Cloner Question

[Canadibus]

Hey, i'm planning on building an aero-cloner pretty soon and i was wondering how far the misters have to be from the cuttings. ive seen i few write-ups on how to make them, but in the pics some people have the misters about an inch from the lid, where as some have them almost halfway into the rubbermaid container.

is the goal to spray near the plants, but not directly hit them with spray?

i am not making a cloner out of a rubbermaid container though like most people, i plan to make it a shelf (kinda hard to explain) so i want to keep the height of the misting chamber as small as possible. if i could keep the chamber only a few inches tall that would be great...

thanks

 

[sneaky101]

I think that the reason most pics you see with the misters right by the roots is to clear the water level. Pump must be under water with misters above (i'm sure you knew that). My diy aero cloner misters shoot the water about a foot or so out, but only spray a couple of inches up (guess that is the other reason they are so high). Good luck with the build/

 

[Beanfish]

IMO a few inches will not be sufficient for an aero cloner unless you have a lot of misters and a large pump to accommodate. The pump + "plumbing" alone will likely be 8" or more. You might want to reconsider a new space for your cloner or another setup if you have no other options. Maybe a bubbler setup. I've been experimenting with homemade aero cloners for a couple years now, and [as stated by sneaky101] the coverage sweet spot seems to be about a foot below the cuttings. I haven't found a strain that I can't clone yet. I get near 100% success with my current setup as follows. 250gph pump, 6 misters, rubbermade lid is about 2'x1.5' and 1ft above the sprayers. I'm at about 20" when you include the cuttings. 15 min on/15min off, R/O water temp is 82 degrees and 1 ml/gal sm90. Consistently 5-7 days for roots to pop.

Good luck!!!

 

[TicalionStalion]

if you look at some of the cloning machines, like EZcloners, you can see that they spray doesnt directly hit the roots. since the sprayers spray out more than up, the goal seems to be to get the jets of water spraying outward from the sprayers to hit eachother, causing a light spray upward. very hard to explain, but it seems like the jets of water coming out of the sprayers arent the actual "jet" of water that hits the plants, its when 2 sprayers "jets" of water colide, it sprays up. ya know?? LOL. I think if you place the sprayers a certain way, the jets bounce off eachother and spray up.

 

[Beanfish]

Also, the mister spray pattern needs to overlap as the space directly above each mister will not be covered.

 

[Beanfish]

if you look at some of the cloning machines, like EZcloners, you can see that they spray doesnt directly hit the roots. since the sprayers spray out more than up, the goal seems to be to get the jets of water spraying outward from the sprayers to hit eachother, causing a light spray upward. very hard to explain, but it seems like the jets of water coming out of the sprayers arent the actual "jet" of water that hits the plants, its when 2 sprayers "jets" of water colide, it sprays up. ya know?? LOL. I think if you place the sprayers a certain way, the jets bounce off eachother and spray up.

What he said!

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

I'd think that you would want at bare minimum to have a clearance of 6-8 inches between the misters and the top... Most cuts hang down an inch or two below the pucks that hold them, and it takes at least a few inches of water spraying before it forms the "mist" you're looking for.

 

[Mr Apricot]

cloning is misunderstood by many people humidity is only important at the root zone so aero cloners are way better than a dome since mold can occur if you dont give them 1 hours fresh air every day. Use hydrogen peroxide 1/4 tsp per gallon in your ph adjusted water help fight mold and assist oxygen in the water.

I have a dome and envy anyone with a aerocloner. 8 days to root, no rooting hormone. pro!

ya i agree with everyone keep them away and let the humidity in the air root them. not to far though.

 

[FreezerBoy]

cloning is misunderstood by many people humidity is only important at the root zone so aero cloners are way better than a dome...

I have a dome and envy anyone with a aerocloner

If you don't like the dome, get rid of it. Aero or not has nothing to do with it.

 

[Canadibus]

Thanks for the help so far, this site is great!!

so heres one that someone made with the misters close ( http://www.420magazine.com/forums/s...5-my-diy-ez-cloner-really-good-way-clone.html ) and it seems he has a fairly high succes rate, but by the looks of it hes doing everything wrong,the mist isnt even a mist as he doesnt have enough pressure, and the water looks like it would directly hit the cuttings. from what i understand, this is all wrong... or is it that the droplets are hitting each other causing a "micro mist" type of thing.

maybe im over thinking this a lot, but i would like a high success rate and am limited to real estate

Thanks

 

[FreezerBoy]

I think you're over stressing. Cloning is Voodoo. What saves you may kill me dead. Domes are a prime example. Many say domes are required, many say domes are death incarnate.

I suggest the Tony Roberts method. Find a system that appeals to you and steal it wholesale. The OP will be flattered and probably willing to answer all questions. Whatever method you start with will probably end up being at least tweaked if not abandoned. Used "correctly", my bubbler has killed everything I put in it. Used "wrong", 100% success.

Pick a method, build it, fire it up and come back with a report. It's easier to deal with results than thoughts.

 

[Mr Apricot]

Dome work amazing if you take the lid off 1 hour a day, no fungi......but when your really high......

 

[High Country]

Whatever method you use just be patient.

Try and keep the temps stable, I like 24C.

Don't prod, poke and pull the poor little things everyday.

Give them the full 2 weeks and they should be done.

Happy cloning.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Dome work amazing if you take the lid off 1 hour a day, no fungi......but when your really high......

Domes only cure symptoms, not the problem itself. Fix the problem and you can leave the dome off 24/7. 15% RH is more than enough.

Still has nothing to do with aero or not aero.

 

[Mr Apricot]

Domes only cure symptoms, not the problem itself. Fix the problem and you can leave the dome off 24/7. 15% RH is more than enough.

Still has nothing to do with aero or not aero.

Very True

I just soak the cubes and add no water to the domes themselves to keep humidity down. I also drill 8 holes in the top of the dome.

 

[ft100]

Great advice and great thread. And yes it is all voodoo. I made a sweet aerocloner and come to think of it the onlything that was not to exact specification was the distance from the musters. Mine were close and that may have attributed to me only getting 50% success. I would like to put the components in a bigger tub and increase that distance as a test. Back to the voodoo. I have tried all perlite wick cloners and had a little bit better results but my black magic believe it or not is that damn wal mart cloner with the water bottle ice cube tray and vermiculite. I've even got just under 100% on multiple runs and they run 27 in each little unit. So there ya go. If I ever get off my ass I'll let you know how much mister distance affected overall performance. I'll also add I bought a sweet timer and ran real aero times like 1/4 and 1/5. Messed with 15/15 and even just ran it 24/7 for a run and did not see a huge difference in times or rates of success. Must not be fine enough mist? Peace and smoke

 

[Mr Apricot]

50% is very bad....good idea to move the misters further away. i getting about 90% in rockrool cubes in a dome. Not the greatest but decent. aero cloners seem more difficult to construct than i first envisioned. Is distance really that crucial?

 

[High Country]

Have a look at this

DIY-LINK-O-RAMA

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637