Quote Originally Posted by Weedhound
Opie please DO pontificate on my questions and concerns. If you're not comfortable at this point with how much degradation we've added to poor MVP's wonderful thread feel free to hop over to my thread and pick it up over there.
Got a headache, 5th straight day. If itā??s with me when I wake up, that will be my new record. I donā??t want to go to bed yet, nor do I have a desire to watch TV, play a video game, read a book, or finish the new laundry sink. To be honest I donā??t really want to sit here thinking and writing about cloning, but thereā??s nothing else Iā??d rather do.

Alright then, I guess since itā??s a cloning thread Iā??ll dump it here then. Not that Iā??m a master or anything, but I have done it a few times and might have some insight. Hereā??s a thread where I explain fairly well my method to my madness: http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/70008-building-good-cloning-machine.html#post824423, and a couple posts down from that I elaborate a little.

Iā??ve changed several things since that post, but take a gander if you want to know how I do it, and read on if you want some thoughts on your questions:

How many inches or gallons of water do you put inā?¦
Mineā??s a 3 gallon res and I put in 2 gallons. Itā??s not critical as long as splashes from popping bubbles land on the roots occasionally. Ideally as much of the root as possible is suspended in air. I keep my water 2 or 3 inches below the lid. You do not want your cutting submerged, or you might as well drop it in a glass of water. For a good test, turn on your bubbles and close the lid. Come back in 5 minutes. The lid should not be completely saturated, but it should have most of it evenly covered in little drops. If it's not even, rearrange the air wands/stones.

whats the size of your airpump?
Mineā??s a Rena, and has 4 outlets and pumps 9 liters per minute. I donā??t recommend this brand, due to half of mine failing within a year, and nearly all the rest getting loud as sin. But hey, maybe itā??s a good brand and Iā??ve had bad luck. You could probably get away with a smaller 2 outlet pump, and either have 2 air curtains, or split the two outlets into 4 air curtains. Either way you get about the same amount of bubbles, but the latter distributes them more evenly.

Are you running both stones off one airpump?
Yes, and air wands or curtains, not air stones. 4 of em. Air wands will last forever and distribute bubbles more evenly since the air fills up a tube instead of a stone. Cut them to any length and gently scour after each rooting session. Air stones fall apart (at least for me) after a couple months underwater.

And what kind of a solution are you running in there?
Uh, interesting story there. OK not really. Normally I use about 4 drops of SuperThrive and a teaspoon of B1 of your choice, as long as itā??s formulated for getting cuttings going. I got some DipNGrow concentrate that Iā??m going to try in my solution next time. You do not need anything but plain water, but who knows? The other stuff might help. Too much though and their fried. Do not be tempted to start the grow nutes unless the amount is virtually nonexistent, or unless you plan on leaving them in there awhile before transplanting.

And lastly.....whats are the little white things that the clones are sitting in inside the tubing?
Iā??m assuming his are to help hold up the cutting. I took a lot of time to make something similar to help the clones stand up. Basically a 1ā? length of tubing with a slit down the length. After a few tries I tossed them and just let the branches of the cutting keep it from falling through a regular olā?? hole in the lid. Those holder up thingees were a total pain in the ass. Lately I have been laying a strip of chrome duct tape over a line of holes and poking holes in only the amount of spots that I need for that batch. That helps keep solution from coming up through and causing too much humidity, but for some of you that might be desirable. Now however, I am going to try something more professional. I got some actual neoprene insert replacements, for the holes in the big-time professional cloners. Soon I will be drilling new holes in my lid and installing these, for a nice tidy appearance that may even rival the craftsmanship appeal of some of MVPs stuff.

MVP are those airstones secured to the bottom of the bubbler somehow or just bouncing around blowing air?
When I first made mine, I used the suction cups that came with the air curtains, as the tutorial told me to. Of course those didnā??t stay stuck worth beans, so I tried using epoxy. I scratched up both surfaces a little and first tried Goop or some squishy plumbers stuff that was recommended in the tutorial. After that failed I tried marine grade epoxy. That held for the first batch of cuttings. Now I have a nut (the kind that goes with a bolt) slid over each end of the air wands to hold them down. After the hours I spentā?¦ man I wish I would have thought of that simple fix sooner. If you go this route, get nuts of some stature.

I DID get the cloning gel on and the cloning solution in the bubbler at recommended strength. What else should I be doing here besides watching ph?
A bit about rooting hormones: You can use DipNGrow that puts the hormones in the res solution, or you can use gel, or powder, or some combination. If you use powder it will mostly wash off fairly soon, but some ends up staying on the cutting. With powdered hormones it will be rare that youā??ll need to mist your cuttings or use an anti wilt. I tried some popular gel last time, and I thought I killed my cuttings. I looked in a few hours after putting them in, and they were laying completely on their sides looking dead as a doornail. I surmised that the gel so completely protects from embolisms that it cannot let even popping bubble moisture permeate the ā??protective shellā?. I didnā??t have anti wilt, so I just misted often, and within a couple days the gel had mostly washed off and the cuttings had completely recovered. So, have some anti wilt handy if youā??re trying gel, otherwise you donā??t need it.

Mine really only holds two and even then there were issues with leaves bumping into each other etc....
What's your point? Donā??t worry if your cuttings touch each other. You can cram them in. They love it. They get touchy-feely and start acting like lesbos. Seriously though, take a look at some examples of filled cloners around the internet, both weed and otherwise. Many are just crammed full like my bowl isā?¦ cough. Thatā??s better. The problem is that the most likely places where mold will start is where foliage touches something that stays wet, or is often wet. Usually it starts where leaves touch the lid, and later where leaves touch each other. Just maybe spray a little extra antifungal in really crowded situations. Shading each other from the light is not a concern, since light is not big issue at their age. You donā??t want them to have a lot of light.

They are an expirement BUT I did study up a little bit on cloning a flowering ...plant and found that it is doable.
Well all I can say at this point is good luck. OK Iā??ll say some other stuff too. You have chosen a difficult endeavor my friend. It can happen of course, especially for someone whoā??s thumb is as permanently green as yours. Just keep in mind some extra difficulties. Like any mold usually starts happening only toward the end of my rootings, and a cutting in flower is staying in there at least an extra 2 weeks. I had a plant recently take 4 months to revert. I donā??t know if a cutting would be growing roots while itā??s reverting, making it possible to take it out of the cloner at somewhat of a normal time, or if it has to revert first, then start growing roots. I know roots grow in flower, but I also know thatā??s not really their concern like it is in veg. Also when you do this you might want to consider leaving some extra foliage. Since baby's going to be in the nursery longer, it might be wise to pack some extra food.

How warm is too warm for the water?
Donā??t know for sure. Warmer = quicker rootings = bigger chance of mold and rot. I started with an aquarium heater and found that it rarely kicked on. (I forget what temp I set it to.) I took it out, and the solution roughly stays at whatever temp my grow room is, minus a couple.

And what kind of things should I be watching for as far as problems go with the cuttings?
Over/under humid, mold/rot, and nightmares.

I got a million of em. Before I went to sleep last night I quickly jotted down a couple thoughts as they came to me, incase you wanted my input. Iā??m not going over all them at this time since I think I will actually try getting some sleep now. Hereā??s the copy and paste version, and let me know if youā??d like to talk about any of it:

Tubes too long, donā??t need tubes
Neoprene inserts with slit
Air wand not stone!
Need 4 wands or long flexible one
Powdered vs gel vs concentrate hormone
Drainage, level indicator
Fishing weights
Nute schedule
Tank heater/chiller
Intermatic vs cyclstat (found one for $85)
Soft tubing vs hard black
Spray, (fungicide, neem oil, anti-wilt, foliar feeding)
Bubbles on/off schedule
Flushing schedule
Light schedule/type
Pump
Hardening
Dome/Lid

Clone from flowering cuttings
Mold
Stress
Revert first (one of mine took 4 mo.)
Eats itself till gone
Dormant

Gnight. Hope that helps a little. Holy crap that got long.