# Cloning - Aeroponic vs. Bubbler



## igrowhydro (Jul 20, 2008)

I'm curious as to other people's opinion on what they prefer to use to clone with.
Just like the title, which is better an aeroponic cloner or a bubbler?

I have a bubbler i'm using now and i'm not getting that great of results. I need to pump out 40 successfully rooted clones soon. So i need something that is 100% and simplistic to run every time with no tricks.

lets here it


----------



## thesublime1 (Jul 20, 2008)

I use an ez cloner and have consistent results. cut the clone, dip in root tech and put in the ez cloner. done
there are couple of things to take into consideration.
- must make sure that temp in the ez-cloner stays cool. (i keep mine around 73 with the help of a chiller) During cooler seasons it is not as hard to maintain, but right now without the chiller my cloner gets over 90 degrees. Then they all die.
- make sure the water ph is around 6. works well for me.

this method works for me everytime.


----------



## igrowhydro (Jul 21, 2008)

sounds good. I have wanted an ez cloner for a while, but just haven't had the extra money yet.

I am in the process of building a diy aero cloner and i hope it works out.
I will use a 396 eco pump, 1/2" pvc and 6-8 ez-clone misters. Then drill 2" holes in the top of a tote for 2" neoprene collars. 

It should look something like this












This is stinkbud's cloner. 

Question: Is it ok to run the misters 24/7 ? 
Do you need an airstone?


----------



## stucklikechuck (Jul 21, 2008)

yes misters should be on all the time. and i dont know if you NEED a airstone but i dont see why it would hurt.


----------



## grapeoptimo (Jul 21, 2008)

i run mine 30 on 30 off works like a charm


----------



## FLoJo (Jul 21, 2008)

ya dont run the misters all the time, run the air pump all the time and do 30 on 30 off, gives the roots a lil time to dry off which will speed up development... and aero is the way to go... there simply is no faster method if you do it right


----------



## igrowhydro (Jul 21, 2008)

ok i'm convinced. Would you guys consider that this design with 6 misters, eco 396 is sufficient? What are the important factors involved for the aero cloner to work right everytime ??

water temps? Air temps?

Water to use? Distilled? Tap? Should you add any suppliments to the water? 

Dome? Mist how often for how many days? 

Should you dip the clones in rooting gel before placing in the cloner?

Best timing schedule? 15 15, 30 30, 1 5 ??

thanks in advance, I need to get this right and I'm sure the collaborated info can help out lots of people


----------



## thesublime1 (Jul 21, 2008)

water temps work faster at cooler temps. I have a chiller on my ez cloner and set it to 73. Air temp in room should be 70s.
- tap water works just fine. ph it to 6.
- no need for a dome, no misting.
- i use root tech, cut dip and place in cloner. done
- i also use root 66 (10 ml per gallon) helps development.
- sinve your running it all the time do 15 on 15 off. 

most important factor is keeping the water temp in the cloner cool. the pump inside the cloner gets the water warm and can rot the cuttings.
I have used frozen 2 liters before, but too much temp fluctuation and so I just bought a 1/4 chiller. expensive but worth it to have 100% every time year round.


----------



## igrowhydro (Jul 21, 2008)

thesublime1 said:


> water temps work faster at cooler temps. I have a chiller on my ez cloner and set it to 73. Air temp in room should be 70s.
> - tap water works just fine. ph it to 6.
> - no need for a dome, no misting.
> - i use root tech, cut dip and place in cloner. done
> ...



Thank You
That is pretty conclusive to everything ive read today. I just ordered some root tech gel and clonex gel trial packs! woot woot.. I have clonex clone solution already... It calls for i think 10ml per gallon. Is this ok to use like the root 66?


----------



## 420ClosetGrow (Jul 22, 2008)

for dwc you'll need air stones. it produces bubbles which contains oxygen which is delivered to the developing root system. read, read and read some more. don't cheap out when your growing. it'll just cost you in the end.


----------



## Butthead08 (Jul 22, 2008)

what do you guys mean by 15 15 30 30 etc.. also is it ok for the roots to sit in the water when it isn't on? wouldn't that make them rot? nutes? I've been very interested in this technique for a while.
thanks


----------



## FLoJo (Jul 22, 2008)

that is why you have the air pump always going it keeps the roots oxygenated so that they dont rot... root rot is caused by oversaturation and lack of oxygen... if they constantly have oxygen and clean surroundings rotting is not a problem.. but when they are developing roots they have to get wet at allow dry time for oxygen to saturate the newly cut stems.. technically speaking you could run the misters all the time but it would take forever to root if they rooted at all because a clone making roots is a survival response.. if they constantly get water they will be content just chillin


----------



## SumDumGuy (Jul 22, 2008)

igrowhydro said:


> I'm curious as to other people's opinion on what they prefer to use to clone with.
> Just like the title, which is better an aeroponic cloner or a bubbler?
> 
> I have a bubbler i'm using now and i'm not getting that great of results. I need to pump out 40 successfully rooted clones soon. So i need something that is 100% and simplistic to run every time with no tricks.
> ...


I bubble with no rooting gel just plain pH'ed water changed daily. Takes my 12-14 days. If you get a Maxi 900 hooked into a hose and scew in 3 micron misting heads than you can expect viability in 4 to 6. Does that answer it??


----------



## SumDumGuy (Jul 22, 2008)

stucklikechuck said:


> yes misters should be on all the time. and i dont know if you NEED a airstone but i dont see why it would hurt.


Airstone not needed - The airation produced my the misters is far more effective. Ples you will not want additional heating elements in with yer clones.


----------



## FLoJo (Jul 22, 2008)

SumDumGuy said:


> Airstone not needed - The airation produced my the misters is far more effective. Ples you will not want additional heating elements in with yer clones.


you do need airstones because once the roots hit the water they need to have oxygenated water or you can end up with root rot issues... plus an airstone is not going to put out any heat.... the air pump will put out heat but it isnt in the water now is it?? there is a reason that ezcloners have oxygen tubes that run thru the res and it aint to give away free tubing...


----------



## SumDumGuy (Jul 22, 2008)

FLoJo said:


> you do need airstones because once the roots hit the water they need to have oxygenated water or you can end up with root rot issues... plus an airstone is not going to put out any heat.... the air pump will put out heat but it isnt in the water now is it?? there is a reason that ezcloners have oxygen tubes that run thru the res and it aint to give away free tubing...


Airstone not needed... I'm not talking from the other hole dude. I use piston air pump for my DWC and them guys put out heat...

What yuo wanna do is use a deep tub so that the roots don't touch the water. Shit if the roots are touching the water pull 'em out and get vegging baby!!! Ya dig 

Also please don't get sassy with me kiddo~~


----------



## igrowhydro (Jul 22, 2008)

Thanks fellas. I'm waiting for my ezcone misters to come in. In the mean time i'm going to give rockwool cloning another go.


----------



## SumDumGuy (Jul 22, 2008)

igrowhydro said:


> Thanks fellas. I'm waiting for my ezcone misters to come in. In the mean time i'm going to give rockwool cloning another go.


Good Luck bro, I'm sure you'll be fine... Remember to place your clines near the edges on the rockrool as there's more oxygen there that center hole gets made with a puncher and clogs up as soon as you wet it. I get better results when I GENTLY punch my own hole in RW.


----------



## igrowhydro (Jul 23, 2008)

yeah i was thinking the same thing. I have a dropper that i use for ph up/down and it makes a nice snug hole for the clones. I pulled the propagation flat, dome, and heat mat out of the grow room yesterday bc of higher temps and put them in my closet which is nice and cool. I misted the dome put a therm. inside, and put the heat mat on low. I checked that thing all day and the temp stayed right at 74 with 90% hum. It still hasn't changed today. I think this will def. improve my odds this time. Check out my grow as i'll be posting pics later.


----------



## So Gro (Apr 7, 2009)

Look guys don't waste your money or time on expensive misters or aero systems. I built my entire setup with parts from wal-mart and lowes, with the exception of my water pumps. Air pumps are a must in a bubbler setup(water in root chamber). If you are using true aeroponics, where the entire root is suspended in air, and having no water in the root chamber, a pump isn't not necessary in the external tank, but could never hurt. Water chiller is a good idea. Cooler water can hold more oxygen than warmer water. Warm water promotes root rot, which is bad. I have gotten my best results with sprayers on for 15 and off for 30. I have read a lot of research, and done a lot of my own. If anyone has any questions, just ask, I know I didn't cover every detail. Peace.


----------



## goodmeeds (Apr 7, 2009)

ez cloner says never use distilled water. It will slow root growth. My problem is i have been using flora mico 5-0-1 which apparently has to much nitrogen feeding the mother to allow gor root formation. Anybody know if i can just do a good flush then clone, or switch to flora grow 2-1-6, averything i have read says high N levels inhibit root formation.


----------



## jimjones420 (Apr 8, 2009)

i think i read somewhere maybe the exclone site to leave pump on 24/7... is this not ideal?? I have several clones started a week ago, would 15/15 or 15/30 be betr for the pump...


----------



## So Gro (Apr 9, 2009)

15 on. 30 off. Simple as that. A lot of people say to turn the pump off to allow the roots to dry. This doesn't happen in a 100% humid environment.(I've watched two complete cycles for myself, and water droplets stay on the roots the entire time) Your plants are only going to absorb just as much nutrient as they need. 15 mins is plently of time to achieve this. There is no reason to leave your pump on for 24/7. And if your roots are touching water in the bottom of your tank they are absorbing max nutes anyway.


----------



## trouble9039 (Apr 11, 2009)

You guy's need to be alittle more clear on your times! Are you guy's using recycle timer's or cheap timer's, Min or sec? I run mine for 10 sec on and 3 min off and get great results. I am also using A DIY aero cloner based of of the greatest invention the ez cloner! I am running RO water set at A PH of 5.8 with clonex rooting gel!


----------



## So Gro (Apr 11, 2009)

trouble9039 said:


> You guy's need to be alittle more clear on your times! Are you guy's using recycle timer's or cheap timer's, Min or sec? I run mine for 10 sec on and 3 min off and get great results. I am also using A DIY aero cloner based of of the greatest invention the ez cloner! I am running RO water set at A PH of 5.8 with clonex rooting gel!


Yeah man sorry about the time 15 min on and 30 min off is what I meant. I didn't feel like dishin out the cash for a timer like yours. I bet your plants do very well, but I am getting great results with my timer. And sometimes I don't even use rooting hormone, and I still get 100% success with my clones. Both my veg and flower set-ups are identical except for size. My veg is a small 5 gallon rubber maid tough neck. (Highly recommended over anything else, everything else leaks. Trust me on this) my flower chamber is the large 17 gallon tough neck. I didn't even put misters in my clone/veg chamber. I have the 180 degree irrigation misters in the flower chamber. I don't mess with the ph at all. I use a 1/4 of the recommended amt of nutrient solution (general hydroponics). Nute burn has been my biggest obstacle. I finally have that worked out and I'm pumping out 5 ozs every two months. I don't have a mother, I just take cuttings off of my veggin clones before I put them in my flower room. Sorry about that super long post, but you know how it is with these plants. I just get in the zone. Peace.


----------



## trouble9039 (Apr 11, 2009)

It work's great, but ya they are not cheap! The on's from home dumpo work great also. I also used to use general but was not happy at all with there product's.


----------



## So Gro (Apr 11, 2009)

Yeah I thought the same about GH nutes when I first started using them. But I think GH is some of the best stuff out there now. You just have to do a little bit of trial and error. The recommended amt to use on the label is WAY too much. But now that I have it figured out I love GH. How are you flowering? One tank with multiple sites, or separate buckets?


----------



## trouble9039 (Apr 12, 2009)

I am running 4 mother's in soil and 5 new mother's in DWC bucket's! My flowering system is A SOG and I am using IONIC and boosting my flowering with the fox farm series, I am super happy with the IONIC....


----------



## So Gro (Apr 13, 2009)

What's IONIC? Nutes? Wow that's a lot of mothers. Are they all different strains? Well I would hope so. Have you tried cloning off of veggin plants like I do? Man it saves so much room and I don't have to take care of additional plants. Do you use co2? When I increase the size of my grow I'm def gonna do co2.I don't feel the need for it right now. But, it sounds like you are a commercial grower. How tall do you grow your clones before flower? 10-12 in? I've never tried a sog before. Its easier for me just to grow everything at once. I mean its either an oz every two weeks or 5 ozs every two months.it just seems easier to do all the work at once.


----------



## trouble9039 (Apr 13, 2009)

IONIC is just A brand! I was using the GH 3 part micro, grow and bloom and was not happy! The mother's in the DWC are only maybe 2 month's old and all 5 are diffrent strain's. The soil mother's are A little over A year old now. As far as the CO2 goes I used to use it! No I am not A com grower more of A hobby grower. My clones are around 8" when they go into flower and I love doing the SOG system that is setup is hydro! I hate trimming so this work's alot nicer for me. If you do end up doing CO2 do it right the first time around and alot of people have diffrent opion's! I have my room ran by A controller so everything is monitored, and you want to watch you level's.


----------



## drynroasty (Apr 14, 2009)

I didn't read the thread, but I learned that with my bubblers I have MUCH better success when heat is used to keep solution near the 80's in temp. I set the bubbler (coffee can) on my growbox and the heat is perfect.


----------



## bighomey (Nov 28, 2011)

FLoJo said:


> you do need airstones because once the roots hit the water they need to have oxygenated water or you can end up with root rot issues... plus an airstone is not going to put out any heat.... the air pump will put out heat but it isnt in the water now is it?? there is a reason that ezcloners have oxygen tubes that run thru the res and it aint to give away free tubing...


why would u have roots in water with a aero cloner? lol ....its a cloner....lol....


----------



## Warlock1369 (Nov 28, 2011)

I use the TurboKloner and colneX. Pump is left on 24/7. And after 200 clines I've gotten 100%.


----------



## Warlock1369 (Nov 28, 2011)

bighomey said:


> why would u have roots in water with a aero cloner? lol ....its a cloner....lol....


Yes the roots hang in water as water is spryed over the stems. And why bring back a 2.5 year old thread to talk crap? just now looked at the date.


----------



## herbbs111 (Nov 7, 2013)

I have a 90 count machine it works well go for it.


----------

