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Keeping unrooted clones in cold storage


hashmaster3000

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1 hour ago, Redgrotto said:

i've got to say this one of the most unbelievable, surpising threads ive ever come across on this site since ive been on..

why have i never heard of this before??,

i've alway RUSHED a cutting from being snipped off the plant, to water, and finally to clonex and the rooting medium because ive been terrified of "embolisms"....  :doh:

have i been getting Sherbinskied for the last 20 years or what??   :guitar:

 

:yinyang:

i think using larger chunks of plant stops embolisms? then you take cuttings from it, the heel must callus up like a cactus or something.

  • Like 1
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@bazil brush I never even thought about what an unrooted cut would be labeled as! Added bonus! :D

 

@Redgrotto Me to mate! Thankfully, now I can avoid that panicked rush to get a cut in water within the first seconds of being cut!!! I reckon I might have been overdoing it!! lol

 

:v:

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  • 2 weeks later...

What, with Easter upon us, this seems like a good time to be sharing the news!! lol

 

So, after 2.5 weeks, the first cut, refrigerated for four - five (:smokin:) weeks has taken root!! :D It probably took around the 2 week mark - looked that way from the top, but I gave it a few extra days because I couldn't see a root tip on the bottom... The bag came off last night and it got fed - its looking quite perky this morning!!

 

large.Rooted.jpg

 

I potted up a further two cuts a couple of days ago... They have been in the fridge for around 7 weeks, maybe a bit longer... I have to admit to being a hideously lazy bastard with the potting up this time and one looks to have suffered because of that...

 

large_Two.jpg

 

Of these two, a close look at the one on the left should show that the leaf at the back is wilting - I decided to chop it to avoid infection, but that only made the cut less stable in the small pot... I reckon that one is a goner... Time will tell if the other survives from being in the fridge for around 7 weeks!!

 

Bon weekend!! 

 

:v:

 

Edit - I meant to add... I will only grow these cuts for a week or two - I can only keep a small number of plants and I have to break the flowering tent down when I pull my current grow... So, these lil gals are an experiment to satisfy me that I can get away for a few weeks with Mrs S and still come back to the plant I want to keep!! :D

 

Edited by Slugums
  • Like 11
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57 minutes ago, stu914 said:

New one on me...FFS wish I'd known about this years ago, the amount of good strains forever lost...Bastard!!!

 

:wallbash::wallbash:

 

I feel for yah bud!

 

:v:

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42 minutes ago, AKPOG said:

Science thanks you a great deal sir @Slugums :notworthy:

 

This is one gem I won't be forgetting in a hurry :badass:

 

Thank you! High praise indeed sir!! Its a total game changer for me!! :D

 

I know Mrs S is going to get fed up with it by the time I order a newer bigger fridge, just for cuts! I'll cross that bridge when we get there!! lol

 

:v:

  • Like 6
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50 minutes ago, Slugums said:

 

I know Mrs S is going to get fed up with it by the time I order a newer bigger fridge, just for cuts! I'll cross that bridge when we get there!! lol

:rofl:

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I used to work in a tree nursery and we would "only" keep cuttings for three weeks. Yet it never occurred to me that you could do this. We would also strike our cuttings into sand and once rooted we would pull them, shake off the excess sand and "prig" them (basically push all the roots into the soil with a lollipop stick) into the correct soil. 

 

I might try it next time with any extra cuts. Not going to risk it with the main cuts.  

 

Cheers tico. 

 

 

  • Like 2
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I've been doing this on every grow for around 7 years, although the longest I have left them is a month. I just sit them on the shelf in the fridge in a half glass and change the water once a week. It's almost like they are in stasis imo

  • Like 12
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Just a wee progress update on the cut that spent around 4 - 5 weeks in the fridge...

 

Its doing fine, despite being underfed! It was always an experiment, so I never really bothered to feed it up, besides, this lil one will have to go shortly as I have no space to do anything with it!

 

Since coming out of the fridge, it went under 15w cfl and has been getting fed around 0.5ec - so, yeah! Its very underfed and it shows - but... just an experiment to see if it would work and I'm happy with the result - I may give her a proper few feeds just to show that the process is not responsible for its poor appearance!

 

The lil cut in the back (still covered in its plastic bag) was in the fridge for 7wks and is still doing fine - I normally root out cuts in 0.5lt damp, primed (0.5ec) coco... This one is in such a tiny pot that it has been drying out too quickly and needs a lil bottom fed top-up to keep the coco damp - bit of a pain and oversight that might end up killing it because of the messing around, but we'll see - so far, its upright and looking fine!

 

The other one in the yellow pot died quickly, but I had molested that one quite badly potting it up, I used a pot with no drainage, and, I never bothered to seal off the plastic bag with an elastic band... :blushing:

 

large.5wk_fridge.jpglarge.5wk_fridge-2.jpg

 

@tico cervantes I think the three week mark makes very good sense - I reckon its far safer than pushing it past 4 or 5 weeks... I'll be surprised and happy if the cut that spent 7wks in the cold takes root, but its more of a benchmark test than a plan to push for that long... I reckon the longest I'll keep anything I really hope to grow out will be around 2 - 3 wks. :v:

 

@bill cooper Neat! I'm not sure cuts in water would survive in my fridge - clumsy hands would have the water everywhere!! lol Its a great method for keeping them though and could be a safer option than bagging them! The only downside for me would be that I couldn't leave them for as long because they'd need the water changed! Having said that, I have left a cut in a glass of plain water, then ignored it until it needed the water topping up - it rooted out in the water in around 3wks!! I never tried to pot it on though and reckon it likely would have flopped!

 

Happy, healthy, safe, growing!!

 

:v:

  • Like 10
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7 weeks in the cold and its rooted in 8 - 10 days...

 

Last post on the subject from me I reckon... Not much more to say aside from - I'm well chuffed at this result!!

 

I reckon 3 - 4 weeks is easily within the safe zone for cuts in the fridge and 7 + weeks, while not recommended, can work...

 

This is a real bonus for me because Mrs S and I have a family trip to Germany coming up; what with my low/zero tech approach, the fridge is the only method I have to keep any plants going for another run - I get to keep my lovely Orange Kush plant... I'm very happy not to have to say goodbye to her!! :D

 

large.7_weeks.jpg

 

large.roots_7wks.jpg

 

Happy, healthy and safe growing!!

 

:v:

  • Like 18
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