Recurring Bacterial Issue in Cloning Machine

Misanthrope · Feb 12, 2023

DWC cloner, approx 2 gallons tap water with 20mL Pro Mix Root Booster and 4mL Cronk Monkey Juice (B. subtilis and B. lichenformis), 25-26°C, 5L/min air pump running two 1.5" disc airstones.
I keep getting this gunk on my cuttings ("half jizz, half mucus, I call it juchus") and since it seems to smothering them, I dont think its beneficial bacteria. It only happens under the water, in the cuttings and often on the air stone(s). I've read Aquaman's guide on root rot and was hoping the Bacillus species I have on hand would work. Hydroguard costs an arm and a leg in Canada so I'm trying to find a suitable alternative. Advice?

mysticepipedon · Feb 12, 2023

I've never used a DWC cloner, but with an aero-cloner, I have to run a bleach solution through it at least every other time it's used. A 1:10 dilution works.

The air stone should probably be thrown away and replaced. Where else on this device could bacterial cultures be hiding?

PipeCarver · Feb 12, 2023

Misanthrope said:
DWC cloner, approx 2 gallons tap water with 20mL Pro Mix Root Booster and 4mL Cronk Monkey Juice (B. subtilis and B. lichenformis), 25-26°C, 5L/min air pump running two 1.5" disc airstones.
I keep getting this gunk on my cuttings ("half jizz, half mucus, I call it juchus") and since it seems to smothering them, I dont think its beneficial bacteria. It only happens under the water, in the cuttings and often on the air stone(s). I've read Aquaman's guide on root rot and was hoping the Bacillus species I have on hand would work. Hydroguard costs an arm and a leg in Canada so I'm trying to find a suitable alternative. Advice?

Hey there, I built a cloner a couple of years ago and although it worked half assed I had similar issues with slime on the stems and failing clones. I ended up scraping my build altogether. I'm back to just sticking my cuttings in Promix after trimming up the stem and dipping it in Clonex then putting them in a dome for humidity. 100% of my last cuts grew. Sometime we try to fix what ain't broken.

Misanthrope · Feb 12, 2023

PipeCarver said:
Hey there, I built a cloner a couple of years ago and although it worked half assed I had similar issues with slime on the stems and failing clones. I ended up scraping my build altogether. I'm back to just sticking my cuttings in Promix after trimming up the stem and dipping it in Clonex then putting them in a dome for humidity. 100% of my last cuts grew. Sometime we try to fix what ain't broken.

Funny you mention the promix - from about May to August I was doing just that with nearly 100% and then it stopped working, even when I tried a fresh bag of promix and placed them on a heating mat. This is ehatvlead me to try the cloning machine where I can get as high as 50% success, better than nothing.

Aqua Man · Feb 12, 2023

Id just go sterile if you cant get your hands on the right bacteria.

Seems like you have some organics in there causing a bloom. The temp will also speed up the reproduction rates ALOT. Id go sterile and dose h2o2 every 2 days if the temps are over 72f

Ponky · Feb 12, 2023

I run peroxide in mine. It works.

Alwispy · Mar 2, 2023

Hey not sure how this ended up for you but I did notice that you used Pro Mix root booster. I also used the same and almost killed my plants. I didn’t know what was happening until I checked the ec of the booster mixed in accordance to the directions on the bottle. My tap water ec is .4 after I mixed in the boster I checked again and the mix had an ec of 4.8 !! Burnt the shit outta everything, luckily I was able to save the grow by copious flushing until I got the ec where it should be. From your description it sounds like your frying everything. I dunno I stopped using their product and I haven’t looked back. Contacted the company asking about the crazy ec with their recommended dose and never heard back. Cheers

Misanthrope · Mar 3, 2023

Alwispy said:
Hey not sure how this ended up for you but I did notice that you used Pro Mix root booster. I also used the same and almost killed my plants. I didn’t know what was happening until I checked the ec of the booster mixed in accordance to the directions on the bottle. My tap water ec is .4 after I mixed in the boster I checked again and the mix had an ec of 4.8 !! Burnt the shit outta everything, luckily I was able to save the grow by copious flushing until I got the ec where it should be. From your description it sounds like your frying everything. I dunno I stopped using their product and I haven’t looked back. Contacted the company asking about the crazy ec with their recommended dose and never heard back. Cheers

Hunh...I never thought to check the ec, I was using approx. a half dose so I just assumed it was ok...I've changed the reservoir since then and left out the nutes and instead added about 500mL from the reservoir of a dwc with happy microbes. Hopefully they'll culture the bubble cloner. If I see any slime this time I'm gonna try going sterile with minute doses of bleach (2 drops/L, same as sterilizing water to drink). I should have done that from the start, I'm a big believer in Better Living Through Chemistry.

Misanthrope · Mar 3, 2023

Aqua Man said:
Id just go sterile if you cant get your hands on the right bacteria.

Seems like you have some organics in there causing a bloom. The temp will also speed up the reproduction rates ALOT. Id go sterile and dose h2o2 every 2 days if the temps are over 72f

Is it possible to run a bubble cloner at less than 72f? From what I have read I thought the colder temperatures slow down root development. I keep my house pretty cool, it's a lot easier to keep things below 72 than above it.

GrimReffer · Mar 3, 2023

Misanthrope said:
Is it possible to run a bubble cloner at less than 72f? From what I have read I thought the colder temperatures slow down root development. I keep my house pretty cool, it's a lot easier to keep things below 72 than above it.

I run my cloner in less than 72 water just takes a little more time. I also agree with AquaMan, I run 30% h2o2 at 1 ml per gallon in my cloner to keep it sterile and then clean very well in between uses.

Recurring Bacterial Issue in Cloning Machine

Recurring Bacterial Issue in Cloning Machine

Misanthrope

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