Aeroponic cloning issues

DirtyDave1990 · Jul 3, 2020

Hello I’m pretty new to this I have two plants growing and I took 5 clones off the one that I liked the characteristics of most and put them in my cloneking 25. I used clonex clone solution and followed the instructions on bottle for aeroponic mix. My air temp was kept consistently between 75-77 degrees and I checked my ph everyday making sure it was between 5.6-5.9 I kept these very small lights on it for 18 hours a day ( I don’t remember exact power of lights but I attached pic.) It’s been almost two weeks And no signs of roots and about three days ago my Clones went from standing straight and looking healthy to being bent over and dying. Can anyone give me some pointers on what I did wrong?

LittleDabbie · Jul 3, 2020

Get a timer that runs 15/30 min intervals Like this one here.. and run it 15 mins on 15 mins off or 30 on 30 off its up to you.. But those big ass pumps are heating the water too high and your clones are dying because of that.

Ask me how i know, No not because its happened to me before, but because i spent a lot of time researching why these clone boxes fail so much when there such simple products they should be without fail.

The water temp is the #1 reason.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184CG9K0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

DirtyDave1990 · Jul 3, 2020

LittleDabbie said:
Get a timer that runs 15/30 min intervals Like this one here.. and run it 15 mins on 15 mins off or 30 on 30 off its up to you.. But those big ass pumps are heating the water too high and your clones are dying because of that.

Ask me how i know, No not because its happened to me before, but because i spent a lot of time researching why these clone boxes fail so much when there such simple products they should be without fail.

The water temp is the #1 reason.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184CG9K0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is awesome advice I will try it right now. Probably too late for these girls but I’m gonna try anyway and I’ll do that from the start next time

PlumberSoCal2 · Jul 3, 2020

I thought we were gonna play Twister

I'm going to take a bunch of clones this weekend off full flowering plants. Hoping to root and pollinate so I can take down the adults when ready.

Heats a killer. I fried 20 seeds a few months ago in a home made seed warmer. Weather changed reaching into the 90's and I forgot to shut off the heating element for 3 days. D'OH!

LittleDabbie · Jul 3, 2020

PlumberSoCal2 said:
I thought we were gonna play Twister

I'm going to take a bunch of clones this weekend off full flowering plants. Hoping to root and pollinate so I can take down the adults when ready.

Heats a killer. I fried 20 seeds a few months ago in a home made seed warmer. Weather changed reaching into the 90's and I forgot to shut off the heating element for 3 days. D'OH!

ooooof how pissed were you?

PlumberSoCal2 · Jul 3, 2020

LittleDabbie said:
ooooof how pissed were you?

Eh, another day, although losing those Lemon Skunk seeds hurt.

DirtyDave1990 · Jul 3, 2020

PlumberSoCal2 said:
I thought we were gonna play Twister

I'm going to take a bunch of clones this weekend off full flowering plants. Hoping to root and pollinate so I can take down the adults when ready.

Heats a killer. I fried 20 seeds a few months ago in a home made seed warmer. Weather changed reaching into the 90's and I forgot to shut off the heating element for 3 days. D'OH!

Have you had good luck with cloning from flowering stage? I was thinking about taking a few cuttings again to retry but I switched my plants to flowering on 6/21 and I read that cloning from flowering plants isn’t ideal. Any tips?

PlumberSoCal2 · Jul 3, 2020

DirtyDave1990 said:
Have you had good luck with cloning from flowering stage? I was thinking about taking a few cuttings again to retry but I switched my plants to flowering on 6/21 and I read that cloning from flowering plants isn’t ideal. Any tips?

No tips from me yet, this is my first time taking tops in full flower. This guy: https://www.thcfarmer.com/mimedgrower/ rocks it and is the reason I'm giving it a go.

I'm just trying to root and pollinate but I may give 1 or 2 a try to reveg. Why not? If they don't root I'll smoke 'em

LittleDabbie · Jul 3, 2020

@MIMedGrower any thoughts?

DirtyDave1990 · Jul 3, 2020

I started reading more about it on here today. Looks like I found a few good threads where people share their experiences. Definitely going to give it a try with my pump now alternating on/off every 30 mins

PlumberSoCal2 · Jul 3, 2020

DirtyDave1990 said:
I started reading more about it on here today. Looks like I found a few good threads where people share their experiences. Definitely going to give it a try with my pump now alternating on/off every 30 mins

Ya think? There's a wealth of knowledge and experience here. Every time I research an aspect of growing the Farm is listed in results. And what's even way more awesome most here want you to succeed and will share what they know. Can't find a better growing site to chronicle your grows.

If I haven't said, "Welcome to the Farm" yet, forgive me and Welcome to the Farm.

MIMedGrower · Jul 3, 2020

LittleDabbie said:
@MIMedGrower any thoughts?

I never used a aero cloner or even a rooting puck. I just cut a little clone and put it in a glass of unadjusted tap water and leave it on a stand in the corner of my veg tent partially shaded by a bigger plant and out of the direct beam from the flourescent tubes.

When i see root bumps and little roots i plant in a cup of potting soil.

Revegging flowering clones always takes a week or three longer to show roots and that or more time even to grow new leaves. And you have to get through the weird deformed lead stage before they resume normal growth.

After that they are normal clones. I have a couple re flowering now. They look like their moms.

I agree with everyone above. Temperature is key. Too warm or too cold and they dont like to root.

DirtyDave1990 · Jul 3, 2020

MIMedGrower said:
I never used a aero cloner or even a rooting puck. I just cut a little clone and put it in a glass of unadjusted tap water and leave it on a stand in the corner of my veg tent partially shaded by a bigger plant and out of the direct beam from the flourescent tubes.

When i see root bumps and little roots i plant in a cup of potting soil.

Revegging flowering clones always takes a week or three longer to show roots and that or more time even to grow new leaves. And you have to get through the weird deformed lead stage before they resume normal growth.

After that they are normal clones. I have a couple re flowering now. They look like their moms.

I agree with everyone above. Temperature is key. Too warm or too cold and they dont like to root.

Thanks for the advice. I just took two cuttings off the other plant and did what you suggested. I’ll keep posted on here what happens. Thanks everyone!!

Aqua Man · Jul 3, 2020

Just a dumb question... do you have a dome? and can you show inside the res and the bottom stems

DirtyDave1990 · Jul 3, 2020

Aqua Man said:
Just a dumb question... do you have a dome?

Not a dumb question at all! I do not have a dome. The kit didn’t come with one and reviews seemed to be good and seeming like they didn’t need one. Did some research ( not on here yet) and found varying opinions on if a dome was needed or not when using this type of system. What is your opinion on that?

Aqua Man · Jul 3, 2020

DirtyDave1990 said:
Not a dumb question at all! I do not have a dome. The kit didn’t come with one and reviews seemed to be good and seeming like they didn’t need one. Did some research ( not on here yet) and found varying opinions on if a dome was needed or not when using this type of system. What is your opinion on that?

There is your problem. I'm guess low humidity also?

Aqua Man · Jul 3, 2020

DirtyDave1990 said:
Not a dumb question at all! I do not have a dome. The kit didn’t come with one and reviews seemed to be good and seeming like they didn’t need one. Did some research ( not on here yet) and found varying opinions on if a dome was needed or not when using this type of system. What is your opinion on that?

Clones have no root system so they do not have the ability to take up water. The more intense the light they more they need to take up water. The lower the humidity the more they need to take up water. So When a plant has no roots it should be under low light at close to 100% humidity until it gets roots

DirtyDave1990 · Jul 4, 2020

Alright we’ll looks like I’ll be building a makeshift dome this week. I’ll Prob end up runNing a clone or two using MiMedGrowers way and then a clone or two using the cloneking with littledabbies advice of alternating pump cycles and your advice of adding a dome. I’m sure between the two ways and the new tweeks I’m bound to have success. I’ll update with pics as I move along. I can’t thank everyone enough!

LittleDabbie · Jul 4, 2020

NO DOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So why don’t you use a dome with an aeroponic cloner? First with an aero cloner your cuttings are not absorbing moisture through their leaves. The stem hangs suspended in mid-air and is sprayed constantly by sprayers, that is how moisture is absorbed.

"Why is the dome bad? Check the net, the bigget problem anyone will ever have with an aeroponic cloner is too much heat. If the water temp goes over 85 degrees the stem of the cutting will turn to slim and the cutting is no good. With a pump in the water putting off heat this is something that needs watched. We use the best pumps available so this should not be an issue in our cloners. If you put a dome on the machine it shoots the temperature of the water way too high, No way for the heat to go away it is basically trapped in the dome. Also the high humidity environment is a great place for mold fungus whatever to start growing but the temperature raise is the biggest problem and the fact the dome serves no purpose in this application."

And if im not mistaken thats a cloneking your using, which again NO DOME! :D

Aqua Man · Jul 4, 2020

Try a dome until you see bumps then you can look at removing. You don't need it after that if your humidity is decent. I wouldn't even bother cloning if under 50% not to say it can't be done but why not make conditions with the best chance to succeed. Just because it can be done doesn't make it ideal. The issue with a dome comes if you leave it on to long after showing root and transpiration picks up a bit. Should be opened daily and leaves should be kept from getting wet and touching. I think temps of 75-80f would work best. I do my clones at 80f. I would be using a sterile practices. That means h2o2 or other. Those temps should give the fastest rooting but also fastest reproductive rates for pathogens and bacteria. That's why sterile.

Tbh that was probably the reason they just flopped over after a week and a half of standing. They got an infection something like root rot. I highly doubt it was the temps after almost 2weeks.

Temps are definitely an issue if your not sterile or running beneficials because of this. No different than any hydro grow system. You always see ppl say you need to run 68f or cooler... Well all that does is slow growth of the plant and bacteria or pathogens. I ran my hydro 72-74f with beneficials and never issues.

The important part is preventing infection and giving the best environment we can for the best success rate.

Should be no issue cycling the pump but I would probably do 10-15 on/off cycles. Just my opinion.

The thing about no domes is maybe someone has 70% Rh and maybe someone else has 20%. Personally I don't feel you can blanket say you don't or atleast would not benefit from a dome. I can blanket say a dome will provide adequate humidity to reduce stress on the cuttings. They may root with or without but the fact is they do better in high humidity.

Also just a hunch here that's pure blue light.. change to red if your going only one color.

Grab some h2o2 for sterile or something like hydrogaurd if you wanna go beneficial. Change your light. Try a dome for the first 5-6 days. Keep the cloner in over 50% humidity after that if you can.

Just my opinion

Aeroponic cloning issues

Aeroponic cloning issues

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