rapid rooters

[c-ray]

http://www.genhydro.com/genhydro_US/rapidrooter2.html

what's the deal with these, first of all they are super expensive compared to the 5 cent jiffy cubes and pieces of rockwool, they say they have some sort of probiotic bacteria I am curious what kind as I would rather throw a dash of em and myco into my cloning water..also from the pictures I have seen the clones are looking like they are putting out water roots, the roots look like sunflower sprouts, meanwhile in the jiffies I am seeing nice fluffy roots

[nuggdigger]

i luv them, and wish i could get more. They are expesive, but i have way better success then with jiffy. They are not as dense..and not as wet. Some brands claim there is no preconditoining needed at all..just remove rooters from the bag and clone into. There is always some mositure in the bag so im not suprised. To my knowledge Arista actually came up with them first and featured them at the hydro show. The next year there were other brands on the market:bang: To my knowledge they are made out of tree bark and and held together with latex glue. They are inoculated no doubt, but i think its much the same as mike, which is just as easy to put in the preconditioner.
Rooters, i :wub: them, i can't get them, and they arn't as cheap as good ole' jiffys.

peace:farm:

[The Cannarchist]

It's what the forestry industry uses for tree clones.If you do a search on google around that I'm sure you'll find some way cheaper than the hydro stores.Besides they must use millions in the tree planting biz.....

[c-ray]

ok so these things have been in existence since the early 80's
http://www.ihort.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=1

I read somewhere else that they might be using composted willow bark in the rapid rooters
I am not sure how organic the ones in the link are, sounds like some of these are using a resin to hold the bark together

[nuggdigger]

Hmm..i found an old article i got from wti that was the source of my info..not sure of the name of it..as its from the store a long time ago and the cover is ripped off..but it would be something like..more about the cage..lol.

Anyways here's the quote:

Medium and Cloning-FAQ
Questions
I'd like your input on what would be the best medium for cloning for the cage. I got my clones in 1" rockwool and then put them in net pots with a small layer of Hydrotron under and around the cube. I find in the first few days that some sites get wet and some are to dry. After they have been adjusted to their new home they seem fine, but I don't want to have to baby each one individually. I 'd like to start making my new clones right into net pots using a bubbler system so there is no need to transplant into a new medium. In one of your posts you referred to a medium you like the best. Could you please explain that?
Answer: The medium I like best is called biostarters. They are all the same just different names. Arista introduced them to the hydro market 3 yrs ago in a B.C. hydro show (note this is a very old article..lol) Shortly afterwords General Hydroponics brought out Rapid Rooters, and many other companies followed with similarly named products. They are all made from composted tree bark with a latex glue


peace:peace:

[nuggdigger]

So we know the ingredients...who wants to makem first and teach the rest of us to make ghetto rooters:pimp:

[smokinbasser]

For one thing the RRs have mycorrzia incorporated into the "puck" and that stimulates faster foot development. I use them specifically for cloning but others use them for seed germination as well. IMO using them to germinate seeds is a bit of a waste of resources. I am on my 3rd bag of RRs and the only close competition is the organo pucks from discount hydro but this is just from reading their descriptions for organo pellets. I only clone 5 or 6 at a time cause they will be joining the perpetual grow when the next harvest takes place.