Cloning techniques

Hey everyone,

I am writing to introduce D&D propagation cups for growing clones.

D&D Propagation System has pioneered a plant propagation system for clones through isolation. This works by growing each clone in its own sealed, maintenance-free cup, which offers the plants all the nutrients needed for fast and healthy root development until they are transplanted. While in the process of forming roots, each clone thrives in a self-contained environment, allowing the plant to recycle water and stay moist through condensation. The cups are tamper proof, keep clones sheltered from wide-spreading diseases, and eliminate the possibility of one strain getting mixed up with another. Cloning Cups

Please visit D&D Propagation System website at https://dndpropagation.com for more details.

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I’ve only cloned aero. I started with one 32 site ezcloner, and now I have a nursery of them. I name all my rooms for security and sensors, so I call my clone room “the NICU”.

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I’m new here, but appreciate this conversation. I’ve been growing cannabis for nearly 20 years. Mostly hydroponically (fill and drain), but in the last year, I’ve been growing for a large hemp (CBD) operation in MN (greenhouse and outdoors). One of my first responses is it might depend on the size of your operation and how many clones you need to produce. I used to do only 30-100 clones at a time, now I grow 1,000 to 1,200 clones a month. For many years I used “Dip and Grow” and liked it a lot. Now my employer gives me Clonex gel and rapid rooter plugs. I get starter roots in a week and heavily rooted plants in 24 to 30 days. In general I would echo what I’ve read here that the secret to strong cuttings is a strong mom and strong tips. I work hard to get 2 nodes in the plug and have found that lots of light on the Moms, helps produce shorter inter nodal spacing. I side light and top light the moms. I presoak the plugs in a mild nutrient solution. I love using liquid seaweed but a mild hydroponic nutrient solution is also good. I put the cuttings in a 72 count tray of rapid rooter plugs and then put them on an ebb and flow table with a clear dome for the first few days. Timer turns the pump on 3 tx a day for 20 minutes. I used to run 16 hr light cycle, but one of my hemp varieties kept trying to flower anyways, so I bumped it to 18 hrs. All the moms are on ebb and flow tables in 4 inch rock wool cubes flooded 4 times a day. Because I am producing so many clones a month, I give the moms an aggressive vegetative nutrient solution. 90-95% of my cuttings become strong plants.

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Here is a pic at 13 days.

And one at 20 days.

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Hey Herb and thanks for the 2 cents! Yes, I have soil tested and it was quite eye opening when it was viewed by someone looking at things other than just NPK which is the way I was raised. This is going to be yet another very educational year.

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I haven’t noticed a huge difference between aerocloners, rockwool, and rapid rooters. When conditions are just right, any of those methods gives me 80+% ready-to-plant babies in 10-12 days. Close to 100% will root eventually, but I like to over-produce and cull when I can.

What makes all the difference is obsessively sanitizing equipment, using healthy and pest-free mother plants, a little foliar feeding, controlling temp and humidity, and handling/preparing the cuttings with care

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I would say it depends on the application. I rarely prefer a method outside of aeroponic or rockwool in most settings. Pressed soil blocks are inexpensive and in-house renewable. I most often use aeroponic. I use 1-2 drops per gallon of water of SuperThrive and Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens or similar in the reservoir. SuperThrive is inexpensive, contains additional hormones applicable to rooting, contains an interesting mix of properties, and will provide the clones with nutrients.

As far as compound: Depends on the application but most often IBA as the active ingredient unless ‘hyper consciousness’ is your path in life - in which case there are other options [like organically derived IAA]. I do not have a preference between gel or powder. Once the hormone is in contact the application is complete [and quickly. The instability of these hormones / compounds is also a factor]. Powder is cheaper to ship in bulk and often cheaper in price. Aloe and other naturally occurring items have been claimed to have an impact. I most often use gel [because there are additional features often included in gel] if I use anything at all. Often, if you add V-B to a gel that does not contain it it will help penetrate the stem to deeper drive the compound but if done in powder form it will destroy the stem [as most powders, when water is applied, create a gel anyway, so this is prolonged in the cloner or indefinite in exposure if done in a cube - so never in a cube].

I allow 10-15 days for rooting in my calendars for both sanity and ample roots. I shouldn’t need to speed anything up. It also means that I do not need any ‘hormone treatment’ and I can simply allow the plants [happy and fed with SuperThrive] to root in plenty of time. That is a budget reduction and better for the environment. Allowing this length of time, in my thinking, allows me to use ‘cubes’ and aeroponic, at the same time or interchangeably, without concern. At the end of the day aeroponic has a ‘shock period’ that slows it down a moment despite the size of the roots [but picks up after that faster] and even though there are less roots in ‘cubes’ they take off a tiny bit faster [and it evens out]. As with everything else - ‘take from Peter to pay Paul’ - its a wash in my book in that regard.

Additionally adding fulvic acid to the reservoir will decrease time [and make certain one drop of SuperThrive, not two, is applied in conjunction].

I get roots, to the point of a spike, in four to five days if I include the rooting compound and at that point transplant is possible. WIthout the compound it takes approximately seven days. The additional time I allow on the cloner is to simply increase the length of the roots to my satisfaction. People claim 72 hours to transplant but I have not achieved this despite attempting a number of alternative methods. It makes me question if they are including the day that they took them. Keep in mind that splitting, scraping, or performing both on the clone will decrease time [because you are exposing cells by removing the ‘wax’ that will be reassigned to form a root]. Also, cutting the leaves of the clone by 40% horizontally will have a hormonal response [that is positive] in the clone [outside of being a good practice for other reasons]. The right amount of stem, the right shape, diameter zone, etc, all has an impact. Last, pre soaking the clones for 24 hours to prepare them for being a rootless misfit is said to decrease time - but isn’t that additional 24 hours the same amount of time as an additional 24 hours on the cloner? I have experienced no better ‘actual time’ in doing so.

I find no method is swifter than aeroponic, bubble, or fog. None of them are faster than the other. Aeroponic uses the most amount of water. Bubble and fog are about the same and need to be watched [topped off].

Spectrum matters. Make sure the light source is appropriate for root production [which becomes its own discussion sometimes]. Do not provide too much light as this will slow the process and force the clone to work harder. Distance from the light matters - far enough away but not too far [depending on the source] is a good thing.

I have propagated every which way [from glue plugs to plastic in field]. Again, it just depends on the operation, but the above is the ‘swiftist’ manner I have used.

Hope that helps.

  • David
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Wait, wut?
Peter-Woah

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Sarcasm is a way of life.

In Washington someone lost their farm for using IBA, which they consider to be a pesticide, that was in a product not approved on the pesticide list [a common bulk rooting powder]. Also, people consider this to be an infraction that means you are not organic.

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