Aero Cloner Users

Hey everybody...

This one is for people that use Aero cloning tubs for cloning.

I just finished building a "Cheap - Aero Cloner" and the bubble curtain fittings are drying to the tub bottom as we speak.

I have allready prepared my clones on the plant as instructed by the Aero cloning recommendations. The only question I have is...

Do I still need to dip the cutting in rooting gel? The instructions tell to let the cutttings soak for at least a half hour in cool tap water. I will do this...

But do I need to dip the clones into the cloning gel now that I am using an Aero cloner? Will it just be bubbled off the clone of just wash away when the water hits them?

Bascially I just need to know if I need to add anything to the water... like a rooting hormone or something.. or will the aero cloner just simply make roots appear?

Also, how often should I change the water?

And what temperature should the water be kept at? I built a thermometer inside the tub.

I built the system based off of a recomended design from Overgrow.com you can find it here.. it was very easy to make.

Aero Cloner Build Instructions

 

Yes, I would say go for it. Also to go ahaed and scuff the tip befor you dip in to the gel, lightly about an inch just to break up the tum skin, but do not tear in the floem tubes that feed the upper portion of the plant. By scuffing it slightly you increase the surface area that the rooting hormone can penetrate for root growth. After scuffing dip into the gel, and place into the cloner. I get clones with full, fluffy roots in about 11 days.

 

I wanted to add. I also use in the water of the cloner a rooting solution mix(many to choose from). The people I orderd the cloner from sent a sample product in with it. It worked well so I used it. This along with the gel will garuntee resluts. Also a tip I read wich seems to make sense to me, is right after you cut form the plant cut a small nip off the end under flowinf water. This will allo for a cut seal and an air bubble will not travel into the plants viens, the used them like in humans; an "Embolism".

 

You can just add Supernatural brand Ultimate B1 Thrive to the ressy. Works awesome. After you see the tips of the roots, add in a mild dose of Super Boost (about 25% ratio mix), and watch those roots grow, grow, grow!
Definetley dip the tip of the cuting into gel though.
I have heard people like to scuff the base of the stalk for more rooting surface, but I disagree. Just cut it at a 45 degree angle. Scuffing actually damages the surface, causing the plant to focus on repair instead of producing roots. In other words, it takes longer to root.
Ideally, you could see roots in 4-7 days. 7-10 days is pretty average.
Change the water every week. Use only DISTILLED or Spring water on your clones.
water temp should be about 5-10 degrees cooler than air temp.

 

Thanks for the help guys!! Aeroponics.... its all new to me

*wipes organic soil from hands*

I use all organics, Pure Blend Pro Bloom and Veg, and I supplement with Liquid Karma. I also use Clonex rooting gel. I want to avoid spending any more money on nutes... can I add a diluted amount of Vegitative pure blend? or perhaps some Liquid Karma?

I will definatley use the rooting gel and the 45 degree cut along with purified water. Im just not sure if I want to add any other nutes to the water from the ones I have..

any clue?

- MARK!!

 

Hey guys..

The clones have now been cut, dipped in rooting gel, and placed in the aero cloner... they are sitting under 160W of COOL white fluero's.

NOW.... should I add any of my nutes as listed above? HELP!!!!!! PLEASE!!!

Liquid Karma, Pure Blend Pro Vegitative, and Pure Blend Pro Flowering... should I add some to the water or just let them go? I dont want to buy any more nutes..

- MARK!!

 

I've never used nutes in the res. I just use liquid karma.if you are planting them in soil don't let the roots get too long.in my experience they start out as spikes.i let them get 1/2" long and then plant then you will see them grow like mad.Once i planted one with just one 1/2" long spike as an experiment and there were roots all over the cup 3 days later.

 

Sweet... thanks.. ok I am going to add a little liquid karma to the mix and leave it at that.. thanks you!

- MARK!!

 

GT's right, you don't need any fert. A few drops of ST, liquid Karma, Thrive Alive or whatever is all you need. Using distilled water works best from what I've been told, but I'm sure if it's PH balanced it should be fine. What do you use GT?

 

I use straight h2o and no cloning gels or powders for the first week then add a couple of drops of thrivealive after the root stubs appear. I have a 25w aquarium heater set to keep the temp at 72f. 100% success through 12 cutting cycles.
160w of light might be a bit much, are you keeping some diffusion from the cuttings? It has also been my experience that a cycle of 18/6 works quicker than 24/0, but that both work fine over the long run. Just my 2 cents, but I have been doing the aerocloner for a while now and thought I would share some of the things I've found that work for me.

 

yeah different strokes for different folks.I use distilled water and lower the PH to 5.5 then add some liquid karma and i don't use a heating pad or heater.i've have also heard to never fert your plant 2 weeks prior to taking clones because in lamens terms they have enough stored N to feed off of a while and don't need to sprout roots.All i know is this last cloning time i did my usual routine but they just weren't rooting so i checked my calender and saw that i ferted the week of taking clones and they took an extra 2 weeks to root.maybe just coincidence maybe not.

 

Ok one last question..

Do I need to leave the bubblers on all the time? I saw somewehre that the idea is that it comes on and off?

What kind of on/off cycle should it be on? my clones are under 4 x 40W fluero cool white lights and the bubbler curtains on 24 on 0 off.

- MARK!!

 

some do 15 on 30 off,i do 15 on 15 off.You need a timer that has 15 min increments...GE makes a good one for $7.00 to $10.00.

 

OK cool, I will get a trip timer tomarrow. I hope I havent caused these clones any damage having the bubblers on non stop for the past couple of days...

- MARK!!

 

They should be ok, the idea behind having it off is to dry the stem out and encourage root formation. I use 30/30 by the way

 

The bubble cloners work a wonder.
Easiest and cheapest way I can think to produce lots of healthy clones.
I decided to build one out of some gear I scrounged from the shed and just baught a new airpump & stones.




Using no powders/gels/adittives or nuts and straight tap water, (have good water here). Roots within 14 days, (9 days of that they spent on a window sill without supplement light), the rest of the time they had 24hr flouro. I kept the timer for the air stone at 30 on 90 off.

Considering the neglect I gave them (left water in for two weeks/ neglected the light etc.)they still rooted healthy and fast.


So far I have had the next batch in for a couple of days. I used a little B1 in the water and took a more common size cutting and not one has wilted as yet.

Hope that may help a little.
H.Jay

 

Thanks for all your help guys!! I really appreciate it n stuff.. this is a whole new world for me

Man now I got my eye on some of those bubble planters (bubble pots?) Mmmmmm Aeroponics is fun.....

- MARK!!

 

QUOTE

Quote: from greenthumb420 on 1:16 am on May 7, 2003
some do 15 on 30 off,i do 15 on 15 off.You need a timer that has 15 min increments...GE makes a good one for $7.00 to $10.00.

Man I am having a hell of a time finding an increment timer. I went to Walmart, Ace Hardware, and finally Radio Shack yesterday.... and nobody has a timer capable of turning the air pump on and off in 15 minute cycles.

All I can find are those lame trip timers and they only have 2 sets of ON/OFF pegs. The digital one I found only has an ON and OFF time once per day..

Can anybody point me in the right direction? Its almost been a week now!!

- MARK!

 

Yeah sometimes they can be hard to find.check Home depot or lowes if you have one.worse comes to worse get one that has the 30 min increments and do 30 on 90 off.If you do find the 15min one get a couple.ive run my ballasts off of them for the past 2 years and haven't had one fail yet.Also sometimes you will find them in the most unlikely places.one time around christmas i found some at Brookshires(grocery store if you haven't seen one)and they were like dirt cheap...$2.00 a piece

(Edited by greenthumb420 at 8:52 pm on May 10, 2003)

 

FINALLY found one.... 15 minute increments... $20.00 with shipping... not $10 but oh well... thank god I found one..
Its the one on the bottom of the pic...



http://www.greenfire.net/hot/E579.html

(Edited by Berzerk13 at 12:50 pm on May 11, 2003)