Bubble cloner questions? above or below H2O?

[d4herb]

A while back I made a bubble cloner and had so-so results with it as slime seemed to always be a problem (read a thread about EWC tea...might give that a whirl) but enough about that. My question with bubble cloners is this:

Should you submerge the stem in the water?

If so how much?

If you DON'T submerge it then how high above should it be from the surface of the water?

And do the air pumps remain on in either situation for 24/7?

OH...one more quick question in regards to slime. I just usually run tap water (well pump goes down 700ft+ and ppm are less than 100...the water is better then poland spring in the bottle) should I maybe run a weak Lucas Formula nutes instead of plain water....would that maybe prevent the slime?

Thanks for the help and good grows to all.

 

[rollinmachine]

24/7 on the air pumps in the cloner keeps them well oxygenated. i left the stems above the water level. if theres enough bubbles u can have the stems 6" or more from the top of the water level. the bubbles act similar to a fogger and keep everything under the lid inside the cloner moist with condensation from the bubbles popping at the surface. generaly i turn the lid upsidedown and if there isnt any real condensation under the lid there isnt enough water/bubbles. the slime could be from light getting into the cloner. i use plain tap water left sitting for a day or 2 with a air pump in the water before i put it in the cloner i add 1/8th of a tsp of maxibloom. i had a good success rate with this... like 90%. Also i add a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide to it when i see slime it seems to fix it just dont add too much.
hope this helps... good luck

 

[Sqydro]

as above but i add some rhitzotonic, a few drop mate with plain tap water, have it 1" above water level that way they get misted at the root ball formation, i see people have good results with fully submerged as well, good luck

 

[Eternal_Ghost]

I too just started using a homemade cloner, (2 months now) I had slime starting after first week. A little H2O2 (29% hydrogen peroxide) cleared right up. also improved roots as well.

 

[Scrogerman]

mmm slime, not a good sign in a BC. I submerge myself, 10mm roughly. bubble with sol temps @ 83f for rooting(only) then drop, use nutes for sure, low EC nutes say 0.4, some H2o2 is always a good idea. airpump 24/7, aquarium heater on 83f untill rooted, around 7 days+- usually.

Good thread on the subject:https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=26473

100% to date using this method!

 

[Friend]

How often should one change the water solution in a bubble cloner? Just wondering

 

[Scrogerman]

if using h2o2 it wouldnt matter imo, but i change out weekly(7 days) regardless. they root 'around+-' then anyway n get moved on. coco,soil,hydroton etc take ya pick. solution temp is prolly the most important thing for rooting. 75-78f takes forever, 83-85f root much quicker.

 

[d4herb]

Thanks for all info folks. Also learned search function is your friend...bubble cloner info has been covered quite a bit.