This question has up come so many times and i hold firm to my hypothesis, that no the Salvia D stem is too soft for the E-Z clone machine.
One summer I believed the drip system I had put in for my cuttings was adequate- a mister set on a machine (when the pad dries it sets off the system) and emitters that unbeknownst to me were 1 gallon per minute. What I got was a lot of moisture and rotted stems. The tops looked fine but they refused to root. They rooted only to 1/8 from the stem and the roots were clear, not white like they should be when they are able to retrieve nutrients for the cutting. So while the 'tops', the portions outside of the cutting box were surviving from the constant water, the pearlite and vermiculite were drenched thus also drenching the cut stem.
It might have worked but the local garden store had run out of small vermiculite and not thinking about the difference quarter size pellets would do I went ahead with the enormous bag. With the mister going off every 30 seconds at a gallon per minute and quarter size pellets that held the oncoming water. This amount of water was necessary at the time because the greenhouse can reach temps of 110-115 in the dead of summer. With proper fans and windows this can be solved as well and bring the temperature down to 87-90. This is one of the lowest temps you can get in July or August here in Nor Cal where there are no more temperate days- they blow from icy to hot, no spring or fall in this coming age. Thank you George Bush and Bill Clinton and the numerous other assholes profiting from Oil, you Saudis you. Anyhoo.
This catastrophe led us to look at other cloning methods and we had known the enormous success of the EZ Clone with Sativa strains. But they are hard wood stems.
The EZ- Clone works like this. A top is constructed of fifty holes. Ehm, styrofoam pads about 1/2 inch think which are to be placed in the holes with a slit for the clone- the pads are actually ingenious because they won't mold- the material is such that it is not porous. Underneath the 'top' with the holes is a bottom bucket that holds approximately 5-10 gallons of water. Raised a little bit is a square raised structure with numerous sprayers pointed at the numerous holes. When you turn the machine on 'thousands' of spray water hits the bottom of the cut clones. The machine works great- with cloning solution or not. And not only are the roots magnificent but healthy, long, and it took virtually almost no work for you. But with Sativa, its really hard to make cuttings (the key is distilled water). With Salvia d, it will root in a pearlite/vermiculite mix in two weeks with no problem.
The difference between a hardwood cutting and a soft wood cutting, wood not necessary in the latter, is that the hardwood can withstand shots of water at its bottom all day without cellular damage. Now, some cellular damage is necessary, the cutting of the plant to -'hardening' in the rooting process for roots to grow out of the stem. A soft wood cutting has the possibility of rotting with constant water sprayed at its frail end, the stem at its cutting point.
A hardwood cutting can last out of water approximately 20 minutes without serious damage, damage that we can see. Normally a cutting out of water and out of the cutting box has lower success rates than cuttings that make water and box quickly. A hardwood can be set out of water for 10-20 minutes, but Salvia D? would look like your sock in five minutes. I've seen newly transplanted Salvia D plants in the Shade of August wilt and look like they were on their way to the bucket when anything so much as a breeze swept by- and these had roots!
So while I know the EZ clone to work efficiently (each time the machine has to be cleaned thoroughly to be successful in cloning), I don't believe the Salvia D could or would like the effect of sprayers on its soft, green, body. Not to mention that the slip in the styrofoam insert is too small for a Salvia D stem.
A sativa cutting, which is why the EZ clone has gained such success, is successful with any hardcutting. It is genius. And the slit made in the insert is small, made for a small cutting. Salvia D has a notorious square stem. We all know that we can't pinch a stem if we want the cutting to root sucessfully. Another reason, although genius, is not made for Salvia D.
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