DWC cloning

[FreddyDeeb]

I've seen a few threads about DIY cloning in DWC, but they are all incomplete and don't get to the "meat". I understand DWC just fine, but when it comes to cloning in DWC, I have some questions. I already have 2 4' shop lights for lighting. I also already have 16 gallon reservoir(smallest I could find that was strong enough) and the air hoses and stones. I guess my question is this, if you add rooting hormone and such to the reservoir, then you don't need rockwool cubes or any other medium??? The stem goes directly into the water?? So just wait until it shows signs of roots and then transplant into net pots??

The main reason I want to do the DWC in the cloning stage is I have a huge air compressor(was for a pet store, runs 200 tanks ), and the growth is unparelleled(at least in my few grows). Anyone who has tried this, please fill in the blanks!!!

 

[Racefan]

I've seen a few threads about DIY cloning in DWC, but they are all incomplete and don't get to the "meat". I understand DWC just fine, but when it comes to cloning in DWC, I have some questions. I already have 2 4' shop lights for lighting. I also already have 16 gallon reservoir(smallest I could find that was strong enough) and the air hoses and stones. I guess my question is this, if you add rooting hormone and such to the reservoir, then you don't need rockwool cubes or any other medium??? The stem goes directly into the water?? So just wait until it shows signs of roots and then transplant into net pots??

The main reason I want to do the DWC in the cloning stage is I have a huge air compressor(was for a pet store, runs 200 tanks ), and the growth is unparelleled(at least in my few grows). Anyone who has tried this, please fill in the blanks!!!

you got it. Some cut a small hole say 1 inch across in the top and use a styrofoam or sponge disk that fits in this hole tightly. You cut a slit from the cventer to the outside edge and insert the clone stem into the slit. Squeeze it into the hole and make sure the stem is right above the water with the end even in the water a little. The slit allows you to remove the rooted clone without damaging the fragile roots.

 

[FreddyDeeb]

Hey racefan, what nutrients should be put in the reservoir for the cloning process. I've seen some say plain water is fine, but others say put rooting hormone in. I have 2 "potential" additives. The cloning powder from the hardware store, Rootone made by Greenlight. It says to dip the stem into the powder, but now I'm using DWC, so should I put some of the powder straight into the water?? Also have some Humboldt Roots formula, which I'm using on the mom's still(just a little each change of reservoir). Will the Humboldt help clones, or is it just effective after they sprout some roots. In your opinion, is it worth adding the Humboldt or Rootone or both to the reservoir??


One last thing, I keep seeing the dome for the clones. Would a 10/20 gallon fish tank flipped upside down work as the dome you think?? I'm putting it together tonight. The mom's are just too big, I gotta move now. I'll add a picture sometime. Isn't it funny how it seems to be going slowly and then POW! it's overgrown...

 

[zolar]

try very dilute nutes 1/10 or 1/20 th of normal for water volume

try disolveing a little rootone in hot distilled water until it starts leaving precipitaes on the bottom pour the saturated solution offthe top
and put in a dropper bottle add one or two drops to each gallon of water in your cloning mix as for nutes you could try 1/4 tsp
per each 1or 2 gallons of liquid

since you have the air capacity i'd use a lot of airstones to create an aeroponic environoment in the first 2 inches of air above the water lots and lots of breaking bubbles and foam is
creating lots of airbornme water particles to optomize the environment humidity levels

the high amount of mist accelerates food uptake through the tiny microroots you can't really see well without magnigication once root formation starts and the trace nutrients at that low level won't increase xs nute problems if your cuttings were ok to start

 

[FreddyDeeb]

Thanks zolar, I wasn't sure if the Rootone would work, or if the Humboldt Root was designed to help with clones. As for the air supply, I won't hook that big compressor up until I have everything going. The damn thing is so strong, you have to have a release valve built on the end of the PVC pipe so it doesn't burn up. I have at least 5 small pumps, and have found that you can actually use 2 small ones and connect them together. All you need is tubing and a splitter(I use the 3 way). Connect one pump with hose to the splitter, pop off the plug on the other side of the splitter, and attach the second pump. Both pumps then push through the splitter, making it so the smaller pumps aren't completely worthless and can power several stones. Everyone should know that those air pumps use almost NO power(small ones are 2-3W, my compressor is only 60W, I thought it was an error or I was reading it wrong). So don't skimp on air. Can't wait to get the construction started tonight

 

[zolar]

go look up plant propagation to get chapter and verse on it or
see if you can find a good tutorial DIY here on the boards
if you look up cloners and DWC on the boards you'll see that size of the rez is the main difference in many diy cloners and dwc

have you been to any non MJ friendly sites on hydro or gardening
some of them have good general charts for troubleshooting

 

[FreddyDeeb]

Finished building my cloner. I'm actually quite proud of myself, I could have gone half ass on several aspects, but it looks pretty good IMO. I'm still screwing with getting the pics off my old digital camera and resizing them. Went with 20 total in reservoir(I don't think I'll need to start more than 20 at any 1 time.)

 

[FreddyDeeb]

Here's a step by step. I used a 2 1/8" bit for my holes. I was going to use a 1" or 1.5", but I felt 20 was plenty for a cloning chamber. This was also important since I tried something a little different for containers.

 

[FreddyDeeb]

Next it was time to assemble the stand, which I already had. It was roughly 26" from the floor to the bottom of the 2x4 frame. I used hooks on the sides of the frame and mounted 2 4' shop lights. Also had to cut the bottom of the frame out to save 3"+.

The main problem was getting the styrofoam to fit perfectly. When I used the bit I used to cut the holes, it was way too loose. I thought taking electrical tape around the holes would lessen the gap, but no. I finally brainstormed and decided to go with 8 oz styrofoam cups. I used 2 for each hole and cut them to be around 2" tall. Then took a 3/16 drill bit and drilled a small hole in each one. Made my holes for air tubing and....

 

[FreddyDeeb]

Next was to get the dome in place. I have several old fish tanks, so I thought what better way to use them, the one 5 gallon was perfect to cover 8 cups, and the ten could cover the other 12. The problem was height, and not being able to slide the reservoir once full. There has to be gap of at least 4-6 inches to manuever the tanks over the clones.. So I added 2x4's under each leg to increase the height to where I needed it.

I took zolars advice on how to use the two root formulas I had. Took 8 clones from each big mom, and 4 off the smallest.

After 36 hours, they were already standing straighter and after 48 hours had a few small roots forming.

BTW, I used one 4.5 W air pump, had two air outlets(it's pretty good and powers one 12" and another 6" airstone)

 

[FreddyDeeb]

Here's an update after 8 days. I was concerned that the roots weren't taking, but they came along finally.

I figure around 3 more days and I'll transplant into permanant netpots.

I'd say it's successful for a do it yourself project though. Now I know that it takes roughly 10-14 days to clone and get ready for vegetative.

 

[StonerGrower]

Looks good man..Its amazing what you can do with a little time and patience.

 

[FreddyDeeb]

The first set of clones did great so far. Got 18/20 survivors, the other 2 were really small and never took. The only thing I'm going to try different is I'm adding Thrive alive for the next batch(no Humboldt Roots), and I dipped each clone into the actual cloning powder(Rootone) before I put them into the tank this time. I think with no dipping in the powder it took a few more days than it normally will. Anyways, I like the cloner and actually wouldn't change anything in making another one.

 

[Alkhemist]

great advice :]] im moving to dwc now and was wandering about this, thanks

 

[shagshop]

i know this is an old thread but can you tell us do you add any nutrients to the water before any roots have appeared ? and if so at what strength ? and does this speed the rooting process up ? thanks bro