Clones being exposed to air?

I have cloned with peat pellets in a dome with no problems.

I just switched to a home made bubbler (from info i gathered here :thumbsup:)

First attempt with the bubbler w/no humidity dome failed, but i think my temps were getting too low at night.

anyway my question is: People say not to let the fresh cut get exposed to air (because it could get air in the roots?). I was under the impression that the cuts are supposed to hang in the air and let the bubbles in the water below tickle them?

This is opposed to having a fresh cut immeaditely put in rooting hormone then dunked into the peat pellet.

I'm sorry if i am rambling, i hope that is clear.
I would appreciate it if somone could clarify. :D

You're talkig about what is called an 'embolism', which is when a bubble gets trapped within the plant's vascular tissue, analogous to a clogged artery in an animal.

This is not as common as the texts would have you believe.

The best way IMHO to prevent this is to give your donor plants [mothers] a heavy watering an hour before you take cuttings, so that they are just as plump and turgid as can be, already saturated with moisture, and get them dipped into your rooting hormone as SOON as you make the final cut.

You should be fine as soon as you stabilize the temperature of your cloning apparatus.

Thanks for the info Stinky...

I did dip the clones in the root hormone but i didnt know if it would do any good since the clones are just hanging in the air in the bubbler.

You would think it would just run off or get washed off by the bubbles hitting the stems?

You can use either a heat mat and set the bubble cloner on that or get a small aquarium heater to heat the water to 79-80F and that should help with your clones and keep the temps up at night...