The art of cloning

Tap water. 6.0 Formulex at 1/2 strength. Foliar feed with formulex at 1/4 strength. Clonex. Diagonal cut, scrape 1 inch of the dermal tissue lightly with a scalpel. Dome on for 10 days. Half open 2 days. Open 2 days. Pot on. 2 week fully rooted clones with about 6 inches of root mass. 100% success rate.

I have to say the biggest single factor in healthy cloning though is to take a good cut in the first place. Bigger cuts root faster and better in my experience. They need that extra set of leaves, that the cut can cannibalise as it is rooting, So I like to take cuts with 3 sets of leaves, with the bottom one as a sacrificial battery. Another great tip is if you can take a cut where the area to be rooted contains a node, you cut the node off and those areas are excellent sites for root growth with the growth hormones already present there.

I don't mind cloning in the conventional way but the aero cloner seems like the most convenient, cut it and leave it
I'd like to try the bubbles version to see how it compares to the sprayers.

I've found a good 12lt bucket it's square has a really sturdy lid it's perfect... But, it's only 12lts/4 gallon, is that big enough for the stability of the nutrient pH?

Star Dog said:

Sorry would you mind expanding on that I can't form a picture using cut hose to hold them?

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This was my first time cloning I used Cinnamon on 3, Fresh Aloe Vera gel straight out of the leaf on 3 and Clonex rooting gel on 3 more then nothing on the others, I put all of them in the measuring glasses you see in the pic kept them in the Veg room with their mothers fixing to pot up tomorrow on the Solo cups... The Clonex started showing roots in 14 days the others took 18 days changed the root riot soultion at day 10... Just done the last 4 you see on Saturday.

Star Dog do your worry about getting a air bubble in the stalk using your method???

It seems to me that a lot of DIY cloners have problems, mostly leaking, If you are gonna DIY, I suggest trying to keep your lid below or inside of the reservoir as this is where most leaking occurs.
As for nutrient pH, IMHO, nutrients in an aero are not needed & may lead to more problems. I find non PH'ed tap water to work best for non rooted cuts. I've been using an aero continuously for a perpetual for the last 6 or 7 yrs with 100% success. I would say my cloner is one of the best pieces of grow equipment I own, for ease of use & reliability.

GL

Star Dog said:

I don't mind cloning in the conventional way but the aero cloner seems like the most convenient, cut it and leave it
I'd like to try the bubbles version to see how it compares to the sprayers.

I've found a good 12lt bucket it's square has a really sturdy lid it's perfect... But, it's only 12lts/4 gallon, is that big enough for the stability of the nutrient pH?

Click to expand...

I don’t bother phing my bubble cloner Water. Roots in 14 days. You can change the water once a week. Never had an issue. My small one only holds 6 litres of water. It has 4 holes.

Star Dog said:

You do air cloning as well, I put a airstone in my tank today when I checked it and hour later I noticed that the lid had been sprayed by the bubbles rising and bursting, this gave me the idea to try it out as a air cloner...
A few questions if you don't mind, do you have the clone stem submerged or above the water/feed so that the bubbles bursting are watering/covering it.
I've some neoprene collars I could just float but maybe the bubbles bursting is a better idea?

Thanks SD

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At the time they were above the water, but I've since started using micro pumps along with the air stone and get better results. I run them in a mild bleach and soap solution overnight to clean them. They can be disassembled which is nice. It turns out in a water based system the stems need to be buffeted enough that the outer layer begins to wear away for roots to most easily form. The bubbler will work but is improved with either a water current directly on submerged stems, or pump with micro-sprayers.

Romeo7701 said:

This was my first time cloning I used Cinnamon on 3, Fresh Aloe Vera gel straight out of the leaf on 3 and Clonex rooting gel on 3 more then nothing on the others, I put all of them in the measuring glasses you see in the pic kept them in the Veg room with their mothers fixing to pot up tomorrow on the Solo cups... The Clonex started showing roots in 14 days the others took 18 days changed the root riot soultion at day 10... Just done the last 4 you see on Saturday.

View attachment 4713056Star Dog do your worry about getting a air bubble in the stalk using your method???

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No tbh it doesn't concern me, before reading about it i had struck 100s of cuttings from plants and left them sitting for 2/5 minutes before planting into perlite which is pretty much just moist air, I think an embolism in weed is another grandma's tale lol, but I don't mind being corrected?

You can take clones and store them in the fridge, I've got a bag in the fridge atm around 4 weeks and still looking viable, other members have successfully rooted refrigerated clones after weeks.

I picked up a perfect vessel, tough solid black plastic with a brand name Stanley £3.50

I've got a piece of 3mm corex ordered for the lid.

I dont know if it means anything but Ive had better success with the cheap triangle shaped stones compared to the cylinder type.Smaller amounts of air also did better.

The shape of the bubble stones was something that I wondering about, I've got a couple of the round ones about a 2" diameter, I've also got plenty of bubble tubing, I'll need to test both of maybe buy another more suited to the shape of the paint scuttle.

I'm not finished with the lid for my paint scuttle but I did put a couple of cuttings into a ice cream tub with a bubble stone last Saturday, I checked them this morning and they have 1/4 roots on them.

In another (Mackies ice cream tub lol) I put another two clones I'd roasted with undiluted run off and had abandoned them, just for the experiment to see if they could recover, well I don't believe it they are starting to recover and are showing root nodules.

Hopefully I'll get the odds and ends I need to finish my other one tomorrow, I'm wanting to make a decent job of it (no leaking or light to get in hence it not being finished yet.

The only think that kills my clones is contamination. Always take some cloning gel/powder out and clone and don't dip the main container, you will contaminate it.

Always clean your gear very well before cloning. Clean your tub foam, everything really well with bleach. It is always some contamination that killed clones for me and since they are very critical to me i took it seriously and clean like mad and I barely ever lose a clone.

The last batch I cloned were late flower bottom stragglers that were droopy and yellow. They are green and rooted now, 1 loss out of 7.