Building an aeroponic cloner bucket, aka The Cloninator!

[InTheShed]

Nice write-up, Shed.. I'm curious: About how much all the parts ended up costing you?

Thanks BeezLuiz! Probably under $25 not counting the hole saw .

 

[BeezLuiz]

Excellant! Certainly worth giving it a try.

 

[StoneOtter]

How to build my cloninator aeroponic cloning bucket! This is the original but I've made a few modifications since then. I'll put those at the end in case you'd like to try them.

I started with a 2 gallon bucket and lid from Home Depot. I got this pump from Amazon:

Which came with these adapters:

None of which will connect to the sprinkler head, so I had to buy these in brass at Home Depot because they don't carry PVC smaller than ½:

So when it was connected it looked like this:

Next I centered the pump in the bucket:

And laid out the 2" baskets from Amazon (they came with the inserts):

Hole drilling was next. Here is a tip I got from youtube...after you drill the center pilot hole, run the hole saw backward and it makes a much cleaner cut. Here are the cuts and a notch for the wire:

Baskets inserted with the bottoms cut off. It should keep the roots from getting tangled:

Finished bucket with the neoprene inserts:

I used barbecue skewers to test the spray:

Maximum wetness! I filled the bucket about ¼ full (so around 64 ounces) and added 4 ounce H2O2 since I don't want to buy any z7 etc:

I needed a timer that would do short intervals, so I got this one and set it for 1 minute on / 15 minutes off. I may make that interval longer after a couple of days. Setting the timer was a lot easier than some of the reviews mentioned on Amazon:

I hung a single 23w 6500K CFL over the bucket:

And that's the original! Since I built it I changed the sprinkler system twice, and now I'm using micro-sprayers in PVC:

I also wrapped the bucket in duct tape and spray painted it (red was all I had) to make it more light proof. Did the lid as well.


And now that the weather is cooler I'm having pretty good success. Certainly better than my previous attempts .

CHecking out your sweet cloneator Shed. Do you use a dome?

 

[InTheShed]

CHecking out your sweet cloneator Shed. Do you use a dome?

Nope, never needed one. Even with humidity down in the 40s some days the tops stay green.

 

[StoneOtter]

Nope, never needed one. Even with humidity down in the 40s some days the tops stay green.

That's a real nice rig. I could put a rooted cut from there into soil ok?

 

[InTheShed]

That's a real nice rig. I could put a rooted cut from there into soil ok?

Absolutely! I grow everything in soil. I got a great tip from Norcaliwood to let the roots get long in the cloninator with loads of fishbones, and not try to plant too early. Then I just put 2" of ProMix HP in a clear solo cup, hold the cutting so the roots are resting on that soil, and gently (so as not to tear any roots) sprinkle soil around the dangling roots until I've buried the bottom of the stem. Then I gently (have I mentioned gently?) pack the soil down to make sure the roots are getting good contact and water with distilled water until it pours out of the holes in the bottom. The clear cup gets slid into a solid colored cup and it goes on the 80ºF heat mat under a 23w CFL until the cup fills with roots. That's when I up-can it to a 1 gallon.

20181231_105702.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 31, 2018

Sour G cut 10/21, from the cloninator

20181231_110746.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 31, 2018

Sour G cut 10/21, planted

It takes a while for water roots to become soil roots but they have all turned out healthy. It's slower than rooting in ProMix HP directly but a lot less time consuming!

 

[Sctanley007]

Looks awesome. Along the same line as yours but for soil and hempy here.

Can fit 5-6 soil clones or 3 2liter hempys in each. Had an led ufo in each which was too strong bbut 2 100w cfls are perfect. Sitting on a heating pad.

Getting these results 10-15 days from cut using cheap $6 rooting powder. Knock the dirt off and into humpy.

Ended up modifying the lids and lights to the final pic.

 

[StoneOtter]

Thanks, that's on the list. I've read your awesome cloning journal and see you're like a ninja cloner now. Nice

 

[InTheShed]

Along the same line as yours but for soil and hempy here.

I'm not seeing any water or sprayers in there. Am I missing something? I'm handing off some aero-cloner-rooted cuttings to a hempy grower later this month. Straight into the perlite, all water roots from the get-go.

20181220_093036.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 20, 2018

In the cloninator

Thanks, that's on the list. I've read your awesome cloning journal and see you're like a ninja cloner now. Nice

Cooler temps and a good design was what it took for the cloninator. And patience. I've got a hard-to-clone strain with my Sour G.

 

[StoneOtter]

Is that bucket really 2 gallons or did I read it wrong?

 

[Sctanley007]

I'm not seeing any water or sprayers in there. Am I missing something? I'm handing off some aero-cloner-rooted cuttings to a hempy grower later this month. Straight into the perlite, all water roots from the get-go.

20181220_093036.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 20, 2018

In the cloninator

Cooler temps and a good design was what it took for the cloninator. And patience. I've got a hard-to-clone strain with my Sour G.

It’s a bucket cloner if you don’t have a designated tent or other area. Not hydro but just showing a same principle option for those not into hydro that works.

 

[gr865]

Nice setup, I kind of went over board on my cloner, 34 sites, but I can't use that many. I will be giving large number of them away.

 

[InTheShed]

Is that bucket really 2 gallons or did I read it wrong?

You read that right! 2 gallons.

It’s a bucket cloner if you don’t have a designated tent or other area. Not hydro but just showing a same principle option for those not into hydro that works.

But it doesn't need to be a bucket because there's no water, right? A cardboard box would do the same thing?

Nice setup, I kind of went over board on my cloner, 34 sites, but I can't use that many. I will be giving large number of them away.

If you got takers that's a great idea! I have a hard time finding growers to take the overflow with the my little bucket.

 

[gr865]

First time around with this unit, so jury is still out. 5 days in.

 

[InTheShed]

As long as they're green on top, leave them in! I've had stems take over a month to show root buds.

 

[Stu]

Nope, never needed one. Even with humidity down in the 40s some days the tops stay green.

Mine have been in a week now almost, I’ve yet to order the timer so water and light has been on 24/7, the ones that sat in solo cups in water for 2 weeks prior to going into the bucket have gone a bit yellow, but are still nice and firm, all the rest seem to be doing okay so far, water is warm at like 70 f so curious to see if that hurts the process, going to attempt to get that down this weekend, been spritzing with water few times a day and humidity in my basement is a whopping 11% I have no dome constructed for the bucket, silicone was bugging me so I removed that also, kinda annoying not being able to remove the nets and not leaking so I’m happy, upgraded misters also, to ones that are more adjustable on the spray direction and pressure.

2 build pics and 2 pics from today after 6 days in use, one with blue arrow looks sad, just cut that one last night, rest look fine imo

First time around with this unit, so jury is still out. 5 days in.

That’s a real nice looking unit man! and a lot of clones, hopefully lots of them take root for you

 

[InTheShed]

That one with the blue arrow seems too big for a cutting. Looks like it's 4" above the top. I'd cut that down to the height of the middle one. Even at 11% RH I don't think you should spray unless they look crispy. The idea is that they get all their moisture from down below.

I found running 24/7 made the water too warm. If you have an ice pack or a frozen water bottle, put that in and replace it when it melts. You're better at 65 than 70.

And slide the pump over so the hose bib is in the middle, just in case symmetry matters!

 

[Stu]

That one with the blue arrow seems too big for a cutting. Looks like it's 4" above the top. I'd cut that down to the height of the middle one. Even at 11% RH I don't think you should spray unless they look crispy. The idea is that they get all their moisture from down below.

I found running 24/7 made the water too warm. If you have an ice pack or a frozen water bottle, put that in and replace it when it melts. You're better at 65 than 70.

And slide the pump over so the hose bib is in the middle, just in case symmetry matters!

The blue arrow I can snip down yep, it was the lowest branch on my cookie mutant and wasn’t getting any light in the tent no matter how I positioned the plant so I cut it last night.

Okay :/ I’ll stop spraying them, as they’ve never been crispy yet

Yeah the pump has been amended since that pic it is glued down in the center now lol.... symmetry matters yep!

 

[InTheShed]

 

[Camaro1691]

How to build my cloninator aeroponic cloning bucket! This is the original but I've made a few modifications since then. I'll put those at the end in case you'd like to try them.

I started with a 2 gallon bucket and lid from Home Depot. I got this pump from Amazon:

Which came with these adapters:

None of which will connect to the sprinkler head, so I had to buy these in brass at Home Depot because they don't carry PVC smaller than ½:

So when it was connected it looked like this:

Next I centered the pump in the bucket:

And laid out the 2" baskets from Amazon (they came with the inserts):

Hole drilling was next. Here is a tip I got from youtube...after you drill the center pilot hole, run the hole saw backward and it makes a much cleaner cut. Here are the cuts and a notch for the wire:

Baskets inserted with the bottoms cut off. It should keep the roots from getting tangled:

Finished bucket with the neoprene inserts:

I used barbecue skewers to test the spray:

Maximum wetness! I filled the bucket about ¼ full (so around 64 ounces) and added 4 ounce H2O2 since I don't want to buy any z7 etc:

I needed a timer that would do short intervals, so I got this one and set it for 1 minute on / 15 minutes off. I may make that interval longer after a couple of days. Setting the timer was a lot easier than some of the reviews mentioned on Amazon:

I hung a single 23w 6500K CFL over the bucket:

And that's the original! Since I built it I changed the sprinkler system twice, and now I'm using micro-sprayers in PVC:

I also wrapped the bucket in duct tape and spray painted it (red was all I had) to make it more light proof. Did the lid as well.


And now that the weather is cooler I'm having pretty good success. Certainly better than my previous attempts .

Essentially you built your own little ezcloner, this is about the same principle they use