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CLONES WON’T ROOT
My clones only have about a 30 percent survival rate. I use Dip’N Grow rooting hormone and have tried putting them in several different kinds of mediums—rockwool cubes, cotton cubes. Roto Rooter—and I still get the same lousy survival rate. What advice do you have for more successful rooting? I’m at my wit’s end.
NORML Show Live listener
Dear NSL,
The two most important factors for cloning are high humidity and heat at the plant level. Since they don’t have roots at the beginning of the cloning process, your cuttings can only take in water through their cut ends and transpire through their leaves, so they must always be kept moist. A clear plastic lid will create enough humidity inside a cloning tray to raise your rate of rooted clones. Cutting a couple of quarter-sized holes in the clear lid will keep enough air flowing to prevent mold and rot in the root zone.
Even room temperature is too cold for proper rooting. Avoid allowing your clones to sit in chilly mediums or in a cold nutrient solution. A cheap electrical heating mat specifically used for cloning and placed beneath your tray will greatly increase your success rate with rooting. Warmth encourages the cut ends to send out roots, and pretty soon, under the right conditions, you’ll have a high percentage of surviving young rooted clones ready to get bigger and blossom.
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