The Game Changing Cloner Recipe

The Game Changing Cloner Recipe

How to Prime Your Cloner for Fast, Heavy Rooting

This lesson is all about the nutrients and additives that transform an aeroponic cloner from “works okay” into “roots explode in 7–10 days.” If you don’t already keep a cloning to-do list, this is your sign to start one.

1. First To-Do: Prime Your Mothers

Before you even think about filling a cloner, your mother plants need to be biochemically primed. That means pest-free foliage and fresh growth tips loaded with natural auxins and cytokinins.

As outlined in The Mother of All Clones, I alternate:

Use this foliar 24–48 hours before cloning. It’s one of the most impactful steps in the entire process.

2. Stock Up Before We Hit the Final Lesson

In the next article (Taking Cuttings & The PermaClone Recipe), I’ll give you the exact nutrient formula, oxidizer dose, and step-by-step workflow I personally use. Before we get there, you need to select your oxidizer, your hormone, and your nutrient base.

Let’s go through each category.

Plant-Safe Oxidizers (Sterilizers)

Sterilizers do double duty in aeroponic cloners:

  • High doses sterilize equipment

  • Low doses treat water and suppress surface-level pathogens on unrooted cuttings

The key is using products that are safe for plants when diluted, and all the prominent oxidizer families fall into this category.

You can choose any one of the following:

Every one of these has a plant-safe dosage window. A dosage at which you can safetly spray cuttings or treat the cloning solution with. In this lesson series, I teach exactly how to dose them correctly to get consistent rooting without damaging delicate cuttings.

Hormones (Auxins)

Auxins dramatically accelerate rooting and increase the number of basal roots.

Here’s the problem:
Gels and powders wash off almost immediately in aeroponic cloners.

Water-soluble hormones solve that.

Choose ONE:

These absorb, circulate, and keep working, rather than washing off the stem. You’ll see a difference in both rooting speed and root mass.

Cloner Nutrients

Hormones alone are great, but hormones + mineral nutrients produce the real “game-changing” results.

The most widely used option:

Or choose any clean hydroponic bloom nutrient, such as:

These nutrient ratios support rapid cell division during the earliest stages of root initiation.

(Don’t worry—we’ll cover exact doses in the following article.)

Clone Cutting Tools

This part is simple.

Fiskars. Period.

Razor blades are slow and create more work. A dedicated pair of sterile Fiskars is faster and far more scalable in any cloning workflow.

Shopping List (Choose One From Each Category)

Oxidizer:
Bleach, Clear Line 5x, Clear Rez, Watermax, Oxidate 2.0, or Zerotol 2.0

Recommended: Bleach

Hormone:
Hormex Liquid Concentrate, KLN, or Rhizopon AA Water-Soluble Salts

Recommended: Hormex Liquid Concentrate

Mineral Nutrients:
Clonex Solution, or Micro + Bloom (CES or GH)

Recommended: Clonex Solution

Tools:
Fiskars

What’s Next

In the next article, Taking Cuttings & The PermaClone Recipe, I’ll walk you through:

  • Exactly how to prepare your system

  • When (and how) to add your oxidizer

  • The exact nutrient and hormone dosages

  • My personal “flow” for fast, predictable success

In the meantime, foliar-spray your mothers and stock up on your oxidizer, hormone, and nutrient of choice.

Questions or Support

If you have questions about this topic or need guidance on your cloning setup, you’re welcome to reach out via the PermaClone contact form.

The information shared in this article is based on years of hands-on development and feedback from growers who use PermaClone™ plant collars in hydroponic, aeroponic, and deep-water culture systems. PermaClone collars are available in sizes compatible with leading cloning platforms, including EZ-CLONE®, TurboKlone®, PowerCloner®, Oxyclone®, Psychloner®, and custom DIY systems.

Updated: November 29, 2025

Back to blog

Leave a comment