DIY Bubble Cloner Not working

[farmerguy]

Ok, so after reading about these diy bubble cloners and how good everyone

says they are I decided to give it a try. Its been seven days and 1 of the 4

I put in has gotten flimsy and fallen over. On 4 more that I put in 4 days

later, 2 of them are doing the same thing. None of them are showing any

signs of roots yet. What is going on with my little

ones? I did put some root hormone on the cuttings before I stuck em in the

cloner, although Ive seen people say its not needed. As for the water, its

pH was at around 7.5 this morning, I brought it back down to around 6. I

have 2 long air stones and one small airstone, mabee I dont have enough

bubbles?



So if anyone has any ideas on what might be going wrong please let me know. Thanks for any input!

[headshake]

when your cloner is running do the bubbles splash up and touch the bottom of the cuttings?

-shake

[farmerguy]

It was when I put them in, but now when I look I dont see water dripping off the

cuttings, but the bottem of the pads that they are in is wet.

[headshake]

i would definitely check on that!

also, are you using a humidity dome and misting them? what's your humidity and temp? lighting? water temp? any additives in the water?

i read yesterday that a ph of 7.3 is ideal for cloning. i'm trying to remember where and find it. lol.

[farmerguy]

No I am not using a humidity dome, read that one is not needed. I am misting them

about 3 times a day.

Temp is staying around 70 and the humidity is around 25.

No additives in the water. Just Rootatone(walmart root hormone) on the cuttings, but

most of that has washed off. A little still remains on the stems.

[farmerguy]

For lighting I am using 4x 2 ft. floresent grow lights from walmart, I forget what the watts for them are, they arent all that bright. Forgot to mention that in the above post.


Ok I added some water and now the bubbles are for sure splashing up on them again.

Within an hour they have stood back up and are looking ok again.


Should I be adding any additives to the water, if so what, and will it help em sprout

roots faster? Thanks for helping me out!

[headshake]

no worries! as far as the lighting, it will be fine for you clones, but do you have some other lighting source for veg/flower?

a humidity dome is not needed, but it probably would help.

you don't need to add anything to the water.

if they are standing up and appear to be okay then i would leave them be. just make sure to check the water level and make sure that it is splashing on the bottoms of the cuttings.

good luck!

-shake

[farmerguy]

Yeah I have other lighting for my veg/flower cycles, Im not worried about

that.

Thanks for the reply's.

[farmerguy]

Its been 12 days since I started my clones and still no signs of roots.

Some of the leaves are starting to turn brown on the ends, is this a bad sign?


Are there any ways to speed up the rooting process? I put a rooting

hormone on them but most of that got washed off.


I have cloned before, but never in a bubble cloner. The way I have been

doing it previously was by putting the cuttings in a plastic cup full of

spahgnum(spelling?) moss with root hormone on them. I would keep the

moss damp by misting a couple times a day. This way was sprouting roots

in a little over 2 weeks. I was hoping that this DIY Cloner would help speed

up the process.

[Lit Up]

Whats your water temps been at? Did you change the water or anything? Water should be on the warm side i think like 72-78, somewhere in between there. I lack a heating pad so mine take about 2 weeks a lil longer on the ones now, had 2 root in under 2 weeks the other 2 are still working on it.

Remember room temps do not vouche for water temps.....you need to check that out.

[Divestoned]

I run my cloner at 5.8 ph (as with all soiless systems)water temp 68-70 deg. PPM at 5-600.Dip the clones in rooting gel.I get root's in 3-5 days.

[Divestoned]

also...i dont agree with misting clone's.You can use anti-wilt (which you can get at the garden store) if you are afraid of wilting.

[farmerguy]

Whats your water temps been at? Did you change the water or anything? Water should be on the warm side i think like 72-78, somewhere in between there. I lack a heating pad so mine take about 2 weeks a lil longer on the ones now, had 2 root in under 2 weeks the other 2 are still working on it.

Remember room temps do not vouche for water temps.....you need to check that out.

My water temp is at around 68 to 69 degrees.

[LolaGal]

Its been 12 days since I started my clones and still no signs of roots.

Some of the leaves are starting to turn brown on the ends, is this a bad sign?


Are there any ways to speed up the rooting process? I put a rooting

hormone on them but most of that got washed off.


I have cloned before, but never in a bubble cloner. The way I have been

doing it previously was by putting the cuttings in a plastic cup full of

spahgnum(spelling?) moss with root hormone on them. I would keep the

moss damp by misting a couple times a day. This way was sprouting roots

in a little over 2 weeks. I was hoping that this DIY Cloner would help speed

up the process.



Take Jiffy pellet and put plant cutting with rooting hormone on it in Jiffy. Place in plastic tote with lid. Mist and put 1/8 inch water in bottom.

Put lid on and check daily if needed for more misting.....

Day 7 you will have roots........Sorry picture is so bad, but you can see the roots at Day 7 busting out the peat pellet.

[Lit Up]

^ Very interesting. BTW your temps seem fine I thought I was on the high side.

[Dreadscale]

farmerguy sorry to hear about your troubles!!

I have been using a bubble cloner for about a year now with excellent results.

The only time I had any problem was when my temp. got too high.
I had the cloner above a little Veg. area and the 4 100w. CFLs were heating the clone area.

I use no Hormones at all! I take cuttings, place in cloner, that is filled with just tap water. Presto about a week I got roots.

I start with cuttings about 1/4 inch into the water and at end of week just the bubbles are feeding them.

Good Luck!!!

[farmerguy]

farmerguy sorry to hear about your troubles!!

I have been using a bubble cloner for about a year now with excellent results.

The only time I had any problem was when my temp. got too high.
I had the cloner above a little Veg. area and the 4 100w. CFLs were heating the clone area.

I use no Hormones at all! I take cuttings, place in cloner, that is filled with just tap water. Presto about a week I got roots.

I start with cuttings about 1/4 inch into the water and at end of week just the bubbles are feeding them.

Good Luck!!!


Do some strains take longer then others to root possibly?

I was wondering about having the cuttings in the water a little bit too, I

might try that and see if it works any better.

[cigarettes42]

im curious? do you leach out your nutes for a week before taking cuttings untill your plant looks a pale or lime green. they say if you skip that step that the N in it could make it harder or take longer for cuttings to take root.

[farmerguy]

im curious? do you leach out your nutes for a week before taking cuttings untill your plant looks a pale or lime green. they say if you skip that step that the N in it could make it harder or take longer for cuttings to take root.

Im using some MG potting soil for my mothers that say it feeds for up to 3

months. Im not adding any nutes at this time and my plants are green as

can be. So no, I guess im not. I guess this might be what is making em take

longer. In the past doing it without the bubble cloner it took about 3 weeks

to get good roots. Right now im at 16 days and still not roots. I think I may

see some signs of roots but Ive been thinking that for a week and they still

havent popped out. I got some super thrive last night and some new bubble

stones. Im going to put in the stones today and change the water adding a

drop of the super thrive per gallon of water and see if it helps any. They

arent dead yet, but they arent looking all that good either. The leaves look

like they are starting to burn a little bit.

Also I noticed today that my lid my be letting light in. It is white and I didnt

tape it up to make it light proof, could this be affecting the rooting process?

The tub has been taped and made light proof, just not the lid.

[cigarettes42]

roots dont like light. also since your soil is time release you can leach out nitrogen by misting the shit out of your plants for a few days prior to cutting. just do it in the begining of your light schedule and let the big drops fall off before putting it under the light(magnifying effect). but i dont know if it helps after taking cuttings...

[farmerguy]

Alright, all is going good now. A couple days ago I changed my airstones out

and changed the water. I added a drop of superthrive per gallon of water

and made sure my cloner is 100% light proof.


Now I am starting to see little white dots appearing and the cuttings are

starting to look good and healthy again. I think within a couple days Ill have

good roots hanging.


Thanks for the help, I think this cloner will work very well now that I have

gotten the kinks worked out.

[cigarettes42]

good to hear your news! anyway you can post a picture of your diy cloner? i just bought an ez clone and kinda wish i just made one.

[detroitfish]

lets see some pics bro so we can all make one :thumbsup:

[cigarettes42]

lets see some pics bro so we can all make one :thumbsup:

hey i found this link. it dont tell you how to make one but by the pictures its pretty much self explanitory. now i regret buying my for $300 cause this guys looks like its exactly an ez-clone but without the fancy case(its rubbermaid). i just like to see other peoples diy's cause they are often creative and neat. also cheap and very effective!

http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/23400-cloning-101-a.html