why is this bucket working?

[c526]

Hey guys,last week I was bored,had some spare parts laying around and decided I needed a 5 gallon bucket cloner,
there was a mishap in the garden and I drown a couple of plants trying something out,no big deal.I had the bright idea,I'm going to cut these girls apart,and see what I could do,but I wanted to build an area,out of the way,so I cut a hole in the table and the bucket slides right in,same level as everything else.

I had some dabs and Ideas, obviously they have been around for ever,but I have some questions that I would like some discussion on

The build--I had these parts,laying around--5 gallon bucket. 2inch net pots, neoprene collars
285gph pump,360 sprayer and some scrap pvc

instructions say to use a drill bit,Im a cave man,I use a self taping screw,that way I could use the threads,the screw leaves behind

sitting inside

half a gallon of Tap Water ph 8.5 ppm 385,then I added a splash of liquid karma,about 15ml,I just wanted to see it run,

well it runs,I guess.I cant see it, but I can here it.if you pull a net pot out,water blast 8 inches into the air

I didn't think this thing would do shit,I couldn't have been more wrong,But why is this working?? as I said
straight tap water, high ph, stupid high. almost 400 ppm of HARD as hell water,I did not chech ppm after I dumped in the LK,

This thing started on the 16th, the cuttings were chopped and placed into tap water,for about 12 hrs,then I scraped the sides of the stem,],All just for fun.and to see what scarification was like,With powder and gel as a combo,I dipped into my gel and then into the powder,into collar and netpot.


the 19th

today the 22nd

top of cutting,that drown

some of the others,today day 6

all set up,temp 72--R/H 65%the minicube clones,they sit on a heat mat,They were cut on the 7th,and the solo cup sprouted on the 7th all sitting under a blistering 34wt of t-8 power,lol and sitting only a mere mile away

the other cloner,is running an air stone,its a life time behind,but after almost a week it has to be doing something,they are still alive.

will update as these go on,I am really floored by this,but would like to figure out why this is working,with such shitty water/ph/ppm??
I think it because all of this,is going into the compost,I havent a need for any of these in the either cloner,Was purely for learning and building.And I was bitching about catching no fish today,come home to these roots
thanks guys

 

[Stumped]

Re: why is this bucket working??

I never did get to explaining why the "shitty" water works, because its not shitty water, for plants. The ppm in my aquariums are from iron, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorus. I have access to labs to test this, part of my last job. I bet yours is the same, chlorine won't show on TDS, but U probably just have slightly higher amounts of each.
Reason why it works so well is because those are the essential nutrients for plants to thrive, but in diluted amounts. Very hard to dilute a 2 or 3 part system and leave out potassium and a bunch others.
I understand fully why it works, maybe this will help you understand too. You got luck for sure not knowing. I kind of knew that already just didn't clue in, I tell people never use ro or any low ppm water for cloning and seedlings. Much higher survival with straight tap.
PH isn't a factor until roots developed, so any pH does work we already know that.

Cheers bro. I think I made a cloning tutorial at one point already explaining my procedure and contributing factors. I use to post alot more then I do now, no time!

 

[devilish]

Re: why is this bucket working??

I also use straight tap water myself. With a splash of clonex and also dipped in clonex gel...I dont scrape the stems but I do clip the leaves. Usually have roots in 7 days or less but that all depends on the strain.

 

[Stumped]

Re: why is this bucket working??

Oh yea cut the bottom of your netpots out. Makes it easier to remove the clone. Ive killed clones ripping them out a tangled netpot hahahaha

 

[c526]

Re: why is this bucket working??

HA,hey guys,also have no worries those little seedlings in the pictures,those are veggies,If anyone was wondering,I dont mind them getting"leggy"
I'll cut the bottoms off,for the next ones.I didnt expect this to work.
I have a bigger,clonex cloner,but ive ALWAYS "prepped" my water,NEVER AGAIN.

 

[c526]

Re: why is this bucket working??

Today is 1 full week,I cut the netpots,I bought these years ago,I was planning to do a ntf system for veggies,but they ended up in the
grow parts closet,I can see the deficiencies starting,but again,this was/is for root production,if this was something I was going to plant,I would now.
sometimes I cut leaves,Im not a set in stone kind of guy.

center cutting,I never put this one in a netpot.

side one

netpot removed

netpot cut

this little "bubbler" creation is slow,but working,day 7 roots--not enough air is my guess.

 

[c526]

Re: why is this bucket working??

last day for most of these,I need the room to start the solo cups,the little bubbler worked,just slower than molasses,I'll keep playing with it,see if I can get it do work better.

8 Days in the system,pisser they have to go into the compost.

this one really surprised me,this is a top.hollow in the middle.

cutting on the left is 7 days in the bucket,others on the right bubbler cuttings

pulling out of bubbler,moving to new one

12 freakin hours later

18 hours after putting in the system

also from the bubbler,a top also, little stubbs hard to see,but it is also hollow in the center

12 hrs into new bucket.

I still havent changed anything or added a drop of water,I could see some deficencies happening,but thats ok I
Was/am in it for the experiment..I also added a couple of pepper plant to the cloner,I am afraid they wont handle the water pressure,but we will see,I can only have these in a for a few days or so,

 

[s1ingblade]

maybe im missing something? looks like you had great results, il try to read the whole thread when I get a few mins, I gotta get! The room goes dark in 20 mins, gotta get in there and get material to trim today, the em dogg is done and I have lots of critical plus that are begging to get in there

 

[Stumped]

maybe im missing something? looks like you had great results, il try to read the whole thread when I get a few mins, I gotta get! The room goes dark in 20 mins, gotta get in there and get material to trim today, the em dogg is done and I have lots of critical plus that are begging to get in there

Lol nothing wrong. He's just surprised it works.

 

[c526]

maybe im missing something? looks like you had great results, il try to read the whole thread when I get a few mins, I gotta get! The room goes dark in 20 mins, gotta get in there and get material to trim today, the em dogg is done and I have lots of critical plus that are begging to get in there

G'morning S1ng,stumped has it correct,for a long time now,Ive always "made" a cloning solution,set the ph,addt his,add that.Im just sitting here,Dumbfounded over the fact all I needed was tap water,I am sending out a sample today(county extension office) just to see whats in it,those guys move slower than my bubble cloner,so it will be a few weeks to get the papers back.

12 more hours,so about 36hr in THIS bubbler.

the one with the hollow top.

 

[s1ingblade]

Makes me almost wish I was still on city water lol.
have had better results cloning with plain old "Tap" than I have with my super clean and great tasting well water, the natural water is usually 84ppms

 

[Stumped]

Makes me almost wish I was still on city water lol.
have had better results cloning with plain old "Tap" than I have with my super clean and great tasting well water, the natural water is usually 84ppms

Yea I got 61ppm water. But I got aquariums. Every good tap water grower should have an aquarium! Makes for good cloning water hahah

 

[DRM Ranch]

Good surprises are good, just be happy your system is working and go with it.

I agree a batch of aquarium water that you are changing out anyway is chock full of nutrients.

 

[c526]

last up dates,
final water reading ph is 10.5 and 512 ppm.I figured it would jump,the water level is half of what I put into it, Im going to send as many cutting through this as possible,I think for my soil plants,this is going to work great,But for my set-up, I will have to stay with R/W blocks,I need the support in the mini-cubes,I put a couple of testers together I will see how they are doing in a week or 2.

good looking water right there lmao,Liquid karma doesnt stay together.

The 2 from the little bubbler,only been in THIS bucket for a few days

the Top with the hollow center

the little cutting

 

[s1ingblade]

high there c5! just to let you know I prefer to plant the cuts that were just suspended in a collar in the mini cubes to the block method, they make there own support you don't need to worry about that. Now that the Summer temps are heading out I can start using my turbo again

 

[c526]

hey thanks Sling,you have dropped me down to having zero reasons for the starter blocks then,My R/W skills are lacking,It is a skill,I just dont have,I would think that after about 200 R/W blocks,my skills would be better.

Have a great day with the family.

 

[s1ingblade]

Hey C
If you or anyone here ( I needed it so don't fret) needs a RW rooting tune-up heres the shop
How to clone in rock wool
Hope it helps, in fact I would Highly recommend every newer grower or vetran alike go thru each and everyone of The Cap'ns blogs, some a freaking hilarious, esp the DO one lmao

 

[c526]

hey Sling,
I had one that sat in a cube for 12 days,I pulled it apart and there was like 8 little roots,1/4 inch long?? I pulled all the r/w off the best I could,put it in the bucket and in 3 days it went into a pot,
I have the same issue doing beans in R/W I do every thing the cap'n says
but my percentage with them is to friggen embarrassing to type,I still start beans in soil and transplant.I've never lost a plant washing the roots and transplanting to dwc or the cap'n system.

Tearing apart after 12 days

3 days after running in that bucket

Hope TheCap'n dont throw MY ass over board

 

[TheCapn]

Hope TheCap'n dont throw MY ass over board

Walk the plank, c526.

If you had waited 14 days, you would have seen the roots coming out the bottom of the rockwool. Once they start, they take off and grow rapidly just in a few days. Remember some strains take longer than others.

Don't do the "tug test" or open rockwool to see if there are roots, damages fragile tiny roots that are starting.

Your cloner roots look like they have brown slime on them. They should be white.

If you're having issues with beans, then make sure you are waiting long enough in the paper towel. Tails should be 1/2" long before moving to rockwool.

Don't mutiny on me.

 

[c526]

No mutiny,Capn hahahaha Im on the ship,till I can fish now more

I will say that the R/W is a skill,And I need to be more patient.I have a hard time,just leaving them alone.

that little cutting,all of its sisters,had roots in 8 days,In the r/w cubes,Im only at about 75%,and with your tutorials,broken down so well,I just expect more of myself.

Oh that little indecent where I exploded the rootball?? Your cloning methods,did provide the next round-Thanks Capn

even these little guys are on timers,and auto watering,1 time a day for 3 minutes