How good do the cheap cloning machines work?

I stopped in at my local Hydroponics store and saw a $400.00 Cloning machine and truely was amazed.Then later I did a google search for cloning machines and found a small 7 hole unit for under $50.00 and am curious about them and how well they work.Now I'm wondering about how hard would it be to make one yourself. Don

For do it yourself , I like this site :
http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/
The big problem I'm having is keep the nutrient in balance.

Love Compost Tea

that is a super site..I hav e spent many hrs there but have yet to take the plunge..The 11 plant garden looks like a good place to start.

I'm finding Hydro more trouble than it's worth.
Too much testing . I'm back to the Dirt

Here's my home-made cloner with brugmansia cuttings. Works faster than soil for me. :^)
- Tom

Looks great, Tom.

"I'm finding Hydro more trouble than it's worth.
Too much testing . I'm back to the Dirt"

LOL! I did nothing but hydroponics back in the 80s and finally came to a similar conclusion. Not just too much testing but total crop failure when the electricity went out while I was at work, what do I do with all the nutrient solution when I dumped it for new stuff, and how to clean the dang gravel of all the roots. Still, it is a lot of fun to play with. Eventually, for veggies, I started relying on a "compromise" between dirt and hydroponics - a container soil-less pine bark/compost mix that retains moisture and nutrients with drip-through irrigation with a fertilizer injector and directing the effluent/runoff to other garden areas so recapture excess nutrient. So I only had to use the nutrient once though and never test it. Eventually I switched to using a controlled release fertilizer in the soil-less media and now just use the fertilizer injector for added stuff like trace element supplementation.

But I think I will be setting up a true drain-and-flood gravel system again shortly - just for fun. Going to use a solar powered pump so whenever the sun shines I will get nutrient flow avoiding the power outage catastrophes. And, now that I have the other container systems set up, I can dump the nutrient solution every other week into a tank that is used to irrigate that system so I can both reduce the controlled release fertilizer in the soil-less mix and avoid doing too much testing of the nutrient solution for the hydroponic beds since I can change it out more frequently. Anyhow, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Along with all the other experimental garden projects I've yet to get to! :-)

Dan

I'm glad you're gonna try it again Dan. :^)
But Dan & Rentman, one difference here is that this is not hydroponics and it's not meant for growing, just cloning. It doesn't even need any nutrients, just average tap water. It's no trouble at all. :^)
- Tom

check out the DIY thread for a cloner

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/498781/

Hi, Tom yes your clone set up is what I will build, soon.
I have a slow growing evergreen hedge that I cannot get to root, so when it puts out new growth this spring I will try the cloner.

Dan I lived in W. Palm Beach 90% of my life and moved to KY 3 years ago, our first child lives here, so I know about power outages. The man with a generator is King ^_^
Added 16' on the green house (maybe too much) and working on my seedlings for transplant this spring. Last year I set out 60 tomatoes plants, had a red garden.
Working more on greens and herbs but also have outer vegs.