Better Buds with Mr. Bill: Cuttings

Mr. Bill, our plant fix-it guy, invites you to ask him questions so that you can achieve better yields.

Mr. Bill is ready to assist you by drawing upon over twenty-eight years of active grow shop experience - including answering growers' questions about the hydroponic industry. Before Bill opened his first store he worked in the agricultural industry for five years, growing tobacco.

Mr. Bill,

Do you have any tips for making cuttings?

Dave

Hi Dave,

It is not uncommon to have problems with your cuttings. Are your clones developing an air embolism within the stem and falling over, or turning to mush at the surface of your growing medium? This can be caused by taking cuttings from a weak, too-small or otherwise insufficient mother plant.

If you are trying to grow a perfect mother plant that will, hopefully, supply many cuttings, then try this: after every twelve inches of growth, pinch out the center of the growing tip. When done properly, the unformed leaves will grow and spread out flat, without actually slowing down the growing tip. The site of the pinched-off part of the plant will heal itself, while filling out the two or three sets of leaves that were yet to be truly formed.

Once they have filled out, the growing tips below the pinched-off area will receive the energy that would have gone to the areas that you removed, thereby speeding up their growth. That part of the plant will

now have two growth tips, instead of three. Repeat the pinching on all growing tips when they have twelve inches of new growth.

Important Note: When any growth tip is removed, the energy that was being delivered to that particular part of the plant will be diverted to the immediate leaves or growing tips right behind the pinched-off area. This encourages the two branches below the pinched-off spot to speed up their growth.

When you know you have a heavy cutting day approaching, you can pinch the growing tip, forcing that energy to go to the branches below, creating plenty of 2.5- to 3.5-inch cuttings. With a bit of

practice, you will eventually end up with more clones using this approach than through most other methods.

The actual spot from which you take your cutting also factors into your eventual success or failure. Most people will advise you to take the cutting from below a branch; this method presents an eighty- to ninety-percent success rate. Taking cuttings from just below a node may allow an air embolism to find its way up the stalk, resulting in your clone falling over at the surface of the growth medium. (Any weakness in the stalk leads to a spectrum of potentially fatal conditions, known as 'damping off'; this is caused by a variety of

fungal invasions, including Pythium, Fusarium and Botrytis.)

How to Make Cuttings Using the Twelve-Inch Pinching Method:

[Fig. 1] When the branch or cutting that you want is within the desired 2.5- to 3.5-inch size, make this your clone. Cloning plant shoots that are any longer than this means that you will need more mother plants from which to take taller cuttings.

[Fig. 2] You may remove any branches that would be placed underneath the top level of growth medium. At

this time, do any other prep work that needs to be done, leaving time for more important tasks at a later date.

[Fig. 3] Cut the clone directly at the branch from which it grows. As you take the cuttings, place them into a glass of pH'd water; once all your clones are cut, you can then plant them all into the desired rooting substrate.

[Fig. 4] This photo shows how closely we cut near the branch that produces the clone. Here, you can see both the cutting and the leaf stem.

[Fig. 5, 5A] Carefully slice the clone from the plant,

leaving no way for air to travel up the stem and create an embolism; as mentioned above, this will otherwise cause your cutting to become mush at the growth medium surface.

[Fig. 6] Using a clean rod that is the same size as each clone stem that will be inserted into your cloning medium, create a hole in which to plant each cutting. If the hole is too large for the cutting and the cutting does not seat itself properly (e.g., no contact with the sides), then it will not have a chance to draw in moisture from the growing medium. It is best to re-poke a new hole and draw tight the surrounding growing medium in order to make contact with the

cutting. Some types of growth media, such as soil, will close more efficiently around the cutting than others; this is because certain particles seat quite well to the stem of cutting.

[Fig. 7] When dipping clone stems into rooting hormones, you do not need to dip all the way up to where the surface of the growth medium would be. If a clone is dipped until about half-way up its stalk, the rooting hormone will be pushed up the stem as the clone is inserted into the rockwool cube, cocos pellet, soil, etc.

In addition - and as tempting as it may be - do not squeeze more rooting hormones into the holes where

you will be inserting each cutting. With certain brands of rooting hormones, once the clone is dipped and removed (even if you were to walk to a sink and rinse off the cutting), the hormones will immediately be active within the plant. Thus, adding extra rooting hormones can actually overdose the cutting.

[Fig. 8] Place each cutting into a prepared hole. As long as a few shorn nodes lie below the surface of the growth medium, and a few branches - or just the growing tips - appear above the medium, you should achieve successfully-rooted cuttings anywhere from five to sixteen days later, depending upon the strain. Make sure to remove all growth tips below the surface

of your medium, as this can cause the plant to receive mixed signals - am I growing or am I rooting? This plant confusion can greatly reduce your success, and is also the reason why gardeners trim off half of each large leaf blade on cuttings - this limits the plant energy put towards growth, so it can focus upon rooting.

[Fig. 9] You do not necessarily need to use all the cloning cubes per sheet; break off only what you need and store the rest in a dry, dust-free area. The indentations in the center of the cubes are for seeds - do not use this spot for cuttings, as less growth medium will surround the stem, reducing root

development.

Place fluorescent lights as close as possible to the cloning dome (or propagation box/tray) lid, removing the dome at least three times per day to control humidity levels inside. If you want to make the cuttings work harder for their moisture, take a clean cloth and remove any condensation from inside of the dome. Keep your growth medium moist, even leaving a quarter-inch of mild nutrient solution in the bottom of the tray. This low level of mild nutrient solution can evaporate away, so make sure that the cubes always have access to moisture - starting from the very moment that you place your cuttings into the tray.

Tips and Tricks to Help Your Cuttings Root Faster:

• Take cuttings from vibrant, healthy, growing plants. Unhealthy, weak, diseased or infested plants will contaminate other grow spaces and produce bad results.
• I have not experienced a problem in using either older, woody stems or new, actively-growing shoots - with strong genetics, they both work extremely well.
• Do not use scissors to cut your clones, as they can crush delicate stems.
• The use of bottom heat works well; however, watch the temperature, as some surfaces can cause more than the five- to seven-degree heat buildup from room temperature.
• Your cutting blade needs to be clean and free of oils; scalpels, razor blades, 'X-acto' knives, etc. make great cutting tools.
• Slice - do not force - the knife through the branch.
• Maintain eighty- to ninety-percent humidity and temperatures between seventy-two and eighty-four degrees Fahrenheit.
• Do not dip cuttings directly into the hormone container unless you are going to use up the entire container at that time. Pour out only what you need and reseal the container as soon as you have measured out enough solution.
• Keep fluorescent tubes as close as possible to your cuttings. Normally, 400-watt metal halides work great - just make sure that they are kept at least three to four feet away from the tiny plants, and 1000-watt lamps should be kept about four-and-a-half feet to six feet away.
• Check often to make sure your incubator is not getting too hot.
• Once the cuttings have roots, remove the dome for longer periods of time each day, making sure that the cuttings do not become too dehydrated.
• Make sure you do not feed mother plants too much nitrogen, as this can slow down the rooting process.

Good luck!

Bill