Cloning hydro style

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Growing' started by nernerderd, Sep 30, 2010.

  1. I'm a soil grower who's trying to clone using a plasic bin filled to the brim with plain tap water. Also this bin resides inside a large mylar-lined box with a nice small plant flouresent lamp attatched to the top of the box for lighting. There is a top for this basin that has circular cut-outs for foam disks to sit in place snuggly which is for the holding of cuttings. When the top is latched the cuttings are submerged about 1-1.5 inches into the basin of water. In the basin there are two 2' air hoses aerating the water evenly. Also there is a pump mounted on the side pushing air fed water to circulate the entire bin. Here was my first problem... the tempurature of the water usually has been about 76-80 consistantly until today. The water temp had risen to almost 88 degrees!! I had figured because just yesterday I had installed a slightly larger(hotter) pump in order to gaurentee proper circulation was the reason. So I switched it back to the slightly smaller pump natually. My questions for the city is that did I just kill my cuttings. Or is there a possibility that the little ones can still servive. Also I'm very unknowledgable on the hydro way of doing things. Infact this way of cloning is brand new to me and really wasnt even considered before a guy I met strongly suggested. He said it should gaurentee me 100% success when cloning from healthy mother-style plants. I'm not sure what to think yet. This is my first try at anything hydro. What temps should I shoot for in the water, and air temps as well? Also has anybody tried this style of cloning before? I could use some feedback on others results. What kinds of problems that are the most devistating? How to avoid continuing making cloning unsucsessfull? Please help.

    -shodan
    Posted on my Android Mobile Device
     
  2. #2 br4485, Sep 30, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 30, 2010
    I don't think 88 degrees will hurt your plants. But you don't want them to be submerged in the water. You want the plants to be above the water. But they need to be in reach of the spray of water that the air bubbles make as they break at the surface.

    Having them submerged will result in drowned roots that begin to rot from lack of oxygen. Unless, you have extreme amounts of fine air bubbles in the water.

    The high humidity inside the plastic bin and the air bubble splashes from the water surface keeps your plants moist. While still allowing plenty of air for them to breath.

    I hope this was helpful
    Good luck with your clones
     
  3. thats to hot...75 degrees is about wear you want to be...
    check my sig for a real easy cloner... works like a champ..
     
  4. Sry your "sig"? I'm still a grasscity noob if that's some lingo please direct me. Btw I stablized the water temp to 78 degrees. Should be good to go. As far as the submersion response. This guy told me to have the bottom of the stem at least 1/4" to 1/2" under the surface of the water. The bin I'm using only holds approximately 1 1/2 to 2 gallons so I hope I would have enought aeration for this method of cloning. I'm still up for suggestions. Thanks all.

    Posted on my Android Mobile Device
     
  5. Well I reviewed your post. Almost identicle to my setup. Except that I am using air hoses and a small water pump with an adjustable aeration piece to inline air into the pumped water. But I don't think air-hoses work better than air-stones. Mostly because I feel stones have smaller bubbles, but more of them. I did lower the water level in the basin to slightly less than a 1/4" stem dipped in. Basicall to insure humidity levels for the rooting "zone" of the palnt. I figure as long as I get root sprouts it'll be ok. I already had one cutting sprout a plrethera of roots fully submerged. Once roots were showing a few milimeters it only took 3 days to reach a spread that extended up to 8" long. Cutting under water is a tip I will be using regularly from now on. So thanks for that. Distilled water necissary? Also how big could I make my cuttings do you think from using this method(as in stem length and leaf count). Just curious since I always cut leaves in half and you had mentioned maybe that isn't even necissary. Well thanks all, this has all been helping me wrap my brain around all the concepts needed. Any other ideas for me.

    -shodan

    Posted on my Android Mobile Device
     

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