Cloners-need advice

I am a couple grows in with some good success thanks to member that reached out and has been guiding me and reading info here. I would like to try to use a clone machine to try something new and get a new skill. I have done everything by seed so far and its worked ok. I used my last seeds of our favorite strain and i would like to keep the strain going in a mother plant and try to do some clones. I only do 2 or 3 plants at a time so i dont need some massive cloner.

Instead of going to amazon and just buying what is star rated i thought i would ask you guys. What clone machine has worked well for you? Any tips to a newbie cloner? I have taken some clones a few years back after reading i should take clones in 4 weeks of flower. It did work out well and since i do the same strain each time i was able to notice a huge difference in amount i harvested. But the clone took forever to take and required way to much baby sitting. I figured a machine made for this exact thing would be perfect for me. Thank you. Remember i just need a small cloner for a couple clones.

I (and a few others here that use them) can vouch for these on e-bay. They have them with various numbers of sites, from 8 to 64. I use a 36 site and bought it when my DIY cloner was needing repair. I'd never build or buy anything else. These are cheap, well built and work well. The res is small enough to make it easy maintenance like changing water etc.

Cloners are so reliable once you get them dialled in that I don't keep mothers. I just cut 2-3 clones off my veggers before I flip them into flowering. Typically have 8-12 strains going plus 6-8 males that I re-clone perpetually to keep them going.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XKing+Cloner.TRS0&_nkw=King+Cloner&_sacat=0

^^^ this ^^^

Awesome, just what i was looking for. Can you explain a little more on dialing in please? Thanks GroErr!

Theshepheard said:

Awesome, just what i was looking for. Can you explain a little more on dialing in please? Thanks GroErr!

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Hey no problem, I call @BobBitchen that replied above the RIU clone king. He's the one who turned me on to these King cloners

By dialled in I mean get the lighting down, temps in check and operating so your clones are rooted within say 20 days or less. Some strains clone much faster, I have some that will show roots within 8-10 days, some up to 14-16 days, average is probably 2 weeks.

One thing I found by placing probes in the water and monitoring over different water temperatures is try and keep the water between 70-75F and you'll get pretty well 100% success rates. if you go above you can end up with slime and crap, if you go below it slows down the rooting. I change the water once/week religiously, keep the temps in that 70-75F range and never have problems unless I slip and do stupid shit like let the water get too warm or slack off and don't change the water. Plain tap water mixed to fall in that 70-75F range, no additives, gels or the like,

Peat pellets. 9"x9" container. Just sit them in there after expanded with water and put the cuttings in them, 9-16 cuttings fit well, I usually do 12. You don't need much space betwen them. Mine looks like solid cuttings, touching each other. No need to use more space than necessary, right? I put a sheet of clear polyethyleneover tye top of the container and then I have a similar container turned upside down on top the first one, with the plastic sandwiched between them, and a lamp socket mounted in the top container with a 2.5w LED bulb in it. Dollar store for the bulb and the containers. It's a tiny bulb, for fridges I guess, but has a normal size base like any light bulb.

Couple holes drilled in the sides of the bottom container, couple inches up from the bottom, for air, like 1/8". A couple holes in the top container by the lamp socket too. Whole thing lined with foil, though it's probably not necessary, especially if you us white containers. Mine happened to be blue.

Photoperiod; 23/1. Cuttings root in 5 days. I was using a 5w LED bulb before (40w replacement) but this last run I tried the 2.5w and it worked better. No yellowing or signs of stress at all. I don't water the pellets until they root, or they'll be too wet. But when they root, in 4-5 days, I hit them with some FloraNova grow, around 400-500 ppm. Since I just sit the pellets right o the bottom of the container, to drain the nute solution runoff I just tilt the container so it all runs into one corner and draw it up with a turkey baster.

After the first 5 days when they root, I remove the plastic sheet. I usually leave them in there for a week to get well rooted then pot them up in 4" square pots and put them in larger chambers similar to the rooting one but longer, rectangular instead of square. Same type of dollar store containers. They come in square and rectangular. I can fit 6 of the 4" pots in there perfectly, which is why I take 12 cuttings. I'll put a few extras in there in case any fail to root but they usually all do.

Those larger containers have the 5w LED bulbs in them. I keep the plants in there for as long as required, a few weeks, until the real veg chamber with the 14w LED bulbs opens up. Larger air holes in those rectangular containers too, like 1/2", 3 on each side and one on each end. Larger holes on top too.

With these kind of chambers I can sit them on shelves or wherever, move them around easily. I have severe space limitations. Same watering system, tilt to drain. Of course you could use other types of containers. The important points are the use of peat pellets, the low wattage LED bulbs and the 23/1 photoperiod. With that long a photoperiod, you don't need much wattage at all. It works better than 24/0 for both rooting and later veg growth. They really appreciate a dark period, but why make it longer than an hour and sacrifice growth? 23/1 works better than any other cycles I've tried, and I've tried a bunch.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLONE-KING-36-SITE-CLONER-CLONING-MACHINE-75-INSERTS-25-BLACK-25-BLUE-25-RED-/112411008901?epid=1662820946&hash=item1a2c37df85:g:D5YAAOSwK6RZHQ8m

Is that the one you purchased? How do you keep the temp in that range?

@BobCajun that is a sweet sounding set up. I think i have everything in the garage to build that. Do you happen to have any pictures? I would love to steal this idea.

Theshepheard said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLONE-KING-36-SITE-CLONER-CLONING-MACHINE-75-INSERTS-25-BLACK-25-BLUE-25-RED-/112411008901?epid=1662820946&hash=item1a2c37df85:g:D5YAAOSwK6RZHQ8m

Is that the one you purchased? How do you keep the temp in that range?

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Great price on that clone king.
easiest way to clone IMHO.
Mine runs at the upper part of the temps GroErr suggested & I still get decent results.
I run my pump 24/7, non PH'd tap water ( also change weekly)
I use T5's, about 16" above cuts, I use 18/6 sched, as my cloner is usually inside my veg tent.
no need for horemones, and deff no need for food/nutes.
just my .02
been using the same unit for 5+ yrs with no problems, I clean with H2O2 between runs.
nothing in cloner now, but here are a couple of pix of results from past runs...
GL

Theshepheard said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLONE-KING-36-SITE-CLONER-CLONING-MACHINE-75-INSERTS-25-BLACK-25-BLUE-25-RED-/112411008901?epid=1662820946&hash=item1a2c37df85:g:D5YAAOSwK6RZHQ8m

Is that the one you purchased? How do you keep the temp in that range?

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Yeah, that's a great price, can't make one for that price.

You do what you need to do but it's different in each setup/environment. For example mine sits normally on a concrete floor in the basement under my stairs. During winter/spring/fall that's where it sits and the concrete floor keeps the temps in that ideal range. In summer, my air conditioner (HVAC/central) gets the basement colder, so in summer I put it in 2" of styrofoam insulation and cover the sides to maintain temps.

this has been posted here 'often' from my blog on RIU, see link below, build your own bubbler for under $20.00, see all this as simple cambium engineering

https://www.rollitup.org/Journal/Entry/cloning-bubbler-n02-11-2009.28758/

good luck

My basement is also cool so i will give that a go for sure. That price is BS. I added to my ebay cart and it said he isnt accepting payments at this time. So then after pricing the legit ones i see why you say that was a good deal. I built my house so i have tons and tons of left over material. I will check out Vostoks blog too. I dont mind spending the money to learn this craft but i also like to build my own stuff. Maybe i will do both because th diy will most likely cost me nothing. But im prepared to spend 100 if i need to. Im pretty pumped. Thanks for all the advice. Learning new things is what keeps me so into my little garden.

The clone king, @$80 shipped, is the best money I have spent on grow equipment IMHO.
DIY is fun & worth it a lot of the time, but none of my diy cloners came close to working as well.
Which ever way you go, good luck.