==HELP NEEDED CHEAPO AERO CLONER CONCERNS==

[aaprime]

Hi everyone, let me preface this by saying ive googled and searched the threads, but still have some concerns, about my friends cheapo aero tub.

The basics: 4 10inch bubble wands, water heater preset to 78 degrees, in PH balanced distilled water in a rubermaid tub. my friend has the bubbles on 24/7 and the clones are under a 6500k CFL .

The good news:
The cuttings are looking pretty healthy, in fact better than when they were on the plant. they are greener and standing up straight, going toward the light.

however i am concerned because its been a week (today is day 7), and i see little to no signs of rooting. according to all ive read the conditions are right for rooting, and i should have seen some signs by day 5. the tub is completely opaque and little light can get in the water. (only through holes made for the tubing and the heater, which he covered the gaps as much as possible with black plastic.

The cuttings should be proper enough, they are about 4 inches long each with at least a node submerged in the bubbles. i re cut them underwater at a 45 degree angle and everything as to prevent that air bubble thing from happening in the stem.

Sorry for my ignorance but i would really appreciate any feedback from the experienced peeps out there. Im hoping that by day 10 ill see some positive signs. Please share your thoughts on this. The model i based mine off of was that one from overgrow.com.

[aaprime]

also, i failed to mention but you probably guessed that the cuttings are suspended basically just above the water line (some are partially submerged) and in holes drilled thru the lid of the rubber maid. theres a total of 18 cuttings.

[aaprime]

heres a basic idea of what hes working with, i forgot to draw the light above but dont worry about that its a bright 6500k CFL :D

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t276/5tt5tt/1.jpg


bump!! :rasta:

[aaprime]

bump! thoughts: maybe the 24/7 bubbling is too much for the roots?

[aaprime]

day 9 and still no signs of roots or bumps can anyone post a pic or describe what i should be seeing>? the cuttings look very healthy and have some new growth which is good

[sky valley]

I have always used a bubble cloner, but untill I started using a b vitamin supplement with the cloner it would take sometimes 14 to 21 days to see roots. Now with Super thrive in the cloner I usally see roots in 4 to 5 days. Also did you us a cloning supplement after you took the clones? How did you take the clones, and what part of the plant did you take the clones from, top, bottom ,middle of plant?

[aaprime]

i did not give the clones any supplements after cutting. the mother is LST'd to the max and the cuttings are from all over her, so its hard to describe what section they are from.

the cuttings appear to be healthier and more robust every day. i have some shultz TakeRoot powder but i decided not to dip any of the cuttings in prior to loading them in the tub.

theres about 3 gals of water in the res. if i were to add a vitamin b supplement how would i go about doing that? i may be better off waiting and letting them root without...

[Chronic Chrissy]

What's your light cycle?

http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/99457-why-should-i-turn-out-lights.html

[bongerstonerd00d]

Drop water temp to 68-70

pH to 5.8

Water level just BELOW clones.

Superthrive at 1/4 strength if you got some. It contains B1

If you have any Antiwilt, spray leaves.

Pray to the clone gods..........

If ya got a pic of this setup, post it. No matter what, we'll get these clones rooted...(I hope)......What is the strain ?


Good luck and happy easter,
b0nger

[aaprime]

thanks for the feedback. ill unplug the heater to drop the temp, as for the pH ill have to approach that tomorrow. can i get superthrive and pH down at wall mart(preferably) / home depot?

dont got a camera right now but i can draw something on paint if needed. i drew the setup in paint the link is up there in one of the posts.

as for the strain its a bag seed female, =\ she was a sexy momma tho theres a total of i believe 18 cuttings in the bucket

[aaprime]

lights are on 24/7

[aaprime]

thanks chrissy, found your link to be helpful i can plug the aero tub into my veg box and it will be on the timer for 18/6

thought that clones rooted faster at 24/0 but that info not so accurate..

[Weedhound]

hey bonger with your clones do you use cloning gel? I believe aaprime said he skipped the rooting powder or gel.....is that correct?

[aaprime]

yes thats correct. i do have this shultz takeroot powder, can i use it?

[Weedhound]

I think you are supposed to use it before you put them in the cloner....sorry I know nothing about cloning.....except to use the cloning powder, lol. There is good knowledge in the people answering on this thread.....I'm sure one of them can tell you. I will check back because now I am curious. Good luck.

[aaprime]

thanks, yeah i might try it next time but i thought it would be kinda pointless to dip them in the powder cuz it would just wash away in the res after an hour or two. might be good to have in the water but who knows...

[Weedhound]

just reread your ph questions.....don't use anything for fish to adjust ph (walmart). In a pinch you can use distilled white vinegar to lower ph and baking soda to raise it but you will want to buy some ph up and ph down (for plants) when you can. I don't know if you can buy Superthrive at those places.....you might google walmart/home depot and see.

[aaprime]

yeah looks like ill need to by a pH meter as well.

[Weedhound]

You can get by with ph TESTERS for fish if you don't mind the hassle of them....very cheap....but not the ph adjusters. Sounds like the only mistake you made was skipping the rooting powder.....and I'm not even sure that is a mistake because cloning is not my thing. How about some photos if you can?

[aaprime]

sorry but i dont have a camera, did you see the paint file i drew its in a link above in one of the first posts

[Weedhound]

Hey cool....should be easy to reset heater to a lower temp. If you can move the thermometer I would put it more towards the bottom and the middle of your setup....it will read water temp more accurately than where you have it. Otherwise looks good.....lots of nice air circulation.

[aaprime]

yeah good call on the thermometor, the cuttings started to look better the day i put them in there, each time i look at them they are taller and ive knowticed some new leafs emerging today, im thinking they are gonna pull through hopefully by day 10. im gonna refrain from checkign them untill then to keep the roots in the darkest environment possible.

[Weedhound]

well my hydro guy showed me a cloner that he had......clear all the way through and he had no trouble rooting in it except for algae concerns. If the cuttings look happy by all means keep them going. I will check back and see how they do. Good luck. :)

[aaprime]

nice. i coated the rubbermaid to make it completely black on the outside with high gloss black spray paint. its water proof but i still only did the outside incase the water could break it down i dont want that stuff in the clones

[aaprime]

also i cover the light leek areas with black plastic to keep it really dark in the tub

[bongerstonerd00d]

'HOUND..........HAPPY EASTER TO YA.........


Yeah, I use Clonex Gel, and Anti Wilt Spray, and the Clonex rooting solution stuff in mah rez. But, you can still root w/o all the above, just takes longer has been my experience.


aap.....I am going to say that you can get Superthrive at a Wally Mart in gardening section. Its a very popular product, and with spring just around corner I am figuring they would have some in stock. I get mine at a Southern States store, but they are normally only around places like Bum Fuck Egypt where I live, so if you are a city dweller, I'd go to Wally's, Home D, Lowes, etc........and check gardening section.

Just re-read real quick.......Yes rooting powder/gel before you put in cloner.....and if you cannot find pH down, use white vinegar until ya get some. If pH is too low (which is unlikely), use baking soda to raise.


Keep us posted, we'll get ya sum rooted clones.......

b0nger

[aaprime]

after changing the light schedule to a sloppy 18/6 from 24/0 (dont have an extra timer to use) the cuttings have shown some rooting action!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: only a few out of all 20 have roots (today is day 10) and they are starting to lose some leaves. they primary shoots are growing kinda weird but they look good enough. im hoping to see roots on the longer cuttings by the weekend, and hopefully start planting the smaller cuttings which i hope will be ready :pimp: thanks for all the feedback ya'll im sure it will make the next round 2x as fast. Ill let you know the further progress and please feel free to use this thread as a discussion for the so called DIY cheapo aero cloner. this thing was so easy to make i highly suggest giving it a shot yourself!!

[Weedhound]

Good job! Let us know how they do. :)

[aaprime]

for sure... they are going into a rubber-CFL-maid, to veg for a month then straight to flower for a sort of SOG approach. all the while recloning and vegging momma!

[aaprime]

hey everyone, the roots have emerged on all but the biggest cuttings, that being said how long should the roots be before i take em out?

[Weedhound]

no clue.....

[Scarlet Sky]

they can be planted as soon as you see roots.

[Chronic Chrissy]

make sure you are gentle with those fragile roots!

[aaprime]

thanx! good news. these roots look very fragile! ill look up some transplanting methods that are extra gentle. post if ya got em, ill do it once i find anything.

[Chronic Chrissy]

If there is only a few roots growing strait down pack your pots you are moving them into. Water them down(water temp room temp or slightly warmer) and add more soil if you want then water again(great time to check and adjust pH). Let them drain for about 10 minutes. Poke a hole in the soil with a pencil or something as big as needed for the roots to not touch the soil on the way down(prevents damaging the roots). Once the clone is at the level you want hold it very still while you push the dirt around the stem in and down a little to hold the plant up and support it without compacting the soil too much or breaking the roots, but enought so that it can stand up pretty good. The soil isn't right up to the roots so be careful. In a few days the roots will reach the soil and a few days later it should be pretty stable if you haven't damaged any thing.

If you have a knot of roots starting then you kinda have to do the same thing but dig a hold and gently dump moist soil in around it's roots, but keep the plant and roots very still til you compact the soil again by the stem to support it.

Be careful and gentle and your plants will reward you, be sloppy or slip and your plants will forgive you but it will take as much time as the damage done. At this point you can sigh with relief because the survival rate greatly improves and it's time to grow quality plants instead of just keeping them alive.

Good luck.

[aaprime]

Thanks chrissy and everyone for returning with your advice. today is day 20, and over the course of today and last night i have transplanted 2/3rds the clones to their homes. for some reason the remainder are still not showing roots so im hoping by the next couple of days they will cuz the tops not looking so good. as for the transplanted ones im taking care to keep them a bit moist for the first 24 hours cuz my climate is VERY dry and the rubbermaid just makes it worse, the air is well circulated.

im guessing (hoping) within the next 3-5 days the planted babies will be showing signs of improved health in their new home.

[aaprime]

is it harder to clone from a plant which is small and bushy compared to a more traditional grown plant, cuz my momma was LST so much that i think maybe my cuttings were small, they had plenty of nodes in the length of the stem that i took the leaves off, and the stem was thick enough to have a distinct xylem (i think thats the term) but idk... i need to get a digital camera.