My homemade Aerocloner, MK2 version.

[Harry Gypsna]

Oh WOW...thanks man....that really means a lot to me coming from you Big Toke..... I was beginning to think ,maybe it sucked just a bit(no reason, most still alive and working fine I just did) but you just made my day mate.....
im almost finished on the different method of holding the cuttings in place, and will try that out when the current ones have rooted.
#watch out for another aero-esque experiment...a slightly larger machine for developing the roots on rooted clones....one that can have some nutrients in it as I canbt put nutes in the current one to feed those that are rooted wioth out retarding the rooting of the fresh ones, and I cant leave the rooted ones in there on pain water for much longer coz they look like shit already lol.
Ive also got a vertical grow design in mind that I dreamed up the other day whilst pondering the current RW slab based vertical systems(Eco system and now the fabulous Octagrow)this one will be for coco slabs... Im also going to end up doing a recurculating DWC, and will most definately end up PM'ing you for lots of info abvout that....heck after a while who knows i might make a bio bucket system.... but the recirc DWC will do for a start lol.......
thanks again for making my day Big Toke
Be lucky now
Harry

 

[Guest]

Harry:

Good stuff! Looks like it's working great.

I keep two cloners around specifically so I can transfer rooted ones to the second unit with some mild nutes.

If there are any root nubs showing at all on the rest of the clones, you can add nutes without hurting them - they will start absorbing nutes as soon as there are nubs. That is assuming that the nutes won't cause blockages in your mister system.

I use GH Flora series and I add nutes at 1ml grow, 1ml micro, & 1ml bloom per US gallon as soon as I see root nubs and it doesn't hurt them at all. I start seeing nubs at about 4-5 days in my bubbler and have roots 1-2" by day 9.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Well....It worked....when I checked it last week...the 1st one had rooted with 2 little roots comeing out...when I checked back on sunday the roots on that plant wrere about 10 times as much and all the opther cuttings that went in at the same time are rooted too now.....So, ill go ahead and make a bigger unit now i know my system works..... Im very happy with it and gld i did it.... ill have to make some foam inserts though asthe loose nature of the little covers ive used means a tiny bit of water is splashing out and some algae growing on the outsinde of the lid.... not much at all, a tiny bit around the holes in a couple of spots but any is too much isnt it.....
But as I say, all the clones are rooted so we r in buisness

 

[bartender187]

hehe yah harry, aero cloners are pretty sweet. ive love mine... i always had trouble gettin cuts to roots till i made mine, get about 100% everytime now.

If your aero-cloner is leaking, *i had alot of trouble with this*.... heres an idea a good friend figured out for me.

Basically, we have one rubbermaid container that is slightly larger than another rubbermaid container (the larger container was originally alot taller, but a hack-saw fixed it quick.)

1) Drill a few small holes in the bottom of the smaller one
2)Take off the top of the bigger one... place the smaller one in the bigger one
3)install pump and aercloner manifold in smaller one
4)cut holes for plants in lid of the smaller one

so... when the smaller rubbermaid container leaks it will drip into the larger resevoir, and then circulate back into the small resevoir via the small holes you drilled...

 

[Harry Gypsna]

hi mate....the problem with this one is the way I used temporarily to hold the 1st bunch in ppaxce for the test run....

so they are only resting on top[ of the lid...

the problemis just a bot leaking onto the lid surface...its collecting on the uinderside of th lid, and the discs, then leaking onto the lid from the discs...Ive got a couple of green patches around the holes but only a really tiny little bit.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Ok then...the votes have been counted and the results are in

Ok then...the votes have been counted and the results are in

.....It works...It works I tell ya!!!
all the clones are fabulously rooted now....they have been rooted for about 1 1/2 weeks since the 1st one showed nubs...the development every couple of days is amazing...I am now going to go ahead and build another bigger one to move them to once rooted so i can develop the root systems up a bit, and have nutes in the water without it stunting the unrooted cuttings.
So here you go, the best and worst examples of rooting from this simple knocked together machine



BEST^^^^



WORST^^^^

I will make a new lid for this one using foam discs to hold the cuttings in place, as ive had success with that in an MDWC so it will be fine, I can definately fit more clones in the lid with smaller discs. the foam discs will also prevent the small amount of algae around the holes in the top which is from a little water hitting the underside of the lid and discs and leaking out onto the top at the edge of the holes....ill have to get a pic of that but all in all that is the only flaw i can see with this MK2 version.
So people, please take that as a green light to go ahead and make one...it works fine and doesnt kill cuttings like the disasterous Mk 1 version with net pots, bubbles and hydroton
The modification will be posted in this thread and the results from that batch....then the new larger-"Pre-veg" machine will be a whole new thread so stay tuned.......
this was fun to make and took no time at all, the pump which I already had was the most expensive item but you could use a cheaper pond pump if you wanted.
I hope to see lots more of these popping up....
catch you all later every1,
Be lucky now,
Harry

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Well, I was going to bump it...

Well, I was going to bump it...

...for someone to see, but i thought I would show the pics of a nice Lifesaver clone which i transplanted to soil last week....this is how it was when it came out of the aerocloner



great aint it lol....

I have also cut some foam discs now to use as inserts for holding the cuts in position...i will change them as the existing ones root i will add new clones in the new doscs instead of trying to change all the existing ones into the new discs and damaging some....I will get a pic of the new discs in place once they are in.
Be lucky every1

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Bumpity bump bump bump

 

[Heady NUGs]

Are the rotary sprinklers less prone to clogging than the misters?


plan on building an aero cloner soon. Already have 8 raindrip roto spinklers, homedics bathtub spa pump.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Bumppppppp just in case any newbs or other members want to see it......

 

[Guest]

Harry great to see ya around...
Mine aero cloner works like clock,no matter how many clones i put in all rooted.
two times i had 10-12 cuttings and all rooted and was healthy too,no reason your wouldn't work,Happy for ya !
BAH

 

[Harry Gypsna]

Its been working for months mate....
OK, so I have upgraded this little machine, the alterations are as follows,

1) I cut a new lid from a piece of correx, this time with twice as many plant sites-making 40 in total, I cut them using the smallest holesaw in my set.

2) I changed the method of clone support from the bits of correx, to foam inserts, this has eliminated the issue of any water leaking onto the lid(which used to happen with the correx discs just resting on the lid) The discs were cut from foam which was sold as a "Garden kneeler cushion"- perfect!, I Used the holesaw one size up from that which i cut the plantsites with, then used scissors to trim any scraggy edges or uneven bits from the foam.

3) I took out the old sprinkler system, and added 2 extra sprinklers- making 4 in total. This time, instead of having them sat under the LDPE pipe which had the lid resting on it, I made a new one, in the same T shape, but fitted it outside the lid and pushed the T through a hole at the edge of the lid, this is connected under the lid to the pump with more LDPE or some Hosepipe. The spinners are fed from the manifold by 5mm flexi pipe, and the sit directly underneath the lid- I madea hole at each spinner siote-just right for the 5mm pipe, pushed it through the lid, then screwed the spinner into the end of the pipe underneath the lid. then I just pulled the flexi pipe back through a little to get the spinner flush with the underside of the lid.
I will be putting the pics of this upgrade session up soon, having trouble with my camera software ATM...
Be lucky ppl

 

[Harry Gypsna]

!!!!HeadyNugs!!!!!
Im very sorry, I didnt see ur post asking the question about clogging.
To be honest i cabt say as I have no experience using the misters, but from what ive heard, these will still drip if they wont spin when clogged(although thats just as bad as not at all in this application) and that yes apparently dont clog as easily as misters.
Ive had no trouble with clogging but ive onbly used it with plain water or a little root booster like Ecoliser or Rhizotonic-I dodnt get to make the second machine as i had to shut down my grow for security reasons

 

[Ordinary Joe]

Hey Harry Gypsna,
I made the same type cloner but with a different design. I used spinners also. My advice is to get the more expensive spinners. Usually they cover a larger distance. I purchased some from Rainbird, green with gray spinners. They work much better than the cheaper ones. I don't know why they cost more because they are only plastic. No real difference except the design.
Regarding misters over spinners: the misters will clog easier. My next project will include misters but that will be awhile. I don't know why cause I have all the parts. I have had many clogs, mainly because I insisted on drilling holes in the lid for more cuttings and allowing the shavings to fall into the tub. Hard to get them all. They clogged my pump and something clogged one spinner but I just replaced it and off we go again. Always have a few spares around.
For my cloner, I used PVC. Mr.Greenjeans showed off a cloner he bought and I vaguely copied the design. Pond pump, unknown gph, plumbed to three spinners. I have problems with leakage too. First I used duck tape to block the gap between lid and walls but the tape died off after a month. Now I am using Aluminum Duckwork tape but it is having a reaction with the water. Not bad but it is weird. Like when you leave a couple coca-cola cans sitting in water in a cooler. They start pitting. Not sure if it will hurt the cuttings or not. They haven't complained yet.

Anyway, this is it.

 

[Japanfreakier]

Just chirping in with points about clogging. After 5 years in aero I have never had one nozzle clog on me. Not once. For gardens the important thing is to have a filter after your pump, and as far as the cloners are concerned, there isn't enough time for them to clog.

 

[Ordinary Joe]

JapanFreak's cloner

Very nice. My cloner runs non-stop and I received clogs when I drilled holes for more cuttings in an emergency. Plastic shavings and whatknot fell into the water. I clean it out when appropriate but it runs 24/7 for months. Do the cuts root better on your timer? Thus giving the cuts time to dry a bit before getting hit again?

 

[Jesusbuiltmygro]

You can also use a piece of plastic right across the top or a beat of silicone on the underside of the lid to preventing leaking.

A water tight container makes the process a lot easier, such as bucket or food grade container.

Watch out for too big of a pump and too small a rez or can heat the water up too much OR produce too strong a spray.

Some environments are just hard to get an aerocloner to work in. If you have a lot of temp/humidity shifts for instance, clones hate that. I always leave mine a lone after cloning them for about 5 days beside MAYBE misting them and definitely giving them fresh air if they have a dome.

 

[DazhyDro]

Ordinary Joe u could just weatherstrip the tubberware so when you put the lid on it water tight. Thats what I do and it works really good

 

[BlueberryNutz]

very nice results! i have an extra pump laying around and pvc is cheap so i think i might try this. i like building stuff, so we'll see what happens

 

[sito007]

tagging Nice work guys