Bubble cloner FAIL, light schedule question.

X

Xanode

Member

• Oct 31, 2015

• #1

Im trying to get the bubble cloner thing down but nothing is happening.

I have everything setup right but don't have it under a dedicated light on a timer. The stay healthy, never wilt(even after the chop) and just sit there in suspended animation. I've got a couple that have sat this way now going on near 3 months(with a bit of yellowing ofcoarse).

Water temp: 80 deg all times(heat mat)
Straight tap water changed weekly
Some stems in water, some out, doesn't make a lick of difference in my case.
Water stays relatively clean, no slime.

Other clones from this mother will root in 8 day in jiffy's.


They callus up then nothing happens.

The clones are cut from mothers on a strict 18/6 cycle.

As clones dont need much light, the cloner is just sitting on the floor in a room where the lights are turned on and off sporadically during the night and it gets indirect sun during the day.

Does cutting them from mothers on a strict light cycle and putting them into a cloner that essentially doesn't have a light cycle fuck with them rooting somehow?

Thanks for any help.

 

D

DemonTrich

Active member

Veteran

• Oct 31, 2015

• #2

get rid of the heat mat. the bubble cloners pump will add enough heat to the water. highest water temp should be no more than 80*. I like mine from 75-79* and 77* ambient temp under a 2 bulb 4' t12 about 1' away from the tops. change water every 7 days, and use TAP water ONLY ph to 6.2-6.5. and put it on an 18/6 timer (light only, not the bubbler). I put my bubbler on my concrete floor, so it helps keeps temps below 80.

2 weeks max on any of my 7 strains and I have good roots. 4 days later and Im pottin in solo cups.

 

M

Mr.Doe

• Oct 31, 2015

• #3

I had the same thing happen with an ezclone. Lost 2 cycles till I figured out that there was not enough humidity to get them to root. Callused stems all day... Put a dome on that thing or add a humidifier if your RH is low...

 

D

DemonTrich

Active member

Veteran

• Oct 31, 2015

• #4

a dome is not needed with an aero/bubble cloner. the cuts get ALL their needed moisture uptake from the water below. use domes when putting cuts in mediums, not cloners.

 

M

Mr.Doe

• Oct 31, 2015

• #5

Not from my experience. Low rh and I'm talking low like 20% or less like in the winter will stall roots. Not arguing just trying to help...

 

X

Xanode

Member

• Oct 31, 2015

• #6

thanks for the reply's fella's, ive put a dome on, it cant hurt anyhow... at this point ill try anything.

Any more advice is very welcome.

 

X

Xanode

Member

• Nov 2, 2015

• #7

So the sporadic light cycle wouldn't be messing with them somehow? Thanks

 

M

Mr.Doe

• Nov 3, 2015

• #8

I wouldn't think so. Best move I made was Schultz rooting powder, a tray and dome with root riot plugs. Nearly 100% success with this method over the course of 3 years. I use a heat mat with a themostat and set on 78 for the winter when temps drop.

 

X

Xanode

Member

• Nov 3, 2015

• #9

i have no problem rooting in jiffy's, coco or even soil and the such. I just like the challenge of getting bubble cloning to work. Clones cut from same mother plant and put in jiffys in a crib in the mothers tent root in 7-8 days.

I have now placed it in the mothers tent which is on a light cycle, so when the clones are cut they don't experience any change in light cycle, air temp and humidity what so ever.

Also added a dome.
humidity with dome 99%
So air temps are around, 82deg
Water temp is 80deg
18/6 light cycle(cfl)
tap water with ph 7, 100 ppm

If i don't see results with the new changes im thinking it must be my tap water?

Thanks again for any help.

 

C

CosmicCharlie

Member

• Nov 3, 2015

• #10

Do you let the tap water sit uncovered for a day so the chlorine can off-gas?

 

X

Xanode

Member

• Nov 3, 2015

• #11

usually i do for watering pots, but with this bubbler i thought the chlorine would be good for keeping the water clean?

 

stoned40yrs

Ripped since 1965

Veteran

• Nov 3, 2015

• #12

Bubble cloners suck, you can build a aerocloner in a cooler for $40. Mine has run for 3 years. 100% all the time.

 

X

Xanode

Member

• Nov 10, 2015

• #13

update:

Well still no dice with the added humidity dome.

I figured that its probably something in my city tap water(which ive been using all along), who knows what they add to it nowadays. Have now switched to distilled water.

Another big reason i think its my tap water is that i took one of the old cuttings i had in the bubbler for a couple of weeks and placed it into some distilled water in a dixie cup and what do you know? small Roots 2 days later.

I have decided to do a full reset, i have sterilized the whole system, taken new cuts and instead of using tap water im now using store bought straight distilled water.

So the bubbler is still in the tent under the mums light cycle and will have a dome on it for the first 3 -4 days.

1 and a half days after the reset the new cuts look 100% healthy, water looks clean as can be. Temps are fine also water is around 75 air about the same.

 

D

DJbigbud

Member

• Jan 2, 2016

• #14

Ive had luck using rain water and throwing in a willow stick, if you have willow available.

 

Last edited: Jan 2, 2016

Phaeton

Speed of Dark

Veteran

• Jan 5, 2016

• #15

Interior Alaska is extremely dry.
I used to average 4 to 6 weeks to get roots in rockwool, occasionally 8 weeks. Watering was 4 times a day.
About 1/5 of them did not develop roots. I let a couple of them go over three months and they stayed green but no roots.

Now I use distilled water in a sprayer with a very very tiny droplet size (leaves no water drops, just a sheen) and lightly fog the leaves with every watering, which is every 4-1/2 hours.
This seems to have fixed my problem, the rooting takes 3 to 5 weeks (still an odd one occasionally taking 8) with less than 1 in 20 not getting roots.
Fogging the plant from above gets an entirely different reaction than raising the humidity to 100% with a dome. If one doesn't work the other may.

Too bright a light always made my clones wilt, if they stay green for weeks and weeks then the light is OK.

Posters in this thread have had success with both chlorinated water and distilled water, with up to half strength nutrients or just plain water, with open air humidity at 15% and under domes at 100% RH.

The plant needs light and water in cycles it can count on. Any single item can be overlooked but an irregular combo will easily confuse the clone and it will just sit and do nothing.

What I do works 95%, while others working with contradictory methods get as good or better. It is a subtle timing thing balanced against the physical.
Some people have a 'green thumb' but cannot explain what they do. Cloning is something you develop a feel for over time.

 

D

Dutch Quality

New member

• Jan 12, 2016

• #16

I have a aerocloner.
I don't use a dome and have 40-60% RH, because of the lower RH the cutting has to make roots in order to take up enough water.
The temperature is 70deg.
It gets its light from the dutch summer sun, the cloner stands in my windowsill.
I have roots in 10 days with a 100% succes rate.

I hope this is usefull for you

Dutch Quality

 

G

Growingheals

New member

• Sep 3, 2016

• #17

Clean water from a small boy. A pinch of 200x alovera flakes from build a soil per gal. Rapid start or root from GH and AZOS. I get awesome roots in 12 days. You dont want the ends of the clones in water at all the sprayers will do a great job! Work clean!

-M