They NEED!!!!! light to produce suggars that are the energy to form roots .................... Therefore keep in good BUT indirect light NOT!!!! in direct sunlight.
Most people do not get 100% rooting from cuttings improve odds by used 2-5+ cuttings of each

I root my cuttings in the shade. I do have high sun intensity, however.
You might try backing off on the nutrient until the roots form. Then add a weak solution  1/3 to ½ strength. Water soluble nutrient is best. Adding a salt solution too soon can result in cutting failure.
I have similar cloners' to what you describe. I have not rooted basil leaves this way but I have rooted basil cuttings. You may need a bigger piece of basil with the lower leaves stripped.
Keep an eye on your cuttings as you root them & keep your system clean. If one starts to disintegrate it can cause the solution to foul & can affect the others. Also, as it heats up, algae can develop in your system. If your solution is too warm, you may need to cool it. I use frozen water bottles for mine.
I rarely root in the soil any more unless the cutting is very easy to start. The cloners are cheap to build, work well, & can be very forgiving if you get busy & neglect the cuttings. You just need to continue experimenting. You might experiment with rooting some mint  it should be easy to start.

Baci,

Cloners? Cheap to build, work well, forgiving, and soilless -- all exactly what I'm looking for! But I'm unfamiliar with the term "cloner" as it applies to plant propagation. Can you expand/expound? Thanks!

Hey Baci,

What temperatures are the upper and lower limits?

clibanarius,

all a cloner is, in my case, is a bucket w/ cover, aquarium air pump, and a air stone.

Put water in the bucket, take your cuttings and float them in a sheet of styrofoam and you have a cloner.

good luck

ggenovez,

You're kidding, right? Seriously, I've heard of all the elements you mention in propagating schemes, but never put together in a single unit. Cool! I would love some details...

So you're rooting in aerated but otherwise unadulterated water? Is the cover you mention some sort of poly tenting?

What kind of plants do well in this setup? Obviously those that will ordinarily root in water, but what else? Woodies (he types with a peculiar gleam in his eye)?

Don't know if you have any feel for this, but in general, how long does it take for plants to root this way compared to more traditional, e.g., peat/perlite media?

I presume the plants produce water roots; how do you (or do you?) adjust them to life in soil?

Memo to self: find out how much oxygen is in aerated water vs. unaerated water containing healthy, photosynthezing aquatic plants, e.g., Java Moss...

clibanarius, if I remember correctly there was someone who added to that post that he had made one that worked on woody cuttings, by building up the outside edges of the styrofoam so that the center was suspended above the water. The ends of the cuttings would not be touching the water, but close enough to be kept damp by the bursting water bubbles. I believe it was a homemade version of a rose cloner set-up being sold last year.

Hey clibanarius

No. I'm dead serious.

And that is all the details. Bucket w/ water & cover, styrofoam, air pump and airstone.

After the little chat above I moved my rig to the great outdoors.

I put in a single cutting from a early girl tomato and 3 days ago I could see some descent roots. Today it's starting to look like a cactus :)

Yes. Plain tap water. The cover is the one that came with the bucket, PVC. I use it to keep the humidity high and keep direct sun off

I have since added purple prince tomato cutting, a night jasmine, and gardenia. I beleive in Rosco's post he mentioned that almost any plant will do well in this setup.

I'll update the post in about a week.

But it realy is that simple of a setup.

Hey Millie,

I also found that link about hanging the plant over the water and the 'water bursts' would mist the cutting.

Found a link below that shows different ways of propagation.

BTW how long before a cutting goes to full sun?

Here is a link that might be useful: propagation systems

Sorry hadn't been back to this post lately. The Aeroponics at the bottom of the page ggenoves linked to is the nearest to what I was talking about. Instead of having fancy spray/mist setup, it simply used the airstone bubbles to keep the cutting end/roots damp. Very low tech, but should work fine. I would think that a humidity chamber would be needed for woody plants to keep down water loss from the cuttings through transpiration. Plants such as coleus, impatients, etc. that can be rooted in a glass of water sitting on the kitchen window sill probably don't need it.

clibanerius, cloner/clone is just another word for propagator/propagate. Rooting cuttings is cloning a plant.

Last year some online nurseries were selling a manufactured cloner rig for something like $129.00. Someone described it and how it worked...you can guess the rest. LOL The biggest problem for the do-it-yourselfer was how to have a large enough hole in the styrofoam to bring the root ball through and still hold up the cutting. I believe some came up with the idea of using the tiny little bathroom paper (or is it plastic) cups (with a smaller hole in bottom) to fit into the holes in the styrofoam...when it was time to remove the rooted cutting, they simply cut the cup away.

Clibanarius, sorry I did not answer your question, but it looks like ggenovez answered it. You can also get a plastic tub, cut holes in the top with a hole saw, put plastic cups in the holes, & then insert your cuttings. Holes can be made in the plastic cups with a soldering iron to let water in. Then you aerate the water with an air pump & air stone. I have not measured my temperatures during the warm weather  I just keep it cool during the day when it is hot. It is the only way I can clone most plants now with the CA heat.
I have had problems with hardwood cuttings but softwood cuttings work well in my cloners. It is the only way I can clone salvia apiana. I have also cloned Mexican sage, Verdolagas, thyme, confederate rose, Chinese celery, marjoram, Vietnamese coriander, Malabar spinach, mints, other herbs & various natives. You can clone various roots in water if you just add enough oxygen. I have cloned malanga, burdock, & 3 horseradish varieties in my cloner.
As far as cost, I paid 6.00 for a higher quality tub, 2.00 for 8 cups, 6.00 for an air pump, & 2.00 for the lines & air stone. I found hole saw bits on sale for $4.00 Â they just attach to your drill. Thus, the total was about $16.00. I later bought a commercial air pump, & now just run a couple of ports into the cloners.