Grodan makes an insert call the Gro-Smart Tray that elevates the rockwool off of the bottom of your flat tray, allowing you to fill the bottom of the tray with water, without the rockwool sitting in it.īe sure to start with clean equipment. Remember, oxygen is key! The media should never be sitting in water (commonly asked question). The media should be evenly moist, but not dripping with water. I give my plugs 2 or 3 squirts of water directly to the top before I place my cuttings. The same can be done with the starter plugs, but these will come pre-moistened almost to the proper levels. This will pull more air into the media, giving a better water/air ratio. After soaking, some of the water will need to be gently squeezed out of the media. Rockwool is dry when purchased and will need to be soaked in a slightly acidic water solution (5.5 pH is ideal). I personally lean towards starter plugs because of their ability to hold moisture, yet breathe. Rockwool is preferred for hydroponics, but could be used in soil. Two of the most common medias used in cloning are rockwool and starter plugs. Wet media lowers the oxygen levels in the media, which usually leads to rotting stems. Moisture and humidity are key in cloning, but wet is not good. Many growers make the common mistake of keeping their media too wet. This will prime the plant to hold on to nutrients longer, giving the cutting a better chance to survive in the fragile rooting environment. ***Grower tip – Spray your stock plants with seaweed and fulvic acid a few days before taking cuttings. Sometimes we are forced to take a cutting while a plant is flowering, and this can work, but be prepared for it to take a little longer. Generally speaking, the best time to take a cutting is when the plants are actively growing. If the plant is a fresh seedling, give it time to develop so that there’s healthy side branches to cut from. This plant should also be large enough to support cutting from. Your plant should have strong genes, should be free of pests or diseases, and should not be displaying any symptoms of deficiencies or stress. The first step in getting healthy clones is to start with a healthy stock plant (the plant you will cut from). This blog post will point out some of the most common mistakes made in the cloning room and how to avoid them for future cloning success. Growers that have been taking clones for years will occasionally fall into a bad habit, and not know why their success rates have plummeted. One of the most common frustration we find with our customers is on the subject of cloning.
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