Sure To Grow Inserts - Anyone Tried Them?

[dongle69]

Currently using 4x4x4 STG blocks in a E&F system.

Do they provide enough stability to hold up a 2-3 ft plant?

I have been playing with 6x6x4 Rockwool cubes and they have been pretty stable.
It would be cool not having to pre-treat...

 

[noone88]

Changed veg watering schedule to 12 hours between floods. It does retain a lot of water.

Dongle: no idea yet, but when wet, the blocks are heavy (heavier than a dry hydroton in 5" square pot). Of course, if your tops are heavy with weak stems, you will need a trellis.

 

[JackKerouac]

Do they provide enough stability to hold up a 2-3 ft plant?

Absolutely not. They are no comparison to hugo blocks and tend to compact over time. The pads, loose fill, starter plugs, and inserts are great. They are probably a weak spot on their portfolio.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Jack I agree. The potential problem is flooding to the roots in the initial stage of veg when you need to get way up there in the buckets. If the medium in 85% air, that's very little water displacement and a 50 gal rez won't fill very many buckets up to the 3 or 4 inch mark. Hydroton displaces enough water that you can run 30 or 40 pots per rez and still fill em up.

Would you possibly be able to use smaller buckets with the same results as the larger buckets with hydroton? That would solve your issue. (Except the chunk of change to buy new buckets and set it up)


I know I can't use it for my E&F Mum tray. Unless it's easy to chop it in half when it's full of roots? I'd just chop off the bottom half of the root structure and chop one of the inserts in half. Put it in the bottom and put the plant back in on top.

Nah, I'll use hydroton for now. LOL

 

[smurfin'herb]

Algae. BAD. Decent for cloning tho.

 

[smalltymer]

has anyone filled a tray with the 6x6 cubes? how is the water displacement? if i switch over from 6" cube pots filled with hydroton to this will i have to get a bigger res?

 

[Greyskull]

i just saw the 1' cubes at a shop in lake forest.
they are very spongy... almost like a make up sponge.
i didn't see any other s2g products... i really wnated to see the cloner inserts....

 

[noone88]

For the people using the cloner inserts, a tip: cut them in half (horizontally).

 

[badmf]

I am surprised no one mentioned the lack of a way to label securely! Difficult to penetrate this stuff. I use Oasis cubes, no ph'ing and as fast or faster than RW. STG for clones if labels would work maybe.

 

[noone88]

I was able to write on the inserts and the cubes with a black sharpie.

 

[Greyskull]

Using the cloner inserts now. Will move to the blocks or the full size inserts in a bit.

I need to do some real data testing, but from preliminary evaluation, it retains very little water. It works more like hydroton and less like rockwool.

how'd the cloner inserts work?

 

[Carboy]

I am surprised no one mentioned the lack of a way to label securely! Difficult to penetrate this stuff. I use Oasis cubes, no ph'ing and as fast or faster than RW. STG for clones if labels would work maybe.

I used a black permanent marker --- worked great.

CB

 

[noone88]

how'd the cloner inserts work?

The inserts worked great. Probably one of their best products out of their whole line. Cleaning the neoprene inserts is a pain in the ass once the roots start growing and allows easy transplant into medium-of-choice.

 

[Greyskull]

great
i am gonna have to give those a go

 

[Carboy]

the 2" collars are looking useful to me.. especially if the plants root into them. sounds great for the ezcloners.

SOG said that was their intent -- replace neoprene in ezcloners, dominaero etc w/ this. Cutting them horizontal in half seemed fine.
I did another top for my homemade fogger to use the cubes. Side cutters split them easily. Still haven't made up my mind if i like that top layer on the cube or not. Next one i make, i'm going to alternate sites -- sog then closed cell foam -- on the same top. That'll tell the story for me.

CB

 

[noone88]

Update, about to throw the 4x4x4 cubes into flower. Growth rate while in veg is about the same compared to 24/0 in hydroton.

I am flooding every 12 hours in a 24/0. I could probably back this off a bit, but am lazy heh.

I would start off with one flood a day for a week and then move it up to twice a day while lowering the flood height.

No signs of algae so far.

I'm going to try the cubes in a square pot with a layer of hydroton underneath the cube for more drainage in the next cycle.

For people using rockwool in E&F, this is definitely a way to go. The STG blocks do not wick very well, so top drip irrigation isn't ideal.

I think the way the STG blocks are made, it allows good water retention while also allowing the roots to get exposed to air.

 

[dongle69]

I got a 6x6x4 sample block from the store and it sure is weird.
It is very floppy when soaked with water.
All the water concentrates at the bottom.
Seems like it would not support a plant very well.
The STG guys suggest 6-8 floods a day for ebb and flow.
They also recommended top drip over ebb and flow.
Very confusing...

 

[JackKerouac]

I am flooding every 12 hours in a 24/0. I could probably back this off a bit, but am lazy heh.

I would start off with one flood a day for a week and then move it up to twice a day while lowering the flood height.

My blocks dry out after 6. Are you under HID lights? This is a bit hard to believe. The blocks don't wick, so why would you lower your flood height?

For people using rockwool in E&F, this is definitely a way to go. The STG blocks do not wick very well, so top drip irrigation isn't ideal.

If they don't wick, drip irrigation would be perfect, because nutrient solution would penetrate most of the block from the top. Are you sure we are using the same STG product?

 

[noone88]

My blocks dry out after 6. Are you under HID lights? This is a bit hard to believe. The blocks don't wick, so why would you lower your flood height?

Strange, my blocks don't come close to drying out even after 12 hours. They are currently under a 600 watt MH light, 24/0, clones are about 8-10" in height. I would lower the flood height to force the roots to grow, but I haven't done that yet.

If they don't wick, drip irrigation would be perfect, because nutrient solution would penetrate most of the block from the top. Are you sure we are using the same STG product?

My understanding of drip irrigation is that you do want the medium to wick... I'm not very familiar with drip irrigation, so I may be wrong.

 

[noone88]

I got a 6x6x4 sample block from the store and it sure is weird.
It is very floppy when soaked with water.
All the water concentrates at the bottom.
Seems like it would not support a plant very well.
The STG guys suggest 6-8 floods a day for ebb and flow.
They also recommended top drip over ebb and flow.
Very confusing...

The good thing is that the product is versatile and allows for different types of usage. I'm sure the ICmag community will come up with creative methods for their products.

I am carefully monitoring the progress of the STG blocks and will post any updates/observations that I find. I'm sure we'll have to tweak the variables to get it dialed-in perfectly.

The good thing is that my case of 120+ 4x4x4 blocks weighs less than 15 pounds, with most of the weight being the cardboard box.