EZ Clone experiences...and breakthrough...

Hey, I'm brand new here and this is my first post. What I'm not brand new to is taking cuttings. Been taking them for 20 years now, and have always found them the trickiest part of growing. Every other phase of growth has always been so predictable, in that if I take the correct actions I will see the right results as a consequence, or consistent repeatability. With cuttings however, methods that worked great many times in a row, 95%+ survival, would then randomly or repeatedly fail despite seeming to do nothing different. Any method that proves viable with 90%+ survival should be repeatable, and if it's not I suspect bacteria is the problem, which is the topic of this post.

I've been through various mediums and methods, probably more with Oasis wedges than any other medium, they were my favorite and standard for a long time. With Oasis wedges in an ebb and flow unit and a humidity and temp controlled by stats I came the closest to an automated reliable system. Yet after moving this setup to a different location it became less reliable ??

So of course I had to try the EZ-Clone when it came out and have been playing with two EZ-Clone units for some time now with varying results which I want to share, and get feedback about.

I found there were two separate challenges with my EZ-Clones: first, getting the cuttings to root, and second, having them survive and flourish within the EZ-Clone after they root, long enough to develop enough roots to transplant well, this being the harder part. Any well rooted cutting that survived the EZ-Clone always did fine in it's next medium.

I had zero success getting them to root with my tap water which is from a drilled well and quite hard and 500ppm plus. A reverse osmosis system changed that. With RO water under 10ppm I immediately started having cuttings root. My best rooting results were with just plain clean RO water, nothing added. I'd just dip cuttings in either Rootech gel or liquid Hormex. I think the Hormex actually did the best, being liquid perhaps it soaked into the cutting better before the sprayers could wash it off ? Who knows, but simple and clean has been best. But the EZ-Clone was still far from reliable.

Bacteria troubles would botch many an EZ-Clone batch even after I got them to root and sometimes even before they could, despite thoroughly bleaching everything between cycles. The EZ-Clone seems to be a perfect nursery for bacteria. I keep a pretty clean ship, and even ran air filters in the room to keep it cleaner, but slime always seemed to find it's way in. Even 100% rooted batches with clusters of inch long roots would suddenly yellow and die after some slime formed, and roots turned from white to brownish. Keeping the water at 70 degrees instead of 80 may have helped a bit but also slowed rooting giving bacteria more time to get in. So the EZ-Clones were hit and miss, not reliable enough to really count on when there's no time to waste.

In case you don't know EZ-Clone just came out with a product called Clear-Rez to fight hydroponic bacteria troubles. The active ingredient is chlorine, who'd a thunk it ? While fish can't tolerate chlorine it seems plants can handle levels high enough to prevent bacteria. To clarify, this solution is used DURING rooting, not for cleaning between cycles.

Clear-Rez sells for $20 a pint, so I bought some and tested it with my pool test kit, and it seems that ONE gram of calcium hypochlorite pool shock dissolved in one gallon of water yields the same level of chlorine as the Clear-Rez. Either solution is then added to the EZ-Clone at one ounce per five gallons water, or one ounce in an EZ-Clone 30, 2oz in a 60, 4oz in a 120, and repeat every few days. The final chlorine level in the EZ-Clone is very low, about 1/25th the level in a home swimming pool. And since pool shock is $5 a pound, it costs 1$ to make 100 gallons of this solution, or one cent per gallon ! As opposed to $160 per gallon for the Clear-Rez ! I'm not saying both are exactly the same, but I do know the chlorine content is the same, according to any pool test(Sorry EZ-Clone but the units were expensive enough to begin with). Alternately 12ml of 6% sodium hypochlorite(household bleach) per gallon yields the same strength solution, though I haven't tried this in the EZ-Clone yet. I like the sound of calcium over sodium but either should work.

Onto the ultimate point though, several EZ-Clone batches have now been 100% slime free, and white roots have not gone brown. They not only root well but flourish in the EZ-Clone longer than I've ever been able to leave them in there before, I can let roots grow all the way to the bottom. Also there is no need to keep the water cool. And I haven't even gone through my fist penny's worth of homemade anti-biotic. Also I have doubled the dose to 2oz per 5gal with no problem. I am curious at what concentration plants will be harmed by the chlorine instead of helped, so I'll keep experimenting.

So anyway, I wanted to share this with those who could use it. I know some may find chlorine as intolerably non-organic, but it is very dilute and sure has been handy so far, and I bet it would do just as well in other methods and mediums.

Oh, also, never add peroxide to chlorinated water as it instantly removes the chlorine, unless you want that of course.

Cheers !

 

Is a bubble cloner where the cuttings are actually imersed in water with an airstone below ? Or are they above the water like an ezclone ? How sucessful has this method been ? I'm always up for a new experiment. I bet a little hypochlorite could be handy in this method also.

 

I very much believe in H2O2/peroxide as a means of adding extra oxygen to the nutrient solution, but as a bacteria control I've had poor results with it in various situations, and especially in my ez-clone, even at fairly high doses. I tried regular doses of 30% h2o2 in my ez-clone and it didn't seem to even delay the slime. Some bacteria like extra oxygen and even flourish around h2o2. The chlorine has been much more effective though. At least for me.

 

I have also tried dunking GH Rapid Rooter plugs as well as Oasis wedges in this chlorine solution, with better cutting survival and health in both as a result. It sounds funny to say it, but pool shock has been the best hydroponic tool I have discovered in a while.

Chlorine is very quick to break down as well, as anyone with a pool knows, so I don't believe there is any risk of it remaining in the plants thru harvest. Guess I'll keep experimenting...