CouchlockOR
Active Member
I wrote and published this on another site and wanted to share it here. This method has worked for me every month for the past 5 years with amazing results.
| Hello everyone and thanks for checking out my how to clone thread. I have seen and read many how to questions regarding cloning and decided to write out a step by step guide I use to get 95% or better success rate. While this method may not work for everyone it is an easy way to produce strong healthy clones that can be placed into any medium right from the aero cloner in as little as 9 days! That means into soil or soilless mediums to hydro or aeroponic units alike. The better things are in the beginning the better the will be in the end. Now let me explain a little bit about my D.I.Y. aero cloner and it benefits. So the grand idea is to provide the best environment for the clones to root. This is achieved easily in the aero cloner. The aero cloner provides this perfect environment by constantly suppling the cutting with nutrients through the water by the means of little 360 degree sprayers hooked to a pump. These sprayers I mention provide a fine gentle spray when used with the correct pump. Pump size plays a big role too but we will get to that in a second. So as the cutting gets sprayed it is also supplied with oxygen. An important factor in rooting. Not only do the roots need it but oxygen also helps keep the nutrient solution from becoming stagnant. A word about pumps. Small pumps do not create a sufficient spray while too big of a pump will create too much heat and cook your clones. Pumps can be placed on a cycle timer to cool them down but finding the correct pump for the job should help correct most of these issues while eliminating the need for extra equipment such as timers. I purchased three pumps and made two different manifolds before I found the correct pump/manifold combination. D.I.Y. aero cloner parts are easy to acquire and its simple to build providing that you have a few tools. Here I will explain where to get the parts, how to assemble and the cost. Lets start with the parts list: 1 black 5 gallon bucket and lid. Try to find a flat lid as it makes drilling the holes easier. These can be found at any hardware store or grow supply store. $5-8. 1 400gph pond pump. Home Depot $40. 2 ft 1/2 cpvc pipe. Home Depot $2 1 cpvc 1/2 T Home Depot $.50 2 cpvc 1/2 end caps. $.50 ea. 4 360 ezcloner sprayers. Grow supply store. $5 15 1 5/8 neoprene cutting inserts. Grow supply store $.25 ea. The tool list: As a note I recommend you borrow if you dont own if you can since tools can be expensive. Electric Drill Hand Saw or CPVC Pipe cutter 5/32 Drill Bit 3/32 Drill Bit 1 1/2 hole saw Small File Tape Measure Black Sharpie The assembly: Start by getting all the items together and find a place with enough room to work. There isnt much of a mess so in the living room is where I build mine. And the one Im building for this How To. Now place the lid all the way on the bucket. Prearrange the neoprene inserts on the lid and get an idea of their placement for drilling leaving enough room between so not to crowd them. This could be anywhere from 12-18 inserts depending on the lid and the insert size. I plan on 15 for this Bucket. When satisfied drill the holes with the Electric drill and the 1 1/2 hole saw where you placed the inserts. Tip: Do not drill slowly as this causes the saw to catch and not cut through smoothly. The holes should be mostly smooth now with the exception of a few plastic shreds still attached. This is when the File comes in handy. First removed shreds and burrs with your fingers. If this works move on otherwise get your small file and file in a up/down and around the hole to remove the burrs and make a smooth seat for the inserts. Burrs and snags will rip and tear the insert thus shortening its life. Now lets make the sprayer manifold. Take the cpvc pipe and cut three lengths from it. One will be the riser, left bank and the right bank. These lengths will be determined by the dimensions of the bucket. Height and width. Ideally you want to have the water line just below the sprayers while minimizing the amount of air space in the bucket. This aids in maintaining cooler temps from running pumps. A water line six to eight inches below the lid will be satisfactory. My measurements are as follows. One 6 and two 4 1/2 pieces. Simply measure and mark with the sharpie and cut with the hand saw. Remove the burrs with your fingers. Now assemble in a T shape. Make sure it fits in the bucket and isnt too short or tall. Do this step with the pump attached to the manifold. These parts do not need to be glued unless you feel the need. The pump doesnt create enough pressure to require it and I dont. Once satisfied remove the riser and pump and prepare to drill the holes for the sprayers. This step can be eyeballed. Simply figure out where on the 4 1/2 cpvc pipe you need to drill and drill 4 holes with the smaller of the two drill bits. This makes drilling the required hole easier. Now drill the second hole making sure only to drill into the top side of the pipe. Now you should be able to screw the sprayers into the pipe. I have done this part with and without glue. If you can do it without do that so you can replace the sprayers individually. This is usually not a problem with proper cleaning. Now reassemble the manifold and pump to make one complete unit. Clean out the bucket and place manifold inside standing on the pump. Insert all but one neoprene insert into the drilled holes. Now take the cord and push out through the remaining open hole and fasten lid to bucket. Take the last remaining insert and place around the cord and then place insert into the hole. This will be the tricky one but when the insert gets used it will seat itself nicely. Now the bucket should be complete and ready to be cleaned and used! Cleaning of the bucket needs to be done after every cloning cycle and before use. This will help insure that the aero cloner you just made stays sterile. My preferred method is as follows. Assemble the bucket and fill with hot water. Add few drops of anti bacterial dish soap. Run for 15 minutes. Clean parts with sponge and rinse well. Reassemble and fill bucket with cold water. Add 1/2 cup bleach and run for 15 minutes. Rinse with cold tap water and dry with paper towels. Reassemble and use or air dry completely and store. Now for the cloning process. One thing I would like for you to keep in mind is your success will be determined by the steps you take. Cleanliness and sterilization are very important. Having the proper tools and materials are important too. This section will be in three parts. First will be the The Set Up. Second will be Cutting. And Third Transplanting to the Medium. I feel that with these three steps you should be producing so many clones that you will be able to have the best of the best and can donate the rest like I do. I can produce 30-40 clones every two weeks with the aero cloner with the method I talk about. Part One: The Set Up In this part I will discuss the proper tools and set up of the area and aero cloner to be used for cloning. This is where your skills and patients will pay off. Do not rush this part. Omitting a step or carelessness could result in poor results. We will assume you have taken the procedures mentioned above to clean and assemble the aero cloner. Fill the bucket until the sprayers are almost covered with cold tap water. Using some liquid bloom fertilizer adjust the ppm (parts per million) between 100-200. A ppm meter or dip strips or other means will be necessary to obtain the correct ppm reading. Now adjust the pH to 5.5. Between the pH of 5.5 and the city tap water which is treated with chlorine will help keep water sterile. (Purified R.O. water could be an option if not on city tap). Once ppm and pH have been achieved run the system for 24 hours to stabilize the solution temperature. Some hot water tanks acquire sediment which cold contain harmful elements so it is to be avoided by running cold water for a few moments to clean the water pipes and get fresh water. Old houses are more of a problem due to metal pipes. Find an area that will adequately suit your equipment, supplies, aero cloner and donor plants. I choose to use my kitchen since it is roomy and easily cleaned and sterilized which is important. Many bacteria, spores and mold harbor in many places and are usually unseen by us so a good wipe down with a clorox bleach wipe or 409 will do fine to clean the counter tops. Next I like to pour some 90% rubbing alcohol on the counter and wipe it around to sterilize again. Lay out some paper towels to place your cutting tools on. Pour some of the same alcohol into a shot glass to facilitate periodic dipping of your tools. I use my sharp pruning shears but the same result can be made with a sharp razor. All preference. Just make sure all tools are STERILE. You will need to have some cups filled with water on the counter. These will be used to hold your cuttings prior to going into the aero cloner. I use glasses right out of my cabinet. About 4 or 5 will suffice. Pour about half an ounce of Clonex Gel into a clen shot glass. This is the root hormone dip for the cuttings. This should always be poured into another container to dip from to avoid contamination of the main supply. Store the remainder of the gel in the fridge with cap closed tight. This wraps up the The Set Up portion of the guide. Part Two: Cutting Now I will discuss the method in which I prepare the plant to take a cut then on to the cuttings itself. Choosing the plant to clone. Sounds simple enough but if you dont pay special attention to the donor you may be cloning unwanted traits. For example you want to choose a plant that has the quality traits desired to be a good donor. If you clone a slow plant that lags it will produce clones just like it. If it grows robust and fast and otherwise healthy it could be a good donor. I just look for the best plants of any givin strain and clone those. And as a matter of fact I clone from clones instead of using a mother plant that I have to maintain. Also if its over 1 foot it is a mature plant and is considered one of the six mature you can grow under OMMP regulations. Treat the plant for mites 3 or 4 days before cutting should be done unless you are sure there are none. However as a precaution I always do it. It is best to water with pure water to flush out the nitrogen out of the plant before cutting. Spraying water in the morning heavily for several days will also aid in removing nitrogen from the plant. Reducing the nitrogen will help the cutting concentrate on root production instead of plant growth. Now your plant should be ready to clone. Ok you have chosen the donor plant so lets make some cuttings. The lower branches are the ones we are after. These branches contain the correct hormones to root quickly. You do not have to use just tops or branch ends to clone. I have made 4 clones or more from a single branch. This depends on its length though. All you do is repeat the steps I explain from section to section on the stem. The diameter should be around 1/8 or so. So get the branch you will use and remove some of the sets of leaves from the stem leaving 2 or 3 sets on. So it should be a few sets of leaves then a few inches of clean stem. Now when you remove the sets of leaves you can peel them down the stem exposing the layer beneath the skin. This is where the roots grow from so by removing this layer the roots dont have to work hard penetrate the tough outer layer thus accelerating the process. If the leaves fall off without the skin just use your nail or razor to peel it back. Although this step isnt vital it does help. Cut the larger leaves that remain on the stem in half. This will help the plant retain moisture while developing roots by reducing transpiration. Using the clean sterile cutting tool of your choice cut the stem a couple inches below the leaves and place in cup with water. Cut all clones and place in water to soak until all cuttings are made. Some people say cut the stem below water so not to create an air embolism in the stem which could prevent uptake of water but this would be a pain in the butt. Simply cut and quickly place in water. I have left cloners off accidentally after checking for roots for over 5 hours and they all bounced back. Once and only once you have completed your cuttings should you move onto the next step. Now i like to put a few cuttings in each insert. this allows me to put many cuttings into the cloner. Although putting just one per insert is fine. If a problem arises with one cutting it is in the insert alone. However i dont seem to have this problem. So with 4 cuttings take them out of the glass of water and place them into the gel. Swirl the stems around so they get covered with gel. Let them sit for 5 minutes then put into insert and into the aero cloner. Pump should be off until all cuttings are in the cloner. Once all the cuttings have been placed into the aero cloner you can put it into the clone room or vegetation room. My cloner is off to the side of my T5 light covering my veg garden. This provides a good amount of light to the babies. Remember the lil ones can not use high intense light due to no roots. A 4 foot shop light works well too. Plug pump in and mist plants several times for the first few days to aid with moisture levels in the plant. Traditional methods require humidity domes and special care but with the aero cloner its made easy. No need to have 100% humidity. I do not monitor the water temp nor do i add an air stone. Both could be used but i figure mine seems to work just fine without. If your room is cold a heating pad under the bucket works well. Now wait. I like to check for roots and stem slime every few days by turning off the pump and opening the lid. After 9-12 days you should have well rooted clones ready to transplant. Part Three: Transplanting Now your clones have rooted what should you do with them? Or better yet how should you care for them. After roots appear they will grow very fast reaching the water level in days. So the idea is to transplant before they get too long. When they reach the water I get in gear to plant. I run a soil garden so I choose to put the clones in 3 coco fiber pots. These are cheap, organic and can be potted into the soil to reduce transplant shock. Just hold the stem with the roots in the pot and gently sprinkle soil until the pot is full. DO NOT PACK SOIL. This breaks the roots. Its better to just water and let the soil settle on its own. This will keep the roots from getting broken and stunting growth. I like to use a good organic soil like Fox Farm Happy Frog. It is organic and contains nutrients to sustain healthy growth. I like to amend it with some perlite. At a 5:1 ratio to aid in drainage providing oxygen to the roots. There are several ways to get this job done but this has been the method that has worked for me. It should work for you too. Have fun cloning! I know its a lot of information to take in and a lot to read. Thanks! |
^^^^^ Nice work SFguy 
