Aeroflo 2 for cuttings?

At the moment I have an Aeroflo system and some fresh cut clones waiting to root in a clone tray before they go into the Aeroflo... my question is, could I have just put the cuttings directly into the Aeroflo? If the water level is kept low, it wouldn't be too different from an aerocloner right? So why not just put them straight into it, and place a cup over each plant for keep the humidity in...

That said, not really 100% what one would put in the cups as rockwool would remain too wet, but a neoprene collar might do the trick... any ideas? The only downside I see is having to wait a week or so longer in your cycle cause you can't have the clones ready and rooted as soon as you harvest... but still...

......yeah, RW hold too much h2o....go hydroton, first learn how to rinse it good and stablize in 5.8pH.......or go neoprene, which is fine, you just are going to have to give the plants more support when they start growing. If your cloning them in place in your af(GH's, I presume/hope) just use plain h2o at 5.8pH(not important-pH until roots start growing.
I 'd set the channel about 2" deep and turn the spray line so it meets the top of the nft level(channel depth) and right where it meets the sidewall on the opposite side. That creates the spray/splashing/mists.......and will work good---you can tell if your nets are staying sprayed by pulling them out and checking them. If they start to wilt real quick you'll know you have issues too. Give it a try with the neoprene if you can afford that. You want to keep the temps higher than you will once they're growing....say 75F++80F. Keep the pump on 24/7. Put some clone solution in the res if you must......
The trick here is getting them to root pretty much at the same time so you can nute accordingly.......

Hope this helps......

gman

That not only helped, it answered every question I had pretty much, and I've been looking pretty hard myself. Thanks a lot!

I'll probably grab some neoprene collars somewhere and then some plastic cups which will fit over everything. Once I'm seeing roots I'll pop up an edge and add some hydroton to the cups I think, I've seen evidence of going all the way to harvest with just the collars, but I already have the hydroton, and better safe than sorry right? It's not my first grow, but it's the first in this (yes, it's GH's) Aeroflo, previously in DWC, and never in dirt... I deal with enough active substrates in my planted aquariums, water is free for me, and I figured... how much more complicated can hydroponics be than a planted tank (so far the answer is a lot easier).

Not a shameless bump, I've started a grow journal over here: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/395413-first-grow-maximizing-space.html

The clones I have are still alive, but if they don't make it, this cup idea will be put into action, and you'll be able to see it take shape!