Jack's Home-Built Cloner & Master Grower Tips

JACK: I use a home-built aeroponic cloner.  The parts and plans are all available online; Google search 'Do-it-yourself aeroponic cloner.'  But this is mine and it's made out of an 18-gallon Rubbermaid tub.

I used a two-inch hole saw to drill holes in the top of it, and then placed two-inch net pots with the bottoms cut off and glued those on the top.  They accept the little two-inch neoprene pucks.
 
The drive system is an Active Aqua AAPW 400-gallon-per-hour pump.  Don't ask me why I have that one.  I just use it; it works.
 
I then constructed a misting system that attaches to the pump out of, I think it's half-inch PVC, in a configuration. 
 
I have ten 360-degree fan jet micromisters.
 
I painted the top of the cloner white, just to make it look clean and also for a little bit of reflectivity.  The reason it's wrapped up on the outside with -- that's reflective ducting tape and regular duct tape -- is to keep light from going inside the cloner.
 
You want to have your cloner as light-tight as possible; it will keep any algae from growing in there and it also, the darkness encourages the roots to grow.
 
So, how this works is you would take a bare cutting, place it in between the little neoprene pucks that open up like a Pac-Man and clamp down on the clone, holding it upright.  And then when the pump is on, it pulls water from the inside and sprays continuously, creating a dark, damp environment that is going to encourage root growth.

You want to encourage as cold of water as possible, but when the pump is running continuously it will heat the water up.  So, if you can get a timer that turns off every once in a while instead of running it all the time, I find that to be better.  But keep an eye on your temperatures; 60 degrees and lower is better.
 
Another good trick to do is keep a couple of frozen plastic water bottles and place them inside the cloner, keep the water cool.
 
Warmer water, I found it to make the plants take longer to root.
 
With this cloner I get a hundred percent success rate.  It's very, very easy to do, once you have it troubleshooted.

Jack's Cloning Process

JACK: So, the first picture is of KLN Dyna-Gro, which is a synthetic rooting compound.  The Microbe Hydroponics RootDip is something I received as a sample and have been trying it out, and so far really, really like it.

The first step of using the RootDip is to soak the cuttings for at least 15 minutes, and I soak them longer.
 
So, it's two-ounces of the RootDip per half gallon of water.  My half-gallon container is just a watering can. 

My cloner has 19 sites, so I decided to take five cuts of four strains, with one being only four.  So, I took four cups and labeled them and then added the RootDip.

Next thing I do is clean my shears with alcohol.  I clean the shears after changing plants, if that makes sense.  So, the type of plants that I use are the rapid-growing tips; the areas of the plant that are growing up toward the light that are nice, healthy, and green.

And where I cut is usually dependent on the plant, but I try to cut enough off to be able to get a long enough stem to encourage root growth.

So I make my cut and then I clean off any unnecessary foliage with a scalpel that is also cleaned in alcohol; and leave at least two good-sized sun leaves on the cutting.  They get submerged in the rooting compound until they're ready to be put in the cloner.  That's it.

Click here to view all photos in the Cloning Album courtesy of Flickr.