Fast roots, cheap method, no brains required (includes pictures).
Materials Plastic cups (or pots or whatever....no holes in the bottom) coco coir pumice (crushed, not big chunks. Perlite probably works equally as well) Plant cuttings (not just Cannabis, I use this for many soft and semi-hardwood cuttings) Rooting hormone (whatever is good locally...mine is amazing but only available around here) Sharp knife some poop or slow release fertilizer.
Mix
your substrate together. I like to mix in 60/40 coco/pumice. This
gives lots of airflow and stays very humid and moist, but not
soggy....very nice for young cuttings. i also throw in a teaspoon or
so (per 1 liter) of pellet chicken poo fertilizer (low NPK). your
choice on which to use, if any. The problem i found with straight coco (which is often used with god results) is that if you water too much too often (like a poorly adjusted hydro grow) then stem rot and wilting can occur more often. the pumice allows lots of airflow.
Take the cups and stab a thin knife through them, to get small slits for drainage....not holes cause they drain out a lot. I just see when its full of water, it drips out not pours out.
Then fill the cup with substrate and tap them
on a table to settle it down a bit. I mix all my substrates wet so its
not dusty (unhealthy) and so I dont need to water after planting the cutting (washes away the rooting hormones). Just fill
a bucket of water and put the coco block into it. once all soaked and
expanded, squeeze most of the water out by hand and put it in a
bucket to mix with the ferts/pumice. That should be enough water for the cutting.
I use 600ml cups...use what
you have....i prefer non see through, but see through you can see the
roots....dark cups for roots is better though.
First choose a branch you
want to cut. Mine are all small, only 2-3", but with other plant
species i take anywhere from 1-15" cuttings with the same method. Do what you want with whats avaialble...6" cuttings work too.
This one is going to be a cutting.
Cut
the lower leaves off. i like to leave only 2 small leaves at the top. Leaves loose moisture, there are no roots yet to give the plant more
moisture...so it dehydrates easily with large leaves. Cut the lower
ones....same procedure for shipping plants. if you have larger
cuttings and leave more/larger leaves on it will start growing faster
once rooted cause there is more leaf surface area...BUT there is also greater risk of dehydration and possibly death. when i used to leave
large leaves on, say 4-6, on various plants (Such as Tabernaemontana),
i would have about 80% success....leaving the 2 top small ones on i get
95-100% success...but growth is slower for a week or two after cutting.
here they are cut off laying beside the stem.
Once
the leaves are cut off, cut a fresh slice off the bottom of the stem,
this makes a fresh cut for the rooting hormone....if your slow like me
its a little important....if your quick it may not matter so much. Just like cutting the bottoms of roses before placing htem into the vase for your sweetheart.
dip
in some rooting hormone....choose whatever brand you like...this is a
local brand that rocks. roots cuttings of most types very well!!!
then
take a finger and poke a hole in the soil. Go deep enough
for the cuttings leaves to be a cm or 2 above
the soil (more if cutting is long).
fill in hole, pack down lightly.
place
another cup upside down on the new cutting. this keeps humidity high
and keeps the cutting hydrated while it develops roots. ceran wrap and
other stuff works, but I like more air space. with other plants that
I'm taking lots of cuttings at one time I use trays, with the same
method. Just easier to carry a tray with 100 cuttings than 100 cups.
do what works good for you.
I dislike misting plants, cause leaves may be damaged when misted under lots of light...if I HAVE to mist, I mist the top cup instead of the plant.
few done
place
under your veg lights. i use 24/0 right now for veg and they seem to
like it. these are under 120 watts of cfl 6500K with a fan blowing the
heat up. I also keep them a little further away from the lights than the rooted plants, too much light can stress them.
5 days later they are like this. i give a tiny light very careful tug to see if they have roots...here they do.
i
dont normally touch them, but for a picture i pulled this one up. 5
days from cutting and these roots have formed. not huge, but a decent
start.
my climate now is 85-90F and lights are on 24/7. works great for me, hopefully others can get some clones easily as well
i have found, form living in Canada and tropical Asia, that warmer temps (85-90) are better for cuttings than 75-85 like established plants seem to like. too hot though and there are problems.
