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The mist cloner is complete

Sorry guys, I took some pictures over the weekend but forgot to post them.

Here we are, with some cuttings leafed out.
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As expected, root development on the fig cuttings. White Triana, RDB and VDB all have produced roots. The Black Madeira has stalled out for some reason.
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Blueberry cuttings show now signs of anything, but they are producing some top growth so I haven't given up hope yet.

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Harvey seems to have more root development than I'm having, and I think we started close to the same time. Possibly water temps, freshness of cuttings, how long cutting have been dormant, etc.
I haven't measured the water temps, but I will just for reference. Harvey, what is the temp of the water / fog in your setup?


Yeah there is what you should do and what you get around to...lol This past two weeks was the first time in a long time I have changed the water, I have been letting it go till it was kinda icky looking... I will say I do notice a perking up after I change the water and add the new nutrients..

Mike - Nice work.  I've been using a cloner since the fall.  This is my third batch of cuttings and everything has been going like clockwork  Just noticed a slowdown.  I think it's the temps.  The cloner was in the center of a room and the temps ran 72-76F.  Did some rearranging and moved the cloner to an outside wall of the room.  Temps now run 68-71F.  Time to get a heater for the water.

Harvey & Dennis, what are your temps?  Do you notice any difference in growth with lower temps?

PH has a lot to do with it also.  Root growth was just good when I first started and didn't monitor PH.  When I started keeping PH in the 5.5 - 6.5 range the cuttings really took off.

Danny

I had a heat mat under my cloner for a while, seems to have helped. How do adjust ph in your cloner water?

Rafael - Good idea with the heat mat.  There's an extra one after the short circuit fiasco.

I check the PH every 3 days or so using this:

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And adjust with these:

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Mike, I used a laser thermometer from Harbor Freight and get fog readings of like 85F but it doesn't feel warm like that to me, but I know dampness is deceiving (anything below body temp doesn't feel very warm, I think).  I have my shop kept pretty warm but also have an acquarium heater in the tub.

What's the aquarium heater set at?

Just checked and my water temp is 69 degrees. I put the cloner on a heat mat to see if I can get the temps up in the 70's

Quote:
Originally Posted by nycfig
What's the aquarium heater set at?


I don't remember but I don't think it was set above 80.  Will check later.

Hi all,

Well here a quick update.  I remove three cuttings and potted them up.  They were NJ Red, Leb. Red and Yellow (Beeka).  All had nice roots.  Interestingly the Leb's had lots of single, fat white roots where the NJ Red had one very long very branched root which went all the way down to the water.  Tops had very little leaf growth which made me happy since it was easy to remove the plants from the bottom and not risk damaging the roots.  All have leafs starting so not too worried.  If the weather get nicer they are on there way to the greenhouse.  No pictures of them since I was rushing but here's a view from inside the cloner.  (the web cam was a great idea..just kidding).  I did my normal large perlite/shoe boxes on the hot water heater and an getting good roots too.  The difference is that the cuttings often have leaves which form before the roots and are pale and likely to rot.  I harvested 4 more plants from those boxes.  More Leb. red and Leb Yellow, unk peachy and other which I can't remember.  In the picture you will see 2 with larger roots which are more Leb Red and Leb Yellow and in the front you can see 2 tiny roots starting on my Maltese Falcon. roots.jpg 


Sharon - Nice results so far!  I'm definitely going to try the fogger.

You should get a pair of cutters and take off the bottom parts of the inserts.  You're going to have a heck of a time removing the cutting if the roots get too big.

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Ah  but the bottom is cut off!  The little strips were left on to help stabilize the pot.  If I don't need them then I will cut them off in the future.  I have had limited top growth which may change as it get warmer but for now it is simple to pull the top through the hole.  I send them to the greenhouse as soon as they are rooted.  They have started the propagation benches so part of the greenhouse is misted every 15 min.  That makes the entire greenhouse pretty humid.

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  • Gina
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This has been a fun thread to watch. Thanks for the alternate ideas. :)

For some reason, it's always amusing to see roots emerging from the tops of cuttings.

This post is for FigPig.  The cloner is home made and the steps to making it are on the first page,

I ended up with one more group of cuttings this year, here they are three weeks in to the bubbler. 11390165_10207074578566505_2850035032530488257_n.jpg 


Excellent thread!

great info, thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by HarveyC
Oddly, the tubs at Costco sold here have a different lid, only room for 27 cuttings instead of 35.  Cost was $8.69.  My fogger arrives today! :) I'll probably add an opaque tub over the top like Gloria uses to increase humidity so cuttings don't dry out.

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Havey, I'm curious...did you make this cloner?  I am really thinking about taking a leap here.  I'm not mechanically inclined so I would have my husband help me but I need to get some details about how this box worked for you, what you used for a dome and, the size holes to make for the fitted neoprene holders & net cup thingies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HarveyC
This is the nebulizer type and it's not floating.  This tank is too dang heavy as it is with just 2" of water in it for me to dump once a week to change water.  I don't think floating would make much difference on coverage as I'm pretty sure it would still stay in the same spot most of the time.  I'm considering a larger unit with the nebulizer and fan in a separate tank and blowing fog in via ducts so that I could dump that separate tank without even touching plants.  In that case the tank would probably be narrow and deep and I'd use the float that came with the nebulizer.


Where would I buy a mister like this one you have, Harvey?

Thanks,

Meg, i believe harvey got it here: http://www.thehouseofhydro.com%2Fone-head-mist-maker.html

But reach out to Bob first (rcantor). I think he mentioned he was a supplier of these and might be able to get a good deal on it.

Good luck! I bought the parts for he mister setup (like dennis's )

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brooklynmatty
Meg, i believe harvey got it here: http://www.thehouseofhydro.com%2Fone-head-mist-maker.html But reach out to Bob first (rcantor). I think he mentioned he was a supplier of these and might be able to get a good deal on it. Good luck! I bought the parts for he mister setup (like dennis's )


Thanks for your reply and tip, Brooklyn!  Much appreciated.

Are you guys leaving your foggers on 24/7? I'm finding my cuttings to be pretty wet with 24/7.

I did leave it on 24/7.  I think a few cutting may have got too wet so I may try a timer next go round

To all you guys and gals using a bubbler, what is your success rate....if your cuttings were fresh?  Just curious.

The first time I used a cloner, my cuttings were not fresh.  They were over 6 months old and had molded.  After I cleaned them up, they rooted.  A few mold spots came back but the growth from the bud took over before the mold could destroy the cutting.

@Gloria, did you use any rooting hormone?

@Sharon, what do you mean, "the cutting may have gotten too wet"?  Cuttings will root in water.  What other additives are you adding to the water?  I like the idea of a bubbler.  But I just fired up my EZ Cloner 64 last night with 32 cuttings.

Glad to see this thread has sparked some interest. Many of my trees still have leaves on them in the greenhouse so I haven't started up the clone machine yet. When I do I'll be sure to post some pics.

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