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—your rooting hormones straight from the plant.
As outlined in The Mother of All Clones, I alternate:
-
Garden Safe Neem Oil Extract Concentrate — 30 mL/gal
-
Take Down — 40 mL/gal
-
Always include a kelp extract, 5 mL/gal Floralicious Plus
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:
-
Sodium hypochlorite — Bleach
-
Hypochlorous acid — Clear Line 5x, Clear Rez, Watermax
-
Peroxyacetic acid — Oxidate 2.0, Zerotol 2.0
Every one of these has a plant-safe dosage window. 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 get washed off almost immediately inside 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:
-
Cutting Edge Solutions — Micro + Bloom
-
GH Flora Series — Micro + Bloom
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 your mothers and stock up on your oxidizer, hormone, and nutrient of choice.
If you have questions, I always encourage growers to reach out through the contact form. You’re never bothering me—PermaClone is here to help you succeed.
Warm regards,
Michael Goldsmith
www.PermaClone.com
PS: My articles share the knowledge I’ve built while perfecting PermaClone collars and working with thousands of growers. Please help spread the word—PermaClone collars are built for long-term, food-grade, high-sterility hydroponic cloning. We offer sizes for EZ-CLONE, TurboKlone, PowerCloner, Oxyclone, Psychloner, and all major systems. Need a custom collar or sizing guidance? Just reach out.
#PermaClone #getsterilegetcloning
Updated: November 29, 2025 -- improved clarity, refreshed product references, fixed broken links, and verified current information.