Yet Another Cheapo Bubble Cloner

Materials

- (2) Sterlite 6qt container ... $1 each @ wal-mart
- (2) 10" bubble wands ... $4 each @ wal-mart
- (1) Whisper 20-60 air pump ... $20 @ wal-mart
- (1) 8' standard air line tube ... $1 @ wal-mart
- (1) bottle of GOOP super glue ... $3 @ wal-mart
- (1) piece of sand paper ... $1 @ wal-mart
- (1) pack of 1/4" soaker hose ... @ super wal-mart or an aquarium store

total price: $35 - $40


Assembly

1. with your sand paper, rough up the bottom of each suction cup for the bubble wands. then do the same to the floor of the sterlite container where the suction cups will be glued. this will make this glue hold much better.

2. cover a section cup with some GOOP. place it on the floor of the container. then press and hold it down for at least 60 seconds so the glue will dry enough to hold it in place. repeat for the other suction cups.

3. (optional) glue the bubble wands into the suction cup clips. the clips on my suction cups are very weak; one broke the first time i snapped the bubble wand into it. if you get a different brand of bubble wand or use air stones instead this might not be a problem, but i decided to glue mine in there just to be sure.

4. wait at least 1 hour for the glue to dry completely before putting water in the container.

5. drill 2 small holes in the side of the container very near the top (above water level). these will be where the air tubing enters the container.

6. run the air tubing through your holes into the container and connect it to each of the bubble wands. connect the other ends to the air pump.

7. drill 1/4" holes in the lid, placing them about 2" apart so that the clones aren't too close together. don't worry if you mess up because you can use the lid from the other container (used as a humidity dome).

8. cut 1" (or shorter) segments of soaker hose, then slit them down the side. The soaker hose will hold the cuttings in the holes in the lid without letting them fall down into the water. The slit in the side makes it easy to remove when your cutting is ready to transplant.

9. fill the container with water up to the spot where the plastic changes from clear to "frosted" or whatever. when you take your cuttings, make sure they are not too long so that they touch the water but not too short so that the bubbles don't reach -- although i don't think they could be too short based on how many bubbles this thing produces.

10. clone away!



testing the bubble wands


first batch of cuttings


stems are getting plenty of water from those bursting bubbles


Whisper 20-60 air pump & bubble cloner with humidity dome



NOTE: i have not found soaker hose yet, so i made a temporary lid with slightly smaller holes. some of the cuttings barely fit through the holes, so i will use the other lid to make bigger holes once i find some of that soaker hose. if i leave them in this lid then pulling them out once they have roots will most likely rip the roots right off because they are very delicate. i was just impatient and wanted to clone my plants before feeding them again.