04/06/25:
Twelve days after placing cuttings into the Clone King, all clones have successfully developed roots. Early signs of rooting appeared on day 6 for a few of them, and by day 10, every cutting had begun pushing out roots. While root vigor varied across the group, the consistency of success at this stage is encouraging and speaks to the reliability of CloneX and the aeroponic method when paired with clean RO water.
I selected five of the healthiest clones to move forward, potting them into 1-gallon containers. Three of those came from PL4 and two from PL1. One plant from each genotype will be kept as a new mother plant to preserve the genetic lines for future projects. The remaining three—one PL1 and two PL4s—will continue on as part of this grow journal through flower. One of the PL4s is being designated for chemical reversal. The goal is to induce hermaphroditism in that plant and produce feminized pollen, which will then be used to pollinate both the PL1 and the second PL4. This will allow me to create both outcrossed and selfed feminized seeds, as well as collect and store the resulting pollen for future use.
Four of the selected clones were transplanted into 1-gallon AirPots, with the fifth placed in a fabric pot since I’ve temporarily run out of available AirPots. All were planted in Roots Organics Original soil, which I pre-moistened before transplanting. Introducing rooted clones into dry soil can create unnecessary transplant shock—roots prefer contact with a moist medium from the start to ease the transition and promote uptake.
Now that they’re in soil, the focus will be on recovery. Moving from an aeroponic environment into a dense medium is a stressful shift for the plants, and while some temporary drooping or slowed growth is expected, I’m looking forward to seeing how quickly they bounce back and resume vigorous vegetative growth.