What prevents the peat dust and loose particles from contaminating the water in the cloner and clogging the spray heads?

I haven't tried it yet, but will be able to report back by next weekend.  the person responding to the question stated they had success with sponges.  if the peat does fall apart, sponges might be a better alternative.

I finally got the cloner project completed and the delays were fortunate because I got a lot of information from everyone here.  I added a humidity tent and surrounded in insulation to keep plants warm in my basement.  See pictures below.  I need to work on the insulation.  I also used the rapid rooter plugs to hold seeds and they seem very sponge-like and do not appear to be breaking down.  they were smaller than the 2" cups and I wrapped them in paper towel to increase circumference and prevent water spray.  I have the water temperature set at 74 and the ph right at 6 (which I learned from this thread).  I am slowly lowering temp to get it closer to 70.  I have one of Blue's 3Xcrown and a cutting from Garlic Mike.  It was originally in soil with plants, but since there were no roots, I cleaned it and added it to cloner.  Oddly, neither cutting seems to be doing much after a week.  I am expecting some Desert King cuttings from Shirley, when they arrive, I will try rooting in cloner and zip-lock and compare results.

I have a question.  When adjusting water heater, I noticed the heater was slippery i.e. slime starting to form.  I have a chlorine tester and Clear-rez on order, but it hasn't arrived.  I added 3 capfuls of 3% peroxide to 13 gallons of water (bin is 1/2 filled).  Would that be enough to take care of the slime until the chlorine arrives?  would it be OK to raise Chlorine higher than .5 ppm?  Like 1ppm for a short time to get rid of the slime?

I originally started this project with my teenage son as a science project.  He lost interest almost immediately, but I am fascinated.  I am expecting the DEA to knock on the door any day.


    

Aporto - check post#180 by coop, he linked some good reads from the grass forums on alternatives to clear rez, using pool shock and the quantities to use. 
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1290319953&postcount=180

I think you can raise the PPM safely without impacting the cuttings, from what i researched on the grass forums, it helps people run higher temps and preventing slime. The peroxide might not help as much as the shock/clear-rez for the slime buildup.

Hope that helps, i believe my towns water has chlorine added, but i might get pool shock just in case to ensure no slime buildup.

Edit: BTW - love the setup and growtent!

Matt,

Thanks for the post and links.  The links seem to make a pretty strong argument for CL!  I thought the slime was a nuisance but from the posts in Yours/Coop's links, people are saying slime is a plant killer.  People with well water (which I have) do much worse than city as city water is heavily chlorinated.  In fact there was a post here where someone said they cooked their cuttings by keeping temps at 80.  The pot links state that 80 degree temperatures don't kill cuttings, but they promote bacteria growth which kills cuttings.  Also, I thought $35 / quart for chlorinated water was expensive, but after reading Clorox has Lye in it, I didn't want to risk losing everything.  I think I will be getting some HTH ASAP.

Thanks again and thank you to all.  Who would have guessed there was so much science in this stuff?  Reminds me of a time back in science class when we used to ask, "When are we ever going to use this stuff?"  The answer is Always, Everyday, we just didn't know it.

.. And ...
One more use for Clorox, I dump a few capfuls into the bottom of my humidity tub once per week and I swear it kills the fungus gnats and the plants tolerate it well.  I received several plants and an apology because they had a gnat issue.  I added the plants and the gnats were there, but after a week, only a handful remain.

 

APORTO

Personally I am now running at 68 degrees because when I ran at 74-75 degrees I got slime.  Also I had been slacking on the chlorine.

Adding Clorox seemed to brown / shrink the roots overnight!  I immediately switched to HTH shock, but the roots seemed to continue to wither.  I don't really know if it was lingering effects from the slime or the Clorox, but it sure seemed like the Clorox had a bad effect.

The HTH shock may be fine and work like the Clear Res, but right now I am just using water PH adjusted to 6.  I cut off the bottom of the cuttings with the decayed roots.  Things have bumped up again and new roots are emerging.  I will experiment later with some cuttings that are not so near and dear to my heart.

Also I would not warm the air outside the cloner too much.  I think having the cool air helps keep too much vegetative top growth and the warm (68 degrees) water gets the roots going.

Good luck!!  We are all watching with interest.

Dan

Took these photos yesterday. Started these cuttings 1/7/16. Running a T24 cloner 24/7 @ 2 minutes on and 15 minutes off, something I read on an herb forum. I added Z7 per directions to tap water with ph adjusted near 6. The room temp runs 65-74°. Everything seem to be OK for now. There is a white substance on the bottom that looks like a mineral deposite. Water is still clear. Haven't noticed any skum or slime on inside of reservoir or on cuttings.

A couple figs need to be moved to soil soon.

Jerry looks good, is you water temp running about the same as your room temp? If I may ask what is Z7?

Nice going Jerry. Enjoy the adventure. It's interesting how certain methods seem to trend year to year. This is definitely The Cloner year as were the Root Riot cubes a few years ago and Rich's Method and now Mai. It runs "hot", like a certain Fig does every year. It's an ever evolving hobby

@Davel, I'm not measuring water temp. When I feel the side of the reservoir with my hand it never feels cold or hot, usually about body temp or a little less.

I also read about Z7 on the herb forum. Here is some info about it.

http://www.everwoodfarm.com/Z7_More_Info

http://www.everwoodfarm.com/Z7_User_Tips

@Coop, this is a fun thing for me. I want to give this cloner a try before I venture in to building one like you guys have done.

Am I the only one reading all the names on Jerry's cuttings and imagining they were mine?

@danw and @Blue, please be patient as I don't believe in selling cuttings or plants to friends. :)

Oh, by the way those cuttings are a long, long way from being viable plants at least for me.

Jerry, thanks for the info on Z7 and btw I have to agree with Blue and Dan that is quite an impressive collection your rooting.

This weekend, I went on a failed search for HTH.  It is difficult to score in the winter.  Clear-Rez is in shipment from Amazon and I will wait until it arrives.  If anyone is questioning the use of rapid rooter peat plugs, I threw a few in the empty holes with a single tomato seed in each plug.   Just under a week and all 3 seeds have sprouted and look healthy.  The peat is not breaking down and clogging sprayers.  I think this will be a great way to start seedlings.  Also, I am using this as more of a test and want to see how long I can keep the plants in the grower.  I believe the plants will flourish into their adult stages as long as they are supported from falling over.

Andrew, I am also interested in starting my vege seeds this way. Keep us informed of your test. Thanks

My first try with my "Clone King 36"......This is 28 days! It looks like I may have 9 cuttings that rotted. The rest looks pretty good, about time to transfer to cups! : )

 

They are rotten for sure!

Good job, Frank. Mine have advanced since my last photo. I am concerned the cuttings with long roots and top growth will out grow the holes in the top of the cloner making it difficult to remove without doing some damage either to the roots or the top growth.

Nice going, Jerry!
What are you going to do with Zidi in TX?

Don't Zidi have good brebas????