Wick Cloner: simple, cheap, and effective

[munki]

Hello all. I want to state straight out, I did not invent anything you see here. It was designed years ago. The key to its effectiveness is borrowed from the most basic hydroponic method, known as the "wick" style. Cost to build this should be less than $15 and has been reported to have a very high success rate. Oh, you do not have to use any cloning gel if you do not want to. Just note that roots will just take longer to show.

What I wanted to do was to test different common materials to use as the wicks. Original design used tiki torch wicks which are fiberglass. These are difficult to locate and are treated as a seasonal item by the few stores who do carry it. Turns out, they just are not necessary.

I tested three materials; a synthetic closed cell sponge, strips of an old cotton T shirt I had, and some tampons.

Here are the raw materials...



6 holes (9/16 inch) were drilled into the bottom of one of the containers and the wicks were inserted.




Perlite is added....



Water is added to the bottom container with some red dye.



... and then the unit is assembled for the test.



About ten minutes later, we can see that some of the wicks are working...



the back side...



and top. What happened is the sponges are totally dry but the tampons and cotton strips work very well.




So, I would recommend using an old shirt (100% cotton) and cut it up for wicks. The tampons do work but are too short to rise to the top if the perlite is added to the recommended depth of 4 inches.

I am testing this out now with some cuttings I took last night and kept in a glass of water overnight.

[MinniBratt]

Im subscribed .... I needed this.. Thanks!!! Im looking forward to seeing it in action.

[munki]

Originally Posted by MinniBratt

Im subscribed .... I needed this.. Thanks!!! Im looking forward to seeing it in action.

Cool. If my first clones in there get roots then it should be considered a no brainer. I did recut the stems under a puddle of water on a plate, then dipped the tips in Clonex and cut some slits at the bottom with the razor blade. Just wanted to state that for full disclosure on my test.

[munki]

Here is how my clone cuttings look after being in there for about 4 hours.



One thing not shown in the test but is recommended for the final product is to make the other container opaque (light proof). This will greatly slow down unwanted growth in the perlite. Using the clear plastic containers is fine as the plastic is very resistant to cracking; I can drill and cut it pretty easily. To make opaque, there is spray paint that adheres to plastic. It was the most expensive item I had to purchase ($6.57) but can be used for other things later. I applied 4 good coats. This got me most of the way but it could of used a couple of more coats to get it perfect. Don't forget to use some sandpaper to roughen up the smooth plastic sides so the paint adheres well.

[drmartygreen]

This looks like a cheap, simple, and efficient system. Im subscribed, best of luck to you

[munki]

I have confidence in their development simply for the fact that I am not depending on their success. If I was really depending on them to root, my luck would probably be worse. Just the way it is.

[munki]

Update: Just took a couple pics to see where the babies are at. they spent the night and day in the garage under a 12 watt undershelf style fluorescent held about 2 feet above the cloner. I have done no misting or covering of them whatsoever. One cutting did wilt and was removed. It was on the far edge and was less than 1 inch of stem.




Here is the underside of the top container showing the wicks underneath.



Not too bad, eh?

[stully]

What are you adding to the water?

[Tead]

Smoth, simple, cheap, easy... sweet design mUnKi!
I've always been a fan of the KISS concept (Keep It Simple, Stupid!). This cloner falls directly into the KISS category!

Cheers

[Ms.Fox]

Yet another good use for tampons... Lol... How are those working? You said initially they were too short.

[munki]

Originally Posted by stully

What are you adding to the water?

That is the beauty of this. Nothing except tap water. It is preferred to have a little chlorine in it to slow microbial growth. Does not hurt the clones. No pH adjustment is necessary as we are not worried about nutrient uptake right now. I haven't even needed to add water yet though I may to freshen up the chlorine in it! You could add some H2O2 but it isn't necessary.

Originally Posted by tead

Smoth, simple, cheap, easy... sweet design mUnKi!
I've always been a fan of the KISS concept (Keep It Simple, Stupid!). This cloner falls directly into the KISS category!

Cheers

Nothing can critically fail unless you let the bottom res dry out. Even that would be a slow process unless the humidity was really low. The garage has been between 75 to 86 degrees F and 51% to 62% RH. That makes things easier though.

Originally Posted by Ms.Fox

Yet another good use for tampons... Lol... How are those working? You said initially they were too short.

Yeah, they were just for the test. The actual design only uses one wick type, the T-Shirt strips, 6 of them in all. New perlite was added and outside container painted black before cuttings were inserted.

[munki]

Just took some more pics. They are still lookin good.

[Ms.Fox]

Nice! I'd give ya rep for trying something new, but.... You know. ;-)

[munki]

Poking around in some of the other forums here, I found the same idea expressed in a different way.

What is a wick cloner, and how do I build one?

BTW, the cuttings are all still looking just fine.

[munki]

They still look good.