The Rooting Environment — Coco vs. Rockwool
Why rootless cuttings die from too much light, and the exact dome RH, air temp, PPFD, plug EC/pH, hormone, and rooting timeline that get you ≥80% success.
9 min read
A cutting is a plant with no way to drink
The single most important thing to understand about cloning: a fresh cutting has no roots, so it cannot replace the water it loses through its leaves. Every setpoint in the rooting environment exists to solve that one problem — keep transpiration low enough that the cutting survives on stored water until roots emerge, usually in ~5–14 days (roots appear from a small rockwool plug in ~5–10 days). Push any lever too hard and the cutting wilts and dies before it can root.
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