them sit in a cup of water. But humidity dome like others mentioned is the way to go. The point is to get root growth, soil ain’t gonna cut it. Use peat pellets or rock wool cubes. I get 100% success rate every time in about 10 days. Sometimes less. The pellets seem to root faster. If you are looking for a cheap way, get the peat pellets. You can get like 16 pellets, tray and dome for like $10 from Walmart.

1. Jiffy pellet/ rock wool cubes.
Soak cubes or pellets with water ph at 6.0 for about 30 min in a bucket
2. Superthrive.- place 1 drop into the water the cubes sit in
3. Hormone powder- which you have
4. Clonex gel- ***A MUST***
5. Humidity dome with tray.
6. The right light- which you have

I don’t dip my clones in the powder, I only sprinkle the powder in the hole the clones sites in. I dip the ends of my cuts into the clonex gel. Make sure to have a cup of water handy after you make your cut, place the cut immediately in the cup of water, prevents air bubbles from traveling up the stem. While the cuts sit in the water, squeeze out the excess water from the cubes or pellets. You want them wet, not saturated. This is probably the most important part of the whole process, because saturated cubes or pellets will just rot your clones. Cut the tips off of all your leaves, this stops the clone from trying to use photosynthesis to grow, but instead forces it to produce roots. Make a hole in your cube or pellet, sprinkle the powder in the hole, take clone out of water and immediately dip into the gel, stick clone in cube or pellet. Spray the inside of the dome and clone, put the clone on the tray and cover tray with dome and walk away. The only time you need to do anything is when the dome or the cubes/pellets are dry. Remove the dome, spray is down, place it back on the tray. In about 5 days the cubes or pellets will start to get dry. Pour a little water in the tray and I mean a little bit of water, the cubes or pellets will wick up the water. Put the dome back on. Around the 8th-10th day, you will see roots.

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Thank you for the detailed reply! Next time I start a plant I will be sure to do this. Thanks!!

New_dudetoo said:

Thank you for the detailed reply! Next time I start a plant I will be sure to do this. Thanks!!

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No worries. Wish I had something like this when I started cloning. I had to learn from trial error.

Build a bubble cloner. Always get roots in 7-14 days. It’s quite idiot proof. I switched to bubble cloning.

Pretty much all clones will droop and get a bit wilted at times. Especially the day you cut them and the next. Mine usually perk back up after a few days.

I suggest using a dwc/bubble cloner. No dome, wilt and no hassle. I put them in the cloner and forget about them. 14 days later they all have laterals going down to the bottom.

I haven’t gone the bubble route because what I doing now hasn’t failed me yet. I am however intrigued by the simplicity.

Straight coco coir and the cheap powdered rooting compound. I don't clone that often anymore but I've been getting 100% success when I do. I built a water cloner years ago and it worked just fine. I just got tired of the space it was taking up and dealing with the water. Too much hassle for me. If I was still doing flood and drain with hydroton I might still be using. Now I just cut, dip, insert into coco, stick in the corner somwhere with ambient light and have roots in a week to 10 days. Simple the way I like it.