variations of home made aero cloners

I built something similar to 'Farmer Maggot's bucket but with reusable 1" slices of 'pool noodle' to hold the plants in place. Used air-stones and a small aquarium heater to keep the water temp at about 20c/68f

i will post pics of my new one soon not to complicated but i got a big air pump so its nice

the new toy

Ok, I'm VERY interested in this DIY aerocloner. I just love doing things myself & more than that I love saving money . So I just wanna make sure I got everything str8. First off I will need something to house it all. I'm thinking some sort of rubbermaid bin, 32 or 64 gallon or whatever. Something that is opaque & will not let light thru. Then as I see it I need an ultrasonic mister like Buzzsaw mentioned Ultrasonic Water Fogger-The Mist Maker .

Ok so if I take those 2 things & I run the mister in so it can sit in the bottom of the rubbermaid, I seal up the area i ran the cord thru (near top of the bottom part of the rubbermaid bin). Then I fill this up w/ clean water w/ a good PH. I plug the mister into a timer that will run it for 30 mins on, 30 mins off. Ok, now I take the lid part of the rubbermaid bin & cut some round holes in the top that will hold neoprene inserts, whatever size it is that I can buy the inserts from the grow store.

Ok, now am I ready to plug & go? or do I need to put a small water pump or air stone in the bin to keep the water circulating? Another question, Do I need to get a propogation heating mat w/ thermostat from grow store to set it on to make sure water doesn't get too cool, or will the sonic mister keep water temps up high enuf that I don't need to worry about heating?

This all sounds like it could be a superb way to make a home aerocloner!

Just a quick guesstimation of the materials needed.

$30.00 Rubbermaid 45 gallon storage box (Box should be able to hold @ least 25 2" inserts & maybe even 60 2" inserts)
$25.00 Neoprene inserts (2') x 50 (NOTE" I think sens1's pool noodle idea could potentially save alot of money here)
$25.00 Ultrasonic Water fogger
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That makes $80.00

Then I can add the things i'm not sure about....

$10.00 Cheap water pump to keep water circulating
$35.00 A good quality heat mat w/ thermostat.
$5.00 For some PVC cement or epoxy to seal up mods to rubbermaid bin
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That makes +50.00

80.00
50.00
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$130.00

Ok, so $130 is really cheap for an aerocloner with 25-60 sites!!!

The only things i have left out as far as I can tell is the rooting hormone (& i don't think aerocloners typically come w/ rooting hormone). & a humidity dome.

I haven't actually figured out a great idea for a humidity dome. Anyone modded a good dome or know if it can be done without one?

Everything you need...

Cost is about $40. I have a 100% success rate with this design.

Thanks Stinkbud!! Where can I get the EZ Clone misting heads? (I checked their website and HTG Supply).

I made a fogger cloner and I'll let you know what I find...










I am prepared to lose every clone in search of perfecting the fogger cloner I built.

Wow Dub, that looks almost exactly like the unit I made. I have a little fogger especialy for aeroponics but I actually bought an ultrasonic humidifier last year and tried to make one. I'm with ya bro; I'm prepared to sacrifice clones for the perfect setup too. I should be able to positively sex my plants this coming Monday so I can take my clones then. Best wishes!

this is an interesting little thread. Maybe you guys can all agree on water temps and ph?

This whole non RR cloning seems to be easy but takes forever

Unfortunately I did not have my timer set correct and all 20 clones died. I'm not giving up completely. My pre-rooted clones are enjoying the fogger now.

I just took 15 clones today. As I understand it, you leave the fogger on 24/7. That's what I'm doing anyway. I have a 65w multi-spectrum CFL over them.

I leave it on for 24 hours for fresh cuttings and then run 1 hour on 1 hour off. I need a better timer really. Let me know how 24/7 works.

Here's a shot of mine.

I'll have to try the 24 hour running the fogger but it will have to be after I take my rooted clones out.

Took 4 more clones yesterday and today they look like hell. I think they were too far up the stalk; they were really nice looking ones, twice the size of the ones at the bottom. I think the ones on the very bottom have more rooting hormones and have a better chance of success. They weren't out of the water more than a minute the whole time; that pretty much had to be it.

potpimp said:

Took 4 more clones yesterday and today they look like hell. I think they were too far up the stalk; they were really nice looking ones, twice the size of the ones at the bottom. I think the ones on the very bottom have more rooting hormones and have a better chance of success. They weren't out of the water more than a minute the whole time; that pretty much had to be it.

Click to expand...

That has been my problem. I'm going to use my 396gph pump and some pvc with sprayers to make an aerocloner with the water pump over the ultrasonics. I may just mist them with the ultrasonic fog. I noticed amazing growth in fine roots in this system but not tap root growth. I feel that combining this with either bubbleponics or a pumped aeroponics would be the best bet.

The main problem for my system is nutrient uptake, when the water is turned into fog the pH swings and the water molecules are too small to cary the nutrients, this results in a super strong nutrient solution in the reservior no where near the plants. I want to eventually pump in fog and run a sprayer line for nutrients.

I may be purchasing a "no-wilt" cutting spray and try it out.

DubB83 said:

I may be purchasing a "no-wilt" cutting spray and try it out.

Click to expand...

NOOOOOOO!!! I bought some of that crap and it killed my plants. I think they died of asphyxiation. The just coats your leaves and the leaves can't get O2. That's the worst waste of money I've ever spent and I've wasted a lot.

As far as nutes go, you don't need nutes for clones - or that's what I think anyway. You might want to do some research on that first.

I yanked out the last four clones I took. I have learned yet another valuable lesson: if you wait until plants show their sex before you take the clones, they will probably have a much less chance of survival due to the lack of rooting hormones inside the stem. Looks like I'll be waiting for my clones to get big so I can take clones from them. I may be a little short for this grow but from this point on I'll have a perpetual harvest.

potpimp said:

NOOOOOOO!!! I bought some of that crap and it killed my plants. I think they died of asphyxiation. The just coats your leaves and the leaves can't get O2. That's the worst waste of money I've ever spent and I've wasted a lot.

As far as nutes go, you don't need nutes for clones - or that's what I think anyway. You might want to do some research on that first.

I yanked out the last four clones I took. I have learned yet another valuable lesson: if you wait until plants show their sex before you take the clones, they will probably have a much less chance of survival due to the lack of rooting hormones inside the stem. Looks like I'll be waiting for my clones to get big so I can take clones from them. I may be a little short for this grow but from this point on I'll have a perpetual harvest.

Click to expand...

Your correct, nutes are not needed for clones, I'll take a snap shot of what I have in it now. Basically I rooted clones a few weeks ago in rockwool, once they developed a tap root I placed them in the ultrasonic fog after my fresh cut clones died. The roots then exploded some micro roots out and now the plants look sick because they have gone from my rooting mix tub to no nutrients at all.

I'll be a bit short on clones too, you live and learn. I learned I need more mother plants and I'm going to have to expand my space a bit. I need a veg spot between clones and flowering because my clones are all so short. Now the only thing left to do is rework my setup and get ready to flower.

The only things that interested me in this type of cloning is the hype of roots within 4-5 days and no rooting hormone or rockwool. Seemed too good to be true!

Awesome post, thanks! Very helpful, i've been debating about going to aero cloning and now i think i understand a bit better. It is true the lower branches are younger genetics and therefore root easier, however, the longer a plant grows the more cannaboids it builds up and its clones will keep the same amount being a clone n all. Let your mothers grow for up to 8months before cannaboid degradation starts. Can actually get away with longer but i do 8 months. If you're having a bad success rate you may need a change of method. Gl and thanks for the aero skool!

btw right now have been using rapid rooters with about 70% success. I have a botanist friend that makes a very airy soiless mix and he gets roots better than an aero but it still takes 10-14 days, so aero still has a huge advantage. His method also suffers grater transplant shock but its avoidable carefully using the anti wilt. Shit should only be used once to whoever suffocated their plants. Doesnt hurt to spray with water 20 min after using the anti wilt.