Cuttings help needed please!

[GirlGrower 3]

Hi all, this is my second attempt at a grow. The first one was great until they turned hermy. I'm using DWC, mainly because it's what I have access to currently. This time I'm falling at the very first hurdle and would appreciate ANY help whatsoever. I obtained 4 healthy Green Poison cuttings in rock wool and they were transported in a car (inside a plastic propagator) for 5 hours in normal temperature. I placed them in the corner of my tent inside the prop away from the direct light. The temp in the tent is 21 ish and the humidity is around 47%. I have a Can Fan keeping the air circulated amd the are getting 18/6. I have ensured the rock wool stayed moist but 3 weeks on and there are still no roots showing through. The lower leaves are dying but there are tiny new healthy leaves appearing from the top. Do I just need to give them more time?

Edited May 28, 2015 by GirlGrower

[Twisted Rizla 15,632]

They look fine.

Don't worry about the lower leaves at this stage. If the problem spreads to the new leaves you've got a problem but the plants look good to me given their journey.

[Biltong Bob 7,172]

A wee bit more time and possibly give them a wee spray with a root stim solution to maybe help things along a bit, but as TR said, they look fine.

[GirlGrower 3]

Oh cool, thanks for your replies. Bob, do you recommend any particular root stim solution?

[Biltong Bob 7,172]

I use Plant Magic Root Stim, its fantastic stuff. I use their granules when I pot up too, always gives me lovely white, healthy roots.

Edited September 16, 2016 by distracted

[GirlGrower 3]

Great, I think I'll get some of that then. Thank you for the lightning response! I thought I'd be waiting ages for help

[Biltong Bob 7,172]

Check out the links above for a secure source

[GirlGrower 3]

Ace, will do, thanks

[Indicaderek 396]

I personally would be inclined to remove any dead leaf material to prevent any mold starting even a foothold, I just snip off as little as possible with sterilised scissors, may not matter at this stage but best to be safe as high humidity, 20c and readily available dead material for food is heaven for mold and fungus along with other assorted bacteria. Basic biology really, least that what they told me at school all those years ago.

Good luck with your herbs

[GirlGrower 3]

Thanks Derek I'll do that. Should I try reducing the humidity or is it ok?

[Twisted Rizla 15,632]

Your humidity looks much higher than 47%. The condensation on your propagator tells me that. Where are you taking your humidity levels from?

[Indicaderek 396]

Humidity should be high (50% to 70% iirc) for cuttings or they will wilt and die as they are taking water from the air in the absence of roots, I do however like to wilt my cuttings for an hour a day then mist them afterwards as I personally feel this forces the cutting to root instead of relying on the humidity as they start rooting seeking out an alternative water source instead of relying on humidity if that makes sense. I use a pump/pressure spray bottle as they are more capable of producing a fine mist, temperature may also be critical as the stomata will only open at a certain temperature range iirc 18c to 25c and stomata may also be involved in taking up airborne water. Stomata are the pores on the leaves of the plant which usually allow the plant to transpire oxygen though if I recall may also allow the intake of water and nutrients hence foliar feeding with a water mist. Any less than 18c and the roots get upset in general with slower growth.

Ask yourself if you were in a bar and they had table service would you go to the bar? Like hell you would as you would rely on the waiting staff to bring the drinks (in this case humidity), I personally feel cuttings get lazy and don't root until stressed a little when wilted in this way (least that's my theory), bear in mind stress may cause other issues like hermies though I feel cuttings unless already in flower would not be prone to this issue and if cuttings are already in the flowering stage they will struggle to root as they are in a different growth stage, idk if others will differ on this opinion but it worked for me in the past with nice roots in 10 days from cutting my own clones into a coco fibre medium and compared to some on here am a complete noob though I do have a penchant for recalling (useless/useful) information.

E2a: That tupperware tub looks completely sealed hence the condensation, maybe leave the lid open a little like a 5mm gap either end to allow fresh air in there, my old propagator had vents either end to allow fresh air and CO2 in, if they wilt then decrease the gap and mist them as misting should perk them up in about an hour or two at most.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Indicaderek

[Mental Chops 1,431]

Welcome to the forum @@GirlGrower!!

These clones are from my Sweet Seeds Green Poison mother from my second and current grow (link in my sig). It was the first time I had taken cuts and I used Budelaire's method to clone mine in coco and they rooted well after 2 weeks. I took these clones 3 weeks tomorrow and followed a similar method, leaving out the PM granules as I thought this wouldn't work with rockwool.

The main idea from Budelaire's method is to 'set and forget' so you don't disturb the environment for 2 weeks. These have been opened and misted a couple of times in the last 3 weeks but the container has no vents. However, GirlGrower does have a prop with vents if airflow may help. This idea is a different approach from the original method, but whatever helps them root!!

@@GirlGrower, listen to these guys and the other senior members, they will keep you straight!! This forum totally helped me get such a good result from my first crop and without hijacking your thread thought that I may as well post my question here as it will be applicable to your grow in the future too, as we have the same plants.

Below are the 8 clones I took from the same mother which @@zimmer and @Veg4's told me is a Sativa pheno which will grow very tall. All are a bit leggy for my liking and both GirlGrower and myself have similar headroom (2m). I topped the mother and then shortly after took the first 8 clones and since taking these additional 4 is looking alot more bushy. Rather than top them after the 5th node, if I snipped the top off would this help keep the lower?? I was going to just top and lst again as it worked so well last time.

The lower leaves on 6 of the clones are yellowing with some dark spots and rusty necrosis. Could this be a calmag def or can this happen after cloning as the new growth seems ok??

6 look a little pale so may be a little underfed and they are getting 1ml PM Grow A+B and 2ml PM Root Stim EC0.7 PH5.9 with temps 21c - 25c and humidity 50%.

I only need the best 4 to go into autopots, so what characteristics do you look for to choose the strongest plants??

Mine are under a 96w T5 is it too early for them to go under a 600w gavita yet?

Thanks for any help you can give me or GirlGrower!

Cheers, Mental.

[dannychoo 3,514]

I found @@Tony Montana Cutting's guide (as locked in this sub-forum) really easy to follow and works almost every time (for me anyway!): http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=272564

Have a look at OT1's mother bonsai guide too, that is still one of the most definitive guides on the WWW and it gives great insight into the whole process.

Also @@farmer ged is maintaining a thread about mother plants over in http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=353034

The world UK420 is your oyster

[farmer ged 1,356]

Also @@farmer ged is maintaining a thread about mother plants over in http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=353034

@@dannychoo

I cant take credit for that one, it`s @@FARMER G`s thread. Good read it is too, well worth a look.