Super Cheap Mass Cloner

[Grat3fulh3ad]

cracker... yes, a couple of months, usually... which translates to hundreds of clones...

Mungus... yes, tap water... There may be some slight yellowing... best of luck with your roots...

 

[mungus]

Mungus... yes, tap water... There may be some slight yellowing... best of luck with your roots...[/QUOTE]


thanks mate ill post results

 

[krustytheclown]

I just made my own cloner today, using your instructions and so far it looks great!

Before I start this cloner, I had a few questions:

How many inches deep is your perlite? Mine is 3 inches/8cm.
Is it okay if my wicks stick out above the perlite, about an inch/2 cm?
Would using diluted Hygrozyme help or hurt the rooting process?

 

[Elevator Man]

Has anyone in the UK made one of these?
I'm eager to try it out, but I'm having problems locating Tiki wicks over here. I have found replacement wicks for bamboo and oil patio torches - they're fibreglass generally. Will they work OK? Just wondering if I can use nylon or cotton rope instead if I can't find the torch wicks?

 

[Reverend Willis]

Has anyone in the UK made one of these?
I'm eager to try it out, but I'm having problems locating Tiki wicks over here. I have found replacement wicks for bamboo and oil patio torches - they're fibreglass generally. Will they work OK? Just wondering if I can use nylon or cotton rope instead if I can't find the torch wicks?

Hey ho, Elevator Man. Goin' up?

Yes, you've got the right wicks. You can actually use anything that will wick the water. I've seen some folks using pieces of a cotton t-shirt or cotton rope. I think I'm gonna try some cotton rope next time. That does sound better than the fiberglass.

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

yes indeed, anything sanitary that will wick water will work...
I cover my wicks completely, but I don't think it will hurt to have a bit exposed...
I use no additives in my rez... sometimes with hard to root plants, a presoak like hormex is used...

 

[mungus]

just an update on wickcloner...im just using pieces of towell

for wicks this time and a 25w aquarium heater as its winter here....cuts are standing up and healthy...dug one up out of the perlite after 9 days for a check and found

the cutting had formed a 1/2 inch frosting from the tip upwards indicating roots arent far away...thanks Grateful for a quick cheap method of cloning

cost me nothing to set up as i already had some perlite

 

[Elevator Man]

Right, that's it - I'm off into town to go find all the bits. I need to do some Malawi Gold clones asap, and this is the perfect opportunity. One thing - I'm not planning to do this in a cold space, but I do have a spare water heater sitting around - just wondering if adding that to the reservoir might help avoid any sudden drops in temperature at night?
Or if I'm over-worrying (I usually do), let me know?

 

[Elevator Man]

I've built a prototype, and waiting for it to wick up now. I used plastic food containers with lids for now, and some cotton dishcloths cut into strips, and rolled up for wicks. I figured they're designed for soaking up water, so...

Only one issue that popped up for me with this method - if you're growing for hydro, as opposed to soil, you'll need the clones rooted into something ideally - a cube of some sort. So I'm going to run a trial - same clones, same plant, but with half planted straight into the medium (75% perlite, 25% vermiculite), and with half rooted as usual in RootRiot cubes, and then embedded slightly in the medium. We'll see what the difference is then.

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

From watching other people's variations, cubes imbedded the wick system work very well...

 

[Elevator Man]

I'll post my results as soon as there's something to look at.
The medium was left overnight to wick up properly, and it's lovely and moist now - cuts go in tonight. And thanks for the tips on all this - it's always good to see science triumphing over superstition.

"The Faster we go, the Rounder we get"...

 

[krustytheclown]

Right, that's it - I'm off into town to go find all the bits.

OMG, that is sooooooo British in so many ways in just that one sentence. LOL

I love it!

 

[Elevator Man]

OK, I'll try not to be too British this time...

So, the clones have been a week in the new system, and so far, everything's fine. I decided to really give it a test and use two Malawi Gold females I'm growing from seed, which are currently at two weeks flowering. I decided to test all options - so the back two of each of the 'direct' planted cuts I used Clonex. The front two, I just planted straight. The two in the cubes got the same treatment as always - Clonex on the stem, and in the hole...

The two in the rooting cubes wilted immediately, and stayed that way for 48 hours - then sat straight back up as though nothing had happened! There's noticeable swelling on the stems of the two cube cuts also. All the cuts planted in the medium have shown no wilting at all. I'll give them about ten days before I start poking around for roots, but for an uncovered, unheated system, this is looking really promising.

One potential issue - I have to move two males into this space for 12/12 in two days - the only other space I can then move these cuts to will be my veg room, on 16/8. I normally keep clones on 24/0 until I see roots, but do you think the system will fail without constant light? I'm assuming it works mainly as the heat from the lamps causes evaporation in the Perlite, thus drawing up more moisture from below. Without the lamps, this cycle may not be as effective. Anyone used this system on less than 24 hours?

 

[mungus]

hay elevator...i done mine under 18/6 no problems

cheers mungus

 

[Elevator Man]

Oh whoopee - that's great news! I was starting to think I'd have to open up another cupboard space to growing - it's starting to get a bit embarassing. "Ooops! Not in there..." etc...

But if they're OK on 18/6 (they won't be cold, probably high 60's F in the dark), I can move them over tomorrow and start flowering my two male Flos...which is fantastic...

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=37151

 

[ft100]

well here is my version. i cloned my males first to get the process down. i cut at a 45 degree angle, below the node, cut off all extra leaves, soaked in water plus two drops of superthrive for 30 minutes, then put into already dampened cloner. Hopefully things will work out. Cloning the ladies later today. Males did not wilt or droop at all. Lookin good.

 

[tuttlebudd]

DUDE...I use the EXACT setup heads do...NO chemicals and it clones UNBELIEVABLY simple...even had some marginal stuff...CLONE ON!!! And stupid simple...getting ready to start up 2 more "cloners" have one w/ the old standby...going to get one going for the BLACK TIGER...Gamera's A-11 x Flo...and Purplebuddys lightstorm... YEA BABY!!!
tutt

 

[krustytheclown]

I did a batch of clones using perlite and tap water and it worked!

I'm done with clones now for a while. Can I dry out the perlite and reuse it?

 

[cannasurvival]

GH3, Great cloner am fairly new to this site and just come across your thread,it's a wicked design am going to make one in the morning thanks for sharing your knowledge.


Take it easy.

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

I did a batch of clones using perlite and tap water and it worked!

I'm done with clones now for a while. Can I dry out the perlite and reuse it?

I do...