Aeroponic Cloning

[cmeg1]

Doing an early test run with the Clone King aeroponic cloner.
A Red Flowering Hawthorn and three Zelkova.
It has been 6 hrs and they have perked up towards the light,which I dimmed 50% and raised to 2 feet.
I hope this works because it is incredibly easy and nice not having a humidity dome.
There is a couple inches of stem below the neoprene insert that gets misted with the water.I have the pump plugged into a cycle timer ON for 1 min/ OFF for 5 min. So the water does not get warm from the submersible pump running.
Would be nice to fill this with the Red Hawthorne’s.Seems you have to catch them quick because they ripen up really quickly.I have heard of them being hard to root though.

KLN + Protekt Silicone supplement to stiffen the soft growth.Rain water.
Wish me luck

 

[Shibui]

Good luck with the hawthorn. I have heard many failures, including every one I've tried, but have yet to hear of a successful cutting. Maybe you will be the first? Please report back success or failure.
Zelkova root reasonably well. I will be interested to see updates to assess how well this system works.

 

[Gary McCarthy]

I didn't even know something like this existed or I probably would have tried it already. Looking forward to your updates to see if this is worth purchasing.

 

[davetree]

Make sure to check and adjust your pH with this system.

 

[cmeg1]

Make sure to check and adjust your pH with this system.

I have read a mixed bag of reviews concerning PH with cloning aeroponically.
Some say keep between 5-6.
Others say straight tap water is fine and they do have great results,so I am aiming to be in that camp.I am guessing the rain water is 5 or so.The Pro-tekt tends to raise ph,so I only did half strength.
Hopefully this is successful,because I hate ph meters

 

[davetree]

Between 5 and 6 is good for cloning. If your tap water is pretty clean you can use it. Otherwise a mix of distilled and tap. You can get a cheap pH test kit at your local garden center or from Amazon. Read up on cloning techniques - there is some good info out there. A drop or three of bleach in the clone machine does wonders to prevent disease.

 

[sikadelic]

I will be following this closely. I need one of these systems for myself. I really enjoy propagation and this looks like it may make it so easy that I would feel bad about it. haha. Thanks for posting and I hope it works well for you!!

 

[cmeg1]

@sikadelic I will update soon as I see any changes.If this works as good as I hear I will need another one of these
I expect the Zelkova to root very quickly.
I believe a short cycle timer is essential with these cloners to keep water cool from pump running.And I also understand that putting domes on these type cloners will only over heat your water too.Water needs to be below 80.

 

[sikadelic]

How much did it cost to set that up? I had been looking into making something similar but using a 5 gal bucket with a lid. I was going to use a hole saw to cut everything out, get the baskets and cubes, etc. and try to just redneck engineer something like that.

 

[cmeg1]

How much did it cost to set that up? I had been looking into making something similar but using a 5 gal bucket with a lid. I was going to use a hole saw to cut everything out, get the baskets and cubes, etc. and try to just redneck engineer something like that.

You can find plans to make them out of rubbermaid containers...you save a little money.Lots of people make them from buckets too.They may leak if you dont get the right rubbermade container.
The 36 clone king you can get from either Amazon or website a little cheaper.
https://www.amazon.com/Clone-King-A...ds=clone+king&qid=1555600229&s=gateway&sr=8-3

 

[cmeg1]

The cycle timer was a little expensive at 70. But ther are cheaper ones for 30.
@sikadelic

 

[davetree]

The clone king has a fan on the side to cool the water. If the water is cool enough you don’t have to cycle the water. Some people just shut the pump off when the lights are off, or do a one hour on, one hour off schedule. It helps to have a thermometer for your water temp.

 

[cmeg1]

48 hour update.

Had one casualty.It was because this first round of Zelkova were quite soft and I did not clip the terminals or trim leaves either.
Red Hawthorne looks great actually ,aside from hanging over a bit.
I did not mist these today at the start,but after I did this evening the Hawthorn perked up in a matter of minutes.Misting once or twice a day seems very beneficial,until they get some root nubs going.I might add that the humidity in my home is probably very dry from the air conditioner.Goes to show they definitely take up a good amount of water from the stems.
I put in a couple more hardier cuts of Zelkova to see how they do when off to a better start.Clipped terminals and a leaf trim.Makes them not so heavy either.
The first batch Zelkova while sagging are still alive and kicking.I removed the terminals this morning from them.......should of been done at the start.
A leaf trim too and they would of went through less stress at the onset.
Also the stems in the spray look very good and alive.

 

[cmeg1]

These couple test Zelkova are much better cuts.

 

[cmeg1]

Update

In 9 days the Red Hawthorn had the beginnings of callousing!
Although I still decided to abort aeroponic cloning in favor of my tried and true method with humidity dome,Jiffy Pellets,and Hormex rooting harmone directly on the cuttings.I prefer a high humidity approach.
The fact that I did see callousing gives me confidence the Hawthorne’s will root.So I made 24 cuttings of Red Hawthorne today using the normal way.
The tried and true method has shown 100% success rates with Zelkova.The aeroponic system was having some fails with the Zelkova.
I like the Hormex,as they have on-line data of species they successfully root with what strength they recommend.Hawthorn is in that data with #8 and zelkova #3 strength.Seems they are good with woody species

 

[Gary McCarthy]

THANKS for the update.

I'm going to use your "tried and true" method on some dwarf red japanese maple cuttings come June.

 

[cmeg1]

THANKS for the update.

I'm going to use your "tried and true" method on some dwarf red japanese maple cuttings come June.

Jiffy pellets work great...after you squeeze excess water from them and gently pack the pellet around the cutting it is good to add 1 tsp. Of water to the base of each cutting and set the pellet on top of the grooves in the tray.That way if they need water eventually you can pour two cups of water in the grooves and not from the top of the pellet,because that will make them too wet and take longer to root.
Mist the inside of the dome and cuttings twice a day with water.
Keep above 68 degrees.

 

[Gary McCarthy]

I was actually a little disappointed you didn't like the aeroponic set up. I'm into that gadget type of stuff ?