Cloning Problems
by Ash
(VIC, Australia)
After planting at 2 weeks with roots, the leaf stems turned purple. Are they still alright as far as cuttings are concerned? And what's the problem causing it to happen? And how can I prevent it happening?
Answer: Ash- purple stems are usually caused by one of two things...sometimes it is simply in the genetics of the plants you are growing; other times it can be the result of a nutrient deficiency. After taking clones, it is usually the practice to give them plain water (or water plus B1, but not any nutrients). The reason: the presence of nutrients tends to inhibit the growth of roots in new cutting.
You indicated that the clones were already two weeks in when you transplanted them. This would be long enough to cause purpling if they were not given nutrients during this time. It is very possible the coloring is normal and harmless and simply due to a lack of some nutrient. If this sounds like your situation, your clones are probably just fine. Once they have been given some nutrients they may "recover", but I would not be too worried if they do not. As I mentioned before, some plants are simply genetically disposed to purple coloring....especially in the tiny stems going out to the leaves (I have had this same condition myself in many plants over the years).
I'm not sure that there is anything you can do to prevent the condition....clones tend to root much better when nutrients are withheld. Just make sure they get a dose of fertilizer once transplanted and give them a little time and they should be just fine. If you are still concerned, I suggest looking up a complete list of primary, secondary, and micro-nutrients and comparing it to the nutrients you are using. I have a partial list on this page, but most of the 42 micro-nutrients are not listed there at this time.
If the condition is nutrient related, the biggest suspect would be one of the micro-nutrients. The simple fact that your clones survived at all is a good indication that you are doing something right, not necessarily anything wrong. My advice is to not worry about it. If your leaves develop discolored spots or dead spots, than that would be a different story. I sure hope this helps you out Ash, and Happy Growing!
AffordableGarden Design&Setup
Hi everyone, Jason from Jason's Indoor Guide here. When I got started with hydroponic gardening more than 24 years ago, my first garden used rockwool cubes and B.C. Nutrients....and I remember thinking to myself yeah, sure, there may be a lot of advantages to gardening with hydroponics, for example there are very few pest problems, therefore very little pest control, no weeding, no plowing or tilling the soil, no soil testing or having to add things into the garden soil, no watering the garden....but for someone who just wants to grow their own vegetables and have more control over their food supply and the quality of the food that they eat, the cost of constantly having to buy grow media and hydroponic nutrients makes this an expensive hobby for most people...
Epic Nutrient Change
I suppose when you take into consideration how much money you save NOT
having to buy food at the grocery store, it is surely cheaper to grow
your own food hydroponically even with the cost of high quality
nutrients. Nevertheless, I didn't have a whole lot of money to work with
and I needed to make my efforts as affordable and effective as
possible....and in the last 24 years I HAVE learned a thing or two!
As you browse through Jason's Indoor Guide, you will notice all of the
systems that I use personally are homemade systems. As I got 3 or 4
years of experience under my belt, I quickly adopted a preference to
standing water systems and systems that use expanded clay pellets or
lava rock, because the media is re-usable and it eliminates a huge
operating expense. So once a hydroponic system is built, garden
maintenance is minimal- check and adjust the nutrient solution daily,
and to change it completely every 2 weeks....and the biggest operating
cost is the hydroponic nutrients. (and the electric bill, lol)...
Homemade Cloner
And, regarding the cost of the nutrients....I experimented for about 3 years with making different compost teas and nutrient teas, but there is still a lot of expense $$$ associated with making high quality nutrient teas....like kelp meal, liquid seaweed, rock dust, bat guano, un-Sulfured molasses, worm castings. You can eliminate a lot of this expense by becoming an expert at making high-quality colloidal humus compost, and use your properly made compost as the basis of your hydroponic nutrient solution.
Unfortunately, I have been gardening for over 24 years and I have only
just recently mastered this difficult skill....and even then, only
because I happened to find a very easy to follow, high quality technique
and decided to follow the instructions to the letter. I produced more
high quality compost in just one week than I was able to use in a whole
year! If you can master the technique, I highly recommend it. It is one of the top 3 things you can do to
increase the productivity of your food production efforts, while at the
same time decreasing the amount of effort required to grow all of your
own food, and decreasing the total cost of operating your food
production system.
And when I say decrease operating costs, I mean decrease them to almost
ZERO, especially if you are producing your own nutrients...
High Efficiency
Hydroponics
The ultimate solution to eliminate the cost of your hydroponic nutrients: Imagine a hydroponic system that does not require you to buy any nutrients, does not require you to make your own compost, and does not require you to brew your own nutrient tea. Seriously! No cost and no effort as far as providing nutrients to your plants! Plus, at the end of the gardening cycle you harvest all of your garden vegetables, PLUS YOU HARVEST FISH from the system--->
Aquaponics
This solution is aquaponics. If you are serious about producing all of your own food and being self-sufficient, this is the ultimate solution for reducing expenses (as much as possible), reducing the total amount of work required, and maximizing the productivity of your gardening efforts. I have been gardening for over 24 years, and it is the perfect food production solution in my opinion.
Besides mastering how to make high quality compost, learning aquaponics is one of the top 3 things you can do to increase your garden productivity, reduce your total costs, and reduce your total work. The product that I learned from is called Aquaponics4you. With all of my hydroponic gardening experience, the first time I came across the Aquaponics4you product I knew immediately that it was something very special! Place an aquaponics system outdoors and use the sun instead of grow lights, and you have reduced every garden expense to nearly ZERO!
The Same System/ 10 Weeks Later!
