Ez cloner cuttings getting slimy

steveydvee

Well-Known Member
The button half of the stem cuttings are slimy and some looks like it’s being eaten away. Turning from the thick green to a limply brown/off white. The outer layer of the stem if rubbed on comes off easily. The Rez is clear, no changes in color. Running 75* F with a Clear Rez.. Ph is really high sitting at 8.3 so I’m thinking Cyanobacteria. What do you guys think? I might just try the aact route. Sterile hasn’t given me a fighting chance.
 

H1ghTime

Well-Known Member
Your tap water is 8.3?

Or did your Ph rise due to using clear res?

Your cuttings shouldn't be getting slimy, try between 68-72deg for your res.

If your water is clean then you dont need clear rez.

I ran my cloner for 10 days straight, 24/7 and water was very clean when all cuttings were rooted, no slime and pump was clean like brand new.

Get rid of the clear rez seriously you dont need that crap in your res.

Are you sure everything was 100% clean?
 

steveydvee

Well-Known Member
I cleaned it with bleach prior. Soaked the manifold, rinsed and changed the water. Washed all my inserts with heavy bleach in the washing machine. Can't scrub inside the manifold but I did my best to shake it around to get all the gunk out and bleach inside of it. I just used some PH down to bring the ph back down to 5.8-6. I will drop the temperature and see if I get better results. I've been having this slime issue for awhile now and haven't had much luck with it.
 

H1ghTime

Well-Known Member
I cleaned it with bleach prior. Soaked the manifold, rinsed and changed the water. Washed all my inserts with heavy bleach in the washing machine. Can't scrub inside the manifold but I did my best to shake it around to get all the gunk out and bleach inside of it. I just used some PH down to bring the ph back down to 5.8-6. I will drop the temperature and see if I get better results. I've been having this slime issue for awhile now and haven't had much luck with it.
It's simply your water temps, ph of 6.8-7.0 is fine also.

After bleach then run hot water through it, get all the bleach out.

Your misters should never get clogged if everything is kept clean.
 

steveydvee

Well-Known Member
It's simply your water temps, ph of 6.8-7.0 is fine also.

After bleach then run hot water through it, get all the bleach out.

Your misters should never get clogged if everything is kept clean.
Can alkaline ph of 8+ prohibit clones from rooting?
 

Wastei

Well-Known Member
You need some form of preventative measure for biofilm and root rot. I like to use bleach(chlorine). Keeping temps at 68-69F helps keeping it clean and stable longer.

In small containers (my one gallon cloning tray) I simply dip the top of my finger in the cap with just a little bleach in it. Then I clean the tip in the res. You can use a pipett to just add drops, whatever floats your boat.
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
change the water every 3 days and you wont get rot, or even quicker if you wanna be anal about it. I always go with one res swap the day after cutting then wait a week. This res swap makes sure any leftover gunk is washed off
 

H1ghTime

Well-Known Member
change the water every 3 days and you wont get rot, or even quicker if you wanna be anal about it. I always go with one res swap the day after cutting then wait a week. This res swap makes sure any leftover gunk is washed off
If his temps are not too hot, he wont have to change water.

I recently rooted 8 cuttings in 10 days from an aeroponic cloner that ran 24/7 and water was very clean, no slime, no funk, nothing.

But i agree if he can't keep his temps down, changing will help 100%

His water pump might be a little too small, if too small or not powerful enough then they will simply heat up the water more.
 

steveydvee

Well-Known Member
I made a home-made Clear Rez with Calcium Hypochlorite and have been dosing every 3 days with it. The water is clear, no gunk. I'm just trying to figure out why the stems are rotting. I was under the impression that 80* F with the Clear Rez was optimal for quick root growth. But It's been about a week and not even signs of white nubs showing. I'm going to lower the temp down to 72-74 and see if I get any improvements. At this point, I may just completely get rid of the sterile method and use beneficial bacteria.
 

H1ghTime

Well-Known Member
I made a home-made Clear Rez with Calcium Hypochlorite and have been dosing every 3 days with it. The water is clear, no gunk. I'm just trying to figure out why the stems are rotting. I was under the impression that 80* F with the Clear Rez was optimal for quick root growth. But It's been about a week and not even signs of white nubs showing. I'm going to lower the temp down to 72-74 and see if I get any improvements. At this point, I may just completely get rid of the sterile method and use beneficial bacteria.
Just use plain tap water and keep temps below 80deg when and if you can.

Ideally you want 64deg-72deg, i went as low as 60deg for around a 10hr stint and they loved it.
 

westcoast420

Well-Known Member
Kiss for aero cloners. If your getting mushy stems you have bacteria in your cloner and your cleaning methods are not sufficient. You can run 80 temps no problem as long as you dont have pythium bacteria in your system. Even if you lower your temps it wont matter until you clean all the bacteria out of your cloner. How much bleach did you use in your cloner? Did you run the cloner with bleach in it for at least a day? I pour half a bottle of bleach in mine and add a bit of dish soap, hot water and run for 24hrs. Also adding a cycle timer greatly reduced my issues when i was having pythium rot. I usually have mine on for about 30 seconds and off for about 10-15 minutes. Rooting time is directly correlated to the temps in your cloner, the colder it is the longer they take, ideal is 75-80. Anything lower will extend your rooting times greatly.
 

H1ghTime

Well-Known Member
Kiss for aero cloners. If your getting mushy stems you have bacteria in your cloner and your cleaning methods are not sufficient. You can run 80 temps no problem as long as you dont have pythium bacteria in your system. Even if you lower your temps it wont matter until you clean all the bacteria out of your cloner. How much bleach did you use in your cloner? Did you run the cloner with bleach in it for at least a day? I pour half a bottle of bleach in mine and add a bit of dish soap, hot water and run for 24hrs. Also adding a cycle timer greatly reduced my issues when i was having pythium rot. I usually have mine on for about 30 seconds and off for about 10-15 minutes. Rooting time is directly correlated to the temps in your cloner, the colder it is the longer they take, ideal is 75-80. Anything lower will extend your rooting times greatly.
Can't agree on that, after what i have recently experienced colder temps stunting growth must be a myth.

That's a shit load of bleach amigo.
 

Meast21

Well-Known Member
Your tap water is 8.3?

Or did your Ph rise due to using clear res?

Your cuttings shouldn't be getting slimy, try between 68-72deg for your res.

If your water is clean then you dont need clear rez.

I ran my cloner for 10 days straight, 24/7 and water was very clean when all cuttings were rooted, no slime and pump was clean like brand new.

Get rid of the clear rez seriously you dont need that crap in your res.

Are you sure everything was 100% clean?
Yeah everything needs to be clean, cuttings are fragile... In between using my cloning system I soak everything in hot water with a little bleach... Last time I forgot to do it and my system was visible dirtier and my cuttings took a few days longer to root.
 

westcoast420

Well-Known Member
Can't agree on that, after what i have recently experienced colder temps stunting growth must be a myth.

That's a shit load of bleach amigo.
Been using aero cloners for 15 years man, long before there were any for sale to the public. But I’m sure you have more experience than that. And if you read directions put out by cloner manufacturers they state high 70’s - 80 is ideal for rooting. Warmer temps increase the speed of rooting, this is the most basic and well know aspect of rooting cuttings. Here’s some pics from my last run. First one is 6 days, 10 days planted. C01592F2-6397-45EB-AEAE-3DB611D83B22.jpeg89C5C36F-1845-4A84-816E-FFDD0BD2B1D0.jpeg23646C12-2946-4EA5-8C39-4774A5FAB3FE.jpeg
 

H1ghTime

Well-Known Member
No need to be so offensive amigo...i do not have 15 years experience, i have 10 days experience with aerocloning only.

I know what temps cloning companies suggest, and yes i ran those temps at the start..but i also noticed cooler temps made my roots explode.

I had roots burst out not even 3 days in.

Awesome pics though, but you said-Anything lower than 75-80 will greatly reduce rooting times, but you see it didn't for me, i planted mine in 10 days also.

Mine was a test run with only 8 cuttings.

Am i impressed by your pics?

Oh hell yes, and I'm sorry if i came across the wrong way, but just realize everyones set ups, etc are all different.
 

70's natureboy

Well-Known Member
I clone in plain tap water with ph of 8 all the time. I will say some strains are very easy to clone and some are next to impossible to clone. I usually clone different strains at the same time in the same clone machine and there are big defferences between strains. You may have a stubborn strain. I rarely see nubs in 7 days, it's usually around 10 days. I don't add anything to the water and don't even now what clear rez is.
 
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