building a good cloning machine!!??

[gaililee]

Does anybody have any info on how to build a cloning machine? I have several nice females aching for the bloom room!

[ToKnoIsToGro]

well, i would say the usual "check the FAQ's or use the Search feature", but i leave margin for the possibility you are making reference to an automated machine which will do everything from the clipping through time of substantial rooting, at which point you shall adjust lighting and perhaps commence fertilization regimen. I dont think you meant the latter.

[ShroomDr]

small plastic bin with a lid.
1" neoprene inserts
Pencil for tracing around neoprene
Exacto Knife for cutting holes in lid
Air pump & air stones.
Add water & liquid karma
Fin!

[KHAN]

I wanna build me a bubbler too, anyone in the UK have a good place to get a suitable tub?

[amstron]

buy a propagator you can get unheated ones for a couple o quid, but heated ones are a lil bit more, in UK you can get heated ones for £15. get some rockwool cubes and a 20 watt cfl light, a spray bottle for misting, and there you got yourself a cloning machine

[BOYZNUS]

I wanna build me a bubbler too, anyone in the UK have a good place to get a suitable tub?


A 5 GALLON PLASTIC BUCKET WORKS WONDERFUL

[slowthestone]

I prefer empty crystal light containers. Theres an ample supply of the things around here thanks to someone love of the stuff. I dig the transparency of them for being able to see roots develop, as well as garner the moisture of the mix.

These are 18 days from when I cut them from the momma.

[attachment=o71385]

[slowthestone]

This was day 2...

[attachment=o71386]

[Opie Yutts]

Hereâ??s what I did and it works great. It probably works as good as or better than the expensive professional ones. My clones are usually ready to plant in 10 days.

- 2, 3 gallon Rubbermaid containers with lids.
- air hose
- 4 air wands. The tube kind works best, not the stone kind.
- air pump with 4 outlets, one for each air wand.
- timer (optional)
- a roll of the thickest, most expensive duct tape you can find, or you can use several layers of cheap stuff. It just takes more time. I like the foil duct tape too.

On one of the containers wrap everything in duct tape to make it light proof, or at least mostly light proof, except the bottom. I tried painting mine with vinyl paint, but after 5 coats it still wasnâ??t light proof. Drill 12 to 24 holes in the lid, about 3/8 to 1/2 inch diameter. The hole size depends on your situation, but the idea is to make it big enough to be able to pull the roots through, but small enough not to let the plant fall through. Some people put inserts over the holes and that solves any hole size issues. Use a sharp bit and be careful or the hole will tear out and get bigger. Placing a block against the back side helps a lot. Also drill 4 smaller holes, just big enough to get the air line through. Try to space the air wands equally in the bottom, and hold them in place with some fishing weights or something. Yeah, use lead, it's great.

Fill the cheapo cloner with water and a little B-1 solution of your choice to within 2.5" from the lid. PH needs to be between 5 and 6 (5.2 preferred). Turn on your air and allow the solution to come to room temp. Get ready a cutting surface, some rooting solution, a spray bottle with cool water, and a razor blade or exacto knife. Test the cloner to make sure it's working properly. After 3 or 4 minutes the underside of the lid should be getting pretty wet, but not completely soaked. If it is completely soaked, lower the water level just a little.

Take your cuttings now, and cut them about 2 inches below some good branches that will hold the clone up when you put it in the hole you drilled. Take about 5% more cuttings than you want to end up with, just in case they don't all root (that's rare). Take them all at once and submerge them in a container with cold PH adjusted water.

Now start putting them in the cloner. Lay a clone on the cutting surface and gently scrap about 1â?� of the outer membrane off the bottom of the stem, on one side of the stem. Not too deep! Just remove the outer membrane. Unless the cutting is from the newest growth, you should see a woody white part when you have scraped deep enough. This is called scarification and it will yield many more roots. Cut off the last 1/8â?� of the stem at a 45 degree angle and dip the scared portion in a cloning solution of your choice, and immediately place it in the cloner. You should be trying to work fast for this part, so the clones you are putting in donâ??t start to wilt too much. Every now and then spray a little water on the ones that you put in. Some people use an anti-wilt solution, but Iâ??ve never needed any.

Once theyâ??re all in, cover any remaining holes with duct tape. I even cut slits in duct tape so I can cover the holes that have plants in them too. Iâ??m not sure this is necessary, because I donâ??t think it has to be 100% light proof, but better safe than sorry I guess. Now put the 2nd container over the top to make a greenhouse. Use one small fluorescent light tube for the lighting needs, and place it close to the top of the overturned container.

Keep the air on for the first 24 hours, then 5 minutes on and something like 30 off, but these timers are at least $90. You can also leave it on all the time if you donâ??t want to buy a timer. The cheapest that will work for this that Iâ??ve found is at Home Depot, etc., Intermac (I think) for about $20. You can do about 30 on and 45 off I think, which works great. The plants will do a little better with some off time.

When all the plants start to have roots it is time to begin hardening them. You could skip this step if you prefer to deal with them wilting to the point of near death when you plant them. Put a pencil under one edge of the lid and see if they can handle it. Watch closely and if they start to wilt too much, remove the pencil. You want a little wilt; this is what makes them hard and ready for the real world. Now remove the pencil and repeat with something bigger. Keep it up until you can remove the lid completely. When they have a couple inches of roots they are ready to face reality.

I have had great success with this method, and it doesnâ??t cost much. I hope this helps someone.

[Opie Yutts]

I dig the transparency of them for being able to see roots develop

A little light is OK, but remember light on the roots stunts growth.

[slowthestone]

A little light is OK, but remember light on the roots stunts growth.


I've noticed that, even though theres no photo cells, the roots tend to shy away from light as much as foliage bends over backwards to reach it.

I like that the roots have more vertical development in the process. I mean to only transplant them but one time. Doing that at 21 days.




I really dig being able to exchange info around here! :thumbsup:

[Opie Yutts]

slowthestone:
You are probably fine. I don't think that it will hurt much. I used to do it that way in sport drink bottles, and everything worked out fine. Once I started reading up, everyone said "no lights to the roots.", so I started using yogurt containers. I know what you mean about seeing the roots; that was really cool watching them first appear, and growing too.

some after thoughts about the cloner:
Most people say something like change the water every day for the first three days, then every three days after that. Some also worry about the temperature. I do neither and enjoy about a 99% success rate. I don't even check PH (once they're in the cloner) or anything else like that. I suppose if I wanted to follow everyone's advice I could get a 100% success rate, but to me it's not worth the effort. I just clone a couple extra, then I feel like crap when I have to throw good ones away.

If you want to worry about temperature, you can buy either an aquarium heater or chiller, and a floating thermometer. Too hot and they will mold and rot, too cold and they will hybernate and take forever to root or not root at all. Search the forums for the perfect temp, since I forgot what it is. I started out with a heater in the bottom, but found that I didn't need it. Seems like my grow room temp is fine for cloning. I recommend not buying one and see how they do first, unless the cloner environment will be unusually cold or hot.

Watch out for mold. I've never seen any under the lid, but sometimes it's appeared on top within the clones. Pick off anything that is completely dead. The mold usually appears where dead or dying stuff is touching the lid. It's always been towards the end, so I just picked it out and tried to get more air flow to them, and they were fine. I think there is an anti-mold spray you can use too.

The above reminds me of an important step I left out: You must take off the lid at least twice a day and blow some fresh air over the clones (with your lungs, not a hair dryer) and into the lid before putting it back on. This will help prevent mold and rot, and give them some nice fresh air and co2 to breath. Also give them 1 spritss with the spray bottle unless you feel there is already enough moisture in there. If you can do it more than twice per day it would be better. More often means less chance of mold, but I do it twice each day and rarely (but occasionally) get mold. After the first roots show up, this is also a good time to start hardening. If you have some time to spare, leave the lid off for a few minutes, just until you see them start to wilt. Don't walk away for long, because it won't take long to see signs of wilt.

Happy cloning.

[Opie Yutts]

You know, sometimes I put a lot of time and effort into my posts and never really find out if it helped anyone. I enjoy it, but only if people find it helpful.

This time, could someone please respond if they decide to try my method? It wouldn't take long for you to drop a reply here saying, "hey thanks, that was really helpful and it worked out great," or "you suck!!!, your advice stinks and all my plants died."

[KHAN]

Thanks Opie I come back to find this thread and learnt a lot ;)

[sacred haze]

The way that I clone is go out to wal mart and buy some rotting hormone and jiffy peat pellets with the greenhouse they come in. One clone per peat pellet and then in about 5 days they are rooted.

[Jdog7000]

Word.
I get 100% success with my Dyna Grow gel and Humidity Dome.
Sometime one wont root.
Most are rooted in about a week.

[busteruk7]

hello everyone i have a question about the bubbler
im gonna make one i have all the materials for it like tub and lid and a cheap aquarium air pump
but the question i have is , when you insert the clones in the holes in the lid should they be submerged in the water or just above it
thanks
cheers all :)

[busteruk7]

bump:)

[Opie Yutts]

You do not want the stems in the water, even though they will still root this way. Some people put a cutting in a glass of water and that's it. The point of the bubble cloner though is to make a cheap version of an aerocloner, which produces some fantastic results. The distance above the water is not critical, and you probably won't be able to get them all the same. Some lean over a little and this is ok. Some stems end up curling and putting themselves on the roof of the cloner and they root too. I try for about 1 to 2 inches above the water. You just want the little sprits from the bubbles popping to fly up onto the stems and eventually roots once they appear. This should happen throughout the space above the water. You need to have a little moisture ending up on the roof of the cloner or the water level is too low. Eventually some roots may grow into the water and that's ok too. Good luck. Glad your trying it. Keep us posted.

[chrisdl805]

just saying thanks Opie for your shared info, great advice!