Building your own homemade cloning machine
By Eric McIntyre, TechnologyGarden.net
published 7-27-2008

Cloning your mature plants is a fast and simple way to make “copies” of your plants.   Cloning some plants is as easy as taking a cutting and plopping it in a jar of water, but most plants are trickier and require attention to make a clone take root.

Clones are delicate and prone to disease but if you use a fresh clean razorblade to cut and handle them carefully when transplanting into the cloning machine.  Cloning gel protects and helps promote root growth.  Overall, cloning is easy once you have the right tools and having a cloning machine of your own makes it simple and easy.

Why Cloning?
We like to make clones of our mature plants to pot and give to friends and we also like to clone before the end of the outdoor growing season.  Near the end of the season we take clones and prepare them for transfer into our indoor garden so we can get a head start vs. starting new seeds.  Cloning is also a great way to preserve the exact plant strain and keep it going. Overall, Cloning is a great time saver and an easy way to spread the love of gardening to friends and family.

Parts list for a Homemade Cloning machine
Below is a basic parts list, I’m not going into measurements but will explain what I used to build mine and how I use it. Pics of some of the parts are shown below so you can understand what I mean

(1) Rubbermaid “Latchables” 50 Quart size Storage tote – Mine has a blue top with clear sides.

(1) Can of spray rubberized undercoating – in the automotive dept
(1) 3/4″ CPVC pipe – about 32 inches or so will do

(1) 2″ Section of CPVC pipe (cut from the length of pipe above)
(2) 3/4″ CPVC endcaps

(1) 3/4″ CPVC “Tee” fitting

(1) 3/4″ CPVC to 3/4″ Female thread adapter

(1) 3/4 MPT Barbed adapter for 3/4″ hose

(2) Hose clamps, stainless steel for both barbed connections
(1) Set of RainDrip 360 degree Sprayers (pack of 10)

(1) Sunleaves 345 GPH pump (at least 300GPH)
(1) Roll of Closed Cell Foam tape (weathersealing tape) to seal lid
(1) 8-10″ section of 3/4″ Hose
(1) Small Aquarium heater, 100 watt is max – set to 73-75F
(1) 7/8″ speed bore bit for pipe holes
(1) 1 1/2″ speed bore bit or hole saw for cutting holes in top

(1) 1/8″ drill bit(1) 10/32″ tap (creates threads in pipe for sprayers)

* you’ll also need some CPVC Primer and Glue and know-how on using it

Building the cloning machine
The first step is to make the container light-proof since mine was clear.  If you don’t make the container light-proof, you’ll be battling algae and your clones may not take properly if the reservoir isn’t dark enough.  If you can find a dark color tote or have an idea for another container, that may save some time on this step. You can use almost any container but I’d suggest using Rubbermaid, they make great stuff.

Take the top off the container and put down a bunch of newspaper to protect the ground and be sure you do this outside with plenty of ventilation. Lay the container top down and spray with rubberized undercoating all over the bottom and sides of the container and let dry.  Use the whole can or at least make sure the container is completely covered so no light gets in. Let Dry fully for 24 hours

Measure down a few inches under the top rim on each side about where the red X is in the picture below:

You want to cut a hole on each side of the rubbermaid tote using 7/8″ Speed Bore bit.  It’s important that you drill in the same spot on each side so the pipe is level.  You may have leakage if the pipe is not level.   Once you cut the holes, clean out tote and then push the full 30″ of 3/4″ CPVC pipe through leaving an equal amount sticking out each side.  Mark the middle of the pipe, remove it and cut it in half, clean out and use primer and glue and put on endcaps, one on each pipe.

Slide the 2 pieces of pipe back through, one on each end and push the pipes in all the way till the endcaps touch the sides. Separate them enough to place the  3/4″ Tee in the middle and insert each end of pipe into the Tee, do not use glue on this step yet.

The pipes may stick out on the ends a bit so trim the pipe to fit the way you desire – just make sure you measure with the Tee in the middle for exact measurements.

Now hold the pipe steady and measure out the 6 sprayer holes that you need to drill.  They are placed on the exact top of the bar as shown in the picture below. Try to avoid drilling in the tee itself.  I put 3 sprayers on one side of the tee and 3 on the other side of the tee, all evenly spaced along the bar length.  Mark these holes with a marker and take the bar apart and remove the pipes.

You now want to drill using the 1/8″ drill bit in the center of each hole, making sure that all the holes are straight in a line and as perfectly straight up as you can drill.  I use a vice to hold the pipe in place.  Once you drill out all the holes you should thoroughly clean out the pipes.  You then use the 10/32″ tap and make the threads in each drilled hole. Do this by hand, not with a drill and be careful you tap the hole straight up and down. After you finish tapping all the holes, thoroughly clean out each pipe. Do NOT insert the sprayers yet! Put the pipes aside and we are going to build the lower part of the spray assembly.

Building the Lower Spray Bar Assembly

Take the 3/4″ tee and the 2″ PVC piece and glue it in the bottom of the tee.  Then take the 3/4″ Female Thread adapter and glue the 3/4″ pipe (non-threaded side) side to the other end of the 2″ CPVC piece. Put teflon tape on the threaded end of the barbed adapter, thread that into the female end of the threaded adapter.  Once you are done, the final piece should look like the picture below.  It shows the tee at the top, 2″ pipe 3/4″ female threaded adapter and finally the barbed adapter at the bottom.

Connecting the Spray Bar and Lower Spray bar assembly
You now want to connect the spray bar and lower spray bar assembly inside the rubbermaid.  Clean the tote out and make sure there are no particles of pipe or other dirt in the container.  These can clog the sprayers.  Line the bottom of the rubbermaid container with newspaper, paper towels, or something to protect the bottom of the container with excess primer and PVC glue.   You should then line up the pipes so the holes are up and then thread the sprayers in – these will help you line up the pipe by eye when you glue it together.

Now prime the tee and one side of pipe, then glue together making sure the tee is straight down and sprayers are up. Repeat on the other side making sure they all line up perfectly.  You should now have a spray bar assembly and you are ready to connect the pump. Give the glue 10 minutes to dry before connecting the pump.

Connecting the pump
You are now ready to connect the pump.  Take your 2 stainless steel clamps and slide them on the 8-10″ piece of 3/4″ hose.  Now connect one end of the hose to the the barbed adapters that come with the pump, connect the hose to the pump and to the barbed adapter.  I place the pump on it’s side in the corner of the tote and not directly underneath the spray bar, it’s too tall and won’t fit.  Make sure the hose is long enough so it doesn’t kink and once you have a good fit tighten up the clamps. You can see how I connected my pump, its laying on its side and in the middle for this photo.  I push it over to the side and suction cup it to the sidewall.  Be sure the hose is long enough so it won’t kink.  You are done building the bottom and all the hard work is done, now we just have to drill the holes in the top for the neoprene inserts.

Preparing the top
Take the lid and mark out as many 1 1/2″ circles as you wish in the lid as shown in the picture below.  Make sure you stay inside the inner border of the lid so you don’t damage the top.  How many holes you cut all depends on the size of the clone and the amount you wish to clone.  We only used 10 holes in our unit but you could probably fit 3x that amount for smaller clones.

Since we are using 2″ neoprene inserts, we want to cut the holes smaller than 2″ so we use the 1 1/2″ speed bore bit.  You could probably use a hole saw here too, but the bit works fine.  Using the 1 1/2″ speed bore bit, cut out each hole you marked out on the lid.  Once you cut each hole, wash out lid and container and make sure no bits of anything is in there before you start your testing.

Final Preparations and Testing the Cloning Machine
Dry the container and then take the closed cell foam weatherseal tape and tape along the outside top rim of the container.  The weatherseal tape will help seal the top preventing drips and evaporation.  You may have a minor drip here and there and that can be solved with more tape in most cases.  One area that was leaking on mine was where the cord came out from the pump and heater – I simply cut a small edge in the top for the pump power cord and heater cord solving this leak.

Fill up the unit with about 8 gallons or a few inches below the spray bar.  Insert the aquarium heater that’s set to 72-75F, put the top on and carefully insert a neoprene insert into each hole.  Power up the unit and use a flashlight to peer into one of the holes by removing a neoprene insert.  Make sure each sprayer is working properly.  Watch your eyes….there should be a strong storm of water all over the place inside the rooting chamber.  Leave this setup for a few hours and test everything out.  Dump out the water, add new water and test some more to make sure the unit is working properly and the pump is performing.   That’s it, you now have a cloning machine ready to roll.  Happy cloning!

Stay tuned for our next tutorial on taking cuttings of your plants (we will be showing tomatoes) and using your new cloning machine!