Aeroponic Cloning. 5th Round. First Big Fuck Up

streets

Well-Known Member
so i am cloning some plants, which is a normal routine now, except this round they aren't rooting and look like the are about to die..

clones are at day 12

heres what i got going on.... 18 gallon aeroponic cloner, homemade. it has an air-stone, 400 gph water pump. the ph is checked every other day and is maintained at 5.8-5.9. fresh water is added to the res weekly. clones were dipped in clonex root gel prior to being put into the cloner. i have a humidity dome that i use only when the levels drop below 60%, with it on it remains at a steady 83%. water is from the tap, but was left out for 36 hours with an air-stone aerating it before it was introduced to the cuttings. all cuts were taken on a 45 degree angle... temperature of the water remains around 79 degrees, while below the lights it stays 83 degrees.

someone please save me...

these clones are NYC Diesel, White Widow and Black Diesel.
 

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skiweeds

Active Member
temps may be too high. try to keep under 74F. maybe move away from the light a bit. i kept my humididome on until the roots were formed. keep it and the plants sprayed at lest twice daily. i kept my lights, pump, and airstones on 24/7. remember you dont want too much light until you have a nice root structure. you want you plants to focus more on forming roots, not more leaf. when you get a decent root structure, then you can take off the dome and move closer to the light. good luck! i had a bitch of a time my first aero run but it was because of my high temps. keep trying. you will get it eventually.

also i used a shitty t12 and kept it about 1-2 feet away until roots formed.

also i just noticed, your plants look pretty droopy. do you have an airstone in your res? bet they neem some oxygen. if not, put 1 or 2 inside. it will make a world of difference. i didnt think i needed one in my aero system, but after adding it, it made a huge difference.

personally i just switched to root riot cubes. i hate transplanting from hydro to soil. root riot cubes go good in both soil and fit perfect in the small net pots for hydro systems.
 

streets

Well-Known Member
thank you. i agree it might be the temps, but my previous attempts were almost 100% flawless with almost the same conditoins. ill try moving the light further from the machine
 

skiweeds

Active Member
hmm thats strange with almost same conditions. know what variable(s) is different? unless its temps, must be something we're not recognizing. what nutes are you using? for my aero system i used what it came with, botanicare power flower and aqua shield. shit is expensive though, probably a cheaper alternative.
 

jj493

Member
Well, to start off I stopped paying attention to temps and humid in my cloning some time ago. In the morning Ill throw my therm/hygrom in there and let you know. I do know its warm and humid and have much better success in these conditions. Take a look at the pictures below and this is what I find works best for me. I use 18gal roughneck totes 2" net pots with foam disk like you. Those 3 boxes take up most of my space and then wrapped in b&w plastic. Being sealed up (definitely not air tight) and running 2 homedepot t8 shop lights keeps everything warm and humid which has been able to eliminate the need for domes. I keep my lights hung at the same height as if they were sitting on top of the dome like I used to when I grew in soil.

Anyways further into my cloning techniques...
My pump sits flat on the tub bottom (a 396) I fill the water up about 2 to 3"s over the top of pump
I use only RO water (and really only for clones) Ive done it without and I think most do, but for some reason my ph stays much more consistent with RO when high nutrient levels aren't involved.
I use 150ml clonex in my water this brings ppms to between 200 and 250 always different because I don't measure my water. This helps root quicker and helps keep that ph constant.
My ph comes out to between 5.5 to 5.8 after adding clonex and if need be raise it up to 5.8
I don't use airstones anymore it just became too much extra

Time to cut:
I cut at 45 with new razor maybe a couple for each session, dip in clonex rooting gel (IDK how important this is but there are times im taking 100 clones or more before turning my pumps on and don't want them to dry)
Next I take bottom inch to 1.5 and shave it with the razor all the way around (VERY GENTLY). This is kept wet by the gel also which I like. (This made a huge difference for me in having explosive growth from all exposed surface area below the disk) As opposed to the one or two root popping

Then I cut the pumps on 1 min on 5 off check the ph around 24hrs later adjust if necessary and let be for a couple days. 5 or so days later check ph again. By 10 days you should have 100% success rate... damn close to it !! I leave mine in my boxes for 30 days total and only add water, but I do aero and not too familiar with transplanting to soil.

I hope this helps. I try to be thorough
 

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