Aerocloner help

[Piper.180]

Hi all I'm trying to clone with an aeroponic cloner. I'm using the X stream but I've swapped the water pump for a air pump and air stones to keep the temps a bit lower. Temps were 68f - 70f up until 2 days, they have slowly raised to 73f over the last couple of days because we've had warm weather. I'm just using tap water with some silver bullet roots to keep the water clean and my pH swings a small amount so it been between 5.8 to 6.1, once it reaches 6.1 I add a couple of drops of pH down to get it back to 5.8.

 

Over the last couple of days the clones have developed white root bumps on the 45° cuts, clones above the foam discs look healthy. 

 

Do I just keep doing what I'm doing now? If so what sort of time frame until these white bumps turn into roots? 

Any help would be appreciated as I'm a complete noob at this. 

[zen-ken]

I would keep with the spray bar tbh and just use a little icepack to get the temperature to sit back down.

 

With increased temperature the propensity for the water to hold DO drastically reduces....hence my advice to keep the aero prop on....non stop if bare stem cloning !!

 

If the clone is still stood up after a few days it's 'taken'......The little nodal white lumps will sprout lovely white roots any day now....A joy to behold....Enjoy 

 

(the fastest I took a bare clone to root in the aero prop is 14 days.....Clonex , plain water @ 25c, >RH80%, 6500k T5)

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by zen-ken

[Piper.180]

@zen-ken thanks for the reply mate.

 

Yeah I've heard of the ice pack technique but I'm not about enough to monitor the temp. I was planning on using the air pump in the warmer months and swap to the water pump in the colder months. Last time i used the water pump/sprayer the temps were 78-80f and the stems turned brown and mushy. 

 

Would the DO apply to a bubbler? I assumed the air pump would keep the oxygen content up. 

 

Yeah clones look really healthy still and today is day 8. I'll just keep an eye on them and hopefully see some roots soon. 

[QQ710]

2 hours ago, Piper.180 said:

I'm trying to clone with an aeroponic cloner

I agree with @zen-ken - keep the water pump, not the air pump.

A repeat cycle timer is useful to keep the water pump cooler and to encourage root growth - I spray for approx 5 seconds per minute.

I would never add PH down if my PH was 6.1 - I'd only add it if the pH was closer to 7.

For me, the aeroprop is a game changer, brilliant bit of kit to develop clones and seedlings ready for a DWC setup.

Roots usually come through between 8-14 days and my success rate is approx 85% - I lose 1 or 2 for every 10 clones.

Put up a photo of how they look.

Good luck

[Piper.180]

@QQ710 cheers for the input mate.

 

What's the name of the timer you use for your pump? Not sure if your allowed to post links but if it's allowed I'd be grateful. I can only seem to find timers that have 5 minute increments. 

 

That's interesting regarding the pH, I was told keep it between 5.8 and 6.3. I'll give it a try tho. 

 

I don't think I'll have 100% success either, only 6 out of 8 have white bumps. Fingers crossed for the other 2. 

 

 

This is them at day 6 (which was 2 days ago) it's the only pic I have at the moment. 

Top number is water temp

Middle is air temp (little low I know) 

Bottom obviously RH

 

Edit: thought I'd add that since this photo I've removed the dome and RH is now 65%. Was this the right thing to do? 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Piper.180

[Guest anarchycamp]

Its a blessing seeing the baby teeth come through

The roots come quick soon after that. I generally bang them in jiffys a day or two after and they explode in a propagator.( Its just what works for me)

 

[Piper.180]

@anarchycamp I got to admit I did get excited when I see the white bumps, felt like a kid at Christmas

[Guest anarchycamp]

@Piper.180 Oh aye everytime I say it hasn't worked then bam!

Teeth day:

 

Day 2:

 

Day 5/6:

 

If you want it done quick, aerocloning is the way forward

[MindSoup]

36 minutes ago, Piper.180 said:

 

What's the name of the timer you use for your pump

If you have a search for "smart extension lead" you'll find something really useful 

[QQ710]

They look great mate @Piper.180

Nicely organised.

 

I've been using an aeroprop for approx 8 months - not that experienced, so please research any advice I give

I've found - unless the parametres become extreme the aeroprop looks after itself - I keep a low EC, I add nutes from my veg tank and freshwater 50-50% - check the temps and PH once/twice a week, change the res every 2-3 weeks - a bit lazy maybe but I've had no issues other than ones I've created by leaving the pump off and putting clones and seedling in together (that didn't work out at all well!)

 

Repeat cycle timer - not easy to find - made one form a Crouzet BL2R08MV1 component, cheapest on Mouser Electronics at £60+vat - you gotta fit it into a small enclosure and add a plug and sockets - got a mate to do that bit - was around £80 all in, not cheap, was intended for a small aeroponics set up but found RDWC much easier.

 

 

Good luck

[Piper.180]

@QQ710 WOW that looks advanced. Way beyond my capabilities, I'd probably end up starting a fire lol. @MindSoup had a good suggestion and is probably the best bet for someone of my electrical knowledge which is pretty much non existent.

 

[QQ710]

12 minutes ago, Piper.180 said:

WOW that looks advanced.

Got a mate to wire it up - he said it was very easy - but I disagreed

 

Those smart extension leads could be just the ticket though - never heard of them before - you want to check the timer settings on them.

Do you have one @MindSoup and if so can you set the timer by seconds, for example 5 secs per minute?

[MindSoup]

@QQ710 mine doesn't but I'm sure I saw one that had that option on it when I was shopping. 

 

E2A Of course I now can't find it, might have been mega high and got confused on that one . 

Edited September 7, 2021 by MindSoup

[QQ710]

1 hour ago, MindSoup said:

might have been mega high and got confused on that one

Thanks for checking   

 

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by QQ710

[badbillybob]

i used to throw mine in the aerocloner, tap water with a splash of formulex, never phd or ec'd and roots every time in about 7-10 days.

if its a smaller box tho, depending on which pump you use, a timer is a better option, i used to go on half an hr, of half hr, it saves the water from overheating, which can happen with the pump running 24/7.