My DIY Aero Cloner...51 Site...

So here i go again..... last cloner i made wuz an 80 site, but i don't need that many frigin clones!
So i endeavored to build a smaller and more efficient one....


I built it bout a week ago but refused to give a DIY till i had clones cut..... and i cut enough to fill it tonight!

First i'll explain the cloner build then i'll explain the way i clone and the cloning agents i use and how i mix my cloner water.....

I will keep updating the pic day by day for 7 days and i can hopefully guarantie you'll see 100% success in that time! (have done it many times, but you know mother nature!)

it's easy and can be done by all, and transplanting to soil is way easy and will be shown after they have all rooted, as thats the medium they will be growing in.....

Lets start with the stuff i used, i had a bunch i reused from the first cloner so i'll reuse some pics for them...

1 - Submersible Pump, i used the EcoPlus 264 gph
1 - 10' Piece of 1/2" black irrigation tubing, i got it at Rona
6 - 1/2" 90's, at Rona
3 - 1/2" T's , at Rona
1 - 10" piece of 1/2" clear tubing, at Rona
14- Red Misters, not sure of the size, but they go by colour... at my hydro shop
2 - Spiner Sprayers, at my hydro shop
1 - Rubermaid Storage Box, i used the Hinged Storage box 32x20x16", but i cut the hinges off and turned the lid upside down..... got it at Walymart
26 - Neoprene Plugs, i cut them in half as they are 1" thick, 2 for 1, lol, got them from my hydro shop
2 - 1/2" Rubber insert plugs, they really stop the leaks! got them at my hydro shop..
1 - 5' piece min of door weather striping tape

Tools Needed........

- Drill
- 1 3/4" Hole Drill Bit (and yes i mean a bit 1/4" smaller then the plug, it makes a 2" hole!)
- Sharp Utility Knife
- 3/8" Drill Bit
- 7/8" Drill Bit
- long sowing needle

Extra's............

- Time, common sense and a little Patience........


Here we go......



first thing ya gotta do it figure out ware ya want to put the plugs in the lid....
this is ware the "Extra's" comes in handy, think about it and possition the holes well for your needs, i'm using 51 holes but it is not needed, do less if you so choice......
after you get the plugs sorted ware you want them you will need to take the needle and make a mark thro the centre of the placed plugs with the sowing needle.............
Now use your 1 3/4" Hole Drill Bit and the drill to make all your holes...








You will have to take some time and use the Utility Knife to trim all the edges, lol, have patience, do it well....

K, there's the Lid, not so hard when ya use the "Extra's", lol....

Now it's time to get the main Jug ready, nice and easy here, only 3 holes!
First you gonna want to figure out where your Pump Hydro chord will come out the Jug....this is where the 3/8 drill bit comes in, drill your hole and make a slice with the Knife to the hole to allow chord placement.... i suggest about 2" down from the top on the corner closest to the plug when set in your grow room, just some forward thinking there...



Thats where i placed mine, i sealed the slice with reflector tape on the inside, but you can use anything, just think about future pump changes tho....

Now you gotta drill 2 x 7/8" holes for the fluid level indicator hose and fittings, one near the top (make sure it's lower then the lid will be) and one at the bottom.... i suggest you go and get these little rubber insert for the hoses and make sure the drilled hole is just a hair smaller so when they are inserted and the 1/2" 90's forced into them, they will be totally leak proof.... this is a spot you gotta be carefule, make it tight and you will not need glue or silicone....

Now you can cut the 1/2" clear tubbing to size and put it onto the 90's, now ya got a simple water level gauge (mark the full and fill spots with a black marker when the cloner is finished)




and thats all thats too the Jug it's self.... not too bad eh!

now it time to get onto the 1/2" tube runs and get the sprayer system all cut, setup and put in place....

I just bought 10' of the black 1/2" tubbing to make sure i had enough, had like 2' left after screw ups.... i used 3 long runs conected together, mesured it all to stay 2" min from all sides of the Jug's inside......








I just very simply put a "T" in the center of the center run for the pump connect, the pump will hold it up, the tube between the pump and mister run is 3"...

Now it's time to figure out how many misters and ware they gonna go.... i used 14 reds and 2 spinners just cause i had them, you could use 6 or 8 of either or.... he he he... as a note, if ya get the Black misters, get a BIG pump, they need major pressure....
Make sure you get the little tool for making holes just for the misters, they are cheap and you WILL need it.....





time for the "Extra's" again..... the misters have got to reach every single spot.... you can turn the misters themselves too, but not till ya can pump water to see where they will spray! lol....

To make the mister holes with the mister hole tool.... simply squeeze the sides around ware you are gonna puncture the hole while using the tool's point in a twisting motion push till it goes through.... pull the tool out and try to screw the mister in, if it's too hard use the tool itself, has a built in mister wrench, lol, works



here's what it looked like when done...

Almost there, time to polish it off...... get the pump set dead center (the pumps out flow hole i mean) and connect the mister contraption... Now is a good time to add the Weather stripping to the top rim of the jug, little extra waterproofing, if there are any holes in the handles now is a good time to seal them up too.....



The Black 1/2" irrigation tubbing is way strong enough to hold it all together and heavy enough when full of water to keep the pump in place too, if you use a pump without a suction cup stand you will want to stick it in center with silicon at least one day before you put the mister contraption on it.....

At this stage it is ready for testing.... almost, if ya want water all over the place go ahead! We still got one thing to do..... cut and put the neoprean plugs in!....

I could only find Neoprean plugs that were 1" thick, didn't matter how wide just all were 1" thick.... soo.... i bot a bunch of 2" and proceeded to cut them in half thickness wize, got 2 for 1 and what i needed... he he he ......



So now we take the time and get the plugs cut and put in there respective holes.........

After they are all in place it's time to get the finished cloner in place and filled up....... fill it to the point ware the lowest misters are just outa the water, thats a good full range... if ya fill it with anything less then RO water let it sit for a day before you fire it up... i personally use tap water (all i have) and let it sit for a few days before, but thats just my preference.....

Now we can test the beast......

***** GET WET TIME *****

Get your mister install tool inhand before you fire it up and lift the lid, you'll need it to aim the misters....
now plug in the pump and open the lid.....
use the tool and make sure all the misters are spraying in a full coverage of the hole perimeter, it'll probably take a bit and you'll get wet for sure, but need.....



Time to give yourself a pat on the back, YOU DID IT ..... he he he, and it's just that easy......

***** NEXT UP *****

time to get the clones cut, i try to use big arse clones.... soo..... my clone techniques is the same as all just round the 6th to 9th nodes, it really doesn't matter ware ya cut them as long as you scar or skin the end for more water intake, i find the roots will grow anywhere on the stem when in the cloner with the Growzyme mix.....

anyhow, i cut my clone and trim alittle then put them in a KLN Rooting Horomone mix for 1 to 3 hours, no longer, tends to over fert them and they take longer to root...



There's 53 of em soakin.....



K, while those are soaking it's time to get the cloner water ready..... time to PH it to 5.0, it will rise daily so start there.... I personally use Growzyme in my water at a 1/8 recomended use, any more seems to over fert the stems and they just bulge out and not send roots out...
Hence why just using water is perfect.....



Few Hours Later.....

Time to trim the clones and get them into the cloner, best keep the pump off as you will be taking out the neoprean plugs to fillem with clones...

You can trim how ever you want, i have done them with no trimming to total success, but i prefer to cut the leaves in half and all but 4 shoot locations, once again, just my preference....







All of the stems should be about 1 1/2" to 2" down, No Further! trust me when i say no further, they will be growing roots everywhere, they will even be coming out the tops of the neoprean plugs! keep the parts you wanna root small, harder to repot otherwise.....

So there ya have it, there's how to make the cloner and how to use it, as per my own experience, you don't need rooting hormone or anything else, good old mother nature's water works awsome.... just a little slower.... but still works...



The pump will be run 24/7, no off period...

keep your lights a good distance above the clones for the first couple'a 3 days, then you can lower them....

using the KLN rooting hormone for pre soak and the Growzyme in my water mix has produced 100% success in my last cloner so i exspect it in this one too....

It's just that easy!..........

So we shall see..... I will keep daily updates to see.........

***** SEE THE SMOKING GAGER......GET IT *****

So here we go with the Pics of Day 1.... of coarse nothing happenin, lol






Check out my grow if ya want https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/107075-ak-47-x-super-silver-29.html#post2258863

hey dude killer cloner so i was wondering, im a total noob but could you fully veg and flower these plants in the cloner if you wanted?

using one this size for veg and flower might be a bit iffy.... to many plants and wieght for the space to allow past clone i think, but i could be wrong.....

Dude, serious cloner! Nice work

that thing is awesome!

Thankz all.....

so here be Day 2.....

i must also say that i have the T5's on 18h squedual 20" up and have only misted the clones twise daily during lights on with a water and weak Power Thrive mix.... No clear dome and No No-Wilt used... had to adjust the PH tonight too....look how they already bend towards the light...

Good day good day.....

Day 3

No roots starting yet but they will come round day 5 and 6 if my water has a weak enough nuttz mix
(stems will bulg out like big Calises or pimples and Not shoot roots out in search of food if they are over furtilized via the mix!)
(also why just water is good!)
all looks good for sure, had to ph down this morn and this afternoon, added a little fresh water this afternoon cause i over ph'd it, lol,
this setup doesn't waste no water!

Why do you run your pump 24/7. Is there a reason for this? I thought they need some time to rest from the h2o and just dry out a little. Can you explain this a little. +rep

good job pretty nice i will be building a bigger one soon cause the one i got is to small how do those black sprayers work cause i was gonna use them on my last diy project but i just ended up using the red ones almost the same as the ones u used but anywho thats just regular irrigation line like u get from any hardware store ? thanks.. widow87

well bricktown73, i really started the pump at 24 on cause of the fact true mister heads would need to be on all the time, or so i i've read, and widow87's Q will be answered too, i originally tryed the hole system with the black headed misters, that produce a tru mist.....but those frigin things need Major pressure to use, so i changed to the red ones, hell, my 264 gph pump only made those black ones drip!....i just kept the same 24 on for the pump and it works good as long as the water mix is staight water or vary weak furts, and i mean way weak...
pretty sure the reason to time the pump is to stop over ferting and foarce roots, but if you use a just water mix on 25/7, they will shoot roots looking for food (fertz).....

ookkk....

Day 4.....

lights lowered to 7" over canapy and no more misting.....all looking good for sure.....