What's the BEST way to clean your aerocloner?

I've battled cloning for years. I finally built me an awesome aerocloner. It worked good the first time but has been sluggish since. My 1st batch watch decent but nothing amazing. I cleaned with very strong bleach but possibly didn't flush it enough to rid all the bleach. 2nd cloning was very sluggish with some clones rooting but looking like shit. Now I've cleaned with bleach again. Ran bleach water for 4 days with collars in the res being cleaned also. Now everything has been drying for like 4 days. What my next step to get monster roots. I can take a pic of aerocloner if needed.

Household Bleach at 10% and warm water with a sponge

replace the bungs/collars each time its used

good luck

just change your water every 14 days keep the temps under 70f then dump the water and refill it . if you get slime your to hot have to start the clones over and scrub it with brushes power wash so on .

bryan oconner said:

just change your water every 14 days keep the temps under 70f then dump the water and refill it . if you get slime your to hot have to start the clones over and scrub it with brushes power wash so on .

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Don't listen to this terrible advice. You need to sterilize your cloner after ever run with bleach so you don't get the slime. Your doing the right thing, run cloner with bleach solution in it for at least 24 hours, dump that, fill with reg water, run for a few hours, dump that, refil with plain water and your good to go. Also water temps 75-82 degrees are optimal, any thing less and they will take a long time to root. Do you know what temp your water in the cloner has been?

westcoast420 said:

Don't listen to this terrible advice. You need to sterilize your cloner after ever run with bleach so you don't get the slime. Your doing the right thing, run cloner with bleach solution in it for at least 24 hours, dump that, fill with reg water, run for a few hours, dump that, refil with plain water and your good to go. Also water temps 75-82 degrees are optimal, any thing less and they will take a long time to root. Do you know what temp your water in the cloner has been?

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No but I can tell u that it's definitely not warm. I was thinking it might be to cold. Definitely cold to the touch. I was thinking mid to lower 70s. First batch had bumps in 3 days.

Do I have to buy collars every clone run. Damn, I was hoping the bleach would sterilize those as well. I notice now everything has dried there's a little white residue left on some of the collars and on the top of rez. Is it the salt left behind by the bleach. Sodium hypochlorite. I also have clear rez on hand

i do not get slime . my water is not warm can run the same water for months at a time

geesh, I plug them into a rooter plug and see roots in a week, I used to be tempted by these aero's, not so much anymore.

Vonkins said:

Do I have to buy collars every clone run. Damn, I was hoping the bleach would sterilize those as well. I notice now everything has dried there's a little white residue left on some of the collars and on the top of rez. Is it the salt left behind by the bleach. Sodium hypochlorite. I also have clear rez on hand

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I have a commercial Aero cloner that I used for about a year, but it seemed that over time, the bleach baths I'd soak everything in, started to weaken the plastic Aero spray nozzles to the point they would break off.
As for the neoprene collars, I never had to replace them, I just had to make sure to submerge them in a jar, otherwise they bob around on top and not get sufficient sterilization.
I had excellent results with my cloner. I'd have roots forming in as little as 3 days and never more than 5 to 7. There was a time or two that I had the temps to high and ended up losing all of the clones. Probably from fusarium or pythium fungus.

So bleach does leave a salty residue behind. Should I run h202 through the system with collars in the rez again. Just to make sure there's no bleach residue left behind. I put 10 gallons in my rez. How much h202 should I use?

Vonkins said:

Do I have to buy collars every clone run. Damn, I was hoping the bleach would sterilize those as well. I notice now everything has dried there's a little white residue left on some of the collars and on the top of rez. Is it the salt left behind by the bleach. Sodium hypochlorite. I also have clear rez on hand

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Clear res is bad for root development . Root zone needs to be dark.

Bareback said:

Clear res is bad for root development . Root zone needs to be dark.

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WHAT!!! What are u talking about buddy? Not a clear reservoir man. Lmfao!! Clear res is a product to keep ur reservoir bacteria free. Calcium hypochlorite

Bareback said:

Clear res is bad for root development . Root zone needs to be dark.

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Now that made me laugh! I know u didn't know man but it was still funny.

Vonkins said:

Now that made me laugh! I know u didn't know man but it was still funny.

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OK I got ya lol

I know u can clean your rez with peroxide. I've read some people add it to their water while rooting clones. Is this beneficial to the clones rooting faster or is it just overkill.

Vonkins said:

I know u can clean your rez with peroxide. I've read some people add it to their water while rooting clones. Is this beneficial to the clones rooting faster or is it just overkill.

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My understanding is that it kills bacteria, I have used the 29% but I can't say with any certainty that it helped.

I use root riot cubes now with 100% success, in a humidity dome, I put perlite between the liner and tray and add great white with kelp me kelp you in my water, 5/7 days for roots to show through the cubes.

I have built and used bubble cloners but not aero cloners. I use the same water solution either way.

Ohh I have read that flush agents break down salt buildups, I use sledgehammer.

You may need to buy new collars every couple runs depending on the kind you have. Are they the flimsy super spongy ones? Or the stiff closed cell ones? If they are the later they will last a long time, if u don't have these I would suggest u get them. Also to clean those better take them out of the cloner and soak em in bleach solution too. Then soake in fresh water for a bit, then reinstall. They will have a bit of white residue on them, no worries there.

Can't get clones this big in root plugs.. I'll admit they got left in there a little too long.

Those are big clones. What's in your cloning solution. Most people say plain tap water is best.

westcoast420 said:

Don't listen to this terrible advice. You need to sterilize your cloner after ever run with bleach so you don't get the slime. Your doing the right thing, run cloner with bleach solution in it for at least 24 hours, dump that, fill with reg water, run for a few hours, dump that, refil with plain water and your good to go. Also water temps 75-82 degrees are optimal, any thing less and they will take a long time to root. Do you know what temp your water in the cloner has been?

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http://www.just4growers.com/stream/propagation/aeroponic-cloning-faq.aspx
they and i use there water for 4/6 weeks you use yours for a week at a time with hot water . if you want to boil the water cause all the slime and stem rot then yes you need to use some sort of bleach and scrub the hell out of every thing take apart the jets . and then you will be ready to cause more root rot and grow more slime right away .