Im planning on making a cloner out of a 5 gal bucket and had some questions. The bucket will have 9 holes in the lid for the clones, and 2 6" airstones. My questions are: 1) can i just stick the rapid rooter blocks into the lid, will they fall apart into the bucket or do i need something to support them? 2) if im using a bubble cloner, do i need a lid/humidity dome? 3) do i need light on the clones? If so what kind? I have a 400watt hps and mh but i think that will be too intense, CFL's maybe? What kind and how many? 4) Is straight tap water ok if the ph is below 7? Do i need any nute solution for clones? one the clones root im planning on transplanting into a DWC, can i just stick the clone and rooter cube into the hydraton?
you don't need rapid rooter blocks. waste of money. the best way i've found is take your cuttings from the plant, then take the cut ends and submerge them in water and cut them again at a 45˚ angle while underwater. then place them in your bubble bucket with the air stones and put them in a dimly lit to almost dark area for about a week and you'll start to see roots forming. if you put them under light they will die because the leaves will try to grow more plant but there is no roots to provide nutes. you can use tap water for this with no pH adjustment because at the beginning of the cloning process the clones have no roots yet, so they can't be effected by incorrect pH. once you have roots however you need to adjust the pH. with this method you don't need a humidity dome. also note this is just my opinion and personal way of doing it, you don't have to do it this way.