Yet Another 2 Liter DWC system by JARG

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

This is a similar way to make a cheap 2 Liter DWC system. I am trying it as a way to root new clones. We'll see if it works in a few weeks time...

Things you will need. Most can be found at your local Wal-Mart type store in the aquarium section.

2 liter pop bottle ($1)
Perlite ($2-$5)
Aquarium air pump ($5-$10)
Air stone ($1)
Tubing ($2-$5)

Total cost to make this is between $11 and $22 depending on where you live and what you get.




For this one I cut my pop bottle 7 inches from the bottom. Make sure to wash your pop bottle to get rid of any bacteria.



The air stone is going to go in something like this.



Drill a hole and stick the air stone in it. After you put the air stone in, connect the tube to it.



Then drill some holes in the cap for the water in the reservoir to reach the Perlite.



Stick the top part of the 2 liter in the bottom part so they fit together.



Fill up the top part with Perlite then add water (Distilled and Deionized water is best)



Now connect the other end of the tube to your air pump. I have stuck an unrooted cutting in it to see what happens. I have also taken another top of a 2 liter and stuck it on top of everything as a humidity chamber.



*** After using this system for quite a few clones now I have a 100% success rate. ***

It seems that about 2 weeks is the magic amount of time before the roots are long enough for a soil transfer. Here is one clone after 13 days in the system. I am planting it in soil the day I took this picture.




***  Cleanup and Maintenance ***

I was trying to find a good way to clean the 2 liters and reuse them. Someone on here suggested to use a chlorine solution clean the algae if you get any. I tried putting them in my dishwasher...however the water is so hot that it deforms the shape of them, this method is not recommended.


JARG

[Paradoxic]

Just one thing people should watch out for with this setup is algal infestation. If you let light into the nutrient reservoir it is only a matter of time before the algae and (perhaps) also fungus move in. I've found that perlite, especially in a humid environment, is a media that algae does very well on.

[bifster]

Nice, thanks JARG!

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Wow, I like this setup. I checked my cutting and it already has about 16 little roots coming out (4 off each side of the square stalk!). As far as the other 3 clones that I stuck in water/perlite with no air bubbler, they haven't formed any roots yet. I am going to change them so they all get air stones too.

JARG

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

I had no roots yesterday when the plants were in standing water/Perlite. Today H&W is showing roots...and lots of them since I put her in the air bubbler DWC system. Hooray! The system works beautifully. I thought of a positive side effect to this system. Since the air stone is constantly pushing new air inside the chamber there is no need to take off the humidity cover to let fresh air in as it is constantly being delivered. Nice! I think that about finishes up this thread. I'll keep updating the plants in my grow log though. http://www.salviasource.org/forum/index.php?topic=1812

H&W showing lots of little roots.


And Owens (the first to get this experiment) is showing roots as well.


JARG

[bifster]

Hey JARG, just wondering, once these clones start to really grow are you going to continue to grow them in this setup, or will you transfer them to soil?  Or is it even possible to transfer them to soil after starting off hydroponically?  I'd love to start a first cutting in this setup.  Maybe to prevent algae one could put foil or black construction paper on the bottom segment?
Also, how big of branches were these that you started cuttings from?  I've been wanting to make a cutting of my own for quite some time now, but I'm always afraid she's not big enough yet.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

My mother plants are only 4 or 5 inches tall. But they are quite bushy since I have a lot of light. I cut the clones from the mother plant right at her stem. The cuttings were quite small. They were only about 3 nodes and only about 2 inches long. I cut the leaves of the bottom node of the clone and that is where the roots are coming from. There is only just over an inch of stem that is stuck in the perlite. Yes I am going to transfer them to soil once the roots get long enough. I just transferred my other sport to soil the same day I took the pictures in my grow log. I just updated my grow log and you can see the length of the roots of the sport that was done this same way in the perlite/2 liter bottle. I have been watching for algae and I think there would only be a problem if I was going to leave them in for a while. Since I am planning on transferring to soil I don't think I will have a problem. But covering with black paper or foil would certainly prevent the light from hitting the water reservoir.

Here is the H&W mother plant that is only about 5 inches tall overall. Here is where I took my first clone from:


And here you can see where I took the cuts for both clones: (I know it's blurry as hell but you get the idea)


And this will be my next clone once the others have rooted enough and are in soil. You can see it has about 3 nodes plus the top proto leaves. I'll cut it right at the mothers stem and then take the bottom leaves off the clone. I'll probably take the clone on the opposite side of the mother's stem as well.


Hope that helps,
JARG

[bifster]

Nice!  Isn't it odd how the top always seems to get the bushiest and grow the largest leaves?  Wonder if that's due to light shining from above or what.  Always makes me think mine looks rather like a tree, especially when I give her a haircut.   

[strawberryfieldsforever]

I'm using this same basic setup for mine and it works fantastically. I'm not sure I'll ever transfer to soil-though once I move to my new apartment, taking this whole setup with me is going to be tough. Instead of a 2-liter for my new cutting, I'm trying to root it in a small water bottle-its kind of cute for the little baby-a crib or something. Good luck with those they're looking wonderful.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

So this may be a dumb question but I have to ask so I can find out the answer...

After two weeks of having a couple clones in my 2 liter system I wanted to switch the water and I did. A few days later I noticed the algae that Paradoxic spoke of earlier. I put the cones in new 2 liters. My question is what do you think the best way to clean the algae out of the old 2 liters is? Should I just use soap and water on the 2 liters, or should I break out a mild bleach solution, or what? I don't want any algae hanging around for my next clone when it is ready to go in...but I don't know if bleach will wash completely clean from the 2 liter.

JARG

[dukerutledge]

You could always hit your local pool supply store and get some chlorine. That should evaporate completely and will take care of the algae.

[dukerutledge]

Also, do you use any rooting solution on your clones or does the environment you've created do all the work?

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

The environment does all the work. I just use distilled water only.

JARG

[dukerutledge]

Chlorine just for cleaning the setup after a cutting has been transfered out.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

I was in between cuttings so I tried putting the 2 liters in my dishwasher today...however the water is so hot that it deforms the shape of them, this method is not recommended... I'll try the chlorine solution next time.

JARG