New Homemade Aero Cloner

Hey All, I'm starting what is basically a cloning journal. Clone clippings taken today to be placed in a new rig I built with some flexible 1/2" hose, a submersible pump, a Rubbermaid tub and some 360 degree misters.

I already had the tubs, hose and clippings -- so why not?

Here are some pics of the set-up...

In the cloner are Greenhouse Seeds Big Bang, two Barney's Blue Cheese and two Wonder Woman's -- all feminized -- all grown from seed.

Currently misting away 24 hours a day with a correct for veg CFL gently lighting the action. I've got Hygrozyme and a dash of GH Diamond Nectar to boot in my reverse osmosis (grocery store), pH-balanced water.

Will eventually go under one 400 watt combo light in 6" fan vented cool tube.

...Were neoprene disks that I cut into my Rubbermaid tub top and the misters at $.70 a piece.

denny beezwax said:

In the cloner are Greenhouse Seeds Big Bang, two Barney's Blue Cheese and two Wonder Woman's -- all feminized -- all grown from seed.

Currently misting away 24 hours a day with a correct for veg CFL gently lighting the action. I've got Hygrozyme and a dash of GH Diamond Nectar to boot in my reverse osmosis (grocery store), pH-balanced water.

Will eventually go under one 400 watt combo light in 6" fan vented cool tube.

Click to expand...

Hey, I was getting pretty worried -- it'd been, what, six days? Well, two of the eight plants are rooting. Very small roots, about 1/4" clumps on each. I'll take pictures tomorrow, I didn't want to mess with them any more today.

I was really worried that the water temp was too high -- it's hot in my place. Fingers still crossed, but this is far better than any other cloning try's of mine so far.

Okay, as promised, roots have arrived -- now six days in... so the low-cost, low-tech method seems to be working.

The only other thing to report here is that the pH spiked. So, a water change went down. Three gallons of pH 5.8 RO water mixed with Hygrozyme, weaker than seedling strength GH Micro and weaker than seedling strength GH Diamond Nectar.

Very nice man. I need to get mine setup here pretty soon. I bought a 10g fish tank to try it out in.

Most of my cloning attempts don't fair too well. That has been mostly with rapid rooter plugs.

What GPH is that pump?

Thanks for tuning in, atrumblood. I'm not sure about the pump, offhand. I'll check it out in a little bit and tell you exactly what I'm using.

denny beezwax said:

Thanks for tuning in, atrumblood. I'm not sure about the pump, offhand. I'll check it out in a little bit and tell you exactly what I'm using.

Click to expand...

Okay, here's what I'm using: a 185 gph pump (this one) http://www.thegrowlight.com/eco-185-submersible-pump.html

The sprayers? 360 degree microjet sprayers (mine are actually red) http://www.thegrowlight.com/360-degree-microjet-sprayers-green.html

And all of the sprayers are simply screwed/punched into some 1/2" hose. http://www.thegrowlight.com/1-2-blue-tubing-x-10.html

Then I blocked up the open end of the hose with a wire nut and a hose clamp -- then zip-tied the hose to the lid of a Rubbermaid tub.

Oh, and cut holes in the lid, just a little smaller than these neoprene inserts http://www.thegrowlight.com/ez-clone-neoprene-insert-bag-of-35.html

Cheap and functional.

Very nice man, thanks for the specs.
Gives me a bit more to think about when I get mine up and started.

Hey, a question though -- how long do I wait before they're ready for my regular DWC vegetative set-up?? Should the roots be X length or something?

So, the whole front row are rooted. That's, from the right, two Wonder Woman two Barney's Blue Cheese. The back row are all GSC Big Bang. Nothing. I couldn't clone them the traditional way either. I guess some stuff it just tough to clone.

They are ready now better get them in to some net pots before you have to weave those roots through.

Normally you would transplant them to the DWC setup when the roots are an inch long some times 2 inches.

Nice set-up mate, i use the bubble cloner system. Might build one with misters tho, GJ

You need a bigger pump I think. It doesnt seem to be misting correctly from the sprayers.

wtfh4xx said:

You need a bigger pump I think. It doesnt seem to be misting correctly from the sprayers.

Click to expand...

Well, thanks for the look. It's hard to capture exactly what's happening with flash photography into a dark tub. Actually, I think I'm getting great, small-particle droplet coverage on each of my stems -- it might not look like it from the images.

atrumblood said:

Normally you would transplant them to the DWC setup when the roots are an inch long some times 2 inches.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the help here -- Yeah, the one problem now is just waiting for the 4th cutting's roots to catch up. (I run 4 plants per 16 gallon tub.) don't have a ton of space to run both the cloner and a regular DWC tub in my veg area.

Hey, have you personally encountered any strains that just, for whatever reason, you couldn't get to clone, no matter what? This GSC Big Bang is a real bitch. This is the third time I've tried.

It would be better to say that some strains take to cloning more eagerly than others.

If it doesn't root as fast as the others try doing the scarification method.

This involves scraping away the outer layer of stem until you see the white inner part of the stem. This will provide more surface area from which the cutting can root.

Okay, it was the right time to move. For whatever reason, one strain (or almost half of my cuttings) really didn't want to root.

The one Big Bang that did root (a little) is going into MG dirt that I had on-hand.

I'll check back to tell you if they make it.

Thanks for checking in!!

I'll be here. Doing great so far.

Here's some new pictures. One the right side of the frame are the two Wonder Woman clones -- left side are the Barney's Blue Cheese. As you'll see, the BC roots are much slower to develop. But the plants are growing good new growth and everything seems healthy.