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Ice-tube cloner from WallyWorld

Hydro-Soil

Active member
Veteran
Room temp, about 75-77 in the veg room. Humidity from 15-20%.

Clones are approximately 6" with 1" into the vermiculite.

I usually cut them into 6 cell pieces and use a snack-ziplock for the res.

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
 

GuFF

Member
Thanks for the input. I'm going to try mixing my gel with water as you said and let them sit in the solution for a while. I was originally cutting and setting them in the gel and leaving them for a minute or so, maybe that contributed to the wilting. Also going to try RO, the high ec of my tap water may also have contributed to poor water uptake and caused wilting as well.
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
Has anyone determined a low limit of humidity required for this method? I cut about 4" clones and at 40% humidity they wilted and died off. Using a vented dome now an got em at 55%, 10 days in and so far so good.


When I ready my cloner the first thing I do is add dry vermiculite...

pack the verm in there good.....

fill the res....

The verm should change to a darker color.....indicating the stuff is wicking properly....

Your clones should not wilt....

Large clones....say 12 inches are handled slightly differently....

If I were to guess I would say you didn't pack the verm in there ..... air space isn't good.... that's why I recommend fine vermiculite...... less air space.....
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
Room temp, about 75-77 in the veg room. Humidity from 15-20%.

Clones are approximately 6" with 1" into the vermiculite.

I usually cut them into 6 cell pieces and use a snack-ziplock for the res.

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
Im uninclined to recommend temps this low...... generally I recommend 80 at a minimum...


The cooler the temps....the longer it takes.....
 

Hydro-Soil

Active member
Veteran
They were asking what I did. *shrug*

Never cloned at 80 so wouldn't know. Usually less than 2 weeks, it's a lazy method.

When I want faster roots, I go cups and soil or perlite... quicker but takes up a lot more room.

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
They were asking what I did. *shrug*

Never cloned at 80 so wouldn't know. Usually less than 2 weeks, it's a lazy method.

When I want faster roots, I go cups and soil or perlite... quicker but takes up a lot more room.

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:

I have no doubt it works at those temps....

I just wanted to point out what I do......


I have in fact done some temp based compares....
 

GuFF

Member
When I ready my cloner the first thing I do is add dry vermiculite...

pack the verm in there good.....

fill the res....

The verm should change to a darker color.....indicating the stuff is wicking properly....

Your clones should not wilt....

Large clones....say 12 inches are handled slightly differently....

If I were to guess I would say you didn't pack the verm in there ..... air space isn't good.... that's why I recommend fine vermiculite...... less air space.....

I use fine vermiculite.

I packed the vermiculite and waited to make sure there was a color change and then packed a little more, but not much more. I think the reason they wilted was because I let the clones sit in the clone gel for about 5 min prior. The gel didn't let any air in, but I also don't think it let any water in.

Next time just a drop of clone gel in a small plastic Dixie cup w RO water and let em sit in that for about 30 min, then over to the vermiculite.
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
I use fine vermiculite.

I packed the vermiculite and waited to make sure there was a color change and then packed a little more, but not much more. I think the reason they wilted was because I let the clones sit in the clone gel for about 5 min prior. The gel didn't let any air in, but I also don't think it let any water in.

Next time just a drop of clone gel in a small plastic Dixie cup w RO water and let em sit in that for about 30 min, then over to the vermiculite.


I at least find your answer interesting... if you seal up the cut end with something ..... The plant would in fact wilt....

You could test the theory pretty easy by doing some without the cloning gel....


Then you would know for sure....


For me.... I dip and stick........
 

GuFF

Member
Leaving them in the gel was definitely the problem, diluted some in a small Dixie cup w RO water and let them sit in that for about 20 min, place em in the vermiculite without a dome at about 55% humidity, no wilting.

Thanks for that tip hydro-soil, much appreciation. And thanks for the help burnt rope.
 

M4rky2

New member
Well done.Whatever people say, do what works for you buddy.There are so many expensive items out there that do the same as an improv.iwould advise against improv.electrics for obvious reasons.have a good day
 

soursmoker

East Coast, All Day!
Veteran
Just want to say I have used this method for probably over a year now! I just ran out of vermiculite and don't wanna go to Lowe's for just vermiculite... do people really use vermiculite/perlite/other aeration ammendments in their regular gardens? I always catch some shady looks picking up things like vermiculite lol

But now that I am out of vermiculite I am looking into other cloning methods... might try the same containers with fine perlite in it... even tho the OP reccomended vermiculite over perlite... I have a big ass bag of dusty perlite... fucking ripoff... maybe it will be good for cloning...
 

M4rky2

New member
Vermiculite retains water.perlite repels it.hydroton growrocks do both,though do not absorb as much as vermiculite 1/2-1/2vermiculite/perlite should do fine.Keep the medium moist ,for cloning either foliar spray with nitrozyme (vit b1) or dip cutting in rooting agent(gel or powder)also try to keep humidity above 60%.Peace.
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
I am the original poster....

If I said I prefer vermiculite over perlite .....I misspoke....


I would say in this cloner..... vermiculite works but perlite doesn't......





As far as this comment goes....


"I always catch some shady looks picking up things like vermiculite lol"



Its not the vermiculite..... lol


There is an old saying....

If it aint broke....don't fix it.....
 

Dr.RedWhite

Active member
This is the only thing I use vermiculite for. It works great. There is a method I use as I take cuttings. I cut at an angle close to the next node, scrape the stem a bit above the cut with a razor blade, put in cup of water with a bit of Superthrive added, let sit for a few minutes, dip in rooting hormone, poke hole in wetted Vermiculite, put cutting in hole and firm vermiculite around it. I then cover with my shoebox dome for 4-6 days and keep it all at 78-82 degrees. No sooner than ten days later I give them a light solution of fert with a high level of phosperous. This is usually 1/2 tsp of Carl Pool BR-61 and a few drops of Superthrive in a gallon of water. I have used as much as 1 tsp of the BR-61 with no issues. At day 14 I usually have mucho roots. In fact since I have started using this method I have not lost more than 5 cuttings.
 

STUNKY

Member
This cloner works great with verm. I used a similar method of wick cloning years ago,but with perlite at first I had great success. Then after going through a bag of perlite and getting another I couldn't get roots for shit.. I believe the size of the perlite was the culprit.

As was stated above if it isn't broke don't fix it..

Hey sour there are many items when u buy at lowes or Wally World that can get ya looks.. For me it's bubble stones.. Lol maybe one day ill buy some fish food too..jk
 
Anyone know where to get these trays now a days, or an alternative. Been bubble cloning for some time but would like something simpler and successful and this looks like it fits the bill
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
Anyone know where to get these trays now a days, or an alternative. Been bubble cloning for some time but would like something simpler and successful and this looks like it fits the bill

It looks to me like this version of the product is soon to be gone forever...

Walmart no longer sells the version used as a cloner.... the current version doesn't have the blue caps....its a one piece thing.... I guess that progress.... but the device we used will soon be .... no more....

http://www.colonialmedical.com/ice-tube-tray-P-2683.html


These folks appear to still have some left....

If you want one of these cloners don't dally.....
 
I actually was lucky to find a used one on CL for a dollar. Must have been fat coming back to this thread then scoring that. It is a future project. About to pop some beans. I have had good success in bubblers before, but it wasn't consistent. Sometimes mushy stems, or the water level was to low or to high on the stem. I am excited about trying such a care free method. I was thinking of cutting it into either 4x 2 row sections or 3x3 row sections to spread the light out a bit.
 

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