Can't get cuttings to root

[Goonie Goat]

Hey guys, I've got some plants a bit over a month old in about 2gal containers (Critical Mass, Dosidos X Cookies 'n Cream and Wedding Cake X Cherry Pie X Grateful Breath). So a week or so ago I snapped a branch on one so to even everything up I took some cuttings. Dipped in clone gel and into some Coco. Placed on top of a heat mat in a clear container and a few days later pretty much all wilted (sprayed with water so not drying out). So I chucked those and did some more but this time put them in a jar with water and a small airstone. 4 days later there's slime all over the bottom of the stems (after several water changes) and they pretty much disintegrated when touched. Is this heat mat screwing things up? I thought it would help speed things up but it seems that it's just encouraging bad bacterial growth? Should I just get rid of the heat mat?

 

[Billygoat]

If it has no thermostat it will be the problem..

 

[Harry bootlace]

Never used a heat mat for cuttings myself so not sure but probably

 

[Love to grow]

I use a heat mat without a thermostat for my cuttings and it works fine trick is get a small tray flip it upside down then put your other tray of cuttings on top of that so the roots aren’t sitting directly on the mat I use a dome and only spray the the cuts not the domes wipe the domes clean once a day and don’t mess with the cutting at all for at least 7-10 days no checking roots nothing just leave it alone that works for me anyway mate

 

[itchybro]

I use a heat mat without a thermostat for my cuttings and it works fine trick is get a small tray flip it upside down then put your other tray of cuttings on top of that so the roots aren’t sitting directly on the mat I use a dome and only spray the the cuts not the domes wipe the domes clean once a day and don’t mess with the cutting at all for at least 7-10 days no checking roots nothing just leave it alone that works for me anyway mate

i do the same if using a heat mat , put a barrier in between the mat & the tray that holds the cuts , during summer i don't generally use a mat
the only difference is i'd only spray the dome if needs be & not the cuts themselves

similar to this guy from boneyard seeds

bloody age restricted BS , sorry

 

[Old fox]

Maybe try a cloning machine. A few years ago, I bought a Seahawk brand machine for about $100 from eBay. Excellent piece of kit .... simply refresh the water every second day. Maintain half strength nutes in the water, and set/adjust starting pH to 5.5, as the pH will climb to 6.5 overnight. Roots show in about 10 days. Put it on a south facing window sill or under a T5 light.

 

[Goonie Goat]

Yep I didn't get a heat mat with an inbuilt thermostat, I have an inkbird but that's in the main tent for an oil heater. Thanks all for your opinions and methods, will give it another crack and if I'm still hopeless with it I will look into getting one of the EZ Cloner systems online

 

[Old fox]

Yep I didn't get a heat mat with an inbuilt thermostat, I have an inkbird but that's in the main tent for an oil heater. Thanks all for your opinions and methods, will give it another crack and if I'm still hopeless with it I will look into getting one of the EZ Cloner systems online

Don't need an inbuilt thermostat. The Bunnings heatmat tops out at 36%C during summer. That can kill seedlings. So, depending on ambient temperature, I put a few magazines on top of heatmat, then a glass of water on top of that . Wait about 4 hours for max heat, and measure the water temp with a thermometer. A temp between 20-28C is fine for propagation. Add or subtract a few magazines to get into the right temp range.

 

[snapper]

Maybe try a cloning machine. A few years ago, I bought a Seahawk brand machine for about $100 from eBay. Excellent piece of kit .... simply refresh the water every second day. Maintain half strength nutes in the water, and set/adjust starting pH to 5.5, as the pH will climb to 6.5 overnight. Roots show in about 10 days. Put it on a south facing window sill or under a T5 light.

Have had much success with a Seahawk cloner and a cheap led desk light. I dont use the cover at all. I only change water at the end of a successful cloning mission.
I use 1 drop of bleach once a week. stops any slime or nasties growing. Also use 1 drop of superthrive once a week.
I dont worry about temps, winter or summer. It still operates the same, although a bit faster in summer. It works with vegetable and some hardwood cuttings too. It needs topping up with water weekly as well.

 

[Goonie Goat]

Have had much success with a Seahawk cloner and a cheap led desk light. I dont use the cover at all. I only change water at the end of a successful cloning mission.
I use 1 drop of bleach once a week. stops any slime or nasties growing. Also use 1 drop of superthrive once a week.
I dont worry about temps, winter or summer. It still operates the same, although a bit faster in summer. It works with vegetable and some hardwood cuttings too. It needs topping up with water weekly as well.

Sounds the goods. Doesn't Superthrive contain Paclobutrazol? I thought that stuff was taken off the shelves for not labelling the PGR's it had?

 

[snapper]

Sounds the goods. Doesn't Superthrive contain Paclobutrazol? I thought that stuff was taken off the shelves for not labelling the PGR's it had?

"Have you ever wondered why SuperThrive works, nothing stays around 80+ years unless it works and it works, but why. Besides the B vitamins and minerals what makes it special; Triacontanol. Triacontanol is a naturally derived PGR, derived from Alfalfa Meal."
It is only used for the cloning process where creating roots is the target. One drop per 8-12 litres is minimal.

 

[Goonie Goat]

"Have you ever wondered why SuperThrive works, nothing stays around 80+ years unless it works and it works, but why. Besides the B vitamins and minerals what makes it special; Triacontanol. Triacontanol is a naturally derived PGR, derived from Alfalfa Meal."
It is only used for the cloning process where creating roots is the target. One drop per 8-12 litres is minimal.

Oh I swear years ago it had Paclo in it, will have to add some to the shopping list

 

[Hudo]

Have had much success with a Seahawk cloner and a cheap led desk light. I dont use the cover at all. I only change water at the end of a successful cloning mission.
I use 1 drop of bleach once a week. stops any slime or nasties growing. Also use 1 drop of superthrive once a week.
I dont worry about temps, winter or summer. It still operates the same, although a bit faster in summer. It works with vegetable and some hardwood cuttings too. It needs topping up with water weekly as well.

Peroxide is good too

 

[Hudo]

Here's my set up. I put about a litre of water in the bottom. The bottom is heated so stays at 25 and gets steamy stops them wilting and a 10 dollar down light on the top

 

[snapper]

Peroxide is good too

yes, but doesn't last long. Bleach does and only one drop is used a week

 

[Hudo]

yes, but doesn't last long. Bleach does and only one drop is used a week

Yeah I use em both there's a bleach based one called pythoff to

 

[Merl1n]

"Can't get cuttings to root"​

I'm surprised no one's said it yet.... ....Show 'em a porno Get them in the mood

 

[nomoredrinking]

I used to do my cuttings for a week or two simple old school.
I would use an old cardboard egg container bottom, fill it with potting mix and place it on a damp plate, enough to soak up the water from the plate but not enough to make it too wet.
Put the cuttings in each egg hole, drip a little water on the plate each day for a week or so and you should see the roots within a week or two.
Sometimes used rooting powder, sometimes didn't never had much issue either way.
I'm in South East Qld so weather was good for it all year around, but would estimate I had 85%+ success rate. Once they had grown some basic roots I would move them to either new pots or I would clean and place in hydro setup or whatever I was using at the time.

 

[Mellow oldfark]

So superthrive contains naphthyl acetic acid which are rooting hormones.

 

[Gazza]

Clone x is good an old bloke I use to know use to use honey.