EZ Clone or Build your Own?

[SumDumGuy]

I'm at a crossroad here. I need some guidance. I've been looking at the EZ Clone system - the 60 site to be exact. Looks very promising but after looking at all the components, I cannot help to think that it's way over priced for something that looks so damn easy to build.

Here's my issue. I have a buddy who built his own aeroponic cloner and he says he did not like the performance. He said his success rate was 70/30 sometimes 60/40 at best. So he went ahead and purchased the 30 site aeroponic cloner and he's very very pleased. He stated he is doing 99.9% including cloning very woody stems.

After looking at the EZ Cloner I noticed a few key points. They use way over sized pump for high pressure misting as well as double the amount of 360 sprayers than their competitors. Not to mention an external air line into the rez.

Would you build or would you buy? If I buy everything according to the specs of the EZ Cloner 60 site unit - I feel as if I will definitely save money and possible be able to build multiple units for that price. Is there a secret ingredient to the EZ Cloner that makes them that much better?

 

[B. Friendly]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=159680
Cloning Bubbler Machine - Build it Yourself

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Took Slowandeasy's advice made a bubble cloner myself here's what it looks like:


Cost:
$2 air stone
$15 pump on sale
$15 aquarium heater on sale Alternative heating by seedling mats @
$?? whatever seedling mats cost, think quaurium heater is cheaper, want to keep water temp at 72 F
$6 plastic tote 15 litre / 4 gallon
$5 metalic tape to cover holes and stick cuttings in
---
$45 roughly canadian $$ for a 55 site bubble cloner, without the heater it's $100us with shipping for the same thing. Plus i can turn it into an 80 site bubbler see the outlined holes in the pics, all for under 50 bucks. Ezcloners are over $350 and i understand bubblers are better than misters, even if they are equally as good as each other who cares.
Stick cuttings 2'' under water and they should root in 5+ days, I'll find out soon

 

[ArcticBlast]

lol i wish i just shelled out the $200 for one instead of the pain in the ass i'm having with this one i built lmao but we'll see if it was all worth it in 7-14 days .....

good luck either way
ArcticBlast

 

[SumDumGuy]

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=159680
Cloning Bubbler Machine - Build it Yourself

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Took Slowandeasy's advice made a bubble cloner myself here's what it looks like:


Cost:
$2 air stone
$15 pump on sale
$15 aquarium heater on sale Alternative heating by seedling mats @
$?? whatever seedling mats cost, think quaurium heater is cheaper, want to keep water temp at 72 F
$6 plastic tote 15 litre / 4 gallon
$5 metalic tape to cover holes and stick cuttings in
---
$45 roughly canadian $$ for a 55 site bubble cloner, without the heater it's $100us with shipping for the same thing. Plus i can turn it into an 80 site bubbler see the outlined holes in the pics, all for under 50 bucks. Ezcloners are over $350 and i understand bubblers are better than misters, even if they are equally as good as each other who cares.
Stick cuttings 2'' under water and they should root in 5+ days, I'll find out soon

B. Friendly,
I LOVE your cloner!!! It looks very well spaced.. I will definitely be watching your progress in the next 5 days. I just can't understand why my buddy would leave a perfectly good homemade cloner and buy such an expensive unit. Damn him but he really has my brain ticking. Seeing this pic makes me realize that the DIY is always the better way to go.

 

[Hazy Lady]

I don't think there is any secret ingredient to EZ's, they just do what you want them to, very effectively. I wouldn't bother with the heater option if anything that could cut the cost by 1/4 to 1/3, the ambient pump heat and heat from the lamp is enough and any extra is not necessary.

 

[SumDumGuy]

lol i wish i just shelled out the $200 for one instead of the pain in the ass i'm having with this one i built lmao but we'll see if it was all worth it in 7-14 days .....

good luck either way
ArcticBlast

Hi ArcticBlast,
Thank you for that.. That's exactly what he said. He compares it to Ron P.'s "set it and forget it." What's the headache you have with yours?

 

[Ontariostoner]

I've always had almost 100% success just cutting clones (trim excess leaves), dipping in hormone, sticking into soaked 1 1/2" rockwool, and burying the rockwool in hydroton. I've used aluminum cooking pans and tupperware flat dishes - both are great.

Moisten once in a while - put under couple of cfls for a week or two.

Voila - rooted clones.

Cost = fuck all, except for the rockwool and hydroton.

I'm so ghetto, I could be a crack dealing pimp gangsta (instead of a middle aged, lower middle class white dude)

True dat

 

[SumDumGuy]

I don't think there is any secret ingredient to EZ's, they just do what you want them to, very effectively. I wouldn't bother with the heater option if anything that could cut the cost by 1/4 to 1/3, the ambient pump heat and heat from the lamp is enough and any extra is not necessary.

Hi Hazy Lady,
That's interesting and thank you so much. I didn't see a reference to the heater on their site but I would definitely skip the heater all together for all the reasons you mentioned. You are so right on that. Shame on them for it too, they should know those oversized beasts produce enough heat and they clearly warn you to stay below 80 degrees for slime prevention.. Nice.

 

[ArcticBlast]

well i just turned it on a few days ago, i filled half of it with cuts, we'll see how it goes... but so far:
i built it in a 14 gallon roughneck so there's only like 5 gallons of water in the bottom of it at any given time. i bought an ecoplus 396 submersible pump, a 5-15gallon aquarium heater, ezclone misters, and ezclone neoprene inserts.
everything i've read said "yeah you wont need that water heater, your pump will be more than hot enough" and stuff, so the first day i didn't put the heater in the unit. the water was below 40 after 6 hours of running it!!!!
so i hooked up the heater, put it in there (keep in mind, there's only like 5, maybe 6 gallons of water in this thing) and said "that should be good" and left it alone overnight. i checked in the morning again, and my heater didn't do shit! its still below the desired 72*F.....
did i mention that it leaks like crazy? i admit that's my fault (zero craftmanship) so between the water leaking out and not being the right temperature, i'm topping the fucker off once or twice a day with hot water.... set it and forget it my ass!

ArcticBlast

 

[SumDumGuy]

I've always had almost 100% success just cutting clones (trim excess leaves), dipping in hormone, sticking into soaked 1 1/2" rockwool, and burying the rockwool in hydroton. I've used aluminum cooking pans and tupperware flat dishes - both are great.

Moisten once in a while - put under couple of cfls for a week or two.

Voila - rooted clones.

Cost = fuck all, except for the rockwool and hydroton.

I'm so ghetto, I could be a crack dealing pimp gangsta (instead of a middle aged, lower middle class white dude)

True dat

Lmao Hi Ontariostoner,
No not ghetto but very resourceful - My moms are at the halfway point now. They don't know what's coming but in a week or so I'm gonna rape them with a kW so I will be pinching and stripping the hell out of them for branches so I was looking to do away with the cloning gel and plugs. Just roots straight into hydroton / two months and repeat. I've never done a perpetual garden so I really want this cloner but I want to make a sound choice instead of getting caught up in the commercial gander wagon. If the EZ Cloner can do it 5 days then why can't a DIY aero cloner do the same.. That's what's bugging me..

 

[SumDumGuy]

well i just turned it on a few days ago, i filled half of it with cuts, we'll see how it goes... but so far:
i built it in a 14 gallon roughneck so there's only like 5 gallons of water in the bottom of it at any given time. i bought an ecoplus 396 submersible pump, a 5-15gallon aquarium heater, ezclone misters, and ezclone neoprene inserts.
everything i've read said "yeah you wont need that water heater, your pump will be more than hot enough" and stuff, so the first day i didn't put the heater in the unit. the water was below 40 after 6 hours of running it!!!!
so i hooked up the heater, put it in there (keep in mind, there's only like 5, maybe 6 gallons of water in this thing) and said "that should be good" and left it alone overnight. i checked in the morning again, and my heater didn't do shit! its still below the desired 72*F.....
did i mention that it leaks like crazy? i admit that's my fault (zero craftmanship) so between the water leaking out and not being the right temperature, i'm topping the fucker off once or twice a day with hot water.... set it and forget it my ass!

ArcticBlast

LoL Oh man I can see where she's definitely being a pain the the ass. I agree that is quite cold. I actually rigged up 5 rapid start ballasts to 5 t12 florescent fixtures for my mom chamber and that thing puts out heat I tell you so I am definitely planning on that to be my main heat source along with the pump itself. I did expect the leaking when I was investigating some of these reservoirs and that is only because this aero cloner setup acts like a large water distiller and the droplets will eventually com down the sides. This is where the rez and cover must work together. The cover must sit within the rez as opposed to sitting over the rez and I do not believe that this is a lack of workmanship on your end but more of a lack of resources available to suite what we need. The EZ Cloner was designed for this and I've yet to find a rez with cover that appears similar to theirs.

 

[ArcticBlast]

yeah i definitely learned a lot while building it, for sure and it seems like i'm not done lol, i still have some issues to work out..

the ambient temp in the room is like 65 degrees, and the light source is a small pl-l lamp, so there's virtually NO heat, but that'll change soon enough (~1 month )

i've seen someone make one out of a 5 gallon bucket and it was awesome, the next one i build will be with a bucket

ArcticBlast

 

[Slimm]

I built a nice aero cloner - afterward I decided it was too complex and needs too much looking after. After researching I decided to build one of these for less time, money and near 100% success rate. Plus it's nice and compact.

BTW, I use coco in mine and I think it performs much better than with other media.

 

[SumDumGuy]

I built a nice aero cloner - afterward I decided it was too complex and needs too much looking after. After researching I decided to build one of these for less time, money and near 100% success rate. Plus it's nice and compact.

BTW, I use coco in mine and I think it performs much better than with other media.

Hi Slimm,
Thanks for stopping in.. Nice looks very clean - how do you think vermiculite would hold up in a hydro environment? I did consider this option and it looks really sweet. I believe GeorgeSmiley uses the same technique in his basement circus "an Awesome grow room" I might add. I just didn't think it would hold up in an ebb and flow environment and figured I would get clogging in the tubes with this.. I may be wrong though.

 

[SumDumGuy]

I really want to thank you guys and gal for your input. I'm going to search for a tub that and cover that match the proportions of the EZ Clone 60 site unit. If I find one with a raised cover that sits in the tub as opposed to out of it then I may just go this route.

Thank you B. Friendly, ArcticBlast, Hazy Lady, Ontariostoner, Slimm, and KingRalph for posting that great DIY!!! You're all great!!

 

[Slimm]

I would not go near vermiculite - it gets mushy and does not hold air well and it can be a serious health hazard. Coco stays put real well and would ebb and flow nicely however there is no need because coco wicks and drains so well. Just place the gadget in a plastic shoe box with an inch of water / solution and check back occasionally.

I have been shoving cuts in mine for about two weeks now. I have topped off the shoe box twice and other than that have not done anything with it. All of the cuts are green and healthy - I should check for roots now lol. That's how easy this thing is.

 

[dubwise]

Hey man, if the ebb & flow was at a slow enough flow rate, then the vermiulite/perlite could hold up just fine. I love the idea that Slimm posted. We've been using rapid rooters for quite some time, and this seems like it could save a few bucks in the long run.
I was really wanting to buy an ez cloner for a little while, then I was going to build one here on the link-o-rama, but I came to the conclusion that I'm a big time toker and I don't really want to have to keep checking on things all of the time (like Arctic and his DIY woes). No disrespect to the ambitions of any man for wanting to build and improve and push boundaries, but these types of things seem like they can go bad quickly. Just my .02.

 

[SumDumGuy]

I would not go near vermiculite - it gets mushy and does not hold air well and it can be a serious health hazard. Coco stays put real well and would ebb and flow nicely however there is no need because coco wicks and drains so well. Just place the gadget in a plastic shoe box with an inch of water / solution and check back occasionally.

I have been shoving cuts in mine for about two weeks now. I have topped off the shoe box twice and other than that have not done anything with it. All of the cuts are green and healthy - I should check for roots now lol. That's how easy this thing is.

Hi Slimm,
Nice.. I like your method. I can definitely see myself getting used to a system like that. Now you pile all your cuts at once or do you take your cuts gradually?

 

[SumDumGuy]

Hey man, if the ebb & flow was at a slow enough flow rate, then the vermiulite/perlite could hold up just fine. I love the idea that Slimm posted. We've been using rapid rooters for quite some time, and this seems like it could save a few bucks in the long run.
I was really wanting to buy an ez cloner for a little while, then I was going to build one here on the link-o-rama, but I came to the conclusion that I'm a big time toker and I don't really want to have to keep checking on things all of the time (like Arctic and his DIY woes). No disrespect to the ambitions of any man for wanting to build and improve and push boundaries, but these types of things seem like they can go bad quickly. Just my .02.

Hi dubwise,
Thank you for your input and I totally I agree with you 100%. That is why 70% say's "dude - what's there to think about just the the ez cloner." Then there's the 30% that says "are you crazy - this thing is marked up 10 times the original manufacturer parts price." Although I think it's key that the pump provide extremely high pressure for this to truly work like the EZ Cloner. The even though the misting in the tub is nebulized and should provide good oxygenation - the external air bubbler is truly important as well to prevent the use of recycled stagnated air in the tub.

 

[ArcticBlast]

Hey man, if the ebb & flow was at a slow enough flow rate, then the vermiulite/perlite could hold up just fine. I love the idea that Slimm posted. We've been using rapid rooters for quite some time, and this seems like it could save a few bucks in the long run.
I was really wanting to buy an ez cloner for a little while, then I was going to build one here on the link-o-rama, but I came to the conclusion that I'm a big time toker and I don't really want to have to keep checking on things all of the time (like Arctic and his DIY woes). No disrespect to the ambitions of any man for wanting to build and improve and push boundaries, but these types of things seem like they can go bad quickly. Just my .02.

hey man, i'm the most self-depreciating person on the planet, no offense taken haha

yeah i always do this: i always consider myself more handy than i really am lol. If you're not handy, or cant follow directions wave just spend the extra $100 lol, it'll save you the hassle.

I'm not done tinkering with it yet, though and my attitude will probably change dramatically if all the cuts root lol

ArcticBlast