DIY aero cloner

A submersible heater is what you should get, easy to dial in the temps of the water then. Also the plants cant absorb anything until they are rooted so the more stuff you put in the cloner the higher your chances of getting slime and rot.

TerrapinBlazin said:

I think that’s an ultrasonic fogger and those don’t actually shoot droplets of water. Those work like coolmist humidifiers.

Usually aero cloners are made from a bucket or tub with a lid, and inside the tub there’s a pump that moves the water up through the nozzles and provides your cuttings with a constant supply of water and oxygen. My friend says all you have to do is PH the water. No nutrients or I3BA needed.

Really it more comes down to the GPH output and operant pressure of your pump, and picking the right diameter pipe to keep the water moving properly. I like to use water in pipes as an analogy for electricity and vice versa if someone is more familiar with electrical.

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I've never once pH'ed the RO water added to the cloner for rooting. Just my 2¢

So I’m not having any issues with clones rooting, but I can’t stop this fucker from leaking. I’ve tried every combination of weather stripping and sealant and the lid still leaks, which suggests to me I need to find a new bin. I’ve looked on amazon for something opaque with a gasketed locking lid, but I can’t find shit. Any suggestions? I want to keep it in the 5 gallon/16 site range.

TerrapinBlazin said:

So I’m not having any issues with clones rooting, but I can’t stop this fucker from leaking. I’ve tried every combination of weather stripping and sealant and the lid still leaks, which suggests to me I need to find a new bin. I’ve looked on amazon for something opaque with a gasketed locking lid, but I can’t find shit. Any suggestions? I want to keep it in the 5 gallon/16 site range.

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see post #21

With all due respect, no thank you. I’m not buying a whole kit when the plumbing and strip lights are both great. I’m sure there’s a suitable leakproof bin out there and it will cost much less than starting from scratch. Let’s keep this thread in the DIY forum to DIY solutions.

Terrapin - having the same leaking struggles. I had success with the foam seal (crazy glued) PLUS a number of C clamps (that would be expensive to buy lol). It stayed leak free but I had to check the clone sites one at a time since taking the whole lid off would take time with all the clamps. Determined to figure it out.

hot_box_enthusiast said:

Terrapin - having the same leaking struggles. I had success with the foam seal (crazy glued) PLUS a number of C clamps (that would be expensive to buy lol). It stayed leak free but I had to check the clone sites one at a time since taking the whole lid off would take time with all the clamps. Determined to figure it out.

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what I did for the time being, is I just permanently sealed the lid on. I’m just going to have to drain/fill through one of the insert holes until I find a better tub. I’m sure there’s one made out of opaque polyethylene, with a lid that has both a gasket and latches. I’ll just have to find it. Anyone ever been to the container store? They opened one here in Albuquerque not too long ago and I always thought it was some bougie home organization place, but maybe they sell the right bin.

TerrapinBlazin said:

I’m sure there’s one made out of opaque polyethylene

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Broaden your horizon... a perfectly transparent container becomes immediately opaque with a dose of good spray paint. Just be sure to paint the outside surface, not the inside.

The retired graff artist in me recommends Rusto 2x flat black:


A coat of white on top of the black will make it more reflective, but that's typically not important with a cloner.

spek9 said:

Broaden your horizon... a perfectly transparent container becomes immediately opaque with a dose of good spray paint. Just be sure to paint the outside surface, not the inside.

The retired graff artist in me recommends Rusto 2x flat black:

Painter’s Touch® 2X Ultra Cover® Flat Spray Paint

The Advanced Cover Technology of Painter’s Touch® 2X Ultra Cover® provides super coverage and dries fast - which means your project will be done in less time. Plus this smooth, flat finish applies easily and dries fast.

www.rustoleum.com

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You know I’d be lying if I said this hadn’t occurred to me. It would work if I can find the right paint, maybe rough up the plastic too, but if that paint starts scraping off and light gets into the reservoir, then algae becomes a problem. The clamp idea is a nice workaround and I could use a few of the little vise grip clamps I use for steel stud framing, but then I wouldn’t have them at work lol. If I can’t find a suitable container made from opaque plastic, your idea is the next best thing for sure. I had a friend in high school whose parents owned a rotational mold plastic fabrication shop. They made custom tanks. Wish that dude hadn’t gone off the deep end and I was still in touch.

TerrapinBlazin said:

You know I’d be lying if I said this hadn’t occurred to me. It would work if I can find the right paint, maybe rough up the plastic too, but if that paint starts scraping off and light gets into the reservoir, then algae becomes a problem. The clamp idea is a nice workaround and I could use a few of the little vise grip clamps I use for steel stud framing, but then I wouldn’t have them at work lol.

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I recommended the paint I did because I know from experience that it does not flake or peel off of any plastics I've sprayed it with. I even did one very long perpetual grow using 2L Coke bottles spray painted with the same paint (blue and black). You know how flimsy those are... even with all of the movement, crushing to remove medium etc, the paint stuck without so much as a crack let alone chipping.

Definitely wouldn't hurt to hit it quickly with some emery cloth or sandpaper, but I've never had the need. For your permanent installation though, the 10 minutes that might take would probably be worth your peace of mind.

That’s good to know. I’ve got a lot of painting experience but mostly with rollers, airless, and siphon/gravity feed stuff. I don’t know much about the stuff that comes in rattle cans because I do mostly large scale commercial and industrial work. Working for a commercial general contractor has taught me a lot of stuff that’s come in super handy with growing weed, especially in the electrical and millwright aspects.

TerrapinBlazin said:

That’s good to know. I’ve got a lot of painting experience but mostly with rollers, airless, and siphon/gravity feed stuff. I don’t know much about the stuff that comes in rattle cans because I do mostly large scale commercial and industrial work.

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Then you're very well aware that different paint mixtures apply and adhere to surfaces differently, same with spray paint. The stuff I recommended is a good all around paint, but it adheres extremely well to flexible, non-porous and very smooth surfaces better than any other can I've used. It covers awesome too which is another reason I like it.

Single-coat application is quite important in my previous hobby

You can get the stuff at any hardware store.

spek9 said:

Single-coat application is quite important in my previous hobby

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For sure lol. No time to go back and touch anything up. Must be extra challenging doing it in the dark too. It takes a lot of skill beyond just throwing up the piece and I admire what it takes to pull off. I appreciate the advice and now I know I have a back up plan.

TerrapinBlazin said:

So I’m not having any issues with clones rooting, but I can’t stop this fucker from leaking. I’ve tried every combination of weather stripping and sealant and the lid still leaks, which suggests to me I need to find a new bin. I’ve looked on amazon for something opaque with a gasketed locking lid, but I can’t find shit. Any suggestions? I want to keep it in the 5 gallon/16 site range.

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The cheap Rubbermaid Roughneck tote I used never leaked. They make them in 3, 10, and 18 gallons.

I think I may have had a breakthrough today, lol.

(my latest failure a couple days ago was to go for broke permanently sealing the tote bin with the pump inside, figuring I would just be happy to have it go without intervention for a few months. It leaked almost immediately. I suck )

After the above fail, I actually went to amazon.ca and was looking there and elsewhere in Canada to just possibly buy a pre-built unit but anything decent was close to $200.

Sometimes with random DIY projects, you just need to try the crappy hardware store. My head has been stuck at Home Depot and the grow shops in town. I decided to go back to Canadian Tire. In the middle aisles, they had a bunch of COOLERS on sale, and thats when it struck me that a cooler could be a great idea, because it should have a sealed lid, and it will help with temps!?

In fact I have a spare cooler at home, so I got to work at it.

testing now!

So far so good! No leaks overnight, and having wheels on this thing is a bonus!
A few miscellaneous notes:

• used some heavy duty snips to cut through the thick plastic of the lid
• used utility knife, small pry bar and chisel to remove the foam from the lid
• used a sheet of white corrugated plastic ($10 home depot) for the piece that I cut to hold the foam inserts
• used plastic epoxy to affix the white corrugated plastic to the lid
• I may paint the lid black, not sure if I will bother

Awesome! I’m so glad my thread has lent itself to the improvement of DIY aero cloners. My lid is sealed on right now, with weather stripping, clear sealant, and vise grip clamps. It’s not leaking at the moment, but this design is unsustainable. I’m really interested in this cooler idea. The thick lid seems like it would hold the inserts way better. You’re on to something. I’m thinking of doing the next one a little bigger than 5 gallons. There’s a lot of extra room in my 2x2 tent and PVC is cheap.

Just an update - my modified cooler aerocloner is working great!

I have about 20L of water in it. I put General Hydroponics Rapid Start in the reservoir at the recommended dosage.
The pump is on a timer and runs 15on/15off 24/7. There is a T5 Sunblaster over the cloner with a couple small fans (indirect). It is in my veg room and runs at around 26C & 65% RH.

I have the water PH'd to 6.0. I check the PH daily, and usually it requires adjustment DOWN of 0.1 to 0.2.

It took me a little bit to figure out how to keep the Ph dialed. I also had the drain hole start leaking after a couple weeks, so I took it apart and sealed it with glue.

So here's my most recent run.

These were cut on August 15. There are two strains here - Jordan of the Islands Blackberry Mouth & Rare Dankness Somali Ghost Train.
When I took the cuttings they went immediately into ph 6.0 water. Then before putting them in the cloner, I took some leaves off. I made a new fresh cut at 45degrees AND lightly scraped about 1" on one side near the bottom of each. I *did not* use any cloning gel or rooting powder! (In the past I noticed the spray from the nozzles just washes it away quickly, and also seemed to contribute to the res getting dirty faster, so I figured I might as well try without).

First signs of roots on Aug 22 (Day 7)


Obviously starting with healthy plants helps (see photo), but I've had success in here with some more delicate cuttings from a friend.



100% rooted as of today Aug 25 (Day 10). Total 16 cuttings.




I understand that genetics and other factors can play a role. Maybe this is some beginners luck. Also perhaps 10 days is too slow for some? From my point of view, so far so good, but I look forward to suggestions for improving my process.

I suspect I could get the cloning gel to remain stuck if I replaced the nozzles with something that creates more of a fine mist, but I am not sure I can see a compelling reason to bother.

Alright I think I figured out the perfect solution for me. I’m tired of having the lid on my homemade one clamped shut with vise grips. I’m tired of filling and draining it through the insert holes. I didn’t want all my plumbing and inserts to go to waste and I finally found just the reservoir, with no pump or inserts, on amazon for a good price. My plumbing should drop right in, and I’m going to add an air stone as well. This should solve my two main issues, which are leaks and algae. I’ll post some pics once I get this thing all assembled. I might actually take the time to put the extruded heatsink on my light too. I’d like to be able to crank that light way up and use my little clone tent for some chucks. I built the light during the lockdown and had to use a flat piece of aluminum. The light runs fine with the driver turned all the way down but I think I’d burn out the strip if I turned it up.

Viagrow Aeroponic Cloning Machine 24 Replacement Reservoir and Lid https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTEIDQJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_n9IxFb5B2JJYX

I’ve also had drastically mixed results with different phenos. I’m working with one right now that roots in a week effortlessly, but before that I had a bunch that either took forever or died right away, all with the same water in the reservoir. Also had a hell of a time with thrips in the clone tent a few months back, but that’s all taken care of now.

@TerrapinBlazin .... IMHO, the lid should be a couple of inches below the rim of your rez, eliminates leaks.

I have suggested the Clone King before & understand you prefer DIY.
HERE is a Clone king rez by itself on ebay, a couple of bucks cheaper than the Viagrow, DIY a lid from a plastic cutting board, holesaw for your size puc's