By Steven Voser Reviewed by: Mr José


Cloning is consistently inconsistent for all kinds of growers, from novices to cultivators with decades of grow room experience. Taking cuttings is hit-or-miss for a variety of reasons. Although, to be clear from the outset, the number one cause of death for cannabis clones is the cannabis cultivator. Grower error is responsible for most clone casualties.

To successfully root cannabis cuttings, the grower must be willing to experiment in order to discover the custom formula that works for them. Expect to take losses and stack up a cutting kill count before you figure it out. There is no one way to take cuttings and root them. But no matter which method you use, the biological fuel for root development are rooting hormones.

Sure, you can cut stems at a 45 degree angle with scissors, or cut finely with a razor blade, or cut precisely with a scalpel. But without a dose of rooting hormone and a new home inside a propagator, odds are, plenty of your clones are already done for.

Cloning Cannabis Cutting

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO ROOT CLONES?

Ok, so you’ve decided on a clean cutting tool, invested in a propagator, and perhaps you have some cutting practice, albeit with mixed results. You have three types of rooting product to choose from; rooting hormone is available in gel, liquid, and powder form. It’s best to stick with the cannabis-specific brands. Some square gardening products work and some don’t. Why take the risk?

Using homemade rooting products or those from the garden center is amateurish and not recommended. High-quality cannabis rooting hormones are inexpensive and will cost you less than €20. If you want a high rate of success and a process that you can repeat, you must match the right tools with the right techniques. And practice, practice, practice until you’ve got it down perfect. The best way to root clones is the way that works for you, again and again.

WHAT ARE ROOTING HORMONES?

Generally, there are five agreed plant hormones: auxins, abscisic acid, cytokinins, ethylene, and gibberellins. When it comes to rooting cannabis cuttings, it’s all about the auxins:cytokinins ratio. In ordinary decent stoner terms, auxins are root juice. The two most important natural auxins are, brace yourself for the science, indole-3-acetic acid or IAA, and IBA or indole-3-butyric acid.

HOW TO USE ROOTING HORMONE PRODUCTS

Typically, rooting hormone products are based on either IBA or a synthetic auxin like NAA (1-naphthaleneacetic acid). There are lots of really effective cannabis rooting products available, both from the grow store and online. Let’s discuss the three most commonly-used forms of rooting hormone by home growers.

CLONING POWDER

Cloning powder is favored among commercial growers and those planning on large crops. As a powder, it has by far the longest shelf-life of any rooting product; plus, you can root a lot of clones using little powder. After you make your cut, you need to cover the tip in powder. Most growers fill a bottle cap or small cup and tap off the excess. Then, place your cutting in your medium of choice.

CLONING LIQUID

Cloning liquid is pretty versatile. Some growers like to dilute a few ml in 6.0pH water and immerse rooting mediums like coco coir, Jiffy pellets, or rockwool cubes in the solution to promote root zone development. More common is for growers to dunk a fresh cutting in a lid full of cloning liquid for 5 seconds, and then insert in the rooting medium.

CLONING GEL

Cloning gel is probably the most popular form of rooting hormone used by home growers these days. Again, to use gel, it’s more or less the same as the other two methods. You dunk your cutting into a small cup full of gel, only the gel is a gooey consistency and covers more of the cutting base and lower stem. Gel is easy to use and very effective. Dunk and pop your clone in a rooting cube.

Cloning Gel Cannabis

HOW TO PROMOTE SEEDLING ROOT DEVELOPMENT

Some home growers will mix cloning powder with seedling potting mix to make it more auxin-rich. This is most effective with seedlings in small pots or containers. As the plants transition to vegetative growth proper, you need to transplant to a medium with fewer auxins or stem development will be stunted.

Other growers will use a light solution to assist rooting by adding a few ml of cloning liquid with watering, directly after transplant. This is in order to promote root development without building up too many auxins in the medium that will inhibit stem growth later.

Nevertheless, it´s always better to follow the steps suggested by the manufacturer of agents you use for cloning. If you want to experiment and use agents differently than suggested, it's better to only do it on a few plants and see if it makes sense and does not do more harm than good. 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The ideal habitat for cannabis clones is a propagator under an 18-6 light schedule. CFL or LED are the best solutions for cloning. You mainly need a blue light spectrum, but a decent portion of the red spectrum helps too. A PPFD light intensity of 60–250μmol/m²/s is optimal to reach. Don’t be tempted to run lights 24 hours straight to speed things up. Clones do most of their actual rooting during the dark cycle. So stick with a conventional 18/6 cycle. It is also possible to place the propagator in the same room as your mother plants and use light from the main light fixtures. However, this is an emergency solution as the temperature here is usually higher than you need for fast rooting.

Maintaining optimal environmental conditions during propagation is critical to clone survival. Try to keep humidity at 70–90% and the temperature up to 24°C. However, the temperature of the growing medium should not exceed 22 °C. You can occasionally mist plants with pure water if the RH gets a bit too low. Successfully rooting clones can become routine if you can control the climate and master your method.

NATURAL HOMEMADE ROOTING COMPOUNDS

There are a number of commercial rooting hormones available that promote the healthy striking of clones.

With the demand for high quality organic weed increasing all the time. It makes sense to begin the life of your plants with an organic homemade rooting compound. Here are 6 natural and homemade methods for helping cuttings develop their first shoots.

1. CINNAMON

Yes, cinnamon. Cinnamon isn’t so much a rooting compound as a natural antifungal agent that prevents pathogens from harming developing roots.

In a well prepared quality medium, cuttings will eventually develop roots without the need for rooting compounds. It can take a little longer and cinnamon will protect the young plant while it strikes roots.

  1. Shake some cinnamon into a small container.
  2. Dip the cutting into the cinnamon.
  3. Plant as normal.

Cinnamon

2. HONEY

Honey is an old school way to aid with striking cuttings. It has a number of beneficial enzymes and vitamins and is a natural antibacterial and antifungal. As with cinnamon, honey might not be considered a rooting compound as much as a protectant for emerging roots. It goes without saying that natural honey needs to be used. Be careful, many of the shelf brands contain substantial amounts of sugar syrup. Be sure the honey is pure.

  1. Decant an amount of honey.
  2. Dip the clone in the honey and let any excess drip away.
  3. Plant as normal.

Honey

3. WILLOW WATER

Certainly the most traditional rooting compound, used by gardeners since time immemorial. Willow water has naturally occurring indolebutyric acid, which is a growth stimulant. This is why a willow branch laid on the ground will sprout roots and grow.

  1. First source some willow and cut a small bunch of young branches, enough to fill 2 cups. Don’t collect fallen branches as the important compound is gone. The size and thickness of a pencil is ideal. You can also use the bark of the willow tree itself, however you will need 3 cups as the indolebutyric acid is weaker in bark.
  2. Cut the branches or bark into small pieces and place in a container that can hold at least 5 litres of fluid.
  3. Using a large saucepan boil 3.7 litres of water.
  4. Pour the boiling water over the willow bits and leave to steep for at least 12hrs, preferably 24hrs.
  5. Your rooting hormone is now ready. Strain into clean glass bottles making sure no bits get into the mix. Tag and date bottles and store in the fridge. It will keep for up to 2 months.
  6. When ready to make clones, decant some of the tonic into a container large enough to hold your cuttings. Let them rest for a few hours while the indolebutyric acid works it rooting magic.
  7. Plant as normal.

Willow Water

4. ALOE VERA

Aloe Vera is a common succulent with many uses. A favorite for sunburns and getting rid of dark rings under the eyes. Aloe is also a handy natural rooting aid for clones, as it contains salicylic acid, which is a growth stimulant. Aloe can also be watered into mature plants to encourage healthy overall growth.

  1. Break off an Aloe frond and squeeze out the sticky juice into a clean container of pure water. Give it a stir until the goo is well dissolved. Container size depends on how many cuttings are being made.
  2. Make your cuttings and put them into the aloe and water mix. Leave them to soak for 24hrs. You will notice they increase their turgidity.
  3. 24hrs later break off another Aloe frond and push the cut stalk into the wound. Agitate it a bit to make sure the juice gets onto the stalk. Agitation has the added benefit of mildly scoring the outer cambium where root shoots will be encouraged to develop.
  4. Plant as normal.

Aloe Vera

5. APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Apple cider vinegar is a useful rooting tonic for clones. It must be diluted, otherwise it can be too acidic and harm the clones whilst dropping the medium pH.

  1. Dilute the apple cider vinegar with fresh. 1 teaspoon of ACV to 6 cups of water and stir well. Any stronger than this is too acidic.
  2. Dip the cutting in the diluted mix.
  3. Plant as normal.

Apple Cider Vinagre

6. ASPIRIN

Uncoated aspirin tablets can also be used to make a rooting agent. They contain salicylic acid, which is why aspirin in vase water helps cut flowers last longer. Follow the method for the willow tonic to make a rooting agent. Aspirin may not be totally organic, but is a cheap homemade solution to expensive rooting compounds.

  1. Purchase uncoated aspirin tablets. There’s no need for any additives that may harm young plants.
  2. Dissolve a tablet in a clean glass of water. Give it a quick stir to ensure there are no solids left over.
  3. Place the cuttings in the solution and leave to sit for a few hours.
  4. Plant as normal.

Aspirin

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: