Shopping list:
Clippings, cut above the 3rd from the top node, trimmed
1) large plastic storage container with lid
1) powerful air pump, preferably the TOPFIN 60 (make sure it has two outputs)
1) 8 foot length of air tubing
2) long airstones, or bubble curtains, long enough to cover the bottom
1) piece of styrofoam slightly larger than the container
1) very sharp knife or razor blade for cutting and scraping the clippings and for cutting the styrofoam down to size
1) bag of rinsed fish bowl gravel
1) 14 inch (or similar sized) flourescent light (cool white if you can)
1)hole poking device... pencils work fine

optional- 1 bottle of olivias clone solution (NO HORMONES FOO!)



Hey there, this is my first time doing this exact method (have tried other similar things with poor results..)
I started the plant I'm cloning in May of 07, I let it grow outside.. well.. I let it survive outside, it grew about 3 inches from june till september... I put it inside and within a month it grew to about waist height and about 4-5 square feet of foliage.
I took 8 clippings, each right above the... 3rd node from the top node.. apical meristem for those bio geeks basically, for each clipping, you have a the apical meristem, one node under it with a one or more big fan leaves, and a 1 inch (depending on the internodal length) of stem. The big fan leaves help hold it up in the hole.
On the bigger leaves, cut about half of the leaflet off to prevent wilting, and trim the other leaves, they don't have to be perfect, just don't cut off the growing tip.
I have tried splitting the stem to allow more root growth, but that doesn't really seem to help.. actually, if not done correctly, it could kill the cutting! I simply did my best to cut at a 45 degree angle with a razor (NOT SCISSORS, they crush the stem) and then scraped a little bit of the epidermis (the outsidemost waxy layer of cells on the stem) off, to reveal a thick, slightly pale green line (if you get to white, STOP) about 3/4 of the way up the bottom stem. This is not necessary but I've found that it greatly reduces the rooting time.

I took a big tupperware type container (15-20 bucks from wal-mart) and filled it about half of the way with water and added some of the Olivia's cloning solution (not gel or any hormone thing, just light nutrients, the plants will provide the hormones, TRUST ME) you could even add that later when the roots are growing. Then, I bought some high quality (and pricey) styrofoam, I found it at JoAnne Fabrics. It's green but not the florafoam or whatever that wierd stuff is that they shove fake plants into, it had normal styrofoam sized cells (read: bubbles) but unlike styrofoam, I think it's open celled, rather than being composed of a bunch of foam beads like normal white styrofoam. I cut it to size (just make a cut where you want it to break and snap it off away from the side you cut) and then poked 8 pencil sized holes.. using a pencil of course.. Oh, when you cut it to size, leave room for it to move around in the container, don't make it snug.

Finally I got a powerful little air pump from petsmart, I think it was a Topfin 60 (not sure on the number, if they go by Hz, then it's a 60) I really liked it because it had two outputs, so you can hook up two long air curtain/stones under each row of cuttings. MAKE SURE to grab some gravel to weigh down the stones, you don't need much, just a smaller bag a little bigger than your hand (well I've got big hands, but basically just not a 20 pound bag)

Some people say that the bubble curtains are better but I don't notice any difference other than larger bubbles, which I dislike because smaller bubbles allow more O2 into the water.

I've tried using the lid of containers to hold the cutting and it really doesn't work for me, mainly because the water level lowers with time and I'm a lazy stoner.. and forgetful (actually I don't smoke much, very rarely, like once a month) but nonetheless, I just don't want to adjust the water level daily! So, I took to the ancient chinese method of just letting it float ON the water.

I put a flourescent light from a 20 gallon aquarium (nothing much, just enough so that they don't flower, DO NOT use an incandescent lamp of any sort, they get WAY too hot, even if it's a "plant light")

I get excited and check the clones way too much, but I was forced to stay away for a week while I was on christmas vacation. I started them 5 days before I left for 6 days, and when I came back, all of them had roots (the pictures are on day.. 13, a few days after i got back.

I highly recommend this method, 8 out of 8 isn't bad.
I do apologize for the overdetailed explanation, but it's better than just pictures right?
zlessley Reviewed by zlessley on . DIY bubbler cloner Shopping list: Clippings, cut above the 3rd from the top node, trimmed 1) large plastic storage container with lid 1) powerful air pump, preferably the TOPFIN 60 (make sure it has two outputs) 1) 8 foot length of air tubing 2) long airstones, or bubble curtains, long enough to cover the bottom 1) piece of styrofoam slightly larger than the container 1) very sharp knife or razor blade for cutting and scraping the clippings and for cutting the styrofoam down to size 1) bag of rinsed fish Rating: 5