dying powerplants cloning salvation??

I have three powerplants that i have managed to all but kill. i planted them in a mixture of peat, vermiculite and perlite without any ph buffer and then proceeded to water them with RO devoid of any cal/mag. after a week or so of it they started showing signs of stress that i couldn't figure out till it was too late. now one is all but dead and the other two are wilting and pathetic. needless to say, treatment with cal/mag and repotting into promix has not rectified the situation at all. i broke up what small root balls they had when replanting and they looked pretty much dead.
anyway, ive had good luck with clones in the past, could i just shop most of the roots off these two who still look alive and put them in a spray cloner and hold out a little hope? Ill likely just do it and see what happens unless someone has advice otherwise. thanks riu for helping me to figure out where i went wrong so i can do a better job next time around. not a first time grower, but its been several years and i have forgotten all the basics apparently.

FYI: this seems to be working. I rinsed off the roots, pulled off any dead, brown material and place them in a spray/aeroponic cloner. One seems to be bouncing back. The leaves have filled out again and stood back up. I’ll post any other improvement

Post pics while you're at it for more help.