Here's the location of a diagram of my system:
http://www.wilter.com/epicurus/.ppic...aerosystem.gif
anyhow, here's what I've done w/ it, and how well it's worked for me:
Total for the system:
Total Cuttings: 150
Total Rootings: 147
Fastest to root: 3 days
Slowest to root: 12 days
Totals using rooting hormone:
Total Cuttings: 90
Total Rootings: 87
Fastest to root: 3 days
Slowest to root: 7 days
Success Rate: 97.3% (maybe, I hate math, especially when I'm stoned)
Totals w/o hormone:
Total Cuttings: 60
Total Rootings: 60
Fastest to root: 6 days
Slowest to root: 12 days
Success Rate: 100%
What's this tell you? Well, it tells you that using hormone speeds it up, but the bad part about those figures is:
1 - 12 day plant had plenty of roots when taken out, I'd been gone for 5 days w/o checking on it, and wasn't able to change water (I like to change once the first rooted cutting comes out)
2 - Two of the three cuttings that died never had a real chance, I made a couple of bad cuts and threw them in there anyway, to see if they'd do anything. They were totally dead within one day of being placed in the system.
3 - The other 'cutting' that died was actually a seedling that'd had its stem broken off just below soil level durring a transplant. I had some free spots in the aero system, so I put it in there to see if it could do anything.
Tips and notes:
I use 1/20 to 1/10 strength 10-15-10 fertilizer, every time I change the water.
Don't fertilize the plants that you're taking cuttings from w/ a high N fertilizer, it will take them longer to root that way.
Change the water often, 4 days is maximum. After that, cuttings start taking longer to root. No idea why.
Also note that I concider a 'rooted cutting' to be a plant w/ at least two distinct roots at least 1/3" long, or at least 20 distinct roots beyond the 'bump' stage.