The best DIY EZ walmart DWC CLONER for MICRO grows. Zen style

lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
zen, thanks for answering my first question. im still trying to wrap my head around the whole hydro concept though. How do you maintain the ph of your water? ive heard tap water has a high ph, so how do i lower it? i dont want to use bottled water if i have to replace the reservoir every few days.
the res can be changed every 2 or 3 weeks. if you have hard water, you might want to filter it or use bottled water. get good chemical nutrience, don't use anything like miracle grow or anything organic in hydroponics. good nutes have ph stabilizer in it so the ph shouldn't stray to far. just check it once a day and it should be good. you'll get the hang of it.
 

juvi

Active Member
i was wondering if water temps affect the process at all? i made something like this last week and put some cuttings in and no signs of roots at all. maybe the water is too cold? the ambient temp is ~75f.
 

BigggBuddd420

Active Member
Does everyone use nutes in these cloners? I'm just asking because Zen doesn't say he used nutes and I've heard people cloning in straight water before without hormone or nutes. Also, I've heard of people using vinegar to adjust water pH for watering soil. Would it be a bad idea to use vinegar to adjust pH in a DWC? Zen, I sent you a PM but no reply :(
 

lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
Does everyone use nutes in these cloners? I'm just asking because Zen doesn't say he used nutes and I've heard people cloning in straight water before without hormone or nutes. Also, I've heard of people using vinegar to adjust water pH for watering soil. Would it be a bad idea to use vinegar to adjust pH in a DWC? Zen, I sent you a PM but no reply :(

anything organic in a hydroponic system is usually a bad idea. it's best to get the right ph adjusting chemicals. 75f might grow roots, but it may take some time. I usually see the pro's getting roots at day 10-14, so one week is a little early yet. very mild nutes are ok to use as far as I know, but the plants can't use the nutes until they have roots anyway, so it's not needed, unless they will be staying in the cloner for a while longer to get some good long healthy roots.
 

homerdog

Well-Known Member
My feed back on the system after 6 months.

This system is very easy to use near 100% sucess. Don't worry about the light penetration, clear tubs work for 3+ weeks with out changing water and no algae, as long as you have enough air moving thu the air stone (you can add a little hydrogen peroxide to help, don't buy the cheaper bubbler brand at wallyworld). I pH at ~6 and get roots in 7-10 days. If using soil transplant when roots are ~ 1/4" to minimize shock. No nutes needed in the water, the clone powder seems to work well. I use cheap styrafoam cups with a small hole in the bottom that can be broken away from the clone when rooted, easy to label too, oh and you can usually get away with 2 clones per cup. Some strains can be cloned at up to 2 weeks 12+12.

Wish i had thought of the hole saw and smaller container,would have been much easier and neater, next time i guess.

Why are you you running ebb and flow and not DWC for flower, seems like you could get more verticle height. Very nice tutorial.
 

BlazeDeezNutz420

Active Member
wolf, First I have to rep you on the cloning setup. It is a great and easy idea/setup. The best I have seen on here so far. I was just wondering because I have been using soil. Am I able to transplant them to soil when they start rooting? If so, when would be the best time to do it. The reason I ask is because I have a couple diff places where I do everything from the veg to cloning to flowering and I dont want to move the setup to go to flowering. I just want to keep it for clones. So I can keep my cycle like clockwork, ya know? Thanks.
 

BigggBuddd420

Active Member
wolf, First I have to rep you on the cloning setup. It is a great and easy idea/setup. The best I have seen on here so far. I was just wondering because I have been using soil. Am I able to transplant them to soil when they start rooting? If so, when would be the best time to do it. The reason I ask is because I have a couple diff places where I do everything from the veg to cloning to flowering and I dont want to move the setup to go to flowering. I just want to keep it for clones. So I can keep my cycle like clockwork, ya know? Thanks.
This was answered two posts up by homerdog.
Zen also answered it on post 26 here:
https://www.rollitup.org/1298091-post26.html
 

BigggBuddd420

Active Member
On another note, is it really bad if a little light gets through the foam on the sides? I'm having trouble getting full light blockage. But if so I figured I could just cover the gaps with the reflective tape.
 

BlazeDeezNutz420

Active Member
good lookin out Bud. I would have seen that but i kinda spaced out after ready the first 2 pages. thats what being high can do to ya. but thanks again.
 

homerdog

Well-Known Member
Big bud
"On another note, is it really bad if a little light gets through the foam on the sides? I'm having trouble getting full light blockage. But if so I figured I could just cover the gaps with the reflective tape."

Can't resist being a smart ass here. I answered this in my last thread. The one I have seen is a completely clear container with the cups hanging down through the top and about 1 1/2" of the stem sitting in the water. If you use a large enough airstone and pump you shouldn't need to block out the light to prevent mold, just change the water (Ph it) every 2-3 weeks. Getting 7-10 day rooting times, just like the blacked out one.
 

BigggBuddd420

Active Member
haha shit I skipped that part I guess. I always thought the roots being exposed to light was a bad thing but I guess you proved it doesn't. I might just tape it up anyways or spray paint it black on the outside anyways just for the hell of it haha. I think my airstone should be sufficient. It's a 10" I got at walmart so it pretty much stretches across the whole tub. I only have a 10 gallon pump tho. I don't see this being a problem tho but I guess I'll find out tonight when I test it out.

good lookin out Bud. I would have seen that but i kinda spaced out after ready the first 2 pages. thats what being high can do to ya. but thanks again.
no prob. I didn't really read the whole thread either I just happened to remember reading about that part somewhere in it.
 

homerdog

Well-Known Member
For that small of tube the size air stone you have should be fine. I prefer the more expensive brand of bubbler, not that much more and have better out put and the cheap ones seem to break kinda easy. Good luck. I like the clear tub so I can watch the action without having to pull the stems out of water. Just my two cents. Good luck you should be very happy with it.
 

juvi

Active Member
i have found out that my pump is not really adequate for a 12" air stone. i got the 30gal or so pump with the single outlet and i should have shelled out $5+ for the 60gal one.
 

Impulse718

Active Member
Hey zen, can you take a picture of the inside of your cloner when its in action and when its dry.

i want to see where you placed the airstones and the place you put the hole.
also how do you keep from leakage from the hole you drilled in the tub.

also is your water level right up to the bottom of the net baskets?

are the pictures of your dwc main grow similar to your cloner?
 

beta0701

Well-Known Member
Hey zen, can you take a picture of the inside of your cloner when its in action and when its dry.

i want to see where you placed the airstones and the place you put the hole.
also how do you keep from leakage from the hole you drilled in the tub.

also is your water level right up to the bottom of the net baskets?

are the pictures of your dwc main grow similar to your cloner?
I also have these same questions,

+ rep though,

i will be building this for my next cloning trial to try and shorten my rooting times
 

BigggBuddd420

Active Member
Question: I used vinegar in the water to lower the pH. Is this a bad idea? I figured pH Down probably is an acidic solution so vinegar couldn't hurt. What do you guys think?
The water pH in my house is around 7.3; I was trying to get it somewhere around 5.5 or 6 in the rez.
 

homerdog

Well-Known Member
I've had good luck with Ph 6, vinegar prob work ok, search it I know I've seen info on here before.
 
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