Are clone machines worth it?

[RocketBoy]

so I suck major ass at cloning. It’s been 3 weeks since cutting clones and still not a freakin root. They’re in rockwool.
I was thinking about saying screw it and making a aerocloner.
Anybody have experience with these and thing it might be a good idea since I can’t seem to get the 7-10 day roots

How TF are you messing up on rockwool? its simple. This is how I get 99-100% on clones -
1. Cut clone
2. Dip in water
3. Dip in Rooting powder ( Yes, the same one they sell at Homedepot )
4. Stick into a Damp (NOT overly saturated) Rockwool cube
5. Place into clone tray with dome
6. Finely spray clones with water
7. Wait
A week later roots will be popping out.

 

[Renfro]

One can make a cloner super cheap. Just get one of those little ultrasonic foggers on amazon for like 12bucks. Put it in a tote. Cut holes in the lid. Put a little water in it. Grab some of the foam rings or make some to hold your cuttings. Walla. I noticed that pure H2O won't fog so you have to dope it with a little tap water lol. I have some hooked to my RO filter with floats and fans to pump fog into totes for mushrooms. Had to add just a little tap water to make it fog since my RO was 3 PPM.

 

[Lucky Luke]

The beauty of clone machines is the fact that u can have them running and add and subtract plants at will. They are set and forget.

I find 15 on and 15 off works better than than on 24/7. Anyone else agree or disagree with that?

 

[BobBitchen]

I went with an aero cloner for ease of use.
I take cuts, place in pucks, tap water in rez, plug in, and don't F with for 7 - 10 days
No domes, misting, watering, nothing.
Been almost 100%, every time.
JMHO....your mileage may vary. .
.

 

[xtsho]

Here is my thought on cloning machines.

Most won't need them. A simple tray of rapid rooters and a dome if you have low humidity is all you need.

However, many have problems rooting clones so I say whatever works for them. If a bubble cloner works then use it.

Whatever it takes to get good solid clones because thats a major leap in growing capability. The ability to maintain a known good mother plant and reproduce excellent and consistent results every run is much better than growing from seeds every run, never knowing what you will get and having extra veg time and plants that grow inconsistently depending on how stable the strain is.

I agree except for the growing from seed part. I used to keep mothers and make clones but now I grow almost exclusively from seed. I like to have multiple varieties. Plus I dabble in breeding so I need to grow my crosses out and see what I have. I'll take a clone now and then from pheno's that show traits I'm looking for so I can continue to work with them. But if you're looking for consistency then you want to find a good mother and keep it. Making clones for your grows from it. Years ago I grew the same strain for years so maybe that burned me out on the cloning and same strain every grow. Now I'm like a kid in a candy store with more seeds of different strains that I'll probably never grow them all. But it sure is fun .

 

[Renfro]

The beauty of clone machines is the fact that u can have them running and add and subtract plants at will. They are set and forget.

I find 15 on and 15 off works better than than on 24/7. Anyone else agree or disagree with that?

You can do the same thing with small clear solo cups and some coco, soil, perlite... or just a glass of water.

 

[Renfro]

I agree except for the growing from seed part. I used to keep mothers and make clones but now I grow almost exclusively from seed. I like to have multiple varieties. Plus I dabble in breeding so I need to grow my crosses out and see what I have. I'll take a clone now and then from pheno's that show traits I'm looking for so I can continue to work with them. But if you're looking for consistency then you want to find a good mother and keep it. Making clones for your grows from it. Years ago I grew the same strain for years so maybe that burned me out on the cloning and same strain every grow. Now I'm like a kid in a candy store with more seeds of different strains that I'll probably never grow them all. But it sure is fun .

Growing from seed is fun and the only way to pheno hunt and find good moms for production. All depends on what you are doing. If you are trying to optimize harvests for profit then you have a different mindset than growing for a hobby. I do my shotgunning without messing with my production but I have the space and plant count to do that now.

 

[Renfro]

If you do setup a cloner a good repeat cycle timer is handy. You don't need sprayers or foggers on more than say 2 minutes every 15 minutes.

 

[Lucky Luke]

You can do the same thing with small clear solo cups and some coco, soil, perlite... or just a glass of water.

yes u can, but my success rate is better with the cloner and its just easy...

 

[Renfro]

... my success rate is better with the cloner...

And thats the key, whatever works for you. When I root my cuttings with trays of rapid rooters set on the floor in my veg room it's set it and forget it and I get 99 to 100 out of 100 every time. So thats what works for me. No one method works for everyone and I have known some that can't root cuttings reliably no matter what they do despite the fact that they are very good growers otherwise.

 

[Lucky Luke]

And thats the key, whatever works for you. When I root my cuttings with trays of rapid rooters set on the floor in my veg room it's set it and forget it and I get 99 to 100 out of 100 every time. So thats what works for me. No one method works for everyone and I have known some that can't root cuttings reliably no matter what they do despite the fact that they are very good growers otherwise.

agreed its what ever works for the individual, their space, time and their invironment.

 

[morugawelder]

I've been cloning in coco for a long time but this was my first time using honey. Cut was taken from a sativa already in flower. I saw root tips coming out the holes in the bottom of the small nursery pot in under a week. These pics were taken after I first noticed roots. I'm sold on honey. I'll never buy a rooting solution/powder again.

sweet ! what was your grow medium used ? I have trouble myself ,

 

[xtsho]

The beauty of clone machines is the fact that u can have them running and add and subtract plants at will. They are set and forget.

I find 15 on and 15 off works better than than on 24/7. Anyone else agree or disagree with that?

When I ran mine it was in the veg room on 18/6. Worked like a charm. Now my veg room is a 2 x 4 tent in my office. I don't want a cloner in here.

What I do works perfect for what I'm doing.

sweet ! what was your grow medium used ? I have trouble myself ,

Coco with the clone dipped in honey.

 

[morugawelder]

When I ran mine it was in the veg room on 18/6. Worked like a charm. Now my veg room is a 2 x 4 tent in my office. I don't want a cloner in here.

What I do works perfect for what I'm doing.



Coco with the clone dipped in honey.

Do you put n a dome / heat mat ? , mist ? etc,

 

[xtsho]

Do you put n a dome / heat mat ? , mist ? etc,

It depends on the humidity. When its low I'll use a dome for a few days but sometimes just spraying a few times a day is enough. I don't use a heat mat.

 

[morugawelder]

honey eh ? who would of thought , raw honey or store honey ,

 

[xtsho]

honey eh ? who would of thought , raw honey or store honey ,

Just whatever honey I have in the cupboard which is raw unfiltered at the moment. There were a couple threads with people talking about it and I've heard of using it before but never have. It works as good as any cloning product you can buy. Before that I just used the cheap powder you can get at any big box store. I bought some clonex years ago and it didn't work any better just cost ten times as much. But that's with the cannabis markup like everything else targeting cannabis growers.

Honey has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. Honey is a super food with many uses going back centuries.

 

[Herb & Suds]

My ezcloner allows me to do 60 clippings at once with straight tap water and ph of 6
I have a 98% success rate only because I empty it and refuse to run it long enough for the last one or two to root
No Dome , No honey , just hard old well water
Now if I was only doing a couple the beer cup method makes sense

 

[dangledo]

Soak in water for few days, then stick into medium.


I cut those and stuck them in water when the lights were going out and forgot to clean up the lowers and do my final cut. Remembered them in the veg tent few days later.

 

[xtsho]

My ezcloner allows me to do 60 clippings at once with straight tap water and ph of 6
I have a 98% success rate only because I empty it and refuse to run it long enough for the last one or two to root
No Dome , No honey , just hard old well water
Now if I was only doing a couple the beer cup method makes sense

When I ran mine I just used plain old tap water as well. Sometimes I would add some weak nutes if I needed to keep them there for awhile after they rooted.