Cloning 101

[Zandor]

There are 2 types most people will make them selfâ??s. One is just a bubbler and uses aquarium air stones and air pump. The idea is for the bubbles to rise and pop raising the humidity and feeding the stems that hang above the water when the bubbles reach the top and they do.

The second one is a little more detailed but has a greater success rate over all. It's a true Aeroponics sprinkler system. You build a sprinkler system out of PVC pipe and use a power head and drip sprinklers to spray the underside of the lid with water (you drill out the inside of the drip sprinkler you do not want a limiter.). You do need to seal the tank to keep it from leaking. Rubber foam works well with wing nuts with bolts. You do feed them with a very week nutrient mix I use the GH 3 part w/B-1 or superthrive. I have had great success like 98.5% from the last 500 clones I took to give out this year alone. Only 74 at a time but I keep them going year round. I change my mother plant every year or so just to keep things fresh and healthy.

Light for clones I prefer fluorescents. The like the 125w Cool bulbs (6500k) with just a bat wing and Mylar on the walls. The Lights of America 65w security light they sell at HD works well too. You just get better light coverage with the 125w bulb from the hydro store.

[Zandor]

You will need
Rootech cloning gel
Anti-Wilt concentrate
SuperThrive
B1
GH 3 part nutrient mix
Sharp scissors
To find a clone on your mother plant look for a long stem about 5â?� long or so. Longer is better and a thicker stock is better. You can clip at the main stock but itâ??s not necessary. Some of the best clones are taken from the tip of a stock or stem. This will leave a stem to grow 2 more clones for you to take later. The mother here just gave up about 70 clones last weekend so the one pictured is a little thin but will still root in 7 â?? 10 dayâ??s and soon catch up to the others.

[Zandor]

Next you cut the bottom stem of the clone about 45° angle.

I like to trim off the larger leaves at this point they will only tip the clone over and bend the stem before it gets a chance to root and get stronger. The idea is stress free as much as possible.

Dip the whole clone into the Anti-wilt mixture, they say you can spray it but I like dipping you use less in the end and it coats better. I use the bottom of a water bottle cut off as my bowl to dip in.

[Zandor]

For me I then place my clone in one of the rubber foam plugs and dip it into the lid of the gel (you should not dip directly into the gel, cross contamination may occur.) put the plug back into the Aero-cloner and in 7 â?? 10 dayâ??s you should see roots starting to form. They will first look like little white bumps growing from the stems.
Thatâ??s about it for cloning. Itâ??s not hard just a little common sense and donâ??t be afraid to make mistakes. Youâ??ll learn more from a honest mistake then you ever will with success.
You do not need to have a humidity dome over the clones. Thatâ??s what the Anti-wilt is for. Itâ??s like a food wax that is used in produce and vegetables to keep them fresh and looking good for us to buy. HD sells a product I canâ??t remember the name but itâ??s a wax product that you can spray on leaves to keep them clean. I have not tried it yet but I bet itâ??s the same thing. I just donâ??t like sprays too much waist.

[Zandor]

You can see in the first picture those are the white bumps where the roots will sprout.

These roots are from only 7 day's in the aero-cloner

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A few shots of the aero-cloner used.

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The sprinklers cover the area quite nicely. Plenty of air and water is what makes the roots grow so quickly.

The underside pictures show good water coverage over all 74 cuttings.

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Clone #47 day 9 - You can compare the root growth with the same clone number from day 7 (top middle picture)

The next one is day 9 clone #40, again the root growth in 48 hours is amazing. Day 7 picture is top row picture 3 for comparison.

[Zandor]

Day 11 picture 1 is clone number 47 and clone 40 is picture 2.

Picture 3 is the underside of the first 34 clones taken only 11 day's before. 32 out of 34 of the clones taken 11 day's ago now have roots well established.