what is the best way to clone my plant ?

I'm new to cloning myself, but get a 75% survival rate which I suppose is good for a newb. Here's what I do.

1. Select a branch that has lots of carbohydrates, if it's stiff / difficult to bend, with large fan leaves, probably a good sign. If it's an old branch with lots of wood, results will vary, they take longer to deprogram the cells so they can be reprogrammed as root cells, meaning they take longer to root. If the parent plant is lowish in nitrogen the clone will root faster, so don't fertilize for a week or so.

2. Choose branches with at least 4 nodes above the last viable budding point, you need two nodes below ground and two nodes above ground. Surprisingly bigger isn't better, bigger cuttings lose water too fast and might not survive. Water stress is the big killer of clones, if they stay hydrated in appearance, if they're using up all their energy to stay that way then they will delay putting out roots, if ever.

4. Cut the branch mid-way between nodes. Trim off the fan leaves / side-branches from the two bottom nodes. Place the cut end under water and cut it again with a very sharp knife at a 45-degree angle (under water to avoid getting a lethal air bubble in the stem). Then slit the stem lengthwise for about 2cm (so it can absorb water more easily and to expose more cells for rooting). Finally scrape the surface layer from the stem for about the bottom 2cm (to expose even more cells), being careful not to go too far, scrape lightly, just take the surface off, the living tissue underneath is where the roots grow from.

5. Poke a hole in the rooting medium (I use ordinary potting soil), stick the clone in the hole, pack the medium around the stem with your fingers. Water generously. I don't use a rooting dip or anything like that, they seem to know what to do, and I'm cheap.

6. Place under CFLs or at the perimeter of a garden's HID, 0.75 to 1 metres away from a 400W MH seems about right for me. Water as you would a normal plant, don't let it get soggy, the new root cells need oxygen to grow.

7. Either roots will be poking out of the bottom of the rooting medium by the end of two weeks, or the plant will have wilted and died. A good sign that root growth is happening is that the leaves & terminal bud start growing again. As I root in small pots with potting soil, I let them grow two more weeks in the small pots so that there's enough of a root ball to keep it from falling apart when I transplant it.

ok, I don't need rooting dip good to know because I don't seem to be able to get it where i live.

If you want to experiment and know where there's a willow tree, you can try watering them with willow water.

To make willow water, cut off this year's thin branches, strip off all the leaves, cut the branches into 1cm pieces, put them in bucket or something, fill with water, just enough to cover the branches. Let sit for a few days, then it's ready to use.

Never used it myself, just thought I'd pass it along.

if i can find one i may try that for one of the clones

This clone was made exactly as I described. I started it a month ago so I could determine the sex of its parent, it has revealed itself to be male so I don't need it anymore. So, let's dissect!

Here he is, standing proud. He was half as high when I started him.



Removed from his little pot, you can see a sturdy root ball with healthy roots.



I've removed most of the roots and soil so you can see exactly how the roots sprout out of the stem. They've mostly come from the exposed edges of the stem or the places I scraped.



He's drying up now, soon to become brownies.

looks great I am a few months away from cloning yet but i will be sure to try your way

Evenly aerated DWC, 78-81 degree water, ph about 5.2, tds about 250-300ppm. I get damn near 100% every time.
Don't cut any leaves, don't scrape anything, and do NOT deprive the plants of nitrogen, or any other nutrients. Healthy plants make healthy clones.
If you're doing a perpetual harvest, don't take clones later than 1 weeek into flowering. You do not need to keep mother plants.

Fair enough. I lifted those techniques out of Jorge Cervantes' latest book, and had a 50% survival rate before doing so. Oh, and I don't let the plants yellow or anything, they still look healthy before cloning, I just encourage them to focus on carbohydrate production. Your setup looks great, but maybe too ambitious for the likes of me.


Interesting... I might try this on the perpetual harvest I'm setting up now, only instead of cloning plants in flower I'll clone the plant that's just leaving the vegetating chamber. I just don't like the thought of that flowering hormone getting turned on and off repeatedly.

Cheers!

when my plant gets big enough to clone I am going to try a few ways to see what is the best