I'm going to get some clones from a bro and wanted to see if anyone had a best way to transport them. I will be putting these into an aeroponic cloner, so should I just get the cuttings and get them into the neoprene ASAP? My bro will put them in rockwool cubes for me, but is that the best way since I will be putting them into the aeroponic system? I don't want to damage them during all of this moving around. Also, not knowing for sure if they are dipped in clone juice, would it be OK to double dip them and give them another dip right before I transplant them into the aeroponic cloner? This is my first aero grow, so I got a few questions.
Are the clones rooted yet? If they are, you won't need to use the aeroponic cloner. I use an aeroponic cloner myself. I find it to be really simple to use and it is cut my rooting time by 2/3's. What I do is take my cuttings and then immediately dip them in cloning gel. I am not sure if the cloning gel actually does anything because as soon as you put them in the cloner most of the gel is removed by the water spray. Once I dip the plant, I place it right into the neoprene and then the netpot. I then place the clone in the cloner for a few days until I see some decent roots developing. Normally before the roots get longer than an inch I stick the clone in rockwool and then place it back in the netpot. A few days later, the roots should be poking out of the rockwool. Once this happens, I place the clones in soil and let the growing begin. In your case, you really need to find out if the clones are rooted or not. If they aren't, just try to get them in the cloner as quickly as possible, and keep them very moist in the meantime. Once you get them home and just before you put them in the cloner, make another cut about 1/2" above the original cut. This will ensure that the stem of your new clone has not started to dry out on the bottom while you were transporting. Once you have them in the cloner, just follow my instructions above. It always works for me. One note, within the first 24 hours, your clone will slump over and not look so good. Don't worry about this, it is perfectly normal and will correct itself without you having to do anything. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Contributed by: 10k Submitted: Images archived: 2001 Preparing the clones for aero tub cloning The following information applies to all types of aero cloners, not just the cheapo-aero tub. There are a few things that need to be done in order to get the best results when aero cloning. Preparing the future cuttings before they're cut from the donor plant. Followed by final trimming, soaking, leaf trimming and lastly, cutting to length and loading the cloner. Prepare the mom... Before cutting the cuts from the donor, hold a support tube next to the future cutting and determine whether or not any nodes will be inside of the support tube. If there are any nodes in that area, trim them flush to the stem with a cuticle nipper or similar tool. Do the same for all the growth tips you plan on taking for this batch of clones. Allow the trimmed mom to heal up overnight before you actually take the cuttings off the donor. This step will keep the cuts from trying to make roots inside of the tubes, and will help prevent stem rot within the support tubes. Take the cuttings the following day... Cut them a little longer for now, using a sharp scissors or razor blade. Trim away the nodes... Trim any nodes from the portion of the stem that will be below the support tubes. Af uses a cuticle nipper for this task and cut them flush to the stem. Soak all the trimmed cuttings in cool water... Allow all the cuts to soak for at least a half hour in cool tap water. The water soak will get all the cuttings nice and turgid, and the chlorine in the tap water will help sterilize the cuttings. Trim the leaf blades... Cutting the blades in half as shown will cut moisture loss in half. This leaf trimming will also help to slow down premature yellowing caused by too much or too intense lighting. Load em up... Load the finished cuttings into the support tubes in the lid and cut the stems to length with a razor blade. You want the stems to hang about one inch below the tubes. While you are loading the tub, the air pump should be running to start the wetting process, let it run for about an hour before you set up the air pump on the timer. Use the timer please... Cycle the timer on and off with the timer set for 30 minutes on by 60 to 90 minutes off (depending on the environment). About that little heater... The six dollar 7-1/2 watt fishbowl heater has no thermostat. It must be connected to the same timer you'll be running the air pump, using a two prong multi-tap adapter in the timers socket, otherwise the heater will overheat the water. If you are building your own cheapo and can find a small fully submersible heater with thermostatic control, I highly recommend buying and using that instead of the cheap little heater. In some situations and in warmer rooms, running a heater may not be necessary. Walmart has a cheap little two dollar thermometer which can be left floating in the tub for checking the water temperature. Misting and/or a dome... You may need to mist the cuttings once or twice the first day, but from then on they should not need any more misting. If you have a very dry environment (low rh) you can place a large plastic bag over the entire tub to maintain a higher humidity. No nutes ! Use only distilled water or tap water in the cloner. Do not add any ferts to the water, it will only cause fungus problems and failed clones due to stem rot from the fungus. For impossible strains only... If you have a really hard to clone strain (like big bud), you can add one tespoon of dip-n-grow liquid per half gallon of water and run it for the first twelve hours. Change to straight ph'd water after the first twelve hours. Change the water... Always change the water in the cloner daily for the first few days. This will help keep the cloner and cuttings clean. Never use intense lighting for cloning... You want the flourescent lighting to be a foot or two away from the top of the tub. Closer or more intense lighting will cause premature yellowing and failures. ph the water... Keep the water in the tub ph'd to a range between 5.0 and 6.0. Higher ph will cause failures. Use phosphoric acid to lower the ph. Water temperature... Keep the water temperature between 75f and 80f. Higher temps will cause fungus, lower temps will cause stasis, stalled or failed clones. Be patient...roots will develop soon... The best part of aero cloning is the satisfaction of seeing the roots develop. Some strains will start rooting as fast as five days, others will take as long as two weeks. Most will at least show root bumps starting within one week, with roots blasting out a few days after the bumps. Remember though, that a clone showing root bumps is ready for transfer to a hydro medium or system where it can start receiving weak nutes. Aero rooted clones are perfect for transplanting directly into grow rocks or lava rock in hydroponic systems like ebb & flow or deep water culture. They are also suitable for soil growing if they are transplanted properly at the right stage of rooting. Happy cloning, 10k
mad4reef, one more question. What kind of cycle you got your aero set on? Since there is no medium to hold water, I guess it is fairly often or all the time at first. FYI - I will be using the power cloner from American Agritech. Never used it, but it looks to be a quality unit for cloning with dome. The clones I get will be fresh cut. I should be able to get them in my set up within a couple of hours, give or take an hour for nonsense. He said he will put them in cubes for me, but I want to take them out when I get home and put them int he neoprene. I just don't want to damage them to much or any at all. I will try it out on a couple, and if the process goes smooth and everthing looks good, I'll go for the rest. If not, I'll use the rest of them for a drip system and keep them in the cubes he supplies. I have no control over this part, as I'm getting these as a favor. The strain is awesome. I'll find out what it is and post up a grow journal as they progress. It will be a couple of weeks before I get them though.
I keep the cloner on 24/7. I could probably get away with puting it on a half-hour on, half-hour off cycle, but 24/7 seems to work well for me. A couple of hours might be too long, but if you put them in cubes and keep them moist you should be OK. Don't worry too much about damaging them by handling them. You are not dealing with any roots at this stage, and they are always the most fragile part of the plant. Just throw them all in your cloner ASAP and you should be OK. Good luck.
Thanks for the tips. I think I will try to root them in the aerocloner and see how it goes. So, you go to soil after you root your clones? Do you have a grow journal on here? I would like to see what all you used in your soil, etc....?