My homemade Bubble Cloner

[Xare]

My first attempt at cloning was not going so well. So I built this bubble cloner to try and save them.

I was using peat pucks and on the 5th day I stopped spraying them, but it got hot that day the clones wilted.

I put them in a cool shady area and misted them while I made up this bubble cloner.

This was created with stuff lying around the house.

It took me a few hours to do all the work and I put the clones in it then went to bed.

When I woke up they looked much better, only 2 looked a bit wilted but they were stronger. And when I checked again hours later none of them looked wilted at all.

This pic was taken when I saw the 2 kinda wilty ones.

Ive noticed that I do not need to spray when using the bubble cloner, the leafs seem to stay a bit damp. Iam not sure if the water is wicking up the outside of the stem but its keeping them nice and damp.


The foam inserts you see are from a Pool Raft. I took a 2 inch hole drill and made the 40 cutouts. Then I cut them down the middle so you can separate them and put in a clone.

The holes in the lid are 1 and 3/4 inches. That way the foam inserts fit in nice and snug.

As you see I also cut the lid and placed it down in the rubbermaid. This is to avoid any leaks from the lid. It has holes in the handles, i filled them with a hot glue gun. The lid is resting on these handles on the inside of the rubbermaid.

The Aquarium heater / thermostat is working great so far, ive got the temps @ 75 degree's

I added a bit of rooting hormone and H2O2 to the water.


The rubbermaid I used is kinda big but its what I had, and this 40 spot cloner will be great for my needs. Because it takes so much water, I added some things in the bottom to take up water volume. 2 liters with water and rocks as ballast to keep them sunk.

I did this so the volume of the water is less and the bubblers have to oxygenate less water. I also have my bubblers resting on these.

Still the water is making the sides flex out a bit. Ive covered it with plastic wrap for now.

Ive ordered a stronger air pump and larger airstones, right now iam using a 4 inch stone and a 3 inch disk with two old aquarium pumps. The new pump iam getting is a 75 GPH dual pump to run two 12 inch airstones.

I sure hope this thing works for me. If they do root iam gonna transplant them into a Hempy SOG grow.

 

[LiEBE420]

very cool! i like it

 

[HERBAL ADDICT]

wots that that the clones are in? the blue stuff?

 

[Xare]

I used a drill to make the foam inserts out of this Pool Raft.

Then I cut them down the side about halfway through for a "Pacman" effect.

 

[tilemaster]

hey i really like ur bubble cloner.. infact the pool floaty or wutev..im gonna go get 1 cause ive got a dyi bubble cloner w/ net pots..and im sick of the net pots..ne ways wuz just spittn my 2 cents..but i get roots w/o ph'd adjusted water...no heater..and no nutes..other than the orginal cloning gel i use wen im droppn them in2 bubbler...just so u know bubble cloner produces roots quickly w/o those certain factors..Peace

 

[Xare]

My first root !

8 days from cutting, 5 days in peat pucks and nearly 3 days in the bubble cloner

The camera does not like to focus on something so tiny. Maybe we will have better root pics in a couple days hehe.

 

[Dr. Greenhorn]

much props on using whats on hand....cool idea with the pool floatie thingie, I am inspired to make a clone box also after viewing a few DIYers show thier talents!! hard to get net pots over here other than ordering them online.....thanks for ideas that are running through my brain right now....+ rep bro

 

[paintsprayer71]

yo man great idea with the pool raft, pretty cheap! im using neoprene but that stuff from the hyro store is spendy, i like the idea of making your own! nice to see the fishtank heater im using subermersable one, with 4 12" airstones my clones are very happy babies!!

 

[Xare]

Ya when I saw that Raft in the garage I knew I could make it work. What I did was spin up the drill and slowly lower it into the foam. If I tried to do it fast it would catch and spin out of control.

I used a Hole saw bit with the drill bit in the center removed.

I didnt want the drill hole in the foam. Maybe if I was taking larger cuttings but the stems on mine are small.


For the first few days when I was using the peat pucks, I had to mist about every 2 hours or they would look wilty. With all the spraying the peat pucks were very water logged. I had a humidity dome but it had cut outs for ventilation and i think the clones were still getting too dry.

But now in the bubble cloner they are looking very perky. About half of the leafs have a slightly wet look. So I have not needed to spray at all.

 

[HNIC09]

hell yea thats a good idea ima have to use that raft idea. the only thing is, i would try to fill in the gaps asap with something because if the light shines through to the stem and roots it will creater algae on them. but that is one hella idea.very nice

 

[Xare]

hell yea thats a good idea ima have to use that raft idea. the only thing is, i would try to fill in the gaps asap with something because if the light shines through to the stem and roots it will creater algae on them. but that is one hella idea.very nice

Ya the gaps were bugging me.

So I rigged up a wire support to go over the middle and hold the sides in. This counters the push of the water on the sides of the rubbermaid.

No leaks from the handle area

 

[Xare]

Update:

Ive been pulling the rooted clones as they are ready and transplanting them into my Hempy Buckets.


Here is what the roots are looking like now.

About 8 of my first cutting have no roots yet... so a few days ago I added 10 more fresh cuttings from my mothers.

 

[stoner93]

quick question.... im new to cuttings and stuff like the cloner and i am interested.... when i take the cutting and put it in the foam do i stick the cutting into the water....

thanks

 

[Xare]

Yea I kept about 1 or 2 inches of the stem under the water level.

Some people say you have to keep the stem out of the water and allow the bubbles to break and mist the clones stem. I found that to be untrue.

I had a very high success rate by leaving the stem directly in the water.


95 % +

I did have one clone die on me, and it was because the stem was out of the water. The zone between the top of the water and the lid did not have enough humidity to keep that clone alive.

 

[stoner93]

kool thanks dude i appreciate it.... ive got a plant that im growing outside that come from some great shit and i was thinking about cloning it and putting the clones in the bubble cloner.... can i grow the clones year round in the bubble cloner or do i have to transplant later.... any advice will help me out

 

[Xare]

In a couple days iam going to be taking another batch of clones.

The mother plants I took the clones from originally are now outside for my Guerrilla grow.

And the first batch of clones that I rooted are now flowering under my 400 Watt HPS. Flower day 25.


I plan on leaving the cuttings in the cloner for about 3 weeks at most. After 2 weeks or so the cuttings will all be rooting and the extra week will allow the clones to grow a strong root system for transplant.

Right now iam using Hempy Buckets /w 25 % Verm / 75 % Perlite. I transplant into these and give the clones about 6 hours of dark just after the transplant to help prevent shock.


I would not suggest growing the clones "year round" in the cloner. Bigger plants would not have the support they need with just a foam insert holding them in place.

Some people do use bubblers to veg and flower, but they use net pots for plant stability.

 

[stoner93]

so basicly what you are sayin is that i should leave the clones in the cloner untill they have good roots then transplant into a good soil? Would you prefer to grow inside or outside, if inside how many lights should i have? And if you dont mind me asking where do you get your clones from....

 

[Xare]

My clones were taken as cuttings from mother plants that I grew inside.

In January I started 40 seedlings under my 400 watt HPS, two months later I sexed them and killed the males.

These confirmed female plants were used to make clones then I put them outside for my Guerrilla grow.

I also have a Veg room where I can keep mothers and run my bubble cloner. In this room I have fluorescent light.


Growing outside is nice because you can get some really big plants under the full sun. But its has its risks. This year my plants were almost totally ruined by Deer.

So, inside and outside have their ups and downs.

 

[stoner93]

yeah i hear you there... this is my first year actually growing it... i tried it once before inside but no luck. and got too late to grow outside so i tried this year outside and so far im succesful if i can jus keep it alive... i jus hope i can get her big enough to get some clones... im trying to learn all i can while im young that way i can get better as i get older... what exactly is a guerrilla grow if you dont mind me asking? and since you seem to know all there is to know, is there anyway of gettin my plant to show either male or female now.... its about 5 to 6" tall but is bushy as hell any advise?

 

[stoner93]

i jus uploaded some pics if you wanna see it