cheap and easy DIY cloner and what to do with the results

[justanotherbozo]

i put this together because i thought it had enough to stand alone and, i felt it was kinda lost for the newbie in my 'imaginary garden' thread.

so, for the noobs like me and the noobs like the one i was before i found these boards and you people, i hope this helps.

justanotherbozo Reviewed by justanotherbozo on 06-24-2008. cheap and easy DIY cloner and what to do with the results i put this together because i thought it had enough to stand alone and, i felt it was kinda lost for the newbie in my 'imaginary garden' thread. so, for the noobs like me and the noobs like the one i was before i found these boards and you people, i hope this helps. Rating: 5

[justanotherbozo]

first, as a newbie, you need to understand that you must learn to clone, that is the only way you will reap the full benefits of ganja growing. it's just too big a pain in the ass to raise them up from seed and wait 2 - 3 months for them to get mature enough to display sex.
with cloning, you know that every plant you flower is a girl!

second, let me say that i'm no expert so this is not meant to be definitive!
there are several ways to root clones and all are effective to one degree or another. just don't be discouraged, if you try something and it fails, try something else, then, it wasn't a failure, it was a learning experience!

personally, i've rooted clones in rockwool starter cubes under a dome (last year 95% rooted, this year 100% died).
i've rooted clones in just a glass of water, got about a 60% success rate (not good enough to rely on, and it takes a good 10 - 15 days to see roots)

i've only had one run so far with my new cloner but, in that run, 17 of 18 rooted and within 6 days! eureka!
(the cloner has been in operation for about a month now and still with about a 98% success rate)

anyway, since my aim is a never ending Sea Of Green, having a reliable source of healthy clones was a must. being a newbie myself, i set to work reading every thread on cloning i could find and this is what i've come up with, i hope it works as well for you as it has for me!

[justanotherbozo]

taking a cutting is pretty straightforward and covered by many, many other threads and faq's. my intent with this thread is to show you how i made a cloner to provide myself with a reliable source of healthy little girls and what you do once you have them rooted.

that being said, as a newbie myself i tell you, do not be afraid to try cloning. cloning is easy!
anyway, once you've taken a cutting you need a place to put it right?
this thread will show you how to make yourself a bubble cloner for about $20.00 USD, not counting another $20.00 for a small air pump, you need bubbles man.

here's a parts list and some pics

1 bin, no bigger than 2 gallons (mine came from Lowes and it cost $7.99)

2 airstones, get them at Walmat, they have a variety of sizes, bigger is better if your pump can handle it, just make sure the airstones fit inside the bin. (approx. $3.00 each)

1/4 inch outside diameter rubber tubbing (standard size for fish tanks)(20 feet is approx. $4.00)
a tee fitting (if your pump only has one outlet, if it has two, you don't need the fitting)
1 length of pipe wrap insulation (it comes in 6 ft lengths) (approx. $4.00)

and now a few pics

1) the inside (as you can see, my bin is black so light proof from jump street, well worth the extra cash, LOL, no need for duct tape)
oh yeah, don't get those airwand thingies, the suction cups don't hold and so they pop free and float to the top of the res, not a good thing.

2) assembled and ready to go, 3 rows times 6x1inch holes for a total of 18 'stations'. note the pipe wrap cut into 1 inch pieces
(the holes were cut with a 1inch hole saw)

3) loaded up but with a few empty stations that show the pipe wrap really well.

btw, i use 2 gallons of water into which i put approx. 6ml of ThriveAlive B1 Red and 2 drops of Superthrive (DO NOT OVERDO THE SUPERTHRIVE, 1 DROP PER GALLON ONLY)
another thing to consider is that you want the res to be kinda warm, not hot mind you, just not cold.

[justanotherbozo]

heres a few pics of the cloner in operation, all pretty much self explanitory

1) the cloner is to the right on top of the beer box, to the left and on the floor is one of my DWC bins (same exact footprint and cover size, just 6 gallons deep instead of 2 gallons)

2) another shot, note the difference in the lids, on the left in particular you see 2 cups filled with hydroton, those have rooted clones i need to move to one of my DWC's, the other's are filled with some cuttings i had no room in the cloner for so i pressed a DWC into service as a bubble cloner. (it works but i don't recommend it, it's too deep for a bubble cloner)

3) the underside of the DWC impersonating a cloner, lol (as you can see, the cuttings just dangle about an inch from the top of the solution getting splashed with bubbles.

4) here you can see some roots poking out

5) inside the cloner proper (look at them roots man!)

[justanotherbozo]

once you have rooted clones you can transplant into your medium of choice (because i'm learning to grow hydroponically i'm using homemade net pots filled with hydroton, expanded clay pellets)

the thing to remember is to be fairly gentle with the roots whether you're transplanting into dirt or hydroton. in truth, potting them in dirt is simple.

here are some pics to illustrate just how simple it is. just be sure not to leave too much space between the top of the dirt and the rim of the pots, about an inch is good, that leaves you room to water without so much space you have dead, stagnant air at the base of your plants.

note the pots, from last year (i made them from 2 liter soda bottles) (good size for a dirt SOG) i potted these in dirt for a friend who plans on putting them behind his 50 tomato plants.

[justanotherbozo]

this is a technique i learned from StinkyAttic (thanks Stinky).

the key here is gentle, gentle, gentle.

in the pics you can see that i pre-soak my hydroton (get hygromite if you don't already have hydroton, it's better for the plants)
as you can see, you put the rooted end of the cutting into the net pot with some hydroton, then you fill up the pot with hydroton while still in the water. doing it this way is much more gentle on the roots

[hudson88]

Hey bozo great thread. I can vouch for this method of cloning, i've had problems in the past with clones getting around a 50/50 success rate. Around a month ago 2 of the 4 cuttings i'd taken and put in root riots rooted in about 2 weeks, the other 2 stayed in the riots for another week and failed to root.

Fortunately for me bozo visited my grow log and told me the success he had with his bubble cloner. I checked out his thread and decided to give it a try, all together it cost me roughly $25 and took me about an hour. I put the two unrooted clones that had been in root riots for three weeks and 2 new cuttings into the new bubble cloner, 7 days later all cuttings had roots!

Can't recommend this method of cloning enough. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[justanotherbozo]

heres a couple more pics to really illustrate whats going on here

[justanotherbozo]

the thing to remember is, don't be afraid to try something new and don't be afraid to ask for help (not something like 'do i put the switch up or down to turn the light on?'), we're all in this alone, together, so we all help each other.
also, keep in mind that the more research you do on your own, the more respect you will earn from everyone, plus, you will ask better questions, lol!

when you gain some experience, reach out your hand to the newbie and help him climb that dratted learning curve, just like someone, in my case, many someone's, reached out and helped me, and you!

now, toke amongst yourselves man!

[justanotherbozo]

i'm really glad it works as well for you as it does for me man!

Hey bozo great thread. I can vouch for this method of cloning, i've had problems in the past with clones getting around a 50/50 success rate. Around a month ago 2 of the 4 cuttings i'd taken and put in root riots rooted in about 2 weeks, the other 2 stayed in the riots for another week and failed to root.

Fortunately for me bozo visited my grow log and told me the success he had with his bubble cloner. I checked out his thread and decided to give it a try, all together it cost me roughly $25 and took me about an hour. I put the two unrooted clones that had been in root riots for three weeks and 2 new cuttings into the new bubble cloner, 7 days later all cuttings had roots!

Can't recommend this method of cloning enough. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: