I was trying to find out how to keep clones for later use, and some people put them in the fridge, creating an stasis in the cuttings and they are viable for up to 2 months i read.
Good topic. I have a plant tissue culture set-up that I’m looking to do something similar with. That is, to slow the growth without killing the poor things while remaining under refrigerated conditions.
Listening intently to the experience and results of others…
Will be taking two cuttings from each plant, one for stasis conservation and the other one will be cloned immediately in the TurboKloner with a little Rhizotonic and tap water.
It will be fun to clone and try to do the stasis for a while and all, but the sad part is i am doing it because there is no way i can finish the plants. I am leaving for the city next month and have to wrap it up.
Will be cloning and doing the mushroom thing for now…
Remember to ph correct the solution @MadScientist as rhizotonic and tap water on their own will give you a ph in the region of PH9 to PH10 with out any of that brands veg food in, as that contains things to balance the PH along the lines of humic and fulvic acids.
I have been working on this for several months now, with these results:
First White Widow seeds grown on 2017-11-14. First three (3) cuttings were taken on 2017-12-23. Then dipped into small amount of rooting hormone and put into jiffy pellets under humidity dome until rooted. Then transplanted as needed. All three (3) cuttings made it believe it or not.
Next: 2018-01-14 took cuttings from these three plants before putting into flower about 1/2 or Eight (8) were made into clones and the rest were put into a zip-lock bag misted with tap water sealed with two breaths my exghusted breaths of air and placed into the door of my refrigerator. I checked on them every few days at first and they looked fine for over a month. Around 2018-03-01 I took the cuttings from the refrigerator, cut the ends about 3/4" from the end dipped them into hormone powder and planted them into jiffy pellets inside yogurt cups (it takes about 3 jiffy pellets for each yogurt cup, just for your information). I no longer do it this way, I just put the cuttings straight into the jiffy pellet, keep moist and in at least 18 hours of light for about 4-6 days then transplant straight into solo type cups to get size for several weeks or until I need to take more cuttings, etc…
Had to make an edit, out of the Six (6) clones I attempted to make, Five (5) made it. One was an experiment to see how much off a stem is need to root and get a plant growing.
This addition is being made over a week after many, many, well you get the idea! I did not realize that I did not list the final length of time I (we) were able to keep the clones alive in the refrigerator door. Total time was 2 months 3 weeks.
That is exactly how i read it on the web somewhere, and i love you getting 80% rooting after the exercise.
That is how i am gonna do it, while the new seedlings take off, i will have the clones of the current genetics in hand to try and make them grow the most uniformly possible, gonna be doing Cinderella 99 by @Baudelaire and also Hiro by @Swampthing as soon as i move.
I might need two 4x4s, to have all the genetics running in veg, after that i am gonna choose the best three females of each and take them to harvest. 12 plants exactly like last time, but the topping will be done twice instead of once this time around.
Actually the cutting needs very little water like a mist or two of the bottle, for what i read. I am doing this for the first time, we’ll see how they do.
EDIT
I read that you open the ziplock, baggie or tupperware once or twice a week so they get some fresh air, and then back in the fridge. If done correctly, i read that cuttings last up to two months, i remember a very nice member we had @GrowerGoneWild recommended doing it for not more than two weeks, so there are several schools of tought about the matter. I even read that after being in stasis, cuttings will root a lot faster too, in like 3 days instead of 10. Dunno.
I used to do this a lot. Cuttings in a freezer bag with a paper towel for 6+ weeks placed in the crisper drawer. You should check them every week or so to make sure none are sitting in moisture rotting and to exchange air.
I found it most useful when keeping cuts of unsexed seedlings so you can flower the plants they are from without having to root males. It is also useful if you are flipping a plant you don’t have a mother of, don’t have room for cuttings immediately, or want to slow the clones down for timing reasons.