cheap and easy DIY cloner and what to do with the results - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

justanotherbozo · #1 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 12:12 PM

first, as a newbie, you need to understand that you must learn to clone, that is the only way you will reap the full benefits of ganja growing. it's just too big a pain in the ass to raise them up from seed and wait 2 - 3 months for them to get mature enough to display sex.
with cloning, you know that every plant you flower is a girl!

second, let me say that i'm no expert so this is not meant to be definitive!
there are several ways to root clones and all are effective to one degree or another. just don't be discouraged, if you try something and it fails, try something else, then, it wasn't a failure, it was a learning experience!

personally, i've rooted clones in rockwool starter cubes under a dome (last year 95% rooted, this year 100% died).
i've rooted clones in just a glass of water, got about a 60% success rate (not good enough to rely on, and it takes a good 10 - 15 days to see roots)

i've only had one run so far with my new cloner but, in that run, 17 of 18 rooted and within 6 days! eureka!

anyway, since my aim is a never ending Sea Of Green, having a reliable source of healthy clones was a must. being a newbie myself, i set to work reading every thread on cloning i could find and this is what i've come up with, i hope it works as well for you as it has for me!

__________________
bozo
peace, love, dope

'it's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice'
Those that give up Liberty to have temporary Security deserve Neither......Benjamin Franklin.
be advised, these are the meanderings of a mad man, completely imaginary and should in no way be taken seriously, especially Leo
my imaginary garden
newbie cfl\hydro experiment

justanotherbozo · #2 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 08:12 PM

taking a cutting is pretty straitforward and covered by many, many other threads and faq's. my intent with this thread is to show you how i made a cloner to provide myself with a reliable source of healthy little girls and what you do once you have them rooted.

that being said, as a newbie myself i tell you, do not be afraid to try cloning. cloning is easy!

anyway, once you've taken a cutting you need a place to put it right?
this thread will show you how to make yourself a bubble cloner for about $20.00 USD, not counting another $20.00 for a small air pump, you need bubbles man.

here's a parts list and some pics

1 bin, no bigger than 2 gallons (mine came from Lowes and it cost $7.99)

2 airstones, get them at Walmat, they have a variety of sizes, bigger is better if your pump can handle it, just make sure the airstones fit inside the bin. (approx. $3.00 each)

1/4 inch outside diameter rubber tubbing (standard size for fish tanks)(20 feet is approx. $4.00)
a tee fitting (if your pump only has one outlet, if it has two, you don't need the fitting)
1 length of pipe wrap insulation (it comes in 6 ft lengths) (approx. $4.00)

and now a few pics

1) the inside (as you can see, my bin is black so light proof from jump street, well worth the extra cash, LOL, no need for duct tape)
oh yeah, don't get those airwand thingies, the suction cups don't hold and so they pop free and float to the top of the res, not a good thing.

2) assembled and ready to go, 3 rows times 6x1inch holes for a total of 18 'stations'. note the pipe wrap cut into 1 inch pieces

3) loaded up but with a few empty stations that show the pipe wrap really well.

btw, i use 2 gallons of water into which i put approx. 6ml of ThriveAlive B1 Red and 2 drops of Superthrive (DO NOT OVERDO THE SUPERTHRIVE, 1 DROP PER GALLON ONLY)

another thing to consider is that you want the res to be kinda warm, not hot mind you, just not cold.

justanotherbozo · #3 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 08:46 PM

heres a few pics of the cloner in operation, all pretty much self explanitory

1) the cloner is to the right on top of the beer box, to the left and on the floor is one of my DWC bins (same exact footprint and cover size, just 6 gallons deep instead of 2 gallons)

2) another shot, note the difference in the lids, on the left in particular you see 2 cups filled with hydroton, those have rooted clones i need to move to one of my DWC's, the other's are filled with some cuttings i had no room in the cloner for so i pressed a DWC into service as a bubble cloner. (it works but i don't recommend it, it's too deep for a bubble cloner)

3) the underside of the DWC impersonating a cloner, lol (as you can see, the cuttings just dangle about an inch from the top of the solution getting splashed with bubbles.

4) here you can see some roots poking out

5) inside the cloner proper (look at them roots man!)

6) another shot, you can see one of the medium round air stones i got at the hydro store (lotsa bubbles) (like $4.00 each)

justanotherbozo · #4 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 09:05 PM

once you have rooted clones you can transplant into your medium of choice (because i'm learning to grow hydroponically i'm using homemade net pots filled with hydroton, expanded clay pellets)

the thing to remember is to be fairly gentle with the roots whether you're transplanting into dirt or hydroton. in truth, potting them in dirt is simple.

here are some pics to illustrate just how simple it is. just be sure not to leave too much space between the top of the dirt and the rim of the pots, about an inch is good, that leaves you room to water without so much space you have dead, stagnant air at the base of your plants.

note the pots, from last year (i made them from 2 liter soda bottles) (good size for a dirt SOG) i potted these in dirt for a friend who plans on putting them behind his 50 tomato plants.

kennkenniff · #5 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 09:06 PM

i like the pipe insulation i built a cloner with a pool pump and a cooler but used rockwool to hold the clones but for what pipe insulation cost i,m definitly gonna try it next time looking good dude ....... you may find your clones are happier if you add some sort of humidity dome .

justanotherbozo · #6 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 09:43 PM

this is a technique taught to me by StinkyAttic, she is a long time grower and a moderator on another forum, if you run across her in your travel along the web and she gives you advice, follow it!

that being said, the key here is gentle, gentle, gentle.

in the pics you can see that i pre-soak my hydroton (get hygromite if you don't already have hydroton, it's better for the plants)
as you can see, you put the rooted end of the cutting into the net pot with some hydroton, then you fill up the pot with hydroton while still in the water. doing it this way is much more gentle on the roots

justanotherbozo · #7 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennkenniff

i like the pipe insulation i built a cloner with a pool pump and a cooler but used rockwool to hold the clones but for what pipe insulation cost i,m definitly gonna try it next time looking good dude ....... you may find your clones are happier if you add some sort of humidity dome .

and thanks for the feedback. i actually hadn't thought to mention that because, so far at least, i haven't needed it (i have one).
oh, and i don't use rockwool any more, except to root seeds, partly to eliminate the expense and partly to avoid problems with stem rot (be sure and bury your rockwool cubes deeply enough so they don't go moldy or get covered in algae)

for the newbie grower reading this thread, heres a picture of a humidity dome as ken mentions, you will need it at some point so get one. (they cost less than $10.00)

in truth, you can make small individual humidity domes out of plastic soda bottles, just be sure and make a few holes for air (there is a thread on that on this forum)

justanotherbozo · #8 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 10:15 PM

the thing to remember is, don't be afraid to try something new and don't be afraid to ask for help (not something like 'do i put the switch up or down to turn the light on?'), we're all in this alone, together, so we all help each other.
also, keep in mind that the more research you do on your own, the more respect you will earn from everyone, plus, you will ask better questions, lol!

when you gain some experience, reach out your hand to the newbie and help him climb that dratted learning curve, just like someone, in my case, many someone's, reached out and helped me, and you!

now, toke amongst yourselves man!

knottyd · #9 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008, 12:31 AM

Spoken like a true grower...Stop referring to yourself as a "newbie". If your cloning and doing write-ups your a novice at the least. Give yourself some credit..lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by justanotherbozo

the thing to remember is, don't be afraid to try something new and don't be afraid to ask for help (not something like 'do i put the switch up or down to turn the light on?'), we're all in this alone, together, so we all help each other.
also, keep in mind that the more research you do on your own, the more respect you will earn from everyone, plus, you will ask better questions, lol!

when you gain some experience, reach out your hand to the newbie and help him climb that dratted learning curve, just like someone, in my case, many someone's, reached out and helped me, and you!

justanotherbozo · #10 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008, 12:42 AM

it's nice to have a place to talk about it, my success' and my failures too.
i should be beginning to flower for sex on the first of the month, wish me luck lol, just wish i had good genetics, i salivate over the descriptions on the seed bank sites and even more when looking at the grow logs of all you guy's, lol.

i'm still waiting for my economic stimulus check to arrive, then i'll find a way to order some good seeds, i'm still wrestling with strain selection.

LOL, think George will mind?

knottyd · #11 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008, 12:47 AM

Yeah good genetics would be good but bag seed is great to start with.

jangel · #12 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008, 09:04 AM

Bozo, could you add to this in the sense explain to people how you made the holes in the cover. Where you put the pump inside and what you use for feeding them. I have never done hydro so I don't know where to put the pump or what type of pump you are talking about. Or anything sweetie. Please explain it to me.

I love stinkyattic too. I have read pretty much all I could find that she wrote. She is my female grower Idol!!!! She is what I want to be when I grow up!!! LOL! (I know I am older than she is so that will be hard!)

justanotherbozo · #13 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

Bozo, could you add to this in the sense explain to people how you made the holes in the cover. Where you put the pump inside and what you use for feeding them. I have never done hydro so I don't know where to put the pump or what type of pump you are talking about. Or anything sweetie. Please explain it to me.

sorry for the confusion hon, go back to post #2, pic #2 and you will see the lid with the pipe-wrap insulation installed, then go to post #3, pics #5 & 6 to see the underside of the pipe-wrap.

to make the holes i used a 1 inch hole saw (get a good hole saw, it'll do a much cleaner job than my cheap-ass saw did and you will use it again so you're better off getting the good one the first time)

also in post #2, at the bottom you'll see:

"btw, i use 2 gallons of water into which i put approx. 6ml of ThriveAlive B1 Red and 2 drops of Superthrive (DO NOT OVERDO THE SUPERTHRIVE, 1 DROP PER GALLON ONLY)"

this is just a cloner so i don't feed them in here ever, as soon as i see a decent root-mass i transplant

as for the pump, it's just an aquarium air pump, the one i use for the cloner is a single outlet air pump rated for a 30 gallon fish tank.
(this is my first air pump, hence the single outlet, i've since bought 2 other small pumps at Walmart but both bigger and with dual outlets. LOL, i've actually upgraded to a dual diaphragm air pump i got at the hydro store supposedly able to aerate 16 waterfarm buckets, heres a pic of that pump)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

I love stinkyattic too. I have read pretty much all I could find that she wrote. She is my female grower Idol!!!! She is what I want to be when I grow up!!! LOL! (I know I am older than she is so that will be hard!)

LOL, she really knows her stuff

jangel · #14 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008, 12:44 PM

Thanks bozo. I have also read about clonex and my hydro shop carries that so I guess that would work in this also? Sorry about the DAAAA moment. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when I first wake up!!! You did explain, I just didn't hold the info!!!(you must be a stoner when.........LOL!)

Great post, keep up the good work Justanotherbozo!!!!!!!

justanotherbozo · #15 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

Thanks bozo. I have also read about clonex and my hydro shop carries that so I guess that would work in this also? Sorry about the DAAAA moment. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when I first wake up!!! You did explain, I just didn't hold the info!!!(you must be a stoner when.........LOL!)

Great post, keep up the good work Justanotherbozo!!!!!!!

i assume it's a rooting hormone? i don't know.

i use ThriveAlive B1 Red and Superthrive, both to help promote root growth.

and thanks for the props, just trying to participate and not just lurk for my own personal gain, to give back a little

kennkenniff · #16 (**permalink**) 05-23-2008, 05:01 AM

hey bozo i was just reading one of my million old issues of high times and there is a cloner advertised in there exactly the same as the one you built with exception to the pipe insulation ................... right on good work dude i wish i could find a container just like that but 10 times the size 2 build an ebbnflow on the cheap

justanotherbozo · #17 (**permalink**) 05-23-2008, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennkenniff

hey bozo i was just reading one of my million old issues of high times and there is a cloner advertised in there exactly the same as the one you built with exception to the pipe insulation ................... right on good work dude i wish i could find a container just like that but 10 times the size 2 build an ebbnflow on the cheap

and you should go check out Lowes, the bins i'm using are made by a co. called 'IrisUSA' and the bins are called 'Stor-it-all Pro' and they come in several sizes, one of which isn't '10 times' the size but it is as big as some pre-made e & f systems, like the one 'Mr Green' make's in his videos.

anyway, bake on man

Fman · #18 (**permalink**) 06-24-2008, 09:19 PM

How many hours a day do you run the air pump?

justanotherbozo · #19 (**permalink**) 06-24-2008, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fman

How many hours a day do you run the air pump?

24\7

ileso · #20 (**permalink**) 08-08-2008, 12:12 PM

hi bozo... ok im transfering the conversation from ... um....seedlings i think... anyway.
the question i was putting was, if we just pour the hormone into the water without dabbing the cutting into it, it will work right? cause the hormone is in the water wich is bubbling around the cutting and would wash it off anyway... i use clonex rooting gel.

rooting in rockwool or dirt or whatever the medium around the stem is static so dipping in the hormone makes sense, but rooting in a bubble bath is diferent... or not?

this IS a hypothetical question, cause id dip it in the hormone anyway even if it was to go into the bubble bath...