Not many people actually know how to properly use Jiffys and Rockwool trays, because due to the way they look people tend to think there’s a specific way to use them. If you’re planting thousands or seeds or rooting thousands of clones that’s one thing, but when you’re rooting a series of 10-150 clones in a big propagator then you’re going to want to read this article.
Jiffy or Rockwool trays are used to keep your clones upright when they’re rooting – they contain one Jiffy or Rockwool cube per hole. When rooting an enormous number of clones you can simply place the entire tray in a room with a humidifier so that you don’t need to spray the clones every day. This can cause some issues when rooting clones on a small scale in a propagator.
When in a propagator, clones need to be sprayed to keep up the humidity – if you accidentally spray the medium they’re in (rockwool or jiffy) then they’ll take much longer to root. When you spray the actual leaves, they water tends to run and drip down onto the substrate, which can cause water to build up and the bottom and rot the roots, which means that your clones will most likely die.
To avoid this, you can take them out of the propagator in groups of 8 to 10 and spray them. To do this you’ll need to cut your jiffy or rockwool tray up into groups of 8 or 10 so that you can safely remove them from the propagator without dropping them all over the place. You can easily hold a slab of 10 cubes in your hand upside down and spray your clones at the same time.
This will allow you to get them just the right amount of wet and then shake them to get any excess drips and drops off of the clones, and then place them back in the propagator. Grab another ten and repeat the process until you’re finished what you’re doing. All of this will cause your clones to go in search of more water, rooting much more in a short amount of time.
You can use this same system with any other kind of growing tray – in ones with 77 holes or ones with much bigger blocks like jiffys. All you need to do is follow the steps in this article on how to clone in rockwool or jiffys. If you have any questions or suggestion don’t hesitate to leave a comment and our team of experts will get back to you as soon as possible.
Author: Javier Chinesta
Translation: Ciara Murphy
