Advanced aero cloning techniques? My cuttings look bad today

Hey all! I am a novice just picking the hobby back up. I have a 16-site aero cloner with air pump and sprayer, working perfectly fine. I filled the res with water and a couple drops of Superthrive (a tip I was given elsewhere from a happy user) and all seems fine in that department.

I took 4 cuttings and trimmed the leaves half way (unsure if this is still suggested) and for the first 4 days things were good, the cuts were praying even, I thought with no issues. Today however I wake up and the leaves are twisting and curling up. I fear drying out, and dying or something as I've seen failed clones do in the past. I did not use a dome on the cloner but it has one.


Why did they fail? Did I need to foliar feed them? I have all the major stuff like Fulvic and Kelp and Aloe. Would any of this help?

The mother is growing perfectly well so I'm ready to take new cuts and try again

Please tell me your advanced aero cloning techniques or how I should troubleshoot my issues

Thank you!

I also built a 16 bay mister, and i never use anything in the water except a few drops of h202 (per gallon) or pH up or down. The less i add to my water, the lower my fail rate is (which has always been zero, lol).Never foliar feed fresh clones/cuttings. They can't utilize it.

Turbokloner, roughly 14 days with KLN and Pool Shock. It's two days later and I still have not transferred them. Hopefully tomorrow.

curious2garden said:

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Turbokloner, roughly 14 days with KLN and Pool Shock. It's two days later and I still have not transferred them. Hopefully tomorrow.

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What is KLN if I may ask?

Nugnewbie said:

What is KLN if I may ask?

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I buy it for the indole butyric acid, a rooting hormone. It's worked great for me. Oh and in my 2.5 gallon cloner reservoir I'll add 5 ml of Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro but it's not necessary just keeps them looking a little nicer.

Every time I see this kind of post. I think about an experiment I did , with an airstone and qt cup styrofoam egg holder and tap water.roots after a couple of weeks

tkufoS said:

Every time I see this kind of post. I think about an experiment I did , with an airstone and qt cup styrofoam egg holder and tap water.roots after a couple of weeks

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I've just left mine in Solo Cups and tap water too and voila roots. Just have to be patient. But my Turbokloner does seem to speed things up.

curious2garden said:

I've just left mine in Solo Cups and tap water and voila roots. Just have to be patient.

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For sure. That was my full hydro attempt .. Then into coco they went.

curious2garden said:

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I buy it for the indole butyric acid, a rooting hormone. It's worked great for me. Oh and in my 2.5 gallon cloner reservoir I'll add 5 ml of Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro but it's not necessary just keeps them looking a little nicer.

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Thank you. Yes, I've only done a couple clones so far. My success rate wasn't great. I just used some juice out of an aloe vera plant to dip the cut in, then put it in some seed starter mix in solo cups under a dome. About 10% successful, lol.

Nugnewbie said:

About 10% successful, lol.

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I'm sorry, that's really frustrating. @Laughing Grass and @shnkrmn have interesting cloning set ups that are quite successful and don't use an aero type cloner. Maybe one of them could share their technique. I know in the aero type cloner you are heat limited. As soon as the water gets warmer they take longer to get roots and some rot prior so sometimes I have to add a few in to get roots. I also have my pump on a timer instead of running continuously to keep the heat down in the res.

Same as you @Nugnewbie, I struggled with aerocloning. I use General Hydroponic rapid rooters and a matrix tray.

The tray has enough water to touch the bottom of the plugs. I put light nutrients and KLN in the tray, cover with a dome, heating mat underneath and let them rip.

I stole this method from @shnkrmn

I use plugs in this styrofoam float in a nursery tray. It allows the plugs to always have optimal moisture. I also use a dome and a heat mat and I add some klh to the water bath. It's been great for me. I've used aerocloners and the best success came in a larger unit. More water volume equalled less heating from the pump. It's odd that aerocloning is most successful in cool conditions while plugs root best in high humidity and warmth but it's true.

I had a bit of trouble with my aero cloner as well at first, then someone recommended pool shock and using the repeat timer to keep heat down, and between those two things my success rate when way up. I still don’t get 100%, but close.

Thank you all for sharing your techniques for success. I should have mentioned that I had purchased an aerocloner already, but haven't used it yet. I got this at the local grow store just before it shut down.

I also took some cuts of 3 different cultivars and put them in the fridge in ziplocs in January that I am hoping I can get to root. I will post what I end up with when I attempt it. Probably will be shortly after this weekend when I chop my two Meltdowns.

I tried with out heater in aero got nothing, only succeeded once after adding water heater to 73F.

Got a decent start of a long beard. It then almost rotted the roots and the rest died. 3ppm chlorine thats it. Dim lighting 62F and 45rh around the cloner.

Is the kln worth buying, it speeds up root time or helps get roots period vs none?

I basically copied someone else that is doing the rapid root in water tray with or without dome. I may add some kln.

I read high water temps in aero was the trick but also like here was said cooler temps are better. Some say sterile is ok or not, some say KISS, just tap.

I'm in Canada, wow that K-L-N isn't cheap. At least not as cheap as I'd hoped.

That's terrible. A quart here is $34 usd. And a quart will last nearly forever.

I read bad reviews on amazon, about to get from online hydro store as my local dont have it. Reviews of expired or repackaged with something else like tap water. Etc.

Yeah, I'll search for a better price. Sometimes Amazon isn't a great deal. Being in Canada sucks too. Get hosed up here.

medidedicated said:

I read bad reviews on amazon, about to get from online hydro store as my local dont have it. Reviews of expired or repackaged with something else like tap water. Etc.

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Lol, I wouldn't know. My quart is at least 10 years old, sticker says $16.95.