Contributed by:
Syko2
Submitted: July 27th, 2004
Images archived 2004
How to root cuttings in 5 to 7 days with your
existing hydroponic equipment? - simply use your dwc or
swc systems for rooting - just raise the water in your
res to submerge the cutting stem.
A simple,
easy-to-use system with little maintenance. Requires no
misting, no domes, no rooting agents and no ph
adjusting.
Nutrients and conditions
Plain tap water with a starting ppm of 50 (@.5)
up to 200 (@.5) and a PH of 7.0 can be used. Lowering
the PH from my experience is pointless. The main thing
to remember is to keep everything clean and max your DO
levels (Dissolved Oxygen) by keeping nutrient temps
cool: 65 to 78 is ideal. Use an air pump 2 times the
size of the res (ie for a 10 gallon res use an air pump
good for 20 gallons).
System I
use a 10 gallon plastic tub w/ a 10 gallon Whisper air
pump and 2 1 inch air stones. Any size reservoir can be
used - it can even be clear.
Using 1 inch air
stones will greatly increase your amount of bubbles, but
almost any size air stones or bubble curtain can be
used.
Medium: none (suspended in air), grow
rocks, lava rocks and coco coir among others can be
used.
Setup & maintenance
After you take your cuttings, make sure the stem
is submerged at least 1 inch into the res water until
roots or root bumps can be seen. I have tried several
depths of stem submersion up to 4 inches and had no
problems rooting.
Keep the system clean by
dumping, washing and refilling it every 7 to 10 days.
Adding h202 @ 1 tsp to 1 tbsp a gallon (or 5 to 15 mls a
gallon) (H2O2 = Hydrogen Peroxide) every few days will
help keep the system clean, & will add oxygen to the
res. I don't add anything except plain fresh tap water.
No need to add any rooting hormones into the
system or to the cuttings stem however, water soluble
gels or solutions like Rootec or Olivia can be used (I
have noticed no difference in rooting times).
Clones will root within 5 to 7 days however,
some do take longer.
Once the cutting has rooted, you can place
the cutting into the medium of choice. I add them into
either a soiless mix or a hydroponic system.
If
the cutting is being tranplanted into soil or a soilless
medium, water heavily the 1st time, then allow the
medium to dry out completely before watering again so
the root mass will seek the soil.
When they are
placed into a hydroponic system, I add a week 200 ppms
(.5) of Bloom nutrient and Thrive Alive B-1 to the res.
Keeping the temps ideal is the key.
I keep the
roots submerged until they were 2 weeks old so there is
no chance of drying out. Once they are 2 weeks old, I
lower the res water only keeping the tips of the root
mass submerged - the rest get the aeroponic
effect.
