Spirit of Bear

First I dump four liters of blown off water into the propagator……

Then I measure an additional liter of water,,,, add one teaspoon of “Rootech” cloning gel to that liter of water,,,, mix it up well,,,, turn on the air pumps,,, and pour it into the propagator………


You should see a foaming of the surface as air breaks through……..


Let it run for five minutes, and check to make sure that water droplets are moistening the complete bottom side of the lid……..


You should see an even distribution of water droplets much like this………


Cut an appropriate number of cuttings, and place them in a container of tap water (I push them under),,,, this will allow the chlorine in the tap water to sanitize them as they maintain good tugor while waiting for further attention…..

Cut off any unwanted leaves…. I leave a few at the top,,,, how few depends upon my mood at the time, lol…. I think this is an area of personal preference,,,, but trim them so they aren’t overlapping each other and giving mold an area of opportunity…..


Using a razor knife (or scalpel if you have one), visualize where the stem would onle be about four to five inches long,,, and starting about ¾” above that point,,, slice diagonally down the shaft of the stem…… Immediately dip the end in water, and place it into the running propagator…….


Do the same until you have filled up all of the holes in your propagator,,, and let it run for ten minutes to be sure your cuttings have been wetted down ……..


Lift the lid, and make sure that all of your cuttings are receiving solution,,,, it’s easy to tell,,, they will have drops of water retaining at the tips……… Top off the propagator to within an inch of the tips of the cuttings…. It is important that you not allow the tips to touch the water, as this could cause dampening off……..


Slide the propagator under whatever light source you are using,,, and reattach the air hoses………


Mist, and attach the humidity dome (in this case the 19 liter container),,,, cover the top with something opeaque to allow only dispersed light to enter the propagator (I use Reflectix, with a layer of black gardening matt)….


I use the same timer that I have my Mom on (19/5) for the propagation chamber,,,, that allows the cuttings to not be under any stress from light cycle changes….

I start the air pumps on a 24/7 cycle for the first few days,,,, then switch to 30min on,,, an hour off cycle to encourage root growth…….

I try to not mist the plants directly,,,, rather mist the dome instead to increase humidity….

I’ll switch to a water only solution in two or three days (and Ph balance it then),,,, I figure the cuttings will have had ample opportunity by then to absorb the rooting solution and I don’t want to plug their pours up with it…….

I should be seeing nubs within eight days…….. At that point I’ll start adding rooting stimulator, and a low level of nutes…….

The only things that have ever caused me problems using this system is air stones getting plugged up (guess I should change them more often between clonings),,, and having misted the clones directly (mold)…….I fully expect to see six clones emerge from the propagation chamber ready to be transferred to whatever medium you wish…….

I use hydroton stones,,,, and allow the roots to reach the bottom of the propagator before transfer (three weeks),,,, but if planting in soil, vermiculite type substance, or rock wool, they should be transferred immediately upon seeing nubs form, as the roots will be damaged if you allow them to develop…..

I’ll post as things progress…….. I’m sure that I’ve missed something,,, so if you have questions,,,, let em fly……..

Bear

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snwbrdr

ah yes clones are always a fun battle. I have tried making a couple setups. but the method i found to work the best is, stick them in a cup of water. I had 100% sucess. simplistic seemed to work the best.

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Current Grow journal!

NewGrowth

I'd like to see how that ez-cloner works out. Thanks for a great thread DF!

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Remember the 20's? NO???!!! heh well there was a thing called "prohibition" back then! Well its just a good thing that we don't have ANYTHING like that going on now! I guess we learned from our past . . . . . .
"Man Smokey the bear is way more intense in person." - Mitch Hedburg

DarkFox

Welcome Guys, glad you could join in.
Me too NewGrowth!! High hopes for it, but I'm also liking the simplicity of some of the others we're trying...

Great kick off Bear. I really dig the height adjusters..

Also interesting to see another person not using rooting hormones... Just two questions, if you could tot it up roughly, how much the system itself cost to set up? Also, when I've played with bubbler buckets before I quit them because they were too noisy for me, how's this for noise?

Sorry for my delayed start folks, I had to go to work today after thinking yesterday I wouldn't have to. It's too late for me now to start the drilling and hammering to get the clone cab ready, so I'll have to start tomorrow night.

Spirit of Bear

Thanks DF;

The height adjusters are really nice when you deal with cuttings of differing sizes, as you want to keep the depth of the stems pretty consistent in order to bring the water level up to within an inch or so…. They also add a tremendous amount of stability to the cuttings, as they are fixed into position,,, and don’t spin around into unusual positions….

The Rootech is a rooting hormone,,, but I remove it after two days (tonight was the second day)………

As I recall,,,, the containers were about $7 for the pair,,, the stones were about $8 for the four of them,,, the hose was about $5,,, the check valves were a couple of bucks apiece,,, and I used left over Reflectix, and tape….. The pumps were about $20 each,,,, but can be used later when they go into buckets,,, so no real extra cost associated with them,,, or the extra lid that transforms into a double pot holder for veg (and flower if you want to keep them in 19qt containers……. All told,,, the “extra” cost is less than $25 for the setup…..

The noise level depends upon which air pumps I use…. The WisperAir pumps (wallyworld) are much quieter than the Maxima pumps…. With the WisperAir pumps I don’t hear it outside the cabinet (as long as I place them on a rubber mat),,,, but the Maxima pumps I can hear at the door to the room….. In my case it matters little, as it is setup in a closed of portion of the house that only I visit………

I swapped out the water tonight, and placed them on 30 min on,,, 1 hour off for the air pumps…….

I went a bit overboard with the Ph down,,, and ended up at 5.0 Ph,,,, but I expect that to climb over time,,, so no big deal…… I can always swap out the water again if it stays too low……..

I do remove the humidity dome for a bit each evening,,, and will begin leaving it off for longer periods of time within a few days……..

Bear

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deviant

I cut my RW trays into the biggest single strips that will fit into a bucket at once(usually 4 or 5)then just give it a few sharp jerks(after re-dipping)until the excess water comes out.Then maybe a quick squeeze on any blocks that retain too much water.

It's much quicker this way and also it saves the problem of them all falling over on the uneven propagator surface.Probably common sense but just thought I'd mention it anyway.

Have a nice holiday mate,
dev

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"And all Gods'angels beware-And all you judges beware-Sons of chance,take good care-For all the people not there-I'm not afraid anymore." J.D

Spirit of Bear

Day 4 (Bubble Cloning);

I removed the dome (air pumps off) while I tended to my other plants tonight…. They did just fine retaining tugor…. I’ll take it off for as long as they show no signs of wilting tomorrow,,, and see where they are……. The sooner they can do without the dome the better,,,, it will increase their chances of avoiding the dreaded mold,,, and increase their desire to pop out some roots……..

The Ph raised overnight to 5.5 (from 5.0),,, so it appears that they will climb the Ph ladder just fine….

Bear

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Spirit of Bear

Day 5 (Bubble Cloning);

I removed the humidity dome at 7:00pm tonight,,,, and at midnight they are still doing just fine….. I had expected them to be a bit on the stressed side by 10:00,,,, but the humidity in the air is hovering around 60%,,,, and I think that helped quite a bit….

This pic is right before the air pumps kick back on,,,, they have been without a water bath for almost an hour (55 min to be exact),,, and seem to be doing just fine……



The Ph has now risen to 6.0 (from 5.5 last night)…. The rise should slow a bit,,, but I expect to have to Ph down them pretty soon…….

I’ll be out of town tomorrow (rising before the cubs do),,,, and may not be able to get back to them until Sunday morning,,, so I was a bit stressed as to whether to throw the dome back on,,,, or too leave it off….. I went with leaving it off… If the get stressed,,, I’ll mist the dome, and stick it back on first opportunity…….

Bear

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DarkFox

Thanks Bear, you've certainly got things nailed down and dialled in eh?

I've had some unexpected visitors come over to stay, welcome, but unexpected, who are staying until Sunday evening so I won't be able to start till Sunday or Monday now...

I think Bear will be done, dusted and rooted by then!

Spirit of Bear

Day 6 (Bubble Cloning);

Thanks DF; It’s getting pretty old hat by now…. I t sure wasn’t the first few times I tried it…. I was like a mother hen worivating about her chicks….. As easy as I find it now,,, I remember my early tries at propagation,,, and they were ugly, lol…. I think the trick is find what works for you, in your given circumstance… While bubble cloning is fantastic if you’re blowing bubbles in hydroton,,, just sticking them in dirt works just as well (without the hassle) for growing in dirt, and close attention to when nubs appear is required if you plan on using rock wool, or the roots will be too large to slide comfortably into the cubes…..

No problem with having removed the humidity dome,,, they look just fine,,, they get just a bit limp by the end of the hour off,,,, but rejuvenate within a few minutes during the half hour of the bubbler running……..

The Ph seems to have stabilized at 6.0 for the time being…..

No nubs just yet,,, but I’m expecting to see them within a few days….

Bear

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