how do I use the Aerogarden as a cloner?

Hey everyone I have several plant going in DWC right now that I am trying to clone using my 6 pod aerogarden, I am curious what the best method is?

1. Should I use neopreme sleeves and put the clone into that with the cut tip directly submersed into the water?
2. Should I stick the clones cut end into the supplied aerogarden seedpod/sponge even though its supendes several inches above the water?
3. Should I put the clones into neopreme sleeves and put the clones cut tip suspended above the water?
4. Is it even possible to get roots on a clone with an aerogarden?

Thanks!

SC300drifter: In response to questions two and three: you have ample irrigation by the pump that drips out of your planting deck over the cages and keeps the pods wet. I have cloned in an Aerogarden but not as successfully as in a starter tray.

My hydro store sold me three trays: one, is your standard black plastic tray and it holds two others and about a half gallon of Technaflora's seedling/rooting nutes. The second plastic tray fits inside the first and it has a net bottom for the roots to go through. The top tray has 50 recessed sections. You treat the rock wool cubes and stick your gel treated cuttings in. You cover it all with a vented humidity dome, put them under a couple of 24" T-5 lamps, keep them foliar fed and you'll be surprised how many will root. This time of year you might even want to consider a heating pad to speed things up.

You mentioned neopreme sleeves. Was a that a Freudian slip? I preferred those to the grow pods that A/G sells now. Do you have a source for them?

My Aerogarden doesn't irrigate... it only has an airstone for the 6 sites fed below in reservoir. I have the aerogarden classic I believe.
I wasn't aware that the Aerogarden ever came as an ebb and flo/drip system?

I'm using the neopreme sleeves for the ez-cloner type system, I just set the "discs" on top of the holes cutout for the Aerogarden seedpods.

So far I'm trying method 1, and after only 8hrs all the leaves are drooping and it looks like the health is deteriorating fast...

Ok so the clone has gone "limp" and is bent halfway in the middle...

Can anyone tell me how they successfully used an Aerogarden to root a clone?
The pictures below are of my Aerogarden with 2 clones in it and the other pic is showing the stem sitting below the water as stated in question 1, this doesn't seem to be working.
View attachment 1380146

View attachment 1380145

I am now trying method #2
The clone using method #1 will remain intact until rooted or dead.
Water ph 6, ppm 105
Temp 76f
I am using Rootech cloning gel immediatly after cutting the tip @ a 45 degree angle then I trimmed fan leave tips
Tore lower branch off to open inner stem for root growth.
I then presoaked the Aerogarden sponge mediem and placed the clone into, the clone is 3" tall.

Any suggestions or tips?

SC300drifter: Are you saying there's no pump in the reservoir of a space saver 6 A/G? I've never been into the guts of one of those. I have the seven holes models with upgrade kits. From what I can see from you photo your cutting looks too big. You have a lot of green there to feed and no roots yet to feed it. Are you making the final cut under water and foliar/spray bottle feeding them? They also need a humid environment so it's really pretty difficult to clone in an A/G, but it can be done.

Correct, my 6 site aerogarden has an air pump in the base that feeds the reservoir through a white nipple in the silver base, the nipple penetrates the black rez filled with water and pushes air through the factory mounted airstone... I modded mine and added a bigger air pump so it has much more air bubbles in the water.

Yeah it is a big cutting, I am cutting from the plant and dipping the cut into rootech cloning gel immediatly after and then I tear a botttom branch off underwater and make a few "scars" underwater as well.
Since I don't have a dome I am misting twice daily.

Thanks for helping hsa! I really appreciate it, ill get this figured out with ur help. I will post pictures of my new clone using method #2 tonight.

I really would like to use this aerogarden for cloning if possible, I bought it a year ago for a small closet grow but since then I've gone to a 15 site dwc bexause in WA u can grow 15 plants so this aerogarden is useless now unless I use it for clones cuz its much to small to grow in.

SC300drifter: Interesting. Thanks. So from what I can see that makes the space saver six is just a slightly bigger version of the A/G-3. I bought an A/G-3 for kitchen herbs and it's a bigger problem to keep full then my sevens, but it grows great basil. Please tell me more about the six. I know it only has two flat CFL's but how high does the arm/light stand extend? The upgrade kits on my sevens go up to a full twenty-four inches and when I saw the 6's at the Bed Bath and Beyond store last spring they looked like they went up pretty high. Of course I'm half blind and I didn't have a yard stick or a tape measure. As it was set up for display I didn't take it apart to look inside.
No offense, but I'm glad I didn't buy one. The sevens are enough of a pain in the ass to keep full with the little 112 ounce reservoir if you're growing two or three plants. Please do me a favor and the next time you change nutes would you measure it with a measuring cup? Information like that I've never been able to get from A/G so I gave up trying.
Overall, I think we may want to warn folks that for growing M/J the A/G-3's and A/G-6's may not be as suitable as the 7's with upgrade kits for a lot of reasons. Some of these folks don't do their homework. I think they buy their A/G's when they're stoned, they don't read the instructions, and they end up bad mouthing Aerogardens when they can't produce what they want. I love mine.

I love mine too! Lol
The light extends about 16" high I believe, I will measure when I get home. I used a Sony Playstation power cord and some yo-yo light hangers to hang the light higher and provide infinite adjustablity. The res holds a gallon exact I believe but I will measure for u next dump which will be in a few days. I originally bought my Aerogarden 6 new from a discount store for $40 and honestly couldn't be happier with my purchase! I have been able to get 8 grams dried and cured out of each pod with the supplied lights, 2 cfls, and upgraded air pump. They are awesome for the beginner and for small areas or if u nee somewhere to start seeds its perfect! Now that I have a "full 12x12 room DWC grow" I'm just trying to find a new use for mine. Ill take pics tonight, I was reallybusy last night.

The light goes 13" high but as stated before can easily be modified for infinite adjustability.
The owners manual states my 6 Elite model uses 3.5 quarts/112 fl oz.

So your model 7 has a water pump with plumbing to each seed pod site for individual drip feeding instead of the standard air pump and airstone system? Was that an optional kit you purchased or something you made yourself?

Here are some pictures of my Aerogarden, I have taken another clone using method #2 because this seems to make the most sense compared to other cloning methods that don't use the Aerogarden.

This shows the vertical clearance from base to light
View attachment 1384253
This is the base, it shows 24 on for lights and other automatic settings
View attachment 1384255
This is my Aerogarden 6 elite setup in my grow room with 4 clones in it
View attachment 1384256
This show the water reservoir bubbling from the factory mounted airstone and the underside of the seedpods
View attachment 1384257
This picture shows my aftermarket air pump that has been plumbed into the factory airline, this pump is much stronger than the original pump so I actually removed the old air pump from inside the base.
View attachment 1384258
This is my plant that I am pulling my clones from, I put it into flowering about a week ago but pulled my first clone only a few days after so its not far enough into flower to have negative effects on cloning I don't believe.
View attachment 1384259
This shows the 4 clones: Front left/pulled this clone using method #2 5 minutes before this picture, back left/first clone i cut using method #1, back center/ I took this clone second using method #2, back right/this is a rooted clone I received from a caregiver, I am vegging it for a few weeks before transferring it into my veg area with nutes and T5's.
View attachment 1384260
This is my veg area, its has 7 clones in it: critical mass, permafrost, blueberry & blue dream I received them on 12/28 with roots
View attachment 1384261

Update! I got roots, using the first method!

hey drift in that last pic, your veg area, you made those pots/totes? or were they pre fab?

update: I now have roots using the 2nd method, i would say the Aerogarden works well as a cloner... I had signs of roots within 10 days using both methods.

They are standard 3 gallon black buckets with 6" netpots designed for buckets, i then used an airstone fed off an airpump to oxygenate the water and roots. I bought the components at a local hydro store and assembled at home. Everything can be purchased from walmart to make a simple set-up though.

I use the AeroGarden Tall for my clones. It has three lights and the arm extends much farther than the aerogarden six I have. I had great success using the AG Tall and getting one plant as tall as it could handle in veg before switching to 12/12. Once it started to flower I moved it to a 4 gallon bucket under a 400w HPS above and a 150w HPS tilted down the side with plenty of extra air stones. it is doing great. I am now using the AG tall for my clones. Started three, used the sponges provided with the AG and cut them about 3/4's the way down the sponge. Used root tone and Table spoon of K-N0L in the reservoir. Cut the top off of water bottles to make humidity domes for each. I mist them about 4-5 times a day and they seem to being doing much better than anything else I tried. It is day 3 of the clones. Will let you know how it goes and get pick up soon. If you use the AG Tall for extended grows just make sure to change the water in the tank and plenty of air stones to prevent root rot. And Superthrive seems to help alot with that as well. Only prob with the AG is that the tank is so small, if it is in a small room. Your res. temps can get to high which will cause your rot. I just added ice everyday during hot times to avoid dropping major $ on chillers. But since moving to a bigger room res temps are no longer a problem

Sorry I hadnt saw the second page of the thread when I posted, just trying to help. Good luck to everyone. Keep'm growing

drift- nice setup, im going to be doing very similar with my ag7 in march. a miniature sog. 2 mothers, cut 3-4 clones of each into ag to root. another 2 weeks or so plant those, and cut another 3-4 clones of each mother and into the ag. 2 weeks or so plant those clones then stop cutting from mothers and veg some more then flower them as well. so have 14 clones and 2 bigger plants(the mothers) in the flower room. harvest, learn from what i did right/wrong adjust and do it again.
bad idea? good idea?

sounds like a great idea matatan. Its day 4 with my clones in my AG Tall. If you have a AG 6 you can buy the taller adjustment arm for $79.99. But the irrigation is nice on the 7. I just have one questions. in my AG 7 with humidity domes on each. How high should I set the light? And yes drift- nice work, looking good. I will still post pics but again you can make humidity domes for your AG clones by using water bottles with the tops cut or a 2 liter if your cutting are big. Still just wondering how high should I set the lights for best results?