Aerocloners WTF! 5th Try and I'm Still Failing. What's Wrong?

I've run 24/7 vs 1on4off vs 15on15off first hand and can confidently say that the 1 on 4 off
encouraged the fastest root growth, had 0 rot, and the stems themselves looked the healthiest.
All three methods will give you clones but at different rates and very different success ratios.

A few other things I've found to help is to mist the clones a few times a day to help keep them
from wilting. Also you can go to walmart and find either cake case tops or disposable BBQ tins
that have plastic tops and they make great cheap alternative to domes.

The last two tricks helped me get rid of most of my yellowing that happened during the cloning
process which in turn adds to the plants overall health and allowing them to begin vegging much
quick since they didn't spend too much time eating their leaves.

I use a bucket with straight tap water. 100% success rate. I bought a 1-7/8" hole saw to cut holes in the top, then I use 2" net pots (with the bottoms cut off) and the neoprene inserts. I followed rumpleforeskins set up from another website (he is also a member of riu. The guide I used was another forum though. If you want it search google for "Lets Build a Clone Machine *Step by Step*")

Also I cut my stems vertically twice to increase surface area. They end up looking much like this hot dog, but with 4 arms.

I use an ezcloner 120 site, and get 95% rate. I use clonex in the water as per directions, And cut my clones at 45 degree under the node & lighty scrape to expose cambium then dip in rooting compound (root tech /gel) I ph it down to 5.2 then as the machine runs (24/7) the ph goes up to about 5.8. I keeps my temps @ 74 degrees & they start rooting in 5 days & ready to transplant in approx. 13-14 days depending on the strains. So i won't put timer on it, 24/7 is good, And ph water down for sure, even when I was cloning in rockwell cubes same situation. Low ph when rooting. If your mister's are not hitting the bottoms of the stem's that will cause them not to root. Hope this was helpful, peace.

DIY 35 site cloner, Home Depot tote, 250 gph pump runs 24/7, 12 ez cloner sprayers, i get a 99% success rate no matter what strain in 10-12 days. add a small amount of whatever liquid rooter is cheapest, Ph water to 5.8 and

@303 you can't question everyone's reasons; just know that us here in The Mile High simply have it way better ~ Native Baby!

two things....

ditch the cloning powders/gels/nutes...straight water with good aeration
try a lot less light....you'd be surprised

oh....and ordinary kitchen sponges and scissors get me out of quite a few jams with clones/holes in containers

iPACKEDthisBOWL4TWO said:

You might wanna try a simple bubble cloner. I made one out of a Tupperware plastic shoe box thing from WalFart. Same concept as a dwc bucket but way smaller. It usually takes about 10 to 12 days to start shooting roots. My stems always turn a little brown but this never effected my clones. Now I only had enough space on the lid to drill six 2" holes. Buy some 2" net pots, cut off the bottom of the net pot, insert neoprene puck and bam! A perfect little cloner. The only thing I use besides Ph'd water is a rooting gel on the stem and I have had 100% success my friend. Just thought I would throw that out there for ya!

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well if ya want any pics of mine in action feel free to give me a shout n ill chuck up some pics for ya

try adding hygrozyme (enzyme that eats dead root and plant matter ie helps prevent rot) 10 ml per gallon, the other thing is superthrive 1 minum (drop) per gallon.

70 to 75 degrees f water temp
250 ppm (ro plus some nutes)
24/7 lights and pump
14 watt cfl at 8 inches
soak in rooting solution 1 minute
there should be a node exposed at the bottom of the cutting (trim all of the growth at the bottom node before soaking)
cuttings are placed in 2 inch neoprene pucks/plugs
396 gph pump
100% success

Moses.Lyons said:

DIY 35 site cloner, Home Depot tote, 250 gph pump runs 24/7, 12 ez cloner sprayers, i get a 99% success rate no matter what strain in 10-12 days. add a small amount of whatever liquid rooter is cheapest, Ph water to 5.8 and

@303 you can't question everyone's reasons; just know that us here in The Mile High simply have it way better ~ Native Baby!

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I just wanted to know if I was doing something wrong? I think if your having poor results, look into your mom, how healthy is she? I adore my mother with the utmost care. I use a mother specific nutrient program from ionic nutrients called mother a b. My clones shoot roots within 7 days with my diy aerocloner. I had a miserable grape ape mom a couple months ago she wouldn't give up a tray of clones to save my life so I really believe a lot of success ratios are dependent on the condition of the mother as well as genetics.

Fix the duct tape issue, use dim lighting, oxygenate the water, possibly wilt spray, and most importantly, beneficial microbes. Aquashield + ZHO powder is a cheap combo. This is a rather well known issue with these types of cloners. Stem rot comes from pathogens in the water and the bennies will keep them at bay. I recommended activating the microbes in a tea style brew before adding them to the cloner. Normal plants feed the microbes via the roots, which of course the cuttings do not have yet, so it's best to add already active microbes every few days. I caution against hygrozyme, it could just as easily make your problem 10x worse.

the hygrozyme is bad why? i use it and have no problems so far.maybe just lucky. or the superthrive could just offset it. either way lemme know. if its truly bad ill stop using it for the cloner.

I've tried every method out there, bought units and built many DIY types too.Through it all here's what I've found:

#1- HEALTHY MOM- feed well but not so much Nitrogen. N rich cuts want to grow, not root.....more cal and phos
#2- CONSISTANT TEMPS AND HUMIDITY- for water methods 62/64f h2o....75f air....60/80RH. Same for media based methods, only 72/75f for rootzone temp. When I used to do alot of trays with rockwool i could set 12 on an electric blanket(way cheaper then 12 mats and easy to reg temp!)
#3-SEMI-LOW LIGHT- too bright encourages growth instead of rooting
#4 FRESH AIR-slow moving at the right temp/humidity without AT ALL blowing directly on clones


There are many nuances to all the different methods,(cutting under water,scarification, verticle slits, gels,powders,liquids,dome, no domes, red light, blue light, rafts, wick trays, aero, fogger, coir cups, etc, etc.) but I've done them, and NOT done them, and still seem to have good success if the 4 factors I've listed above are present.
Heisenberg is right about beenies, here's not the place to get into it, but I stongly recommend learning as much as possible about organics and beneficials. "Teaming with microbes" is a great book to start with!!! look it up

Heres an 48 site old aero I built 2 years ago, one pump sprayed both tubs, the tubs were connected with a 3/4in pipe. Domes used only sometimes for easier temp comtrol depending on time of year. works well still...I cut the bottom of net pots off to make it easier to pull out clones. Works as good as the store bought I've got! Either one will make healthy cuts ready for soil in cups or straight into hydro! I dome the transplanted cups for 1 day. Good Luck!

thesmith said:

the hygrozyme is bad why? i use it and have no problems so far.maybe just lucky. or the superthrive could just offset it. either way lemme know. if its truly bad ill stop using it for the cloner.

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If it is working for you then go ahead and keep using it. Some systems are prone to a cyanobacteria misnamed brown slime algae. These are normally deep water systems and bubble style cloners. In a system prone to slime, enzyme products will feed it make it explode. If this hasn't already happened to you, then I would say you are not prone to brown slime, so keep using the hygrozyme if you like it.

Ultimately if you use beneficial microbes they will produce their own enzymes, which then makes the hygrozyme redundant and unnecessary.

I live in an area prone to slime and mold. I had no success with rockwool, rapid rooters, bubble cloners, ect. I then watched an old high times grow video where they simply place a cutting in a netcup filled with hydroton, and set the cup into a shallow container of bubbling water. Even though this method is similar to bubble cloners, it worked 100% for me when bubblers wouldn't. I use beneficial microbes in the water and change it every 48 hours. I spray the cuttings once with a microbe tea just after I cut them. Any root gel or powder rinses off pretty quickly, so I don't use anything but plain water. I get roots in 7-10 days.

My hypothesis is that my water is infected with brown slime. Bennies keep it away in my older plants. Roots give the bennies a home. In a bubble cloner, with just stems hanging in the water, the bennies have no home and can't do their job. With the alternate method of setting the entire netcup and hydroton in the water, the bennies have a home and thrive, which keeps the slime away long enough to produce roots. Once roots show, mycorrhizal fungi spores are waiting to germinate and protect them.

FlashBazbo said:

I've tried every method out there, bought units and built many DIY types too.Through it all here's what I've found:

#1- HEALTHY MOM- feed well but not so much Nitrogen. N rich cuts want to grow, not root.....more cal and phos

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These are the guys who make clonex. My results thus far are incredible.

Hydrodynamics International is proud to announce the release of our new bio-organic hydroponic fertilizer formulated specifically for stock or "mother" plants, aptly named MotherPlant® Nutrients! This two-part nutrient formula provides balanced nutrition for stock plants, whether grown hydroponically, in soilless mixes, or soil.
Exacting N-P-K ratios are calibrated to meet the nutritional requirements of the mother plant, without excess nitrates. Rich bio-organics are added to improve the uptake of nutrients and strengthen the plant's natural immunity
A good mother plant fertilizer should provide enough nitrogen to support a healthy root to shoot ratio, but not so much nitrogen that the plant has to burn up most of its stored sugars just to assimilate the nitrates!

303-That looks like a good product choice for those who don't want to or can't make/mix their own nutes.

Heisenberg, now I'll have another method to try. Love to experiment.... is the bottom of the cut far enough down in the hydroton to be below the water line, or slightly above? I'll try both...

Alright, all the stuff showed up today so tomorrow I will be cutting a new batch and seeing how well this is going to work.

FlashBazbo ~ im so jealous! those are some hardcore clones you got there. You are using the heavy duty totes from home depot which is the route i wanted to take, whats your method for keeping the water in those totes? I didnt see any weather stripping on the lip and im temped to go buy 1. Im looking for a set-up that allows me to take the lid off from time to time without a hassle. Do you get about 35+/- clones per HD tote? I thought that 2" was quite large for just rooting clones, I would be willing to bet you could run 2 per 2" hole and be fine. just got to get them out before the roots intertwine.

here is the tote as of tonight, just want to make sure im going the right direction. I havent put the garbage bag in for the water leaking issue yet.

FlashBazbo said:

is the bottom of the cut far enough down in the hydroton to be below the water line, or slightly above? I'll try both...

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I was informed that you could even clone via ebb & flow in netcups just like the bubble idea, long enough stems to submerge every 15min. you could put them in your preferred flowering size netcups w/ hydroton and not have to transplant later but results thus far indicate 10-15 days root time.

Here is what you need to do ditch the duct tape, use clonex, no need for soaking cuttings, if your using water out of the tap let set opened for two days. Im asuming that you cleaned all cutting tools with alcohol. But if not do so. If using bleach to clean out cloner make sure you are rinsing well. I use peroxide to wash mine. I get 100% sucess rate using this. I have 6" roots at day 14. Another idea on the duct tape. You might be able to take and cut the neoprenes to fit your holes. Good Luck

i have a 98% success rate with mine like clown baby said you dont need nuts just stright tap water i dont do anything to mine just cut and put in i was useing clonex and i had a 50% rate went to stright tap and i dont have any that die anymore and i have alot of friends that do the same just tap water

Tap water will root them, but I noticed that if you use a 1/4-1/8 dose of clonex or similar nutes
you don't get as much yellowing in the clones. I believe this to be because they're not having to use stored
nutes to create the roots since they have some readily available. Using clonex compared to not using clonex
gave me improved times from intial root formations to nice long roots ready for transplant.

Success ratio with and without clonex for me is basically the same at 95% or so using a fogger.

...I use pure RO (reverse osmosis) water and 3% H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) at 1 ml per gallon of water every 3-4 days. The H202 kills off any harmful pathogens that may be in the water by bonding oxygen nearly immediately to them. H202 must be constantly added every 3-4 days (1ml per gallon) to be effective. If your using tap water, you'll need to adjust your pH to about 5.5-6.0 and let it rid of chlorine by sitting it out overnight or run your system for a few hours. Keep temps approx. 70F, and pump on 24/7. No rooting hormones, no fertilizer solutions exc...nothing but pure water and H2O2 = 100% success, everytime, always. Good luck.

PS...if you use RO, give your young ones a 1/4 strength solution once you see root development and possibly up the light intensity.


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