Diy Aeroponic Grower/Cloner "Cheap" Critiques Welcome

Basically i made, in 3 days, an effective aero setup with 8 grow sites. It is made from a large footlocker, two 200 GPH fishtank pumps, aero misters and PVC pipe, as well as coffee can lids and epoxy.
My setup pretty much explains it all, however i ran into a bunch of problems. I originally cut the wholes for the net pots (2 inches diameter) too perfectly and ended up with these wholes that couldnt support the little lip formed on the net pot. they kept falling through. So i gathered myself 8 coffee can lids and cut smaller holes in them and used them as a sort of fixture to hold the net pots in place. they also make it more water tight.
I also needed a way to run the wires out of the tub without leaking water. I used two lids on either side of the walls of the container, and lined them with epoxy. I applies them to the sides after i threaded through the wires and it turned ou to work pretty well. I have them set to a 15 min on/ 15 min off timer. With hydroton i think that will be fine.
Im testing it with tomatoes first to make sure that it works well, i dont want to blow cash on it that fast with good dank.

However i have a couple questions.

I am doing an outdoor grow with unsexed plants, if i have a female, can i clone it (with this) and grow the clones outdoors with the mother plant and harvest at the same time? like around october? or is that unfeasable.

Any critiques welcome. This is my first aero setup and i hope to make more in the future with drainage holes, more misters, and maybe a whole environment control system in a cabinet.

Clear coffee lids up top could let light in to the water res. the coffee lids seem like they wouldn't be as strong as the regular lid plastic and I don't see how it would be more water proof by adding the lids. Sorry I dont see the point of the coffee lids on the side either. a small hole that is a snug fit to the hose and a small bead of silicone on the inside works fine and if you need it off you can just use your fingers and pick the silicone off. it doesnt look like the hose is sealed in the coffee lids so it just seems that you will get water between the coffee lids and the plastic tub and not be able to clean it. You have all the parts, I would just get a new bucket and make the new holes. Keep it simple! I built mine in about an hour not 3 days. for the lid cut the holes so the net pots are close but don't actually drop all the way to the lip. then cut little tabs into the lid and press the net pot in. in the pic you cut the inner hole so the pot rests on it then make the lines so the plastic will bend down letting it drop down resting on the lip of the net pot and the tabs bent down add support

if you want to take clones from plants you have outdoors and harvest at the same time but dont know the sex take a couple clones from each and label them which came from which or wait until they all start flowering/show sex. if you wait until they show sex you wont have enough time for them to root and flower still.

by the looks of things you put your side holes way to low. what do you have 1/2 gallon of water in there ?? you need to reise the mister to about 6-8" below the lid and fill the water/res right to the bottom of the misters. On the note of misters it doesnt seem like you have enough water pressure either you want a really fine mist not like a lawn sprinkler but more like a spray bottle mist. sorry to shoot down your project but know you know how to make the next one better

ok, well on the coffee lids, this is my first make and these were a solution. they are epoxied on and more flexible than the lid material so the net pot fits snugly in place. 3 days time was used due to lack of initiative on the 1st and 2nd day. and for the holes on the side being too low, they are a little too low than i'd like however they submerge the pumps with room to spare and hold enough for now. the pressure is a problem ill have to really learn how to del with as i do more builds. thanks guys! when i grow out of it i will add pictures and stuff.

You can achieve a decent spray with ez clone heads as I'm getting good results. Check my threads and if you have questions I'll be happy to try an answer them. There is a lot of opposition to Low pressure aeroponics as most argue if you are going to do it do it right. What is right for each individual may not be right for the next, but I thought I would throw the heads up out there.
I found that if I run my spray arangement along the top of the lid and between the net pots I get excellent coverage of smaller droplets while taking the risk of the lid leaking out of the equation. The spray doesn't have to hit the pots directly, it is the smaller droplets that accumulate on the pot and roots vs. hitting it with a stream and then the water streaming down the pots and roots which will not give adequate coverage.

There can be NO light entering the root chamber as this is an instant recipe for root rot (Ph fluctuations, dead material, leading to dead plants). I even cover the top of my pots with a thin piece of rubber material that is black on the down side and white on the upside. Don't ask me where to buy some as I've been holding on to a small roll of it for years and finally came up with some uses for it when I started growing.

stinkbuddies.com my man! i built the cloner exactly like theirs and modified their flower unit with some of my own ideas and some from BC that can be pulled off the web. Take the guess work out and just do it right man, i dont know what is going on with that cloner but it seems too complicated and also seems like it is something that will have to be checked constantly for new leaks.

Dystopian said:

stinkbuddies.com my man! i built the cloner exactly like theirs and modified their flower unit with some of my own ideas and some from BC that can be pulled off the web. Take the guess work out and just do it right man, i dont know what is going on with that cloner but it seems too complicated and also seems like it is something that will have to be checked constantly for new leaks.

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i have to say, with how much everybody raves about the success of different cloning machines, i've been the most impressed by rockwool cubes, with plain water. no flooding when a nozzle turns the wrong way, clones don't die when a jet gets clogged, and i get a better success rate... all while using less water and no nutrients. i too built a stinkbuddies.com cloner, and they do work, but after the 3rd puddle i walked into i disassembled it and it's been sitting ever since. they're good if you can pay constant attention to them, but if you like taking vacations i wouldn't recommend using them. the $60 or so i spent to build it could've bought a lot of rockwool cubes. the pump at least came in handy for a flood table.